Page 20 of Discretion

That reminder had me clenching my thighs together.Seriously, Halle? Now?

I told myself the threat of dying was the only reason I was thinking about sex. I mean, wasn’t that a thing?

“I promise to keep you safe,” he said, and it felt like he was talking about more than the impending flight.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this.” I placed my matching helmet over my head, my gaze snagging on him.

He looked like danger and money and sex. And I shouldn’t have been attracted to that, but something about the way he’d taken charge, coupled with the way he’d stopped to check in with me, had those butterflies swirling in my stomach.

My phone buzzed in my lap. “Sloan says thank you. She’s going home to rest.”

“Good,” Jasper said through the headset. His voice was in my ear, and it was…unnerving. “Any update from the owner?”

I nodded, my attention on my phone. “He said there’s a field behind the warehouse where you can land.”

“Perfect.”

“Right. But, um, don’t you need a flight plan or something? I didn’t think you could just take off in a helicopter like you can with a car.”

The corner of his lips curled into a smile. “You don’t needa flight plan as long as you’re using visual flight rules and flying below 18,000 feet.”

I pressed my lips together and nodded.

Jasper flipped some switches, and the blades whirled to life. He rattled off some information into his microphone, alerting air traffic control that he was going to take off and requesting VFR, which I assumed stood for visual flight rules.

Oh my god. We’re really doing this. He’s going to fly this thing.

I braced myself as we lifted into the air, the ground disappearing far below. I’d never flown in a helicopter, but it was a lot smoother than I’d expected. Slowly, I released my grip on the leather seat, relaxing as I grew more accustomed to the sensation.

Once we seemed to have reached our flying altitude, I chanced a glance over at him…and immediately regretted it. The man was hot on a normal day. But Jasper sitting at the controls of a helicopter, radiating confidence and control from behind his aviator sunglasses, was devastating.

Hoooly shit.How did I not know this about him?

He met my eyes briefly. “You good?”

I nodded, unable to hold back a smile at the absurdity that was my life. I was flying over the Hollywood sign with my billionaire boss, who happened to be a badass helicopter pilot. And I got to go shopping for art—for my job. Talk about a dream come true.

“It’s fun, right?” he asked, glancing over at me.

Now that I’d gotten over the initial shock of being in a helicopter, I could admit that it was pretty cool.

“Definitely.” God, Kai would love this. I couldn’t wait to tell him I’d gotten to fly in a helicopter. He was going to freak!

Jasper smiled a boyish smile, and his dimple popped.

“How long have you had your pilot’s license?” I asked,mostly out of curiosity, but also to distract myself from the sight of him.

“I’ve had a helicopter rating for the past ten years. And my private pilot license since I was eighteen.”

My attention jerked to him. “I… I had no idea. Is that what you wanted to be—a pilot?”

He turned, smooth and arcing. “No.” He laughed.

“Then why go through all that training?”

“Fear can be a powerful motivator,” he said in a quiet voice.

“Fear?” I asked, frowning.