Not Quite Crazy

by Catherine Bybee

Separate conversations circulated the room while Jason opened Rachel’s gift. It was a glass ornament of a man standing on a ladder, hanging Christmas lights on a house. “It’s perfect.”

  “It’s silly.” Rachel bit her lip.

  This time, when the desire to kiss her rolled over him, he didn’t hold back. It was brief, but just enough to make her blush. “I’ll cherish it.”

  He settled back into the sofa and casually took her hand. Together they watched the others open gifts and play with Owen’s new electronic toy.

  As Christmases went, this was one of the best Jason ever had.

  “Nathan is going to teach me how to drive!” Owen rattled on and on the second they left the estate.

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, he said the airstrip was the perfect place to start for Jason. And since it’s private property, there isn’t a problem with breaking the law.”

  Rachel couldn’t argue with that.

  “And Trent said he’s going to take me up in a helicopter.”

  “Yeah, I heard that . . . I don’t know.”

  “I wonder if they’ll teach me to fly. That would be epic.”

  “They’re very busy, Owen.”

  “Hey, they volunteered. It would have been rude to say no.” Owen tilted his head and gave her one of those you can’t argue so don’t even try looks.

  “What am I going to do with you?” she teased.

  “You can’t throw me back,” he said.

  She laughed and turned onto their street.

  As they pulled into the drive, she realized Owen had gone silent. She glanced over to see him staring out the window with a frown.

  “What is it?”

  “You could throw me back. If you really wanted to.”

  “Whoa, stop that. No. Owen, that is never going to happen.” She put the car in park, left it idling. “I told you before Em passed, at the funeral, and every step along the way. You and I . . . this is a thing forever. I can never replace your mom, but I’m here for life. I’m never throwing you back.”

  He swallowed and tried to smile. “I miss her so much.”

  Rachel leaned over the seat and pulled him into a hug. He sniffed several times as he cried. She allowed herself a few tears but held out to give Owen the strength he deserved. It wasn’t often he’d let loose, but he did now. “She would have loved your friends.”

  “They would have loved her.”

  Owen took a few deep breaths and got it together. He sniffed. “She would let me go in the helicopter.”

  Rachel smiled into his shoulder. “We’ll see.”

  When he pulled away, she wiped his eyes with her thumbs. “You okay?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “I think we did all right for our first Christmas.”

  “We did better than all right.”

  It was only a three-day workweek between Christmas and New Year’s. Most of the city was overtaken by tourists, who would fill Times Square at midnight . . . that is, if they didn’t pass out beforehand.

  “You should bring Owen and watch the ball drop,” Julie told her.

  “It sounds like a massive party.”

  “It is, but there are families that go.”

  The thought of freezing her butt off and driving home after midnight didn’t sound like a good time. Then again, maybe Owen would be interested.

  “Maybe.” Which really was more like a probably not.

  The phone on her desk rang and kept her from having to make more excuses. “This is Rachel,” she answered.

  “I like it when you sound all business.”

  She tried to hide her grin. “Good to know. What can I do for you?”

  Jason moaned. “Now you’re trying to turn me on.”

  Rachel really hoped Julie had gotten busy and wasn’t listening to her end of the conversation.

  “No, I haven’t completed that yet.”

  Jason laughed.

  “Is there anything else?” If she didn’t end the call soon, she’d blow her cover and say something that made it crystal clear that Jason was on the phone, flirting with her.

  “I actually do have a few questions about your plan,” he told her. “Do you have a few minutes to come to my office?”

  Phew. “I do.”

  “Great. See you in five.”

  Rachel hung up, shook her head, and pushed away from her desk. “Jason has a few things he wants to go over,” she told Julie.

  “Anything I can help with?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  Julie went back to her computer. “You know where I am.”

  Rachel took her working file and walked to the opposite end of the building.

  Audrey looked up when she approached. “Go on in, he’s expecting you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Rachel had seen Jason’s office when she was given the tour of the place but had never been inside. Like any CEO of a company as large as Fairchild Charters, Jason took a corner of the building with breathtaking views of Manhattan. With a palette of gray and purple, which fit the logo of the company, the lines inside the office were modern without feeling cold.

  Jason glanced up as she walked in, the look on his face all business. “That was fast,” he said.

  “You said five minutes.” She set the papers down.

  He walked around his desk and behind her to close his office door. Before she could turn around and sit, his hands were on her waist and he twisted her into his arms, his lips on hers.

  She was stunned, and excited. Her arms fanned up his chest and around his neck. Lips opened, and their kiss became very indecent very quickly. They didn’t come up for air, just kissed as if they were learning how.

  He slowed down, his breath heated against hers. “I had to see you.”

  Rachel nodded with her eyes closed. “I can tell.”

  “Do you think anyone will notice if we have daily meetings right before lunch?”

  “Yes. I do.” She opened her eyes and drowned in his. “Is this why you called me in here?”

  “Guilty.”

  “Jason!”

  He held her face with both his hands, kissed her again, and made her forget she should be mad at him.

  This time when he pulled away, he sat on the edge of his desk and pulled her between his legs. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked her straight in the eye. “Thursday,” he started.

  “New Year’s Eve?”

  “I’m picking you up at six.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Wear something nice.”

  “Are you asking me out?”

  Jason grinned, his eyes dancing. “Oh, no. I’m not giving you the chance to say no.”

  “You’re serious.”

  “Yep. Owen is hanging out with Nathan. They’ll probably play video games until midnight.”

  “I hope Nathan knows what he’s getting into.”

  Jason squeezed her hips. “Six.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Rachel took advantage of New York’s shopping experience in an effort to find a last-minute New Year’s dress. As long as you had money, you could find it in Manhattan. Although she wasn’t hurting, she had a hard time swallowing the average price tag on a glittery party dress.

  Having spent more than she wanted to, Rachel looked at the dress on the hanger in her room.

  “I like him, Em. He’s such a great man. And he adores Owen. They talk all the time. Owen will text him a stupid joke just because he knows Jason will respond.”

  Rachel moved around the room, carefully picking out her bra and panties. In truth, the dress didn’t allow for much in the way of a bra. With a grin, she closed that drawer and picked out a thong.

  “I haven’t had sex since Lyle. Remember Lyle?” The memory of the man made her shiver. “You warned me. I didn’t listen.”

  Rachel wiggled into her thong and moved to her bathroom. She looked at herself sideways in the mirror, sucked in her stomach. “What if he doesn’t like what h
e sees?”

  Deep inside, Rachel heard Em’s voice. If he doesn’t like it, screw him. He doesn’t deserve you. And if he does like it, screw him.

  They’d laughed at that one for hours.

  Only, the desire to hook up for the sake of hooking up hadn’t been on Rachel’s radar for well over a year.

  Even now, knowing damn well that if she spent any alone time with Jason, they’d end up naked, that wasn’t the single-minded desire with him. There was something else there that scared the hell out of her. She was thirty-one . . . the dream of finding Prince Charming ended when she watched her best friend die without a perfect man by her side. Nothing in this life was promised. Yet Jason offered hope of a relationship Rachel hadn’t thought was possible.

  “He isn’t Prince Charming,” Rachel said to the air. Then she smiled. Okay, he was kinda charming enough . . . and if clout and money made a man a prince, Jason qualified.

  She shook the negative thoughts from her head . . . the ones that reminded her that she was dependent on him for her job. That if the two of them didn’t work out, and most relationships didn’t work, she’d be out of a job.

  Oh, God.

  She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her makeup was perfect, her hair suitable for the dress she spent entirely too much money on.

  The doorbell rang.

  Rachel jumped. Looked at the time.

  Damn it. Son of a . . .

  She scrambled around her room. “Owen?”

  No response.

  “Owen!” This time her voice penetrated the clouds.

  “I got it!”

  She sighed and put on her dress. The high heels had no place on her feet with the sleet covering the ground outside, but boots didn’t work with the outfit.

  The purse she chose held her ID, a cell phone, and a tampon, not that she needed one today . . . thank God.

  Nerves shook her before she opened the door of her bedroom and walked downstairs.

  Jason’s, Nathan’s, and Owen’s voices met her before she saw them.

  Jason stopped talking first.

  Owen turned.

  “Don’t I wish I were twenty years younger,” Nathan said.

  She knew she didn’t look half bad, but the expression on his face was one for the movies.

  Owen broke the spell. “You clean up pretty good.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes as she met the bottom step.

  Jason had yet to speak.

  Owen handed her a coat she had by the front door.

  “You two kids make good choices.”

  Jason shoved Owen’s shoulder.

  “You’re pushing your luck, lad.”

  “Wow,” Jason finally said.

  Rachel’s belly filled with heat. He dominated the room simply standing in it. Under his long, wool coat he wore a tux. Bow tie, vest . . . the whole nine yards.

  She brushed invisible lint from his jacket. “You don’t look half bad yourself.”

  He took her hand, kissed the backs of her fingers.

  “Okay, I’m out.” Owen tossed his hands in the air and turned around.

  Nathan laughed. “I hope you like pizza, lad. I’m not a cook.”

  “Neither am I.”

  Jason helped her with her coat and led her out the door while Nathan and Owen settled in for the night.

  He drove the Audi.

  “Should I be worried I’m in heels?” she asked.

  “It’s not snowing.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  To her surprise, they headed toward his house, the opposite direction of the highway. He followed his expansive fence line around the property and opened a wooden gate that hid everything beyond it.

  A patch of trees opened to a clearing. “This must be the airstrip Owen talked about.”

  Security lights went on automatically as he approached.

  The lights fell on a helicopter.

  She panicked. “Are you . . . are we . . .”

  Jason cut the engine of the Audi and twisted in his seat. “Do you trust me?”

  Rachel pointed out the window. “That’s a helicopter.”

  “It is.”

  “Oh, boy.” She turned to look at him.

  “C’mon. I’m going to have fun buckling you in.”

  With shaky legs, she held on to Jason’s arm to keep from falling. He opened the door and took the liberty of hoisting her into her seat. She numbly sat back while he fiddled with her belt and ran his hands over her stomach and chest as if he needed to smooth out the surface.

  “Was it good for you?” Rachel asked when he completed the job.

  “Safety is important,” he teased. He handed her a headset. “This might mess up your hair a little. You can fix it when we get there.”

  She shivered.

  He closed her door and moved around the chopper, checking things as he went.

  “I’m in a helicopter,” she whispered to herself.

  Jason swung into his seat, winked, and appeared to do another systems check by switching a few levers and buttons. “Ready?” he asked.

  She shook her head no, much to his amusement, and followed his lead when he put on his headset.

  Then he turned the helicopter on.

  He leaned over and lowered a microphone, and the sound of his voice was directly in her ear. “Just breathe.”

  “This isn’t . . . this is crazy, Jason.”

  “Not quite crazy. Not for me, anyway.”

  The inside of the chopper warmed up slowly. And within a few short minutes, Jason said, “Here we go.”

  Rachel held the edge of the door and clutched her seat belt when they lifted into the air.

  Like a deer in the headlights, Rachel stared at the ground as it pushed away.

  “Take a look.” Jason pointed toward the house. The Christmas lights were still up, the yard around the home illuminated everywhere.

  “Whoa.” It was pretty spectacular in the dark; she could only imagine what it would look like in the day.

  “Do your neighbors complain about the noise?”

  “Look around. We don’t have close neighbors.”

  From the ground, it was hard to see the property lines. She did see two homes close by. “What about them?”

  Jason pointed to the largest one. “That’s the guesthouse Nathan occupies, and the other is for my housekeeper.”

  “Oh.”

  “They don’t complain.”

  “I would think not.”

  He lifted the chopper higher and headed north. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

  “I’m okay, just don’t let it get too warm in here.”

  “No real risk in that. It’s a short flight.” He pointed down. “It’s hard to see, but your house is below us.”

  “It is?” She looked out the window, couldn’t make out the details of the street. “There is no way I’m keeping Owen out of this thing now.”

  Jason laughed.

  Within minutes the lights of Manhattan spread out everywhere.

  “Wow.”

  “It’s a beautiful city.”

  “From up here especially,” she said.

  They made a big circle and followed the Hudson until Jason turned toward their building.

  She shouldn’t have been surprised, but still was when he landed the thing on the giant X at their work.

  “This is quite the parking spot you have here, Mr. Fairchild.”

  He turned everything off, and the propeller slowly came to a stop. When he took off his headset, so did she.

  “Now you see how I get here when the weather is awful.”

  “I’m surprised you ever drive in.”

  “There are other businesses in the building that use the landing pad, although Fairchild Charters owns the lease on it.”

  “I would think you’d need to own the building to have that,” Rachel said.

  “Fifty-one percent. We own sixty.”

  She had no idea. “But you only occupy one floor.”
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  “And we rent out the rest. But that is a conversation for another day. No more business tonight.”

  He jumped down from the chopper, ran around, and helped her out. The winds at the top of the skyscraper cut right through her coat and messed with her hair. Jason hustled her out of the cold and into the building.

  He took the elevator to their floor, and the two of them walked through the abandoned space and to the office across the hall from his. “Mary and Monica equipped Glen’s bathroom with everything a woman needs to fix the mess we make by flying you in,” Jason told her.

  Glen’s office was a mirror of Jason’s, only a tad bit smaller. As he said, she found everything she could need to force her hair into submission. When she emerged, Jason was leaning on Glen’s desk, waiting.

  “Feel better?” he asked.

  “We just flew into Manhattan and landed on the roof. That isn’t a normal way to start a first date.”

  “We can fly back and I can drive you in, if that will make you feel better.”

  She walked up and straightened out his tie. “That would be silly. Not to mention a waste of fuel. Which I’m guessing isn’t cheap.”

  “You’re worth it.”

  The man had all the right lines.

  “What’s on our agenda?”

  “Dinner . . . because a proper first date has to have food.”

  She rested her hands on his shoulders, took comfort in his hands, which held her waist.

  “Then there is a cocktail party I’m going to show you off at.”

  That made her a little nervous. Although keeping their dating to themselves seemed impossible if she was flying in with him in a personal helicopter.

  “There will be fireworks.”

  She licked her lips. “What’s not to love about fireworks?”

  His hand slipped around her back, his fingers playing with the edges of her dress that dipped low in the back. “Lick your lips like that again and we will start with the fireworks.”

  She was half tempted to call him on that. “In your brother’s office?”

  Jason pulled her forward and kissed the space between her breasts. “Our first time will not be in any office,” he told her.

  “What about our second?” she asked.

  “Highly possible.”

  He forcibly moved her away, held her in place, and grabbed her coat. “Let’s go before I change my mind,” he said.