“Trust me, you’re safe,” he said with a small laugh, reaching for a fry for himself.
“Well, you told me that this morning and look what happened.”
She wasn’t looking at him as she said it, and her tone was light, but it pretty much gutted him.
Reaching across the table, he took one of her hands in his. “You have to know how sorry I am,” he began gruffly. “In all the chaos once we were on the ground, I realize I never apologized to you. I should have taken your concerns seriously before we even left the ground. There’s no way I can ever make it up to you or even apologize enough, but…you have to know how awful I feel about the entire thing. I never should have put you in that position.” Pulling his hand back, he raked it through his hair as he let out a long breath. “Hell, I realize now just how unprepared I was, and it would be one thing if it were just me on the flight. I had no right to bring you along.”
The whole time he spoke, she slowly ate another fry.
Damn. This was harder than he thought it would be.
“I don’t know what happens from here,” he went on. “Not just with our transportation, but between you and me with our working relationship. If I were in your shoes, I know I wouldn’t trust me. I’ve never endangered anyone before and I can’t believe I was foolish enough to do something like this now.”
“Ryder, did you intentionally fly into the turbulence?”
Was she crazy? “It doesn’t work like that.”
“Exactly,” she said plainly. “I’ll admit that I was terrified when I saw the plane this morning and even more terrified when you told me you were the one flying it.”
“Oh God…”
“But,” she quickly interrupted. “It was my decision to stay on board. Granted, I did search for other flights before we took off and there weren’t any, but I could have left if I wanted to.” With a patient smile, she reached over and took his hand again. “It was the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life and if I keep thinking about it, I know I’ll freak out, so…can we just…not talk about it?”
If only it were that simple…
“Peyton, you have to realize that it’s going to come up. We still have to get to Denver and then all the way back to Magnolia. The topic of transportation can’t be avoided forever.”
With a shrug, she picked up her burger and took a bite, moaning with pleasure.
Yeah, she was going to be the death of him. Rather than obsess about it, Ryder opted to pick up his own lunch and try it. They ate in companionable silence because the food was that good. Other than random comments about just how good it was, they were both focused on their burgers and fries. It wasn’t until they were done that he mentioned the dessert.
“I’m not saying we have to eat it now, but there’s a slice of pie and a giant cookie in that white bag.”
“Ooh…what kind of cookie?”
“Chocolate chip.”
Her smile was radiant. “I’m beginning to think my cousin gave away all my favorites to you. That basket this morning was absolutely amazing. I’m kind of bummed that it spilled all over the floor. I only had the muffins before everything happened.”
“I promise to send you a replica of it when we’re back in Magnolia.”
Standing, Peyton stretched and cleaned up their mess. There was a trash pail outside their room and she took everything out there before coming back in and sitting on the bed. “So…do you think we should have looked into getting a rental car and starting the drive today?”
His bark of laughter was the first response, and when she looked offended, he instantly sobered. “Peyton, after the morning we had, I didn’t think it was smart to try to drive anywhere. I realize this is going to cost us the first day of the show because it’s an eleven-hour drive to Denver from here, but…” He shrugged.
Collapsing back on the bed, she sighed loudly. “Damn. I didn’t realize it was that long. Then again, geography really isn’t my thing.” Turning her head, she looked over at him. “So what can we do?”
Ryder was still sitting at the small dining set by the window and tried to think of a reasonable response. “I…I guess we go online and see about renting a car for tomorrow and getting as early of a start as possible.”
“And what about the plane? You know, your plane?”
“I’ve got some calls to make about it. Someone’s going to inspect it today to make sure there’s no damage and then my pilot will come and fly it back to North Carolina.”
“Oh.”
“As a matter of fact, why don’t I get started on that,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I’ll just be outside and…”
“You don’t need to leave the room. I’m going to pull out my laptop and do some work too so I promise not to disturb you.”
“I was actually afraid I was going to disturb you,” he said with small laugh.
“Well…you do you and I’ll just be over here doing my thing.”
For an hour, Ryder made one call after another. He set up his laptop on the table and made notes about the mechanic who was going to look at the plane and made arrangements for his pilot to fly in to take it home. It killed him to do it, but…he couldn’t put the full blame on Peyton. The thought of getting back on the small jet didn’t sit well with him, either.
There weren’t many car rental locations nearby. He studied their options and then the route and he thought maybe this was the universe’s way of saying they shouldn’t go to the trade show. He had no idea why, but…it seemed like an awful lot of bad luck was following them.
Turning, he saw Peyton climb from the bed and stretch before she padded over toward him, smiling. “I can’t concentrate on anything,” she told him.
“How come?”
“It seems my mind can only focus on one thing and…I’m not proud of it.”
His mind instantly went to the night they kissed, and he secretly hoped that’s what she was referring to. She was a living, breathing temptation, and that clingy little outfit had been driving him mad for weeks now.
As she got closer, her smile turned a little…impish. “It’s probably going to sound naughty, but…”
“But…?” he croaked, starting to sweat.
“The temptation is too much. It’s crazy and I know I shouldn’t, but…”
“Peyton, I…I feel the same way,” he admitted as he stood.
“Oh thank God,” she said with a laugh. “I kept telling myself I should wait to eat the cookie because lunch was so filling, but that bag is just sitting there mocking me!” Stepping around him, she grabbed it and pulled the cookie from it.
Food? She was thinking about food? Was that all she thought about?
“Do you want the pie?” she asked, holding it out to him.
Taking it from her hand, he tossed it on the table, much to her wide-eyed dismay. “No.”
“But…you just said…”
Ryder took one step toward her and then another until they were practically toe to toe. “I didn’t realize you were talking about food.”