Stay with Me

by Jules Bennett

  “And you’re not getting my half, so suck it up, Princess.”

  He moved around to the other side of the cockpit and opened the door. If he couldn’t get this air vent working again, he was going to have to reschedule tomorrow’s flight—and he couldn’t exactly reschedule when the elderly couple needed to get to their granddaughter’s wedding in Sarasota.

  He had to pick up his daughter from preschool in a couple of hours and he really wanted to take her to the park and a movie, but he wouldn’t be able to if he didn’t get this work done. He couldn’t exactly work when his unwanted guest wouldn’t leave him alone to think.

  He should’ve let her just fall on her ass earlier.

  Heels clicked across the floor and he knew this fight was far from over. Whatever. He could handle her . . . he just didn’t want to.

  This place was more than just an airport. Jax had sought refuge here during the most pivotal point in his life. It was in these very walls that he found his passion in flying, which led him to become a pilot in the Air Force. So what if the place had seen better days? Maybe Livie needed to learn that the important things in life had nothing to do with how fresh the coat of paint on the walls was. It was because of this well-loved airport that he was able to return home to his daughter and provide a stable life for her.

  He had some colossal mess-ups in his past, but finally he was getting things right. His bank account may not be padded, but that didn’t mean near as much as integrity and being a good dad. Jax realized that Livie saw him as nothing more than a grease monkey, but that was her problem. He was long past caring what people thought of him.

  There was only one female he cared about these days.

  “You want more money? Is that it?”

  Exhausted with this line of questioning, Jax turned from the plane, stopping short when she’d closed the gap and stood only a few feet in front of him. He’d be damned if that streak on her face didn’t diminish her beauty. She most likely had men falling at her stiletto-covered feet, offering to do anything she wished. She’d be smart to learn he wasn’t going to be one of those men simply because she had a pretty face and killer curves.

  Jax’s parents had passed when he’d been ten, and Jax had to live with his grandfather. The man did the best he could, but he was older and tired, with his own set of health issues. So Jax had started hanging around the airport, taking a love to the skies . . . much like the late owner Livie still hadn’t mentioned.

  Propping his hands on his hips, Jax leveled his gaze.

  “Someone like you won’t get that I’m not able to be bought.” He didn’t care that her cheeks tinged with pink or that the muscle in her jaw ticked. He was pretty pissed himself. “Money has absolutely nothing to do with why I’m not selling my half.”

  Livie rolled her eyes. “Please. Everything comes down to money.”

  Wasn’t that a sad statement? From her tone, he could tell she fully believed such nonsense. The girl he remembered didn’t feel that way. Livie had raised money for a local animal shelter when she’d been a freshman in high school. She’d formed a group and had taken up an insane amount of donations. Even then she’d had the telling signs of a businesswoman and a leader. He wasn’t much liking the detached woman she’d grown into.

  “Loyalty and tradition have nothing to do with my finances and both of those are what makes up this airport. You know there’s more to all of this than just a business transaction.”

  When she narrowed her eyes, he didn’t back down. She may not have wanted to address the full picture, but he wasn’t going to let her hide behind the proverbial elephant in the room.

  “Well, you’d know it if you’d ever been home in the last sixteen years.”

  Her lips thinned and those eyes turned to slits. Yeah, he’d hit a nerve. Welcome to the club. She’d hit one as well barging into his airport and assuming she’d be welcome.

  “I can see you’re not in the mood to discuss business.”

  Uncrossing her arms, she straightened that already perfectly shaped jacket and hip-hugging skirt. The years had done her an unfair amount of favors. Who knew the woman could get more attractive?

  “I am determined to sell this land, Jackson. You can’t be so stubborn just because I’m the one making the offer. It’s a good deal.”

  The image of his little girl running through the open hangar, her arms wide, her excitement when she took her first plane ride, the fact that this was his home . . . absolutely priceless. Piper had planted the bulbs last spring, hoping to see them blossom this year, and they had. His daughter had a hand in this place as heavy as his own. In the grand scheme of things, money was just paper . . . kind of like his marriage certificate.

  Slowly, Jax narrowed the gap between them. She tipped her head up to meet his eyes, but she didn’t back up. Damn if Livie wasn’t holding her ground. On any other occasion he’d appreciate her tenacity and strength, but not when her sole goal was to dismantle his life. And it was a bit difficult to take her seriously when she had that streak on her cheek.

  When he took one more step, Livie reached up and held on to the wing, her eyes widened.

  That’s right. She was about to learn who truly held the upper hand on this fifty percent partnership from hell.

  “Your offer and your big-city thinking have no place in Haven. You knew that when you left years ago. I may not look like much to you, but believe it or not, I’m more than a plane mechanic.” He focused on his words and not her sweet floral scent. “And there are real people in this town. People who rely on me and my services, services your father started and hoped to pass down to you one day, but you left.”

  She pulled in a sharp breath. That’s right. He was going there.

  “I doubt my father would want you to turn down such a generous amount,” she countered with a tip of her chin.

  Jax couldn’t help but laugh. “If you’d been around at all, you’d know Paul busted his ass to keep this place going. This is more than an airport—it’s a legacy.”

  She pursed her pale pink glossy lips. “So, what do you propose then? You want me to just walk away and pretend I don’t own half? Just let you keep going on as if nothing happened?”

  Even if she did just that, something major had happened. Paul was gone. Selling this place would seem like he was severing that bond.

  Did Olivia even have a clue as to what all her father had done? Did she care? Did she know his reasoning for letting her go so many years ago?

  “Think about the lives you’d be impacting.” Reaching up, he gripped the smooth edge of the wing, mimicking her stance.

  Livie dropped her hand, tilted her chin up, and offered a smile. “We need to come to an agreement that works for both of us.”

  “Doubtful that can happen when we want two separate things.”

  Livie’s smile hit him with a punch of lust to the gut. Damn it. He had to keep dodging these blows. “Then we’ll just have to get creative.”

  Images popped into his mind of how creative he could be . . . but he didn’t think her line of thinking matched his. She was trying to get him off course and if he wasn’t careful, she’d succeed.

  “You should know,” she went on, “I never lose.”

  She spun on her heel and marched away. He didn’t even bother telling her she was wasting her efforts fighting because he’d come out on top. How could he say anything when his gaze was fixed on the sway of her hips . . . and the imprint of his greasy handprint on her ass?

  Chapter Two

  Infuriating, frustrating man. Clearly, he wanted this place just as much as she did, but there was no way she was backing down. They had opposite goals and there was no way to get what they both wanted.

  Olivia could’ve easily handled him if he’d been the boy she once knew. The quiet, mysterious teen with curious eyes, and a desperate need for an orthodontist. But now he had that whole nobility thing going with his military background and he was just as determined to fight as she was. He was definitely n
ot the same person . . . then again, neither was she.

  The man she’d verbally sparred with had a strong desire to hold on to his life, but all that did was force her into a past she wanted nothing to do with. She wouldn’t let anyone pull her back in. Not Jackson, not the memory of her late father.

  Olivia cringed as she walked in the back door of her childhood home. She was used to working with men wearing Italian-cut suits, not holey jeans and tees that stretched across impressively broad shoulders. And since when did airplane grease smell sexy?

  She’d temporarily been thrown off her game, that’s all—not to mention she hadn’t expected him to be so passionate about such a run-down place. The money she’d offered had been more than what he deserved for half... which only meant he had deeper ties than she’d ever considered.

  Okay, so she needed to refocus and go back in for the kill. At least now she knew what she was up against. A formidable opponent is something she valued in her job—it made her sharper, made the win that much sweeter. However, with her father’s airport, she wanted in and out.

  In the sixteen years she’d been gone, her father had reached out to her several times. She hadn’t ignored him, but she hadn’t once taken him up on his invitation to return. Once she’d gotten out of the small town and into the city, she knew she’d never come back. The narrow way of life didn’t appeal to her anymore.

  And it didn’t appeal to her now.

  “I don’t like that look on your face.”

  Olivia didn’t even attempt a smile for her best friend. Melanie didn’t need things sugarcoated. They all knew full well exactly what was at stake, what this buyout meant to Olivia.

  Thankfully, Olivia’s two best friends had come with her for support. As strong as Olivia thought she was, there was no way she could handle all of this on her own. Besides, Melanie and Jade had their own demons they were running from, so getting out of Atlanta for a while was a smart move.

  Melanie leaned against the center island, her smoothie bottle in hand. From the looks of the green contents, she was back on her cleanse. Her vow to stay on top of her weight was a personal battle—stemming from an extremely arrogant, controlling jerk who’d emotionally crushed Melanie. And the jerk was still causing problems, which was just another reason why Melanie came to Haven with Olivia.

  “Speaking of face, you have something on yours.” Melanie tapped on her own cheek to indicate the area to Olivia.

  Confused, Olivia blinked. “My face?”

  “It’s black.”

  Olivia resisted the urge to scream as she swiped with her palm. She knew exactly what her friend referred to now. Sure enough, grease.

  “That bastard,” she muttered.

  Melanie wrinkled her nose. “I take it things didn’t go as planned.”

  Olivia sat her bag on the worn laminate island and blew out a sigh. Where did she begin? The fact that Jackson looked nothing like she remembered, or the fact that her emotions nearly choked her when she arrived?

  “He refused my offer, but I’m not giving up.” She took a seat on the wooden barstool and reached for the yellow hand towel on the island. Wiping Jackson’s childish prank off her hand, she added, “He’s going to be tough to crack, but I will win this fight. I have to.”

  The back door opened and closed. Olivia glanced over her shoulder to see Jade dabbing her palms over her sweaty forehead and cheeks. “Oh, good. You’re both here.”

  Jade McCoy was the only person Olivia knew who could go on a run and still look like a damn supermodel on the other side. With her fitted, matching workout gear, her bright red hair in a top knot that she managed to make look stylish, Jade could have just jumped off the cover of Shape.

  She and Olivia had become instant friends when they bonded over their patent leather pink flats in the third grade. They’d met Melanie only a few years ago at a marathon. Melanie had stumbled and hurt her ankle just a quarter mile shy of the finish line. Jade and Olivia had each taken an arm and helped her limp across to finish. It was only after they learned why that marathon had been so important for Melanie, and their friendship had been formed.

  Olivia stared at her friend. “He turned down the money.”

  And that really put a damper on her short-term plans, but Olivia never lost a battle and she wasn’t done with Jackson—not by a long shot. A minor setback, that’s all. His stubborn stance would keep her here in Haven longer than she’d intended. Now that he knew she was here, and what she wanted, she would give them both a bit to think on this, and she’d go back. They weren’t done negotiating . . . hell, they hadn’t even started negotiating. He’d closed the door in her face.

  Still, Olivia was confident she would come out on top. This airport had to be fully in her name before she left. How could she go back to Atlanta a failure? How could she go back to work when it was literally her job to buy and sell companies if she couldn’t even get this simple task done?

  Olivia had a job to get back to, a partnership to earn in the company she’d practically shed blood, sweat, and tears for. She’d be damned if that partnership would go to her coworker, and nemesis, Steve Parsons. So, she’d have to make Jackson see the money was better than the memories. There was no other option.

  “I’m sure he has reasons for turning you down.” Jade headed to the fridge, grabbed a water, and uncapped it. She turned to lean against the counter opposite the island. “Like maybe his daughter.”

  Olivia stilled. A daughter? That definitely did not come up in conversation. How the hell could she fight properly when she wasn’t fully aware what she was up against?

  Why did life have to keep smacking her in the face? Just when she thought she was on target, something happened to push her back down.

  “You okay?” Melanie asked in that soft, delicate tone of hers.

  Olivia smiled. “Of course. This changes nothing.”

  Okay, that was a lie, but if she acted weak or scared, she’d never get this job done.

  “How did you find out?” Olivia asked Jade.

  Smoothing a stray, sweaty strand off her forehead, Jade took a long drink before answering. “I was jogging down my old street and Mrs. Kinard was outside. She stopped me and started talking. As much as I don’t want to be in this town either, I couldn’t be rude to my old neighbor. Besides, I never can turn down gossip.”

  Olivia raised her brows and made a circular motion with her hand.

  “Right, so anyway, she mentioned your father, then she mentioned Jax and the airport. I’d all but tuned her out until I heard her mention Piper and how much the four-year-old loved spending time with her dad at the airport.”

  Okay. This was . . . okay. Everything would be fine so long as she didn’t dwell on the fact Jackson’s and Piper’s lives somewhat paralleled Olivia’s and her father’s when she’d been a toddler. She’d always been her father’s sidekick and had wanted to be a pilot. Somewhere along the road to freedom and adulthood, something changed and she honestly couldn’t even pinpoint when that occurred.

  Olivia could deal with a daughter. Surely, Jax wanted to do what was best for his family, she totally understood that. So, why not take the money? This bit of information was a game-changer. Olivia would have to appeal to him as a parent, which may be difficult considering she knew nothing of that topic.

  “Maybe you should leave the airport as is,” Melanie suggested. She held up her hands to her friends and went on. “Hear me out. What does it hurt if you own half? Let him continue to run it and you can just pretend things are the same as before.”

  Olivia shook her head. “Because things aren’t the same. I want out of this and he will just have to see things from my point of view.”

  “So how did you leave things?” Jade asked. “Since you didn’t know about his daughter, you guys clearly didn’t get too personal. Did he tell you why he didn’t want to sell his half ?”

  Olivia flattened her hands on the scarred island. The place really needed an overhaul—it was just as neglected
as the airport and office.

  Once upon a time, these kitchens walls were a beautiful Tiffany blue with white cabinets. Her mother always had fresh flowers on the counter, pink usually. Cheery tea towels would hang over the oven handle. The entire house now seemed so depressing, a shell of what it used to be. With the white walls, white appliances, tan linoleum, beige countertops. It was all so dated. Clearly, her father hadn’t wanted to keep the reminders of a time when they’d all lived here, because every single room had been repainted, pictures changed out.

  Unfortunately, while she was here, she was going to have to go through and get out the personal stuff. Furniture, curtains, cosmetic items could be sold with the house. But there were boxes to go through, memories to face.

  And one more thing to pull her back into the past she’d give anything to avoid.

  “He mentioned tradition and loyalty. I get that, I really do, but not when it comes at a cost to my sanity. I actually managed to get the last word in,” Olivia stated, proud to claim that minor victory. “He’s wrapped up in the nostalgia. Nothing I haven’t handled before. Most people who are in a bind have a rough time cutting that last tie.”

  Like me. But she could do this. Where once she could have been construed as a nostalgic sap, now she was an accountant working closely with an HR department in a respected, prime position. The present, not the past, was what mattered.

  Jade clutched her water bottle and smiled. “Good thing you’re holding the scissors.”

  “And the checkbook,” Olivia stated with confidence. Maybe once he saw a check made out to him, with a few zeroes, he’d change his tune. “I’m going back and I’ll keep going until he gives in. This may take more time than I anticipated, but I’m determined to be done once and for all.”

  “Are you sure?” Melanie asked. “I hate to play the devil’s advocate here, but—”

  “Please, you’ve never had an evil bone in your body,” Jade pointed out.

  Melanie shrugged with a slight smile. “Still, if this place bothers you so much, just leave. Let Jax go on with his life and you go back to yours. You have that partnership to work on back in Atlanta anyway.”