39. Ava
Chapter 39
Ava
Two weeks later
“What have you got in there? A body?” Gramps chuckles at the sight of Liv’s overstuffed backpack.
“Bikinis mostly.” Liv grins. “We’re headed to Bondi Beach as soon as we land.”
She throws herself into David’s arms, hanging off him like a baby monkey as she kisses him goodbye next.
“You excited, love?” Gramps asks.
“I am,” I answer truthfully.
I am excited. And nervous. And nauseous. And a whole host of emotions that I can’t put into words. The day we’re leaving is finally here.
Jet’s ‘don’t forget me’ sex turned into two whole weeks of ‘my body has now been re-molded into your shape internally’ sex. Magnus went to stay in his city apartment, saying Margaret was on vacation, so he might as well stay there where he can meet up with friends. But I suspect he wanted to give us some time alone before today came.
Jet barely let me come up for air. Only if it was so he could feed me. I’d wake up every morning and he’d be finishing up with work, still sweaty and in his shorts after skipping. I tried to get him to tell me how much sleep he was missing to be able to do everything he needed to before I woke up, but he refused to tell me. Just said that it was worth it. Then he’d take me back to bed all day.
Maybe my body needs this break before he kills me through physical exhaustion.
“I’ll call you as soon as we land.” I give Gramps another hug as Liv untangles herself from David, giving him a final kiss.
“Don’t worry about me. You girls have fun. And look after each other.”
“We’ll be fine.” Liv winks and waves something in the air.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing.” She grins at me.
“Jet gave you his credit card, didn’t he?” I deadpan as we approach airport security.
She hums like she hasn’t heard me, throwing me a smirk as we’re processed and then allowed through to the departure gates.
“Liv?” I press as we carry our giant backpacks toward our gate number.
“Your boyfriend’s a billionaire.” She snorts, rolling her eyes .
“A billionaire who kept returning the million dollars he paid me for working with him each time I tried to send it back to his bank account… And adding another million each time!”
“You should have kept sending it back and seen how high you could have gotten him to go.” She laughs.
Even now I know that was Jet’s idea of ‘payment’ for me working with him, and not his guilt money, like I first thought, I still can’t accept it. I mean, it’s millions! He’s being completely ridiculous if he thinks I deserve that much.
“We don’t need his credit card,” I tut.
“He told me you’d said that. That’s why he entrusted it to me.”
“Unbelievable,” I mutter.
“Oh, come on, we’ll only use it if we have to. But you’ll need to get used to it. That man is going to spoil you whether you like it or not.”
We walk up to the boarding gate and hand our passports and tickets over.
“Miss Roberts?” The gate agent smiles as she reads the name in my passport. “The captain’s expecting you.”
“I thought he might be,” I reply drily.
Liv pokes me in the side, and I smile at her. I can’t be pissed at Jet for giving her his card when I wouldn’t take it. This is Jet, Mr. Must have Control.
“She means, we know,” Liv squeals. “And we’re excited to be the first to fly with the new fancy-pants engine, aren’t we? ”
“What?”
The gate attendant smiles. “This is the inaugural flight of our first one hundred percent eco-fuel engine. The plane even got renamed when it went in for the refit.”
Jet never said anything about that to me. I snap my head to the window, looking out at the plane parked on stand. The boarding bridge has been connected to it, and the front half of it is visible from the boarding gate.
Each plane in the fleet has its own name displayed on the side beneath the cockpit windows. I search for it, then my heart stalls.
There it is, in scripted text. All shiny and new.
Firefly.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I gasp.
I slide my eyes up to the left-hand window, zeroing in on the four gold stripes on his epaulets.
He’s looking straight at me, expecting me.
Asshole . I shake my head with a grin.
I swear his lips twitch. He rises from his seat and disappears. A few moments later he strides up the boarding bridge looking like a walking wet dream in his pilot’s uniform that fits snugly to his toned torso.
“Ava,” he breathes.
“Jet.”
The scent of him, warm and masculine, and everything that makes my core heat, flows over me as he looks at me with a piercing blue gaze. It doesn’t matter that I was pinned beneath him only hours ago. The way he looks at me makes me want to strip my clothes off and beg him to take me again, right here on the floor.
His eyes darken, one brow arching like he can read my thoughts.
“You called the plane Firefly.”
“You said you wanted your own jet.” He shrugs one broad shoulder, a tiny curve gracing the corner of his mouth.
“You know this isn’t what I meant.” I fail to hide my smile.
Liv giggles behind us. “So flipping romantic. I’m swooning.”
I turn to give her a friendly glare, but she just grins back without shame.
Warm fingers hook around my jaw, bringing my eyes back to his.
“You ready to board?”
I let out a small exhale, my body zinging with anticipation.
“Yes.”
“Good girl,” he rasps, his eyes glittering.
He takes my bag from my shoulder. Then he holds out his hand for me to take.
“Time to fly, Firefly.”