Чтение онлайн

на главную - закладки

Жанры

The Rogue And The Rich Girl
Шрифт:

He handed the attendant the clipboard, then flicked his gaze over her. “I liked your hair the way it was.”

She fingered the secured knot. “I prefer it up.”

“Yeah.” He took mirrored aviator shades from the breast pocket of his ragged denim jacket. “You would.”

She felt a moment of regret when he put on the glasses, blocking out the intensity etched in his gray eyes. Simultaneously, she was glad. He saw too much.

“Ready?”

“Anytime you are,” she answered, shoving aside the unwelcome thoughts of his all-knowing eyes. Nicole opened the passenger door and saw a half-dozen or so airsick bags on her seat. She didn’t know whether he was being courteous or cautious. Cautious, she decided, moving them to the map compartment. Ace wouldn’t have done anything for her comfort, only his.

After a Learjet cleared, Ace taxied into position on the runway, and opened the throttle, giving the engine full power.

She wasn’t sure why, but this takeoff didn’t traumatize her as much as the first one had. Ace nudged the nose into the air, then leveled off, and her stomach only twisted with sporadic pains. She marveled at the sensation and told herself it had nothing to do with the pilot’s obvious skills.

Many hours later, following another brief landing for fuel at a scary-looking airstrip near a small Mexican village, the sun splashed its majestic array of colors across a vivid blue backdrop, then dropped on the western horizon.

She craned her head to look out the window, seeing the world in a new way. Invariably, on commercial flights, she lowered the window shade so she wouldn’t be forced to accept the reality of flirting with clouds while the land beneath her melded into a solid mass of potential crash sites.

Magenta swirled with purples and mauves, and she realized it was the first time she’d seen a sunset in over two years. Her job, first as Daddy’s assistant, now as sole owner, consumed every available hour and even a few that weren’t available. “It’s beautiful up here,” she said, nearly ten minutes later, after the sun had given a final wink, casting sparkling shimmers into the Caribbean.

“There’s no place like the sky,” he agreed over the engine’s roar.

For a moment, the grooves around his eyes relaxed, and Nicole glimpsed the real human being buried beneath layers of hard exterior. Was it possible...?

Instantly the softening disappeared.

The next few hours passed in a blur to her.

“We’ll be landing soon.”

Butterflies leapt to life, bringing her out of her silent plans for the meeting with the governor.

“You might want to take some more Dramamine.”

“I’ve already taken some.”

“You got them out of the bag?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I met Pinocchio.”

“Pinocchio?” he echoed, seemingly confused.

“The underwear in your bag.”

Ace laughed, and the sound was every bit as rich and vibrant as she’d thought. Like Kahl'ua and cream splashed over big chunky ice cubes. And every bit as potent.

“They were a gag gift,” he said. “At the bachelor party I went to a couple of days ago.”

“I could hardly care what you dress in, Mr. Lawson.” Still, she couldn’t help but wonder how they would look on him.

“I assure you, Ms. Jackson, I’ve never worn anything like that.”

She resisted the implied invitation to ask what he did wear.

“Not my style.”

Nicole turned away, looking out the window, seeing nothing except the vastness of water, which she assumed was the Caribbean. “I thought you said we’re landing.”

“We are.”

“Where?” she asked.

“Down there.”

“Down where?” she asked again, not seeing anything resembling an island, let alone a runway.

Outrageously, he winked at her. “Trust me.”

Her stomach dropped when Ace began the descent. Trusting him was the last thing she wanted to do. And the one thing she had to stake her life on.

The plane hit a patch of rough air, causing them to lose altitude drastically.

“We’ll be okay.”

She clutched the metal bar under her seat, the words trust me echoing in her mind.

They emerged from the turbulence, less than a heartbeat later.

“That wasn’t too bad, was it?”

“Terrifying,” she said.

“That wasn’t terrifying,” he said. “Terrifying is when you’re in the air with a bullet hole in the windshield and a fire in the engine.”

His tone was matter-of-fact, and it lit a responding flame somewhere inside her. He’d experienced the danger of living on the edge but didn’t allow it to bother him.

“Are you ever afraid?”

Ten, maybe fifteen seconds passed and she thought he didn’t intend to answer. What was going on behind that smoky gaze? What was he hiding?

Finally he admitted, “Sometimes. Sometimes I’m afraid.”

He looked at her. He obviously had a human side he didn’t want to show often. For some reason, the fact that he’d afforded her a glimpse of his fallible humanity touched her.

“Why do you put yourself in a position like that in the first place?”

“Because life can be shallow and meaningless.”

He specialized in taking people where no one else would. It had earned him a reputation she’d been scared to trust. Until she’d had no other options. “Putting yourself in danger makes life meaningful?”

Living makes life meaningful,” he said.

She started to ask another question, to dig a little deeper into the character he wanted shrouded, but he interrupted.

“The runway’s just ahead.”

Nicole looked out the windshield, seeing something that resembled a lump of coal, floating in the middle of the sea. “Cabo de Bello?”

He looked at his console again. “Yep.”

A single light reflected in the distance. She felt like Columbus, discovering the blessed sight of land after months at sea.

Поделиться:
Популярные книги

Бастард Императора. Том 12

Орлов Андрей Юрьевич
12. Бастард Императора
Фантастика:
попаданцы
аниме
фэнтези
фантастика: прочее
5.00
рейтинг книги
Бастард Императора. Том 12

Найденыш

Шмаков Алексей Семенович
2. Светлая Тьма
Фантастика:
юмористическое фэнтези
городское фэнтези
аниме
5.00
рейтинг книги
Найденыш

Невеста снежного демона

Ардова Алиса
Зимний бал в академии
Фантастика:
фэнтези
6.80
рейтинг книги
Невеста снежного демона

Попытка возврата. Тетралогия

Конюшевский Владислав Николаевич
Попытка возврата
Фантастика:
альтернативная история
9.26
рейтинг книги
Попытка возврата. Тетралогия

Возвращение

Кораблев Родион
5. Другая сторона
Фантастика:
боевая фантастика
6.23
рейтинг книги
Возвращение

Найди меня Шерхан

Тоцка Тала
3. Ямпольские-Демидовы
Любовные романы:
современные любовные романы
короткие любовные романы
7.70
рейтинг книги
Найди меня Шерхан

Идеальный мир для Лекаря 25

Сапфир Олег
25. Лекарь
Фантастика:
фэнтези
юмористическое фэнтези
аниме
5.00
рейтинг книги
Идеальный мир для Лекаря 25

Ефрейтор. Назад в СССР. Книга 2

Гаусс Максим
2. Второй шанс
Фантастика:
попаданцы
альтернативная история
7.00
рейтинг книги
Ефрейтор. Назад в СССР. Книга 2

Первый среди равных. Книга III

Бор Жорж
3. Первый среди Равных
Фантастика:
попаданцы
аниме
фэнтези
6.00
рейтинг книги
Первый среди равных. Книга III

Жандарм 4

Семин Никита
4. Жандарм
Фантастика:
попаданцы
альтернативная история
аниме
5.00
рейтинг книги
Жандарм 4

Сумеречный Стрелок 3

Карелин Сергей Витальевич
3. Сумеречный стрелок
Фантастика:
городское фэнтези
попаданцы
аниме
5.00
рейтинг книги
Сумеречный Стрелок 3

Измена. Не прощу

Леманн Анастасия
1. Измены
Любовные романы:
современные любовные романы
4.00
рейтинг книги
Измена. Не прощу

Бестужев. Служба Государевой Безопасности. Книга третья

Измайлов Сергей
3. Граф Бестужев
Фантастика:
фэнтези
попаданцы
аниме
5.00
рейтинг книги
Бестужев. Служба Государевой Безопасности. Книга третья

Измена. Тайный наследник. Том 2

Лаврова Алиса
2. Тайный наследник
Фантастика:
фэнтези
5.00
рейтинг книги
Измена. Тайный наследник. Том 2