Chapter 1
“Oh great!” Olivia sighed, watching the tall, dark haired man step out of the car, sliding his aviator glasses on. “Why him again?!”
With a frustrated sigh, Olivia turned her back on the man, even though he couldn’t even see her. He was in the parking lot and she was on the tarmac, but she could still feel her anger ramped up a few levels.
Pete hadn’t been on the schedule for this flight! She’d checked, needing to mentally be prepared when she worked for the man. There was just something about him, maybe his unrelenting teasing or perhaps it was the way he always seemed to be laughing at her, even when she hadn’t said anything funny…that just irked her.
Olivia tried to be casual and hide her frustration over his presence, tried to pull her eyes away from the tall, annoying man as he walked around his car to lift his flight bag out of the trunk but…okay, well, she might hate the man who would pilot the private jet but she was honest enough to accept that the man had a great butt. And great shoulders. And there was no excess flab hanging over his belt. And…
She was standing on the top of the moveable stairs, about to step back onto one of the Steele Industries’ private jet when she realized she’d been staring at the man.
“Good grief,” she grumbled, stepping into the dim interior of the jet. Olivia looked around, trying to remember what she’d been about to do. When she spotted the boxes of supplies on the floor of the galley, her memory finally kicked in. Taking one of the boxes, she forced her hands to continue straightening the contents of the plane’s kitchen until it was the way she preferred everything to be ordered. As the flight attendant, she had to be ready for any type of request from the passengers. Yes, the plane was owned by Steele Industries and, normally, there were very few passengers. Very often, it was one of the illustrious Steele brothers flying from one construction site to another, but they also allowed their management staff to fly on one of the four planes owned by Steele Industries. The brothers might be filthy rich, but they were also shockingly generous.
“How do things look?”
Olivia spun around, instantly aware of the tall man stepping on board the plane. Pete Harmond was a fabulous pilot and, if he weren’t such a jerk, she would prefer flying with him over the pilots that were employed by Steele Industries.
But Pete was one of those intolerable men who knew how to push her buttons, rile her temper and he seemed to be doing it with increasing frequency lately. Oh, she got in a few good zingers as well, but Pete was just…he could…
Uh! He just annoyed her!
“Everything is fine,” she snapped.
Technically, he was in charge during a flight. But the Steele Industries Aviation Manager was Mindy and that sweet, amazing dynamo was actually her boss as well as Pete’s. Mindy was basically everyone’s boss. Even Zeke Steele, the CEO of Steele Industries knew that Mindy was in charge when it came to the private jets. She was the bundle of energy that ensured that this whole operation worked smoothly.
Olivia had spoken to Mindy about her interactions with Pete. The two of them often met for lunch and, after almost every flight, Olivia vented about Pete’s annoying habits. Mindy knew how she felt about the irritating man, so why did Mindy keep pairing her up with Pete?
Olivia thought about sending Mindy a text message, but Pete was taking off his jacket and tossing it into the cockpit. For a long moment, she simply froze, her eyes moving over the man’s muscular back and shoulders while her mind wondered what he did during his off hours to maintain that kind of physique.
When she realized what she was thinking, she shook her head and turned around. It took several moments to remember what she was doing, and even that irritated her. How could the man mess with her mind like that? Without even trying?!
The three other pilots who flew for Steele Industries were all very sweet, very kind men. They were fun to work with, easy going and joked around during the flights during the periods when the passengers required privacy. During those times, Olivia would often sit with the pilot in the cockpit, giving the passengers solitude but it was also nice to talk to someone during the long, tedious flights when the passengers were working.
Not so with Pete. No way! She avoided the cockpit, acting as if it might contain a pit of snakes! He would only torment her if she stepped into the cockpit for a break. Oh, the man just made her…he would…
“You’re dropping stuff,” Pete said as he stepped out of the cockpit with a clipboard tucked under his arm. “Thinking of me?” he teased, his voice abnormally close to her ear.
Olivia swung around, glaring at the jerk. “Don’t you have things you need to do?” she demanded, refusing to bend down and pick up the packages of gourmet coffee that had fallen to the floor. She just didn’t want to be that much smaller than the jerk. He was too tall already, standing somewhere around six feet, two or three inches. Even with her heels which, granted, they were a pretty conservative two inches, she still had to tilt her head to look up at him. Or glare at him, which is what she normally did.
“Sure, but it’s a lot more fun to watch you get all huffy and annoyed,” he teased, winking at her even as he turned around and headed out of the plane once again.
Olivia’s fingers tightened around the package of coffee in her hand even as her mind told her not to throw it at the man’s back. Don’t throw it. Don’t lower yourself to his level. Just be a lady.
It was hard, but somehow, she managed to not ping his back with the package. Not that it would hurt him, but…
Oh, he just irritated her!
Turning back, she finished organizing the galley and looked around. Everything else was in order. Sparkling cider, because Mindy had warned Olivia that the bride was pregnant, was chilling in a bucket and she had the champagne flutes ready the moment Zeke and his new bride boarded the plane. Glancing at her watch, she noted that their reception was most likely still in full swing at this point. She and Pete had arrived early, standing by so the plane would be ready to take off as soon as the CEO of Steele Industries wanted to leave.
Smiling, she thought about Mr. Steele and the brothers. Luke was the flirt…a more charming man, she’d never met. Her mind instantly conjured up Pete and banished him from her mind because just the thought of him made her angry. Logan was…well, he was intense, but when he smiled…! Boy, he was a heartbreaker! Zeke, the oldest, was probably the most intimidating, but she supposed that was because he was the oldest and in charge. The man had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.
Teague Steele was her favorite though. He was so funny and nice. Easy going. Hmm…well, there had been that flight to Las Vegas. He’d been working on the way there but on the flight back…she’d never seen him so silent. Olivia had no idea what had happened in Las Vegas. They’d been scheduled to be there for only three days but Teague Steele hadn’t flown back on schedule, which was odd. When he finally boarded the plane to head back to Seattle, she’d offered him coffee, beer, bourbon…all of his favorites. But he’d simply stared out the window, not talking. Not eating anything.
Shaking off her concern, she took a deep breath and looked around once more. Everything was ready for the newlyweds.
Now that her tasks were complete, the nervousness started to creep into her psyche. It was silly but…
Olivia glanced out through one of the plane’s windows, trying to see Pete. He was a good pilot, she reminded herself. One of the best. No reason to worry. All of the worst case scenarios…Pete could handle.
But what if…?!
Glancing outside the plane, she bit her lip, trying to decide if she could…?
No! He’d just tease her or say something that would fire up her temper.
Sighing, she walked through the cabin, searching for something…anything…to distract her mind from all of the possibilities.
Unfortunately, the lack of tasks only increased her nervousness. Staring outside, Olivia watched as Pete bent down lower, looking at something on the plane’s wing tip and her heart thudded harder against her rib cage. Was there a problem with the wing? Was it going to break off mid-flight? Should he get a mechanic out to look at…?
Stop it! This was ridiculous. Even as she calmed down her racing thoughts, Pete checked something off on his clipboard and moved on. Forcing her muscles to relax, Olivia reminded herself that, if there was any kind of problem, Pete would find it and fix it. He was one of the safest pilots she’d ever worked with and he didn’t take any kind of risk. Besides, Mindy demanded the highest standard of maintenance on all of the planes. No worries, she was just being silly and creating problems in her mind that didn’t really exist.
But what if…?
In the end, she walked out of the plane and down the stairs to the tarmac. Finding Pete, she breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed that he was only mid-way through his pre-flight safety checks. That gave her enough time to watch, to make sure that he would…but he always did! The man was a stickler for details and would never take off unless everything was good to go on the jet.
Casually, so as to not alert him that she was following him, she…well, she followed him. When he bent down to check something, she held her breath until he nodded and wrote something down on the clipboard. One by one, he checked out the entire plane and, as surreptitiously as possible, walked behind him, the tension in her shoulders easing a bit more with each piece of the plane that was checked off as safe.
Pete moved around to check the landing gear, feeling Olivia move in closer. For the past fifteen minutes, the woman bent over his shoulder, watching everything he did. She was beautiful, smart and sexy as hell but…damn, why did she have to do that?!
He bent over and tested the bolt on the wheel, walking away after confirming that it was perfect. But out of the corner of his eye, he watched as she reached down, testing the tightness as well. Did she not trust him? Did she actually think that he would put any passenger, or her, in danger by taking off in a plane that wasn’t up to his standards?
And what was that damn perfume?! He moved closer, pretending to check something else, but all he was really doing was…okay, so he was messing with her even as he pretended to check something. All he was really checking at the moment was the paint job on the jet. But sure enough, she walked behind him and touched the exact same place.
Just because he wanted to…well, she wore those severe uniforms with the silk blouse buttoned up just so and…Pete bend over, tapping his pen against the tire. He pretended to check off something on his list, but then walked away to a strategic place and…yep. She did the same thing. Oh damn! She was wearing the white lace! Hell! He loved the white lace bra! Did she have several of the same style? Did she wear them just to drive him crazy? And even more interesting, was she bending over like that to give him that enticing glimpse?
Unfortunately, she straightened and, since Pete wasn’t finished enjoying the view, he couldn’t stop his curiosity.
“Why are you doing that?!” he demanded sharply, wanting her to bend over again so he could enjoy her adorable butt.
Olivia jerked backwards and he felt bad, but the woman was…hell, he had no idea what she was doing! Her pretty blue eyes stared up at him and he had to grit his teeth to stop himself from pulling her into his arms and kissing those soft, pink lips. She was just so damn…enticing! He’d been able to keep his distance by keeping her temper riled up but he was at his wits end now.
Watching at her carefully, he moved closer, moving into her personal space in an effort to figure out what she was doing. “Don’t trust me to do my own pre-flight check?” he asked with a silky smooth tone of voice. Nope, getting close was a bad thing, he told himself. She smelled clean and fresh. Like flowers!
Stepping away, he looked down at his check-list, but the words were blurring in his mind which was still thinking about white lace and flowers of her lingerie. Impatiently, he moved over to the wings, checking for loose bolts or other issues that might damage the wing during flight. Sure enough, Olivia moved closer, following behind him.
Fed up, he walked over to her, towering over the woman in an effort to get her to stop doing whatever it was she was doing. “Olivia, don’t you have other things to do to prepare for the flight rather than second guess my ability to ensure that the plane is safe for flight?”
His stomach tightened when she bit that luscious lower lip. Was she doing that on purpose? Was she just trying to distract him? It was working…but also pissing him off. She was beautiful, no doubt about that. Her chestnut brown hair was pulled back into an elaborate, elegant twist, which only served to emphasize the delicate, feminine curve of her profile and the long line of her neck.
He felt like a heel when her soft, brown eyes looked up at him, startled by his outburst. What the hell? How was he supposed to react when the woman was walking behind him, making sure that everything he checked off was safe?!
“I just…” he watched as she clasped her hands behind her back.
“You what?” he demanded, moving to the next item on his checklist. He wanted to be ready whenever Zeke arrived and he didn’t have time to deal with her uptight, lady-of-the-manor attitude. She was beautiful, yes, but she was so stiff and formal, sometimes he taunted her just to see if she was human. He knew that he irritated her, but at this point, he was irritated as well.
“I just…” her hands twisted slightly and he looked at her again. Something in those brown eyes caught his attention and he stopped. Really looking this time. It wasn’t distrust that he saw in those gorgeous brown depths. It was…?
Her cute little pointed jaw went up but she wouldn’t look him in the eye. She opened and closed her mouth, looked down at her feet….
“You’re more thorough than the other pilots and it makes me feel better to know what you’re doing and what you’re looking at and being assured that the plane is okay and we’re not going to fall out of the sky in a ball of fire, okay?”
She stood there, her chest heaving after that blur of words and he was stunned. He continued to watch her, trying to understand what she was really telling him but…if he was reading her correctly, he might think that she was afraid of flying.
But that was impossible. A flight attendant who was afraid of flying? That was ridiculous.
Unfortunately, the more he watched her, the more his answer made sense. The flicker of her eyes as she glanced up at him, then quickly away was all the confirmation he needed. She was! The cute, sexy, adorable, irritating woman was terrified of flying!
Realizing that she was on the edge of her pride at the moment, he shifted on his feet. Looking up at the wing, then down at his checklist, he tried to come up with another explanation. But everything was falling into place, including several comments she’d made in the past. Better to just get it out there in the open, he told himself.
Looking directly at her, he asked the question he was fairly sure she didn’t want ask. “Olivia, are you afraid of flying?” he asked, his tone more gentle this time.
Her shoulders stiffened, just as he knew they would because she got all high and mighty whenever he challenged her in any way. He wasn’t trying to be a jerk this time though.
“I’m not afraid of flying,” she told him, her chin jutting up a bit even as her eyes told Pete that she was lying through her pretty, white teeth. “I am simply…” she paused as if trying to find the right word, “reassured when you go through the pre-flight check. Okay?”
He watched her, trying to translate what she was really telling him. And then he saw it. Just a brief glance, but he caught the look. She wasn’t afraid of flying. She was terrified of flying!
Something shifted in his chest with that realization. The woman who seemed to have it all pulled together was actually unraveling at the seams. She wasn’t following him around during the safety checks because she didn’t trust him. She was following him around because…because she trusted him more! His actions reassured her!
Pete looked off to the left, trying to reconcile this realization with all of his previous interactions with the woman. She was so uptight but…was she really? Or was she just…nervous?
Turning back to the plane, he pointed his pen at the bolts he’d just been checking. “The landing gear is tight,” he explained. “I check the lubrication to see if there’s a significant amount of dirt around the joints.”
“What would that mean?” she asked, those brown eyes wide with curiosity and…yeah, there it was. Fear.
“Too much dirt means that there’s a leak somewhere and the fluids are dripping down onto the gear and collecting dust and debris.” She nodded her head, eagerly absorbing that bit of information. He motioned for her to following him back to the wings. “I look around for loose bolts or other tears on the metal of the wings…” he explained, going into more detail about what he looked for during the safety checks, helping her to understand what and why he was doing each of the checks.
By the time they climbed the stairs to board the plane once again, her facial features were more relaxed than he’d ever seen them. The softness actually made her appear more beautiful. Which actually seemed impossible, which made him glance at her several more times.
Yeah, he’d had several fantasies about this woman, waking up with a raging, painful erection more often than he wanted to admit. In his dreams, he was doing things to Olivia that would really infuriate her if she ever found out.
“Better?” he asked.
The blush that stole up from her neck to her cheeks was interesting. And those brown eyes…they couldn’t seem to meet his own. Even more interesting, he thought.
“I’ll just…” she pointed her thumb towards the plane. “I’m going to check and make sure that everything is ready for the flight.”
He nodded his head, staring at her. Trying to figure her out. Pete was starting to think that maybe he’d had her all wrong.
Deciding that he needed a moment more to process this possibility, he headed into the office. “Hey Mindy…” he called out, then froze when he spotted Mindy and Gus coming out of the back room where Mindy kept all of the files. Mindy was smoothing down her sweater and Gus was…!
He stared for a long moment, none of them saying a word. When he realized what was going on, he jerked to attention, shaking his head and looking away. “Sorry!” he said and headed back out of the office. He was halfway back to the plane when it hit him. Mindy? Bubbly, uber-efficient Mindy and the gruff, always-angry, always-grumbling Gus?!
Chuckling, he headed back to the plane, shaking his head as he stepped into the cabin.
He was just about to open his mouth and share what he’d just seen when a furious Olivia turned to him, pointing a spoon at him as if she might be ready to bonk him on the head with it.
Olivia was furious with herself for revealing so much to Pete. The man was the worst! He teased her about anything and everything, just trying to get a rise out of her. He’d then laugh at her, wink at her or do something else that was equally obnoxious, increasing her fury!
Now he had a weapon and she knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to torment her about her fear of flying. Oh, he was so annoying!
So when he stepped into the plane, ducking down slightly because he was so irritatingly tall that he almost didn’t fit, she swung around, ready to do something horrible to him just to keep him quiet.
“If you so much as breathe a single word about my issues with flying, then I will…” she stopped, pressing her lips together because she couldn’t come up with a dire enough threat.
Pete, the horrible man, moved closer. Closer! His eyes were daring her, his body pressing hers back against the metal cabinets of the galley and she stared up at him, her mind shifting, her body tingling in ways that she didn’t completely understand. It was always like this whenever Pete was too close. She felt like…like her body was on fire. As if she could just throw herself into his arms and run her hands over every inch of him, discover what was hidden underneath that too-sexy pilot’s uniform. Good grief, the traitorous thoughts running through her mind were…well, crazy!
She absolutely did NOT find Pete attractive! The man was irritating and obnoxious. Yes, he was handsome in a classic kind of way. But not attractive. She needed to be connected to someone mentally before she could form any sort of attraction towards the man!
Good grief, her mind was spinning out of control.
Backing up, she tried to shake away the sexual tension that seemed to cocoon them. But Pete only moved closer. “Can’t come up with anything good?” he asked. His eyes moved over her face, her lips, pausing at her mouth. His own mouth quirked up slightly, a mocking smile forming on those too-handsome lips. “Pity.”
He stepped backwards and she inhaled the fresh air, filling her lungs with much-needed oxygen.
Then the anger hit her. Hard! Swinging around, she turned to face the galley. “Just go do your pilot thing,” she ordered.
Unfortunately, that only brought him right back to her. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw him close the distance between them. Suddenly, one strong hand was braced against the metal cabinets beside her head and she felt the heat of his chest close, so terrifyingly close, to her back. She could even feel his thighs against the back of hers, but he wasn’t touching her! Not even a little!
“That sounded dangerously like a command, Olivia,” he growled in her ear. “One thing you should know about me, Gorgeous,” he said softly, oh so devilishly softly. “I give the orders.”
She trembled, fighting back the insane desire to press back against him, to feel his body against hers. That was so troubling, she actually leaned away from him. She didn’t dare turn her head because his cheek was just too darn close. Too temptingly close!
“And what if I don’t follow your orders?” she asked. Well, it was more of a whisper.
Her stomach tightened when she felt him smile.
“Try it,” he taunted. “I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy the consequences.”
A moment later, he was gone again, leaving Olivia still standing at the short countertop, gripping the metal because if she released her hold, her knees would give out due to the intensity of the images flashing through her mind.
Shaking off his threat, she took in deep breaths. This was not happening, she told herself. It simply was not happening! “Oh for the days of a commercial flight. I could lock the beast into the cockpit!” she mumbled under her breath.
Unfortunately, she must not have said that softly enough because she immediately heard his laughter coming from the cockpit.
Clenching her teeth together, she moved through the cabin, going through the rooms once more. There was nothing else she needed to do. Everything was set. Every romantic detail she could think of was ready and waiting for the happy couple. Their luggage was even stored away in the cargo hold, having been brought to the airport earlier in the day.