Page 2

Chapter 1

Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.

“Hey, how’re you feeling?” Mari answered via her car’s Bluetooth as she zipped through the monstrosity of New Orleans traffic.

“Good, why?” Magnolia, her best friend since forever asked in clear confusion.

“Uh, because you’re pregnant!” Magnolia already had a seventeen-year-old son with her new husband, though he’d been out of their lives for the last eighteen-ish years. All because of someone’s lies. But they were back together and now expecting a baby, and Mari was ridiculously happy for her.

“Oh, right.” Magnolia snort-laughed. “I forget sometimes. I mean, I don’t actually forget, but…oh my god, that’s not why I’m calling. I heard from a little birdie that you’re playing with fire.”

“That could mean so many things.” Mari laid on her horn when the guy in front of her—clearly on his phone—didn’t go when the light turned green.

“Did you swipe one of Colin Lockhart’s clients?”

Now Mari snort-laughed. “Not quite, but I did snag some land I know he was looking at.” She hadn’t even wanted it, but he’d stolen one of her clients, so whatever. Payback, baby. He was going to learn that he didn’t always get his way.

“Land for what?”

“Some acreage up in north Louisiana. Got it for a steal too. In the next year or so it’ll be another one of my airports.” She had a handful in her portfolio. All small airports within seventy miles of major ones. None of them had towers, and they were basically places for people who wanted to fly into certain areas with a bit more privacy than large airports, and even some private ones, afforded. “I won’t even have to do much clearing for the runway.”

“Hmmm.”

“What’s that mean?” She laid on the horn again.

“Oh my god, you use your horn more in one day than I do all year.”

“I reserve it for assholes on their phone…and I realize that I’m on my phone. But I’m not texting or looking at it. I’m using the hands-free option.”

Magnolia sighed. “I’m not having this conversation again with you.” But there was laughter in her voice.

“So who’s this little birdie you’ve been talking to?”

“Bear.”

“Oh, that’s fine then. What did he say?” she asked like they were still in high school instead of women closer to forty than thirty. But Mari wanted to know because she adored Bear. Wasn’t his fault that his brother Colin was an assface.

“Not much, just that you and Colin were going at it again.”

Okay, there was no going at it or again . But there was a healthy dose of competition between them that Colin could blame on himself. He never should have stolen that client from her. Because Mari Kim held a grudge. Something she’d learned at a young age from her halmeoni. You mess with a Kim, expect payback.

“How is Bear? I haven’t talked to him since he and Valentine moved into their new home.”

“I know you’re changing the subject, but fine. He’s great, adorable. They’re thinking of getting married in the same place Ezra and I did.” There was a wistful note to Magnolia’s voice.

“I love that.” As she headed to the Lakefront Airport, she and Magnolia talked right up until she parked and finally had to go. Friday was one of her busier days and normally she was at the airport at least an hour before she had to take off, but she was cutting it close today. Luckily her client was always running late.

But of course by the time she made it to the hangar, her oldest and favorite client Gary Sewall was talking to another pilot she knew close to the bay door.

She absolutely looooved his plane, but at close to two million dollars new—and about a hundred thousand annual operating costs—it was never happening for her personally. But she got to fly it weekly, which was incredible. The interior felt like a sedan more than anything, with butter-smooth leather seats, illuminated cupholders, subtle accent lights and enough storage for most people. And forget about the cockpit dash, it was a dream to fly.

“Hey, you’re late.” Gary’s tone was light as he strode over the concrete to meet her.

“I’m thirty minutes early.”

“Which translates to late for you.”

“And you’re early, so clearly we’ve changed places today.”

He laughed that booming laugh that had taken her a while to get used to. “Fair enough. So why are you not late this morning? ”

“Had to sign some paperwork for a small land purchase,” she said as she fell in step with him.

His Berluti oxfords made soft clicking sounds as they walked the expanse of the hangar. His plane was at the back because he liked to keep it tucked away from everyone else’s. The truth was he could probably just buy his own hangar, but she was pretty sure he liked to show it off. And she couldn’t blame him. “Another airport?” he asked.

“Maybe. We’ll see.” She sometimes talked business with him, but she’d also learned years ago to keep most of her private life to herself. Clear boundaries were just as important in business as they were in her personal life.

“I’ll find out. I always do.”

She snickered but her laugh faded as she reached the newer Cirrus to find another man waiting nearby, looking impatiently at her.

“If this is an example of your work ethic, then this isn’t going to work out,” the stranger said.

Blinking, she looked at Gary. “What’s happening right now?”

He sighed, his expression tight as he nodded at the man in a suit similar to his own. Custom and expensive. “Mari, this is, Jeremy Ackerman, a business associate of mine. We’re headed to the same place today so I figured he could hitch a ride with us.”

It was his plane and his dime. “Sure. I just need to do the preflight check—”

“We’re already running late, so we can skip all that and just go.” The man made as if he was about to get into the plane.

Oh, hell no. “Sir, I will do the preflight check or we’re not leaving.” It didn’t matter how well you knew your plane or how often you flew it. Preflight was one of the most important things a pilot did and had saved countless lives. She didn’t cut corners when it came to safety measures, not even for rich, arrogant assholes. Her very first CFI—Certified Flight Instructor—had drilled that into her years ago. Ignoring basic safety was how people died.

To her surprise, the man chuckled and grinned at Gary. “You told me she was no-nonsense.”

Gary glanced at her sideways, his expression apologetic.

Oh jeez, this was some weird test? Mari kept her expression neutral as the man held out his hand, but she took it out of politeness, shaking it.

“I was just messing with you. Take your time. Gary knows I’m looking for a new pilot and offered to let me fly with you today.”

“Sounds good.” She kept her expression in that same neutral she’d mastered over the years—she’d had to with her parents. She loved them, but they were a lot, and her being a private pilot had never been on their life plan for her. According to them, she could have and should have been a doctor. Apparently it didn’t matter that the sight of needles made her want to puke.

After she finished the preflight without issue and confirmed with ATC, they headed out into clear skies.

Once they were in the air and a few miles out, Gary finally spoke into the headset. “Jeremy really is looking for a new pilot. He flies back and forth up north a lot like me, but on different days—which is why I don’t mind sharing your time.”

Mari nodded even as she monitored a couple nearby planes on the dash. But they were all well above them at this point. “Sounds good. How’re you doing back there, Jeremy?” He was in the back of the Cirrus, which rode like a luxury sedan.

“Great. That was a smooth takeoff.”

“Thanks.”

“Hopefully the landing is just as smooth. ”

“Absolutely.” She wasn’t sure how else to respond to this guy. Normally she had no problem with small talk, but the way he’d “tested” her at the beginning by being a jerk had set the tone and she was still annoyed. Maybe irrationally so, but…she did hold a grudge.

“So how long have you been flying?”

She had a feeling the guy already knew the answer, but went along with it. “Almost twenty years.”

“You don’t look old enough to have been flying that long.”

Yeah, she got that a lot. She was five foot one and still got carded sometimes, which felt over-the-top, but whatever. There were certainly worse things in life. “Yeah, I got lucky with my genes,” she said lightly. “So tell me about you, if you don’t mind.” In her experience, rich guys loved to talk about themselves. “What are you looking for specifically?”

And she’d been right, because that was all it took. He talked for most of the flight about his job as a “curator of interesting things,” and his family, including his daughter, and that was his only saving grace in her opinion. Because it was clear he was a good dad, loved his kid and was proud of her.

People had layers, and while this guy had rubbed her the wrong way at first, maybe he wasn’t so bad.

“We’re staying here this weekend,” Gary said when they were about fifteen miles out from the small airport in northern Louisiana that he preferred.

“Fun plans?”

He snorted, but Jeremy answered before Gary could. “What happens on the road stays on the road. Right, Gary?”

She was glad she was facing forward so he couldn’t see her expression. Maybe he was a douche after all—first impressions really were spot on more often than not.

“Should I pick you up Monday?” she asked Gary .

“I’ll let you know. Might be Tuesday. Just depends.” He sounded exhausted by that, which wasn’t surprising. He worked as a political consultant and his hours were wild. It seemed like he was always working. Even on the flight here, he’d been on his tablet eighty percent of the time.

“Sounds good. I’m teaching a few classes and doing a couple intro flights at the school, but you know how to reach me.” She’d switched from corporate pilot to contract pilot not too long ago so now she made her own hours and chose her own clients. Gary had moved with her when she made the switch, though nothing between them had changed. Now she was able to work at a local flight school more and volunteer with the chapter of an international aviation group to get young girls excited about aviation, something she loved.

After indicating the airport name and the Cirrus’s flight call sign, she continued her ATC call, “…ten miles requesting the visual for runway three six, full stop.”

As she got into the pattern, then eventually moved into the final approach, she tuned out everything else as years of training kicked in.

“Perfect,” Gary said once they were on the taxiway, rolling toward the small airport building. This one wasn’t as big as the one in New Orleans, but they had killer kimchi burritos and she was going to grab one while the plane was being fueled up.

“I’ll be in touch soon,” Ackerman said to her as they reached the small rectangular building. “I’m also talking to Colin Lockhart. His business is newer than yours, but he flew in the military, so.” He shrugged and she couldn’t read his meaning.

“Okay, sounds good,” she said, not wanting to take the bait. But she was every bit as good as Colin, military service or not.

“It’s clear that you’re a great pilot, but I just want to make sure I find the right fit. ”

“I don’t take on every person who reaches out to me either, so I totally get that.” She could decide who she wanted to fly or not.

He nodded, her meaning flying right over his head—pun intended. “Lockhart had some interesting things to say about you.”

Interesting? That sounded like code for something asshole-ish and all she could think about were the things Colin had said about her when they were younger. When he hadn’t known she could overhear him.

She turned away from Ackerman. “Gary, I hope you have a great weekend. Let me know when you need me. I’ll take care of your baby on the way home, but before I leave I’m about to grab a burrito.”

“Don’t lie, you know you’re getting three,” he said, already on his tablet again, grinning and shaking his head.

She laughed because he wasn’t wrong. She always grabbed a couple to go then ate them throughout the week. Her mom really was right: she had the palate of a twelve-year-old. Though to be fair these flavor bombs had black beans, rice and other veggies packed in, so she was totally getting more good stuff in addition to the kimchi. “Have a good one.” She waved at the two of them before heading inside to grab her food—all while trying to shove down her growing annoyance.

Colin had interesting things to say about her, did he?

She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. There was no sense in getting all riled up, but…he had already swiped one of her clients. Would he really trash-talk her to potential clients just to keep them himself?

The pilot world was small and she already had to fight to be taken seriously because of her gender—women made up only seven percent of pilots in the world. And in the US, she was pretty sure it was only five percent. She’d be damned if she’d let Colin Lockhart tarnish her hard-won reputation.

As she ordered, she debated calling him and asking about what Ackerman had said, but decided she was going to pay him a visit instead. Just as soon as she got back to the city.