Beach Reads Boxed Set

by Marie Force

  “Not so well,” he confessed. “They’re great kids, and despite what they’re going through, they always have a big smile and a hug for me. It’s very rewarding.”

  “I imagine it is. Where do you get the planes to fly them?”

  “Several companies here in Chicago donate their corporate jets whenever they’re not using them. I’m checked out on three different planes so I can be ready to fly whatever’s available.”

  “Just when I thought I couldn’t love you more I find out there’s this whole other side of you.”

  “It’s no big deal, Liv.”

  “It is to the people you’re helping.”

  “A lot of people helped us when my mother was sick.”

  “Was she sick for long?”

  “Four months from diagnosis to death.”

  “God,” she sighed. “What kind of cancer did she have?”

  “Pancreatic. It was the most shocking thing. She went from perfectly healthy to terminally ill in a month’s time. I took a leave of absence from the airline and moved home to help take care of her. I’m so glad now I had that time with her.”

  “You must’ve been so devastated when she died.”

  “To be honest, the diagnosis was more devastating. By the time she died, it was almost a relief. I know that must sound weird, but the highs and lows of the treatment and the doctors’ appointments—where there was never any good news—just sucked the life out of us.”

  “I can understand that. How’s your dad doing?”

  “He’s surprised us all. He never lifted a finger at home, and now he’s doing his own laundry and grocery shopping. He even took a cooking class at one of the local churches. He has a lot of good friends who keep him busy, and my nieces and nephews are always over there.”

  “Do you think he’ll ever get married again?”

  “Nah. I don’t think so. They were very happy together for almost forty years.”

  “Would you care if he did?”

  “People ask me that a lot. I wouldn’t mind as long as he found someone who wouldn’t try to reorder his whole life. He likes it the way it is.” Cole yawned. “I hate to say it, but I’ve gotta go to bed, hon. I’m fading fast.”

  “Me, too. I’m hugging a pillow, but it’s a poor substitute.”

  “I hear ya. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Can’t wait. I love you, Cole.”

  “I love you, too. Sleep tight.”

  She ended the call and held the phone tight against her chest, wishing she could hold him instead of the phone. When she woke up in the morning, the phone was still there.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The next evening, Cole arrived home at eleven to find Tucker waiting for him.

  “I’ve given out way too many keys to this place,” Cole grumbled, even though he was happy to see his friend.

  “You owe me some information, so I figured if I bribed you with a six pack, you’d spill it.”

  “You figured right.” Cole went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Sam Adams. “Need another one?”

  “Twist my arm.”

  Cole opened two bottles and brought them to the living room. He handed one to Tucker, put his on the table, and pulled off his tie. Reaching for the top button of his uniform shirt, he glanced at his friend. “So what do you want to know?”

  Tucker put Sports Center on mute and raised an eyebrow. “Whatever you’re not telling me.”

  “What makes you think I’m not telling you something?”

  Tucker rolled his eyes. “Let’s examine the evidence, shall we? It all begins with a mysterious weekend in Washington, followed by an urgent phone call to sidekick and best pal Tucker pleading with him to deal with Nutty Natasha before she screws something up for our fearless hero. Screws up what, exactly, our hearty sidekick would like to know. The evidence points to a romantic liaison for our dashing hero, but why, the sidekick wonders, wouldn’t the hero spill the deets when he knows his feckless friend lives vicariously through him?”

  Cole couldn’t help but smile. Tucker had that effect on people. “You’ve figured me out.”

  “Ah ha! I knew it! Who is she?”

  “Olivia,” Cole said with a smile. Just saying her name made him happy.

  “And when did you meet Miss Olivia?”

  “The day I got punched in the airport.”

  “And you’ve waited all this time to tell me about her? What’s that about?”

  Cole shrugged. “I wanted to keep it to myself for a while. Since when is that a federal crime?”

  “I’m wounded.”

  “You’ll recover.”

  Tucker studied Cole for a long moment.

  “What?”

  “Something’s different about you.”

  Cole couldn’t deny that so he didn’t try.

  “Would this Olivia have anything to do with why Brenda called me crying her eyes out because you ended it with her?”

  Cole swallowed hard. “I guess.” He hated to hear Brenda was that upset. In fact, it surprised the hell out of him. They’d never been serious.

  Tucker rubbed the whiskers on his jaw. “Acting mysterious, holding out on poor old Tucker, breaking up with longtime ladies… This is sounding serious.”

  “It is,” Cole said without hesitation.

  Tucker stared at him, apparently too astounded to speak. “Wanna run that by me one more time?”

  “The thing with Olivia. It’s serious.”

  Tucker shook his head, as if he hadn’t heard Cole correctly. “So you mean to tell me you plan to be like, what, exclusive with this girl?”

  “Yep.”

  “Man, that must’ve been some head injury. It totally rebooted your computer.”

  “Very funny.”

  “You honestly think you can pull this off?”

  “Pull what off?”

  “The one-woman-man act.”

  “It’s not an act. I love her.”

  Tucker nearly choked on the mouthful of beer he was attempting to swallow. “Did you just say… You did not just say… Shit.”

  Cole cracked up at his friend’s reaction.

  “I absolutely have to meet this girl as soon as humanly possible.”

  “What’s the rush?”

  “She’s managed to do what no woman before her has even come close to doing.”

  “And what is that, exactly?”

  “She’s got you chasing her. That’s a freaking miracle, man. I need to meet this wonder woman so I can bow down before her.”

  Cole chucked a throw pillow at him. “Shut up.”

  On Wednesday morning, Olivia spent extra time on her hair. And rather than the khakis she usually wore with her royal blue uniform shirt, she tossed a short black skirt into her tote bag to change into before work. Jenny dropped her at the Metro an hour before she was due on campus for a study group meeting for her international finance class.

  After the meeting, she couldn’t have said what had happened. She hadn’t heard a word of it but had several items on her “to do” list that she had no memory of writing down.

  “I’m losing it,” she whispered to herself with a laugh as she walked across the quad on her way to the art department. The adviser she had met with wasn’t in, so Olivia left her portfolio with the department secretary. She cast a nervous glance over her shoulder and caught the secretary tossing the leather case into a pile on her desk, as if it didn’t contain the most important work Olivia had ever done as an artist.

  Deep breaths. Whatever’s going to happen will happen. It’s out of my hands now. Outside, she checked her watch. She had to be at work in forty-five minutes, and in just four hours she’d see Cole. The thought made her want to skip to the Metro station. It’s only for thirty minutes, she reminded herself. Thirty minutes! She couldn’t wait.

  Olivia watched for him at the end of the concourse, where the flood of people pouring into the terminal blocked her view. On tiptoes, she strained to see over the hoards coming from t
he gates. Her eyes finally connected with his, and his face lit up with a big grin.

  Trying to be patient, she let him make his way to her, but she was out of patience after waiting all day to see him.

  Then he was in front of her, and she stepped into his outstretched arms. Relief flooded through her as she breathed in the masculine scent that was so uniquely his. The crowd parted around them, but they didn’t move for a long time.

  Finally, he released her and looked down at her. “Come on.” Keeping an arm tight around her, he steered her through the terminal to the Capital Airlines lounge. Inside, he flashed his ID at the dumbfounded attendant.

  “First Officer Langston,” the attendant said, giddy with excitement. “It’s such an incredible thrill to have you here.”

  “Oh, um, thanks,” he muttered, clearly embarrassed by her effusive welcome.

  “If there’s anything, anything at all I can do for you, just let me know.”

  Behind Cole’s back, Olivia rolled her eyes. Could the woman be any more ridiculous? Even as she dismissed the bottle blonde as foolish, Olivia’s stomach ached at the thought of how often he probably received such attention. How did he react when she wasn’t with him?

  “Thanks,” Cole said, steering Olivia into the room.

  Forcing herself to shake off the sickening insecurity, she looked around at the luxurious lounge, which was empty of other customers at the moment. Sofas—in Capital red and blue—were arranged into sitting areas, a wide variety of beverages were available on the bar, and a row of TVs were tuned to most of the major news channels.

  “I’ve always wondered what it was like in here.”

  “As you can see, it’s very exciting,” Cole said dryly. He helped himself to a Coke and offered her one.

  “Diet, please.”

  They sat on a sofa around the corner from the prying eyes of the attendant.

  Cole put their drinks on a table and whispered, “Kiss me, will you?”

  “Happy to.”

  He cupped her cheek as his lips moved softly over hers.

  Olivia’s hand rested on his chest, inside his uniform coat. He seemed to make a huge effort to keep the kiss light and undemanding, but after days without him Olivia wasn’t interested in light or undemanding. She teased him with flicks of her tongue over his bottom lip. When he finally pulled back from her, his eyes had darkened to a deep, navy blue.

  “There’s no way I can wait until next Friday to make love with you again,” he whispered as he snaked an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

  “I’m afraid you’ll have to.”

  “Maybe not.”

  She raised her head off his shoulder. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m trying to trade flights with one of my coworkers so I can get the overnight leg here next Tuesday. No promises, though.”

  “I’m not going to even think about it until you know for sure.”

  “I’ll have to sleep,” he warned her, his eyes dancing with amusement.

  “I might allow some of that.”

  He captured her lips in another soft kiss that had her craving much more.

  The attendant walked over, startling them. Cole withdrew his arm from Olivia’s shoulders and sat up straighter.

  “Can I get you anything?” the woman asked with a flirtatious smile as her curious eyes shifted from Cole to dismiss Olivia before she returned her attention to him.

  “No, thank you,” he said.

  “Let me know if you change your mind,” she said as she walked away, her statement heavy with double meaning.

  Olivia felt sick again.

  His entire demeanor had changed in the course of the brief encounter with the attendant.

  Chilled by the sudden distance he had put between them, Olivia said, “What’s wrong?”

  “I shouldn’t have brought you in here.”

  She couldn’t believe it was possible, but she needed to know. “Are you… ashamed… to be seen with someone who has kind of a menial job in the airport?”

  His expression shifted from remote to shocked. “What? Ashamed? Of you? Jesus, Olivia. I’m not ashamed of you, but I’m supposed to maintain a certain decorum while in uniform. Getting caught making out with my girlfriend in the company lounge hardly counts. And the reason I shouldn’t have brought you in here is because all I’ve thought about today is kissing you. I thought it might be more private in here than in some corner of the terminal. I was wrong.”

  “Oh.” She was ashamed of herself now. Her stomach sank, and her heart ached. “I’m sorry, I just… I didn’t know.” She saw anger in his eyes and in the firm set of his jaw. Somehow she had managed to hurt him—again.

  He checked his watch. “I need to go.”

  “Already?”

  “By the time I get back, they’ll be boarding.”

  “Don’t leave like this.” She rested her hand on his arm. “Please. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “I know you didn’t, Liv, but it does offend me that you could think that of me, and I hate that you’ve got it in your head that you’re not good enough for me.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. I love you so much, and I just keep messing it up. That’s the last thing I want to do.”

  With both hands on her face, he kissed her—properly—with no regard to the prying eyes of the attendant. By the time he pulled back from her, Olivia’s head was spinning.

  “Does that take care of any remaining questions?” he asked, his eyes dark and fixed on her.

  “Yeah,” she said breathlessly. “I think that’ll do it.”

  “I look at you, and I’m useless,” he said in a quiet but urgent tone. “I think about you from the minute I wake up in the morning until the second I close my eyes at night. I. Love. You. Stop trying to talk me out of it, will you?”

  Overcome by his emotional outpouring, she could only nod.

  He kissed her again. “Walk me back?”

  With his hand wrapped around hers, she followed him past the nosy attendant and back into the crowded terminal. Just before they reached his gate, he stopped and drew her into a tight hug.

  Olivia wrapped her arms around him under his coat and held on tight. “So, um, you called me your girlfriend back there.”

  He drew back from her so he could look down at her. “Well, duh. What do you think you are?”

  “I liked it.”

  Kissing her forehead, he held her close. “Then I’ll have to say it more often.” He glanced over his shoulder at the door to the Jetway where a Capital representative had begun boarding the plane. “I’ve got to go, hon. See you next time.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  “I’m counting on it.” He kissed her cheek and left her with a smile.

  Olivia stood at the window and waited until the plane pulled back from the gate. In the cockpit, Cole wore sunglasses and talked into a headset. Moving to the other side of the door for a better view, she kept her eyes on the shiny blue-and-red plane as it taxied to the end of the runway where it sat for several minutes.

  She sucked in a deep breath when the plane suddenly lurched forward, hurtled down the runway, and lifted into the air. It was out of sight before she released the breath she’d been holding in one long sigh. She couldn’t imagine what that moment—when the plane lifted off the ground—was like for the people onboard. Did they hold their breath, too? She was sure she would.

  She got back to work ten minutes late, but it had been worth it—so totally worth it.

  By the time Cole brought the plane to a stop at the gate in Chicago, it was nearly eleven. He was exhausted and grateful to have the next day off. He planned to sleep all day.

  Next to him, Jake Garrison worked on the paperwork while the flight attendants said good night to the passengers. Without looking up from what he was doing, Jake said, “So who’s the looker at DCA?”

  “What?” Cole asked, startled.

  “The girl, Langston,” Jake said, laughing. “The o
ne you were wearing like a necklace at the gate?”

  Cole took the clipboard from him, signed on the line below Jake’s signature, and handed it back to him. “She’s my girlfriend.”

  “You have an actual girlfriend.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “A girlfriend who works in the airport?”

  Cole looked over at him. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “Not a thing,” Jake said, holding up his hands.

  “She’s working there while she goes to school.”

  Raising an eyebrow, Jake said, “You’re dating a coed?”

  “She’s twenty-seven, Jake.”

  “What’s she still doing in school?”

  “Thanks to some family issues, she’s done a few years at the school of hard knocks. She’s a gifted artist who’s finally starting to believe in her talent.” He looked up to find Jake watching him with interest. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  Cole sighed. “Just say it. Whatever it is.”

  “What happened to your harem?” Jake asked in a teasing tone.

  “Those days are over.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep.”

  “Hmm.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Oh, nothing,” Jake said. “I just don’t see you as a one-woman kind of guy.”

  “Well I am now.” Jake was the second person in as many days to make that observation, leaving Cole to wonder just how awful his reputation had become. His womanizing had definitely gotten worse since his mother died, as if he was trying to fill the void or something. Whatever the reason, it hadn’t worked until he found Olivia.

  Irritated by Jake’s comments, Cole took off his seatbelt and slipped out of his seat. He grabbed his uniform coat and backpack. “See ya.” He was halfway up the Jetway when he heard Jake calling him.

  “Langston! Wait. Come on. Wait up.”

  Cole stopped, took a deep breath, and turned around.

  “What’re you so pissed about?” Jake asked.

  “Who’s pissed?”

  “Oh,” Jake said with a knowing smile. “I get it.”

  “I’m tired, Jake, and I have no idea what you’re talking about.”