3. Lee
3
LEE
I slid my sunglasses back into place, fighting to keep my smile from busting free. The fire shooting from those exquisite irises should have burned me to a crisp, but I felt great. Invigorated .
I headed for the jet’s stairs, moving somewhat stiffly. A certain part of me found Viktoria a little too stimulating. That sultry voice, that sharp Icelandic accent made me want to provoke her just to hear her tell me off.
I might have overstepped, getting all in her face, but Viktoria had started it. She had called Boom. I couldn’t resist poking her after that. Hopefully, she’d cool off before we got in the air. If not, I had no doubt she’d find some way to test me.
God, she was beautiful. And her strong backbone just turned me on even more. I loved warrior women, and Viktoria blazed like an Amazon or Viking of old. If I hadn’t fled (er, strategically retreated) from the car, I might have done something monumentally stupid, goaded on by her scent, that amazing accent, and the way her eyes sparked as she dressed me down.
I slipped my Bluetooth earpiece into my ear and checked in with the two other men assigned to my detail. “Comm test. This is Lee. Do you read?”
“ Loud and clear,” came a gruff male voice. “Mike checking in.”
“This is Jeff,” the other guard said. “I read you.”
“Good,” I responded, eyeing the fuel truck packing up the hose. “Meet me at the bottom of the steps?—”
“Boss,” Mike cut in, “there’s been a change to the copilot. I have the new file.”
My steps faltered. What the hell? I’d already read the background checks on all the personnel scheduled to be on board. Everyone had been cleared with no problems. “What do you mean, there’s been a change?”
“I mean we’ve got a new copilot.” A fortyish man with an expanding waistline and a vertical challenge ducked beneath the wing and met me near the stairs. He barely came to my shoulder, but the hard edge in his eye screamed competence and experience.
“Mike,” he said, and shook my hand. “And that’s Jeff.” He nodded at an athletic, blond man in his mid-thirties. Both men had on jeans and plain T-shirts, as I had instructed on my way to the airport. It made me feel better, knowing that they’d followed my orders. Boom’s reputation for hiring good men just kept bearing out. I hoped I would live up to that standard.
I shook Jeff’s hand, then took a thin file from Mike. I flipped through it and frowned. “Who gave you this?”
“The copilot.” Mike thumbed over his shoulder, which I took to mean the man was already on the plane. “Said he knew we’d ask for it.”
My lips tightened. Last-minute changes were always red flags. And this guy hadn’t even checked in with Boom. Worst of all, he’d brought his own file. Boom was very particular when it came to vetting personnel. He used in-house staff for background checks, not some independent agency, like the one whose logo was emblazoned across the front of the file.
“This isn’t going to work,” I said. I slid my phone out of my back pocket. “I’m calling Boom. In the meantime, Mike, let the flight crew know we’re grounded until the copilot’s vetted properly. Then, you stay with them. Jeff, keep an eye on anyone approaching this plane.”
The men split off to their respective assignments. I was dialing Boom when the clunk of a car door opening echoed across the tarmac. Hadn’t I ordered Viktoria to stay put? I crossed my arms and watched her emerge from the car on long, creamy legs adorned with sexy high heels.
Viktoria slammed the door shut, and my mouth went dry. My heart rate picked up as she turned my way, and I got a full view of her at last. To say I liked what I saw would’ve been an understatement. Her pale blue sheath draped her hourglass figure perfectly, its hem grazing gently just above her knee. Her skin would be soft there, silky to the touch. Her jewelry called attention to the elegant column of her throat. I wanted to swipe her hair aside and kiss her smooth neck, then trace my lips down over her collarbone and toward?—
Click. Click. Click.
I snapped back to myself at the click of her heels. They drilled into the pavement as she stormed toward me. She got in my face, and I realized that in her heels, she almost matched my six-foot-two height. I’d ask her to leave them on when she wrapped her legs?—
Shut it down, Lee, or you’re going to have a big problem you won’t be able to hide .
The scent of her perfume hit me as she ground to a halt—wildflowers, I thought. A fragrant spring field. I squared my shoulders at the sight of her blazing blue eyes. Oh yeah. She was furious and had no problem letting me know it.
“What’s taking so long?” she demanded, lifting her chin.
Muting my comms so Mike and Jeff didn’t get an earful, I uncrossed my arms and held up the file. “A new copilot has been assigned last minute. He hasn’t been properly vetted, so Elite’s going to?—”
“Let me see that.” She snatched the file from my hand. One glance at the logo, and she nodded briskly. “I know this company,” she said. “My father uses them. I trust their assessment.”
“ I don’t know them.” I pushed the file down so I could see her. Her eyes locked with mine, and I caught her nostrils flaring. A faint flush colored her cheeks, and she looked away.
“I’ll call them,” she said. “Will that make you happy?” Without waiting for an answer, she pulled out her phone. Her voice changed as she spoke to someone on the other end, turning cool and professional, without inflection. Her face changed as well, to an expressionless mask. “That’s right, today. No, I know I didn’t. I have his file right here, so— Sure, just a second.” She read off a number and waited, frowning. “All right,” she said at length. “I’ll need you to forward that on to my team. I’ll text you the number.” Viktoria hung up.
“We’ll still need to vet him,” I said.
“On your own time,” Viktoria said. I started to protest, but she cut me off. “No, it’s your turn to listen. You know your job, but I know mine, too—and my job is running a division of a multi-million-dollar international company.” She thrust the file back at me, the folder slapping my chest. “Between my experience and my two PhDs, I believe I’m smart enough to make my own assessment about what level of verification I’m comfortable with. This company is trustworthy, ergo, the copilot is trustworthy. And if we sit around here waiting for more verification, we’re going to end up seriously behind schedule. I’m getting on the plane.”
“I’m tired of repeating myself.” I stared her down over the tops of my sunglasses. “As I said, I don’t know them. And since I’m the one responsible for your safety, we will stay grounded until the copilot passes Elite’s background checks. You will wait in the limo?—”
“No, Lee. I won’t.” Viktoria stepped toward me, voice dropping to a hiss. “I’m not some little girl you can bully. You may get off on throwing your weight around, but I’ve gone toe-to-toe with men much more powerful than you. And I’m warning you now, I’ve always come out on top.”
Oh, did I enjoy that flash of fantasy. “Viktoria, you’ve never gone toe-to-toe with a man like me, but I like your dirty mind. You can come on top of me any time you want.”
Viktoria’s jaw dropped, and I thought she might slap me. Either that, or dissolve into laughter. In the end, she did neither, just scowled. “You are absolutely the most inappropriate, unprofessional, socially stunted… heathen I’ve ever met.”
“Thank you.” I sketched a half-bow just to see what she’d do.
“I’ve already lost most of my morning,” she continued, ignoring me. Her voice had gone husky, sexy as hell. “Now, here’s the situation: I have work to do. The plane’s Wi-Fi doesn’t reach to the limo, and turning my phone into a hotspot isn’t working. I’m about to close a deal that will shape my company’s policy for the next ten years, and to prepare for that, I need to connect to our server. Is it really so essential that you keep me from my work so you can redo a background check that’s already been done?”
I understood her frustration, but her safety came first. I opened my mouth, but she barreled ahead.
“I have a presentation to finish and a video conference call to attend before my department heads leave for the day.” She glanced at her watch and grimaced. “That’s in less than an hour, thanks to the time difference. If you’re on some power trip?—”
“I’m going to stop you right there.” I raised my voice, cutting her off. I yanked my sunglasses off to pin her with my gaze. “Your safety comes first. Period.”
Viktoria lifted her chin and met my stare unflinchingly. She didn’t seem fazed by my exotic eyes or intimidated by my muscular physique. Nor did she seem at all cowed by my intensity. In other words, she was goddamn perfect…and absolutely infuriating at the same time.
She looked away first, and I didn’t know whether to feel smug or disappointed. “All right,” she said. “I said I’d trust you, and I will. But let’s compromise—you call your boss and have him expedite whatever background check he thinks is necessary. In the meantime, I’ll wait on the plane.”
I nodded and took a reluctant step back. Viktoria’s wildflower perfume was messing with my head. If I didn’t get control of myself, my other head would start getting involved. “In the spirit of compromise, would you wait in the limo?”
Viktoria scowled at me, but she didn’t say a word, just dipped her chin and spun on her heel. She marched back to the car, heels clicking on the tarmac. Not watching her go took more willpower than I wanted to admit—her ass was amazing, a perfect inverted heart—but I focused on my phone and called Boom instead.
Six minutes later, I swiped one hand over my face and hung my head. There’d be no living with her once I imparted Boom’s verdict. Elite would run their own check on the copilot, but they couldn’t expedite a thorough vetting and still stay on Viktoria’s schedule. And she’d been at the airport too long already. Boom wanted her airborne, to play it safe.
“The company’s reliable,” he said. “But it’s strange that this pilot handed you his file directly. You’ll need to keep an eye on him till vetting’s complete.”
“When will that be?”
“I’ll have something for you by the time you stop to refuel.”
Steeling myself, I closed the distance to the limo. I wasn’t looking forward to the smug expression sure to fill Viktoria’s beautiful face. The only plus side I could think of was that she probably looked stunning when she smiled.