Chapter Twenty-Three
Every step that Chance took away from Jane made him sick with guilt. He should have stayed away, but hell if he couldn’t stop himself.
That was only the first thing he shouldn’t have done in the last ten minutes. He shouldn’t have held her, and he sure as fuck shouldn’t have kissed the top of her head.
What had he been thinking? He hadn’t.
Even if he had, he couldn’t have guessed that those few minutes would amount to the closest he ever felt to another person. Fully clothed and at an airport, that had been the most intimate embrace of his life.
He returned to where his teammates had been. The area was empty, and he was thankful for a few more seconds to get his ass in gear.
Chance rubbed the back of his neck, grabbed his go bag, and strode out to the tarmac, where Titan Group’s sleek jet waited.
A few dozen yards away, a far crappier propeller plane readied for Jane. His molars grounded. The Thanes were assholes. If they had wanted, they could’ve transported her home on a chariot padded with gold-threaded pillows. But nope, the billionaires didn’t go out of their way for their employees.
Chance shifted his bag onto the other shoulder and charged up the stairs. Cool air conditioning from their jet hit him before he ducked in. He made his way to an open seat and ignored Hagan’s expectant expression. “Not now.”
Hagan let out a long, slow whistle.
That was all the conversation they would have about Jane.
Chance settled into a seat as the lights dimmed.
He unwrapped a set of noise-canceling earbuds from a console panel and dropped his head back, closing his eyes.
The earbuds dulled the jet’s engines but didn’t do a damn thing to quiet his mind.
What if Jane hadn’t been a client?
What if he didn’t live in another country?
What if he never experienced that zap of chemistry with another woman again?
Their electricity burned deeper than he knew possible. Jane Singleton had a smart-mouth and a strong body. He could easily explain his attraction, but he didn’t understand their magnetic pull. How could he fix what he couldn’t comprehend?
Of all the cliché things that Jane could’ve done, she opted for the most pathetic. She had cried—and he’d pitied her.
She swallowed several times like she might get sick. You cried on him. Her head dropped into her hands. He didn’t even look back.
Of course, he wouldn’t. Jane had let the desert bake her brain cells away.
Why would Chance have fallen for her when she was at her weakest—and smelliest?
This wasn’t a fa-la-la, rainbows-everywhere movie where the macho hero runs off with the woman who had stolen his heart.
What on God’s green earth had she been thinking?
Jane dropped onto an uncomfortable plastic chair and focused on what would come after her flight. Comfort. A warm bed. A hot shower. Those should make her swoon. She couldn’t wait to pamper herself. Room service was definitely in order. Most of all, Jane couldn’t wait to see Teddy.
“Ma’am?”
Jane turned toward a man wearing desert camouflage. “It’s time?”
He nodded and held the door open. Jane stood and her arms felt empty. No purse. No phone. No one to lean on.
She followed the man outside and was introduced to the pilot of her airplane.
They traded a brief conversation as she studied his face, searching for any hints that he might be like her last pilot.
Nothing seemed out of place as the pilot took painstaking care to make sure she was nicely settled into the cramped, somewhat antiquated plane.
“Thanks.” Jane shifted uncomfortably as he continued to fuss over her comfort. “But you don’t have to do all this. I’m not a Thane. Just one of their staffers.”
The pilot paused, cocking his head. “I’m sorry?”
“You don’t have to waste your time on me. I’m just Jane. Not a billionaire.”
He straightened. “Just Jane,” he repeated and then reached for her hand and squeezed. He spoke Arabic, and then with a grandfatherly expression, translated, “There will always be people who do not see your worth. Don’t let one of them be you.”
Her lips parted as the pilot let go of her hand. She wanted to explain that he’d misunderstood her intent. Jane knew her worth.
The pilot situated himself in the cockpit and spoke into his headset. The propellers revolved and drowned the conversation, leaving her with the weight of his words and the question: did she know her worth?
Jane was a realist. She didn’t have low self-esteem.
Perhaps she had a few insecurities. But who didn’t? Especially when her surroundings were glittery photoshopped perfection.
“One hour,” the pilot announced. “To Abu Dhabi.”
“Thanks.” She closed her eyes, and a strange sadness clogged her throat.
Soon as the regular routine of her life came back, she would forget about her dashing white knight and carry on like she’d always done.
The last thing she needed was to pine over a man who lived half a world away, who would jump into danger on his next job, maybe saving another woman who’d fall in love with him. She’d be a distant thought…
The trip went by quicker than she expected. They began their descent almost immediately, and Jane watched as the barren landscape changed to an extravagant city of ocean-side skyscrapers.
The plane lined up with the runway and smoothly touched down. She stared out the window as the pilot taxied and then the small private plane stopped.
The outer door of the airplane was unlocked by the ground crew as Jane thanked her pilot. The plane door unfolded. Jane unfastened her seatbelt and stretched as the captain disembarked.
“I left without saying everything I needed to.”
Jane jerked toward the opened hatch. “Chance?” She blinked twice as if that might clear her vision. “What are you doing here?”
“Like I said. I didn’t leave our conversation the way I wanted to.” He held out his hand. “You got it?”
“Um—” She broke from staring at Chance but didn’t take his hand. “Yeah.”
He led the way down the clamshell staircase as if it weren’t skinny, narrow, and tedious. This time when Chance offered his hand, she took it. “This thing’s easier to get into.”
Her feet touched the tarmac. Their fingers lingered for half a heartbeat—or not. She didn’t know, hating how she immediately reverted to her quest for secret meanings in benign gestures. Then again, he was standing in front of her. “Thanks.”
“The guys would never let me live it down if we survived Syria, but I let you break your neck falling out of the airplane.” He tilted his head toward the exit. “You ready for the big city?”
They crossed the smooth, clean tarmac. The exterior of the airport gleamed. Even the vibrant sky seemed well-appointed with the cotton-ball clouds.
Chance escorted her through an unmarked door and into the cool, lightly perfumed airport. Wealth poured from the rafters. Designer-clad travelers walked through the grandiose terminal. Jane lived and worked in the Thanes’ extravagant world, but this airport was still a sight to be seen.
Then she noticed how others stared at her. Her cheeks flushed. She could only imagine what they thought of the sun-blistered woman who wore hospital scrubs and her dirty shoes. She tugged on his elbow and whispered his name.
When Jane had his attention, she pointed out, “People are looking at us.”
He didn’t bother to check. “You should wave.”
“What? Why?” She crossed her arms over her chest as though she could curl into herself and hide.
“A pretty lady looking like she escaped hell?” He looked her up and down. “They probably think you’re from one of those reality shows. Amazing Race. Survivor. Something like that.”
She chuckled, relaxing the slightest bit. “Right.”
Chance stepped in front of Jane and held his arm out. “Stay back.”
What in the world—
“No pictures.” He blocked the invisible paparazzi.
A blush rocketed from her forehead to her toes. “Oh my God. Chance, would you stop?”
“No autographs.” Chance placed a protective hand around her back, shielding her from absolutely no one, and then ducked her through a door. His laughter bubbled as the door clicked shut.
Jane couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re insane. Do you know that?”
He shrugged without disagreeing and led her through a maze of private halls.
“Do you know where we are?” Jane asked.
“More or less.”
She groaned. “If I end up in the Abu Dhabi police lock-up because—”
He turned, stopping Jane short. “Thought you trusted me?”
Well, hell. Here they were, too close for her brain to function properly. “I do.”
He swept an arm behind her back and led her to another door and out into the sunshine again. Jane blinked and shielded her gaze. A black Mercedes sedan waited curbside. A chauffeur greeted them by name.
She slid into the backseat and muttered, “Guess you do know what you’re doing.”
Chance laughed as the driver shut the door. “Sometimes I just have to see what happens next.”