Page 13 of Moonlighter

“Of course, baby. Let’s do this.”

She shoots me a glare as I bend down to grab our baggage. “You can still stay home, you know.”

“Darling, I wouldn’t dream of it.” I give her a sleazy smile, which only makes her roll her eyes.

The airport employee is glancing between us, looking unsettled, so I leave the waiting room and carry our bags outside, where a chauffeured golf cart drives us a couple of hundred yards to a waiting Gulf Stream.

“Last chance,” Alex says as we reach the steps leading up to the plane.

But I follow her aboard. If she thinks I can’t play this role, she’s got another think coming.

Inside Alex’s jet, everything is leather and wood. It’s like my brother’s apartment but with wings. The passenger cabin sports two huge reclining chairs on opposite sides of the center aisle. Beyond those, I spot a dining table with two bench seats. In the very back there’s a door markedbedroom.

I give a low whistle. “Nice digs, lady.”

“What, this old thing?” she gives me a tight smile. “It’s a little ridiculous. But I travel a lot.”

A male flight attendant joins us. “Alex! Welcome aboard.”

“Thank you, Manny. This is Eric Bayer, my—” Her hesitation lasts only a micromoment. But I realize that it’s just occurring to her that we’re going to have to pretend to be a couple. “Old friend.”

“Did you just call meold?”

“Well, you’remucholder than in that photo I just showed you. Didn’t we just go over this?”

I laugh in spite of myself. I’d forgotten that Alex was sharp-tongued, even as a child.

“Welcome, Eric,” the flight attendant says. “Make yourself at home. Let’s get those bags stowed.” He opens a closet to indicate where our suitcases go.

Alex makes a move to stow her own, but I take it from her again. “I’ve got this, sweet cheeks.”

“Thank you.Dear,” she says, shooting me an angry look. But a guy's got to have his fun.

Manny is well trained enough to ignore the whole thing. “Please be seated for takeoff at your earliest convenience. With your seatbelts fastened.”

“Thank you,” Alex says.

I wait for her to choose a seat before I claim the other one. The chair is broad and comfortable, the leather cool beneath my fingers. I’d still rather be eating guacamole on my sofa right now, but we don’t always get everything we want.

Manny does his safety checks and closes the cockpit door before disappearing into the little kitchen up front. I hear the engines change tone, and we eventually push back toward the taxiway.

“Listen. About that night in April,” Alex says suddenly. “I was having a horrible moment. I was rude to several people that night, which is not in my nature. I was exhausted and disappointed with myself.”

“You already apologized to me,” I remind her. “It’s no big deal.”

“By the time you and I spoke, I was just out of gas. And I thought you were just some guy looking around the party at the end of the night for…” She clears her throat. “I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” I say.

Except now I’m the asshole. Because she wasn’t wrong. Alex looked fuckinggreatat that party. I’d wanted to talk to her, sure. But I wouldn’t have said no to unzipping that dress, either. Sue me.

“The thing is?” she adds. “Sitting down in a quiet corner somewhere and remembering that summer on the Vineyard was probably exactly what I needed that night. So I really blew it.”

“Well, it’s a long flight,” I point out. “Got nothing but time now.”

She glances over at me again. “I apologize for that, too. I don’t normally kidnap people to Hawaii.”

I shrug. “My brother loves to withhold details. He is the worst kind of tyrant. He knew that if he asked me to work this week for him that I would say no.”