Reagan was busy in the cockpit of her plane as Diego, her horse handler, loaded the two mares from Ashton Farms into the small Embraer 140 plane. After stripping all the seats and overhead bins, her plane was only big enough to hold two horses, Diego, and two grooms, but she had big plans to expand the operation. Her plan had been to start small and develop a solid customer base, then she would buy a larger plane. So far, so good. As one of only a few air transport companies dedicated to the horse industry, she was constantly booked and already operating in the black. Owners of horses worth tens of millions of dollars liked to know their horses were on their own plane as opposed to being loaded as cargo on other larger commercial flights.

Reagan had just finished her preflight check when she heard someone enter the small cockpit. “Are we ready to go, Diego?” she asked as she pulled on her headset and looked out the window as the large loading ramp they used to walk the horses up to the entrance at the side of the plane was wheeled back to the hangar.

“We are.”

Reagan was worried she’d suffered whiplash from turning her head so fast at the deep voice that had answered her. She had been dreaming about that voice all night and it certainly wasn’t Diego’s cheerful, slightly accented one. “Carter!” she squeaked before schooling her features into a vision of peaceful calmness instead of the heart-pounding anxiety she felt. See, things her father had taught her were actually useful in real life. “Are you here to check on your mares before we leave?”

Carter grinned slowly and Reagan’s breath hitched. She knew he was attractive. The Keeneston Belles certainly thought highly of him. But registering him as an attractive friend was completely different when the possibility of being more than friends was on the table. Completely different.

“No. I’m coming with you. My groom’s wife is pregnant, and I thought I’d let him stay with her and come on the trip myself. Is this my seat?”

Carter moved to sit in the empty copilot’s seat before she could answer. “Most of the time you sit in the back with your horses,” Reagan told him as she tried to focus on getting ready for takeoff.

“Hmm,” Carter said noncommittally as he watched her work. “I always found it so fascinating you wanted to become a pilot. I thought for sure you’d go into espionage or work with the FBI or CIA.”

“I was recruited by all of them. You know that.” Reagan felt herself start to relax as she slowly turned her plane toward the runway. She had to be careful as the horses weren’t good at keeping their legs under them during the turns, so slow and precise maneuvering on the runway was critical.

“I know. We are good friends, after all. I know all about you, well, most of you.” Carter’s voice deepened and Reagan gulped. It was as if his voice were undressing her, and she felt completely exposed to him even though she was still sitting fully clothed in her seat. What had happened to cause this change? She wasn’t the best at reading men. Maybe she was misreading the signals because Veronica put them in her head?

“What about Veronica?” Carter asked as Reagan pulled the plane’s nose off the runway and began her slow climb into the sky.

Crap. Had she said that out loud? “Oh, she thinks you were flirting with me last night. I told her she was wrong. I told her you’d never thought of me as anything but your friend.” Luckily Reagan could focus on flying and didn’t have to look over at Carter when she talked to him. She didn’t want to see him laughing at the idea of them together, and she definitely heard snickering that broke her heart.

“And I thought I was being so smooth. Leave it to Veronica to see exactly what I was doing. I guess that’s one of the many reasons Zain values her opinion so much,” Carter said as he laughed. Reagan automatically smiled at his easygoing voice until what he said settled in her mind.

The smile slid from her face as her brow knit with confusion. “Wait, she was right? You were flirting with me?” This time Reagan did look at him, but in surprise and with a healthy amount of disbelief.

“I’ve been trying to flirt with you all week. You were giving me a complex. I started working out again, thinking you weren’t attracted to me.”

Oh God. He smiled again. His dimples flashed, and she had to remind herself to breathe as her mind spun. “Why?” she sputtered.

“Best friends make the best lovers,” Carter said with a slow seductive grin as Reagan felt his eyes skimming her body. Her cheeks flushed, and she reached over to smack his arm.

“Now I know you’re teasing me. That’s not very nice of you.”

“Rea, I’m not teasing. That’s not why I was flirting. I was flirting because I like you. I always have, as a friend, but now it doesn’t seem like being friends is enough. Would it be so bad to give it a try? Let me take you out to dinner when we get to California.”

“You’re asking me on a date?”

“Yes, I am,” Carter said, sounding confident and smooth, while Reagan found herself feeling anything but confident and smooth.

Reagan blinked out the window with surprise. Her mother, Gemma, wrote beautiful epic stories of romance, action, and happily-ever-afters. While Reagan had read them all, it had been her father’s teachings on espionage, shooting, and hand-to-hand combat that had left a bigger imprint on her. That, and the fact she really didn’t have much of a dating history due to her father always interrupting her dates. However, for this date, she would be far away from Keeneston. And her father didn’t know Carter was with her. She could have twenty-four hours of uninterrupted time with a man who wanted her, a man she already liked and was attracted to. A man who might want something more than her typical one- or two-night stands in whatever city she was having a layover in.

“I’d like that. I made a hotel reservation at the airport hotel. I’m sure you could get a room there too,” Reagan said, faking the confidence she didn’t feel.

“I took a gamble that you’d say yes and canceled that reservation. As I said, let me take you out tonight. Don’t worry about a single thing, and at the end of the night you can tell me what you think about us dating more seriously. Okay?”

Reagan glanced over to Carter, who looked calm. But because she knew him, she knew he wasn’t as calm and confident as he projected. He was nervous. The way he ran his thumb over the pad of his pointer finger over and over was his giveaway. He was serious. He wanted to date her. And he was worried she’d say no. Reagan didn’t know how her heart had been woken up in only twelve hours, but there was nothing she wanted more than for this to work.

“Okay. I’m in your hands,” Reagan said with surety.

“That’s where I’m hoping you’ll be by the end of the evening.”

Oh my.

---

They talked for the remainder of the flight. Carter didn’t flirt any more. Instead, he eased her into their familiar and comfortable discussions of the farm, of her dreams for expanding Keeneston Air, and of his hopes of having a real Derby contender someday. Carter should have realized his feelings for Reagan long ago. She was the only person he’d open up to about his concerns of taking over the farm, his dreams of winning the Triple Crown, and his ideas to improve the farm and their breeding program.

It was hard to not reach across the controls and hold Reagan’s hand, but he didn’t want to pressure her. If he pushed too hard, too fast, he might lose her forever. And he’d already pushed her to say yes to the date. Now wasn’t the time to push. The hours flew by as they laughed, teased, and talked. While it was their old banter, it was supercharged with the sexual undercurrent they were both aware of.

As soon as Carter had danced with Reagan the night before, he knew without a doubt he’d do anything to be with her. All the love he had for her as a friend only made him positive this was right. He’d left the reception and cancelled her room at the airport hotel, reserving them a new room in a hot Los Angeles hotel, along with a dinner reservation. This was his chance to show her they were perfect together and to prove to himself his dreams of what they could be were real. After all, Ryan and Sienna had crossed the friend zone and were now very happily married. Of course, everyone had known Ryan had wanted more since they were teenagers. But it showed Carter it could happen.

It seemed both forever and too soon when Reagan effortlessly landed the plane and began the long taxi to the airport’s cargo area. Carter could already see the horse van waiting to move the two mares to the farm that was leasing them from Carter in order to be bred to two of their stallions. He also saw the private car he’d ordered, waiting to take him and Reagan wherever they wanted to go.

Reagan stopped the plane and everything began to happen at once. The side door of the plane was opened and a ramp rolled up and locked into place. The horse van backed up to the ramp and the back doors were opened.

Diego already had a horse halfway out the door by the time Carter came to see if he could help. “Just keep her calm. I’ll be back in a couple minutes for her,” Diego instructed as he used a skilled hand to walk the mare down the ramp and into the transport van.

Carter rubbed his hand on his mare’s head and wished her luck for a beautiful baby and promised her all the apples she wanted when she got back to Kentucky. Ten minutes later, Diego was back and walking her down the ramp and into the horse van.

Reagan shut and locked the large door and opened the passenger door. “Ready?” she asked, carrying a small duffle bag as a narrow and steep wire grate staircase was locked into place.

Carter held out his hand, indicating she should go first, but she shook her head. “I have to wait for Diego to get his stuff and then lock the plane.”

“Okay. I’ll be waiting for you by the car.” Carter reached down and took the bag from her and exited the plane. The staircase wobbled under his weight but held strong as he made his way to the tarmac where the owners of the horse farm were waiting for him.

He filled them in on the mares, including medical histories and food preferences. Reagan and Diego worked to shut down the plane. Soon enough, the mares were on their way to their temporary home and Reagan was by his side. “I’m all yours until tomorrow morning.”

“Then let’s not waste a single moment,” he said, grabbing her hand and walking to the car. “How does a picnic lunch at the beach sound?”

“It sounds great, but I didn’t bring anything except a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.”

“That’s okay. There’s a shop attached to our hotel. You can pick up a bathing suit there and anything else you want.”

Carter reached out and placed his hand over hers as the car drove away from the airport. His heart beat wildly at touching her again. He’d kept his distance on the plane, but now he was going to show her how much more there could be between them. He didn’t know what he’d do if Reagan didn’t feel the same way.