“What’s so funny, darling?” His wife suddenly stepped between us. “Who’s your little friend here?”
He rolled his eyes and quickly introduced us. Then he slipped his arm around her waist and looked me over one last time before stepping back.
“Very impressive, Gillian,” he said, winking. “The plane thing.”
His wife scowled at me and he smiled one last time before leading her away. I waited until they were out of my sight and turned toward the city, hoping I wouldn’t run into either of them for the rest of the night.
“The ‘plane thing’ was very impressive.” A different man, with a deeper and more dominant voice, stepped closer to the railing. “It would’ve been even more impressive if you’d actually gotten it right…”
“Excuse me?” I turned to my left, catching him mid-sip. “What did you just say?”
“I said—” He turned to face me. “That your plane trivia would’ve been more impressive, if you’d gotten it right. Don’t you think?”
I couldn’t think at all. I couldn’t even try.
This man was the utter definition of perfection, the very template of living, breathing, sex. His stormy blue eyes gleamed beneath the party’s dim lights as they locked onto mine, and his full and defined lips were pressed into a tempting, sexy smirk. His hair, dirty-blond and slightly messy, looked as if someone had just run her fingers through it.
His suit, an all black three piece, clung to his body in all the right ways, and the watch on his wrist—a stunning silver, Audemars Piguet, let me know that he could afford to spend my entire year’s salary on something as insignificant as an accessory.
“Should I take your silence to accept that I’m right?” He smiled a set of pearly whites and I shook my head, trying to snap out of my trance.
“You should take it to mean that you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” I looked up at the plane again. It was farther away, but still easily seen. “That’s a Boeing 737, and it’s pretty rude to eavesdrop.”
“It’s pretty rude to spread the wrong information.” He smiled again and stepped closer, looking up at the sky. “That’s an Airbus 320, not a Boeing 737.” He waited for me to follow where his fingers were pointing. “The difference is in the nose of the plane and the cockpit windows…Airbus is bulbous, Boeing is pointed. 737 cockpit windows are diagonal, and Airbus cockpit windows are—”
“Square,” I said, immediately realizing he was right. “Well, congratulations. You’ve won the random plane facts game tonight. I hope you don’t think there’s a prize for that.”
“There should be.”
“How about the satisfaction of knowing you’re an arrogant eavesdropper?”
“Or,” he said, “The satisfaction of knowing you don’t really give a fuck that I eavesdropped. That you’re happy that I did it, and now you don’t want me to leave you alone.”
Silence.
His smile widened and the scent of his intoxicating cologne made me take one step closer to him. He kept his eyes on mine for several seconds, as if he was daring me to move even closer, but instead, he broke the silence.
“Jake,” he said, extending his hand toward mine as the silver “J” cufflinks on his sleeve sparkled against the night.
“Gillian.” The feel of his hand over mine sent a wave of warmth throughout my entire body and I drew back, completely confused as to how a simple handshake could make all of my nerves come to life. How a complete stranger could make me wet with a simple smile and a flick of his wrist.
A waitress suddenly stepped in front of us, interrupting our moment as she gave us fresh glasses of champagne. She asked me if I was enjoying myself, if I needed anything else, and as she launched into a short spiel about how amazing the hors d’oeuvres were tonight, I felt Jake’s heated gaze moving up and down my body, felt him turning me on without even trying.
The second the waitress walked away, he spoke. “What do you do for a living, Gillian?”
“I’m—” I remembered what Meredith said about lying tonight. “I’m a pilot, a captain actually.”
He raised his eyebrow. “You look a little too young to be a captain.”
“My high number of flight hours say differently.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.” I barely managed to remain standing as he took my glass from my hand and set it on the ledge.
“Are you a commercial or a private pilot?”
“Private.” I needed to ask him what he did for a living, to run away from this lie and subject as fast as possible, but he leaned back against the railing and pulled me closer to him, making me lose my train of thought.
As he pressed his hands against my hips, I stood still between his legs, so close to him that I was convinced he was about to press his mouth against mine and kiss me, but he didn’t.
“How long have you been flying?” he asked.
“As long as I can remember.”
“Hmmm…” He trailed his finger against my bottom lip, appearing even more intrigued. He looked as if he were waiting for me to jerk back or tell him to stop, but when I didn’t, his smile returned. “So, which airline do you fly for, Gillian?”
“It’s a really small one…” The rough way he said my name affected me even more than his intense eye-fucking. “You wouldn’t know it. Trust me.”
“I would.” He lowered his voice, his lips nearly brushing against mine. “Try me.”
“It’s um…It’s a small, private one.”
“Yes,” he said, his voice even deeper. “We’ve established that it’s private, Gillian. However, that’s not what I’m asking you. What’s the name of the airline?”
Shit… “I can’t tell you that. It’s too personal.” I surrendered as his hand caressed my back, as his fingers teasingly trailed the imprint of my bra. “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a bestselling author.”
“What?” My mind raced with questions. “Really?”
“No.” His lips latched onto mine without warning and I lost all sense of time as his tongue slid deeper into my mouth—as he bit down hard on my bottom lip, making me even wetter than I was before. His hands were gripping my hips, his fingers pressing into my skin, and I let out a soft moan as his mouth continued to control mine. “I’m not really a fucking author…” He whispered against my lips, and a knowing smile crossed his face as he pulled away from me. “But since you’re pretending to be a pilot, I can pretend to be whatever I want to be, correct?”
“Yes.” I felt my cheeks heating. “I guess so.”
“Did you come here alone?” he asked.
“I think you should’ve asked that before you kissed me.”
“If your sexy ass mouth wasn’t such a distraction, I would’ve,” he said. “Did you come here alone?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.
His fingers were running through my hair, and his mouth was close to mine again. My panties were soaked and sticking to my skin.