First Class Sin

Garrison was a heavyset, barrel-chested married man in his early 50s. Just thinking about Garrison’s stout body made her wince. Garrison might find her attractive, but the feeling was not mutual. And he was married, she reminded herself. He had a wife and two kids in the ’burbs. But then again, it was usually the married men who pursued her. She didn’t know why. Did she give off some kind of vibe that told men she was desperate enough to consider someone already taken? She wasn’t sure, but it happened more than she liked to admit.

She focused on the passenger next to her. She wanted a distraction, badly, and he provided the perfect one. Look at those blue, blue eyes. Yes, something about his face made her think he’d understand her. What was she thinking? This man cared? He was a stranger. And he’d grow bored with her soon enough.

“No reason to be embarrassed. Everybody’s scared of something.” She doubted the Aussie next to her was afraid of anything.

“Thanks. I really don’t know what’s wrong.” She fanned her face and gave herself a mental shake.

Law cocked his head. “Well, you’re flying on the world’s safest airline. Blue Sky has the lowest accident rate of any airline in the world. That’s why...” Law paused. “That’s why I fly so much with them.”

Juliana knew about Blue Sky’s lack of accidents, of course, but hearing it again and from one of the airline’s most frequent customers, made her feel a bit more comfortable as some of the tension left her shoulders. She liked talking to this stranger. It felt oddly freeing somehow.

“I’m glad of that,” she said, and grinned.

The flight attendant announced the plane would be leaving the gate, and just as she clicked off the PA system, the plane rattled to life beneath them, slowly backing out. Juliana saw the ramp agents far below on the ground, walking with orange-capped flashlights, leading the plane away from the jet bridge. She thought about how they would soon be off the ground, and felt more sweat pool between her lower back and shirt. She looked about the cabin for a distraction and saw a woman wearing a “just married” sweatshirt, cuddling up to her new husband. So sickly sweet, so...silly. She frowned at the happy couple. She wondered if that husband would be Garrison in a few years, sending inappropriate texts to his staff member.

Law followed her gaze. “You don’t like newlyweds?”

“I just think love is a waste of time.” She waved her hand, feeling the futility of it all. Garrison was hardly the first man she’d met who believed monogamy applied to other people. When Juliana was just fourteen, her own father ran off with a younger woman. Her mother had spent most of her adult life hammering home the fact that career was more important than family. Families break up, but a good résumé never does,her mom would always say. Her mom had spent fifteen years as a housewife, and when their father ran off with a younger woman, she found herself having to go back to school, learn new skills, as she was woefully underprepared for the workforce.

“You think falling in love is a waste of time?” Now Law looked incredulous.

“It’s a distraction,” Juliana said as the plane rolled out to the runway. She tried not to think about the fact that in a few scant minutes, they’d be airborne. She still didn’t understand why she felt so uneasy out of the blue. She’d flown thousands of times. Why should this time be any different?

“People think it’s this wonderful thing, this great thing, and yet most of the time it doesn’t work out. It causes pain and heartbreak. Who needs it?”

Juliana thought of Garrison. Just one more reason not to waste time running after a happily-ever-after. Save those fairy tales for her three-year-old niece, Evie.

“What about love making the world go around? What about all the songwriters and poets?”

“They’re wrong.” Juliana shrugged. “Give me a glass of wine and a cat. I’ll be fine.”

Law laughed, his eyes, blue like the ocean, crinkling with merriment. “I don’t see you as a crazy cat lady.”

“Oh, I could get into the role. Believe me.” She grinned and he chuckled again.

“Seriously?”

“Why not? I don’t need a man to be happy.”

Law laughed again. “Well, of course not. Usually, we’re more trouble than we’re worth.”

The hint of the Aussie accent hit her ears and felt rich and layered, like a European espresso. Now it was her turn to laugh. She loved a man confident enough to poke fun at himself.

“That’s what my mom always said. She put career first and taught me to do the same.” Juliana was unapologetic about that.

“You don’t want kids?” Law asked.

Juliana shrugged. “I practically raised my younger sister, so I feel like I’ve already had one. Kids, marriage...they’re a waste of time.”

Law’s blond eyebrows arched so high on his face she thought they might leap off. He clearly didn’t agree with her assessment. Well, this was why some of the men in her office secretly called her an ice queen or ballbuster behind her back. It was why many of them kept their distance. She made it perfectly clear she didn’t need a man. Didn’t want one.

“Well, take the emotion out of it, and look at the facts. Half of them end in divorce. More than half of men and almost half of women cheat.” Juliana shrugged and folded her arms across her torso, trying not to look out the plane’s window as they taxied down the runway. Her stomach leaped. They’d take off soon. The plane rumbled down the tarmac, and then, suddenly, took off. She gripped the hand rests, her knuckles turning white. What’s wrong with you?

“What about dating? Relationships, then?” Law asked her. The cabin shook a bit as the plane fought the earth’s gravity. She was suddenly glad for the distraction of his deep voice. “So you don’t want the legal entanglements, then wouldn’t you want...companionship?”

The way he said it implied he might have more than a passing interest in the answer to this question. Law’s elbow grazed hers as his shoulders seemed to take up all the oxygen in the cabin. He shifted his long legs, stretching them out beneath the seat in front of him.

“It’s not my top priority,” Juliana admitted. The shuttering of the cabin finally eased. Thank goodness. She loosened her grip on the armrests. “Men can be needy. And they don’t understand my work schedule.” She shrugged, thinking about the last time she’d tried a relationship. She’d dated the man eight months, but she’d been traveling at least half of that time. She returned after a particularly hard project in California, only to discover he’d put up his profile on dating websites without telling her. When she confronted him with all the Facebook photos she’d found of him hanging with other women, he’d told her it was all her fault. She needed to pay attention to him more, as if he were a toddler in need of supervision. “Even when I do, I don’t have time for needy men. My work comes first. What about you? Do you want to get married?”

“Oh, yes. I definitely want to get married someday,” Law declared. “And have a gaggle of kids. And find my soul mate.”

“Oh, no. You believe in soul mates?” Now Juliana forgot entirely about her unease about being thousands of feet above the ground. “Like one person in a million, just for you, that kind of soul mate?”

“One in four billion, actually,” he said.

Juliana couldn’t believe it. This man, this smart, successful man, believed in the kind of fairy tales usually reserved for children. Did he arrange tea parties for his stuffed animals, too?

“You think there’s just one person. One, for each of us?” The plane rumbled up its ascent, barreling up to cruising altitude. But she was so intent on their conversation, she barely noticed.

Law shrugged. “Maybe.” This man, this reasonable, successful man, was a romantic. Juliana couldn’t believe it. He might as well have told her he believed in unicorns.

He shifted a little and his elbow touched hers. She didn’t move her own arm. She let the contact stand. He shifted again so his whole forearm touched hers. She felt the warm press of his arm against her, every hair on her forearm standing at attention. She might not be a romantic, but she certainly understood physical attraction. That seemed a much more reasonable idea: two people wanting to mate, barely different than animals, really, except that people liked to pretend it was something else. Like romance.

“I think it’s very possible we’re on this planet to find the person who’s made for us,” Law said, sounding like a cheesy Valentine’s Day card.

“Oh, geez. I think that’s a cop-out. It kind of implies you don’t need to do the hard work of getting to know someone. A person just shows up on your doorstep and—bam!—instant love.”

“It might work like that.” Law grinned. “It could be fate. Do you believe in fate?”

“Fate implies we don’t get a say in our own lives.” She shook her head. “I bet you buy a woman flowers on the first date. And insist on paying.” Juliana rolled her eyes. She felt the plane beneath them level out a bit. Cruising altitude almost reached.

“What’s wrong with flowers?” Law asked, puzzled.

“They’re pretty for a half second and then they die,” she said. “A waste of money.”

Law barked a laugh. “Well, then, I’ll make a mental note not to buy you flowers when I pick you up on our first date.” He pretended to scribble on an invisible notepad.

Juliana laughed. “Who said we’re going out?”

“We’re not?” Law challenged, eyes fixed on her. Did he feel the little snaps of electricity running back and forth between them? A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and she knew then he definitely felt it. And the way he was looking at her now told her he had no plans to ignore that electric current. “Are you sure about that?”

CHAPTER TWO (#u9c4e7b19-42ba-5538-b6fd-7f3eb1b8f1fa)

LAW KNEW HE was playing with fire. What was he doing, flirting with Juliana Hart? He’d had one goal, and one goal only, to evaluate the independent consultant working for AM Air, trying to figure out if she knew her stuff or if her work could jeopardize the sale of Blue Skyto AM Air next month. Law, the reclusive majority shareholder at Blue Sky, and acting CEO, wanted very badly for that sale to go through. He’d spent nearly fifteen years in the airline business, and he was done. He was ready to focus on his charity, and spend the rest of his forties enjoying life a little, maybe even starting a family. He’d spent his whole adult life up until this point working seventy hours a week, and that had to change.

That all started with the sale of Blue Sky, and the only thing potentially standing in the way was this little independent report, commissioned by the board of AM Air, to prove the merger would be beneficial. That report would be written by this troublemaker sitting in 34G.

She smiled at him, pink lips inviting as they broke to show him the hint of her perfect smile. Nobody told him the woman would be drop-dead gorgeous. That little detail had been left out of all the meetings when his senior VPs had cried into their beers and wrung their hands about the hard-charging consultant who didn’t take no for an answer. She even had a nickname: the ice queen. Distant, hardworking, demanding. He could see why so many of his colleagues were intimidated by her. Though, looking at her now, he couldn’t for the life of him understand why anyone would think she was cold. He’d known she was whip-smart, because she’d run circles around his entire management team. She intrigued him, and he was here to find out more about her.