Five Stars Five Stars (Desire Island #5)- Claire Thompson Page 0,13
last fear, vanished from her soul.
Chapter 5
“Wow. When you said private plane, I didn’t imagine something so fancy. It’s gorgeous,” Shani enthused, staring wide-eyed at the gleaming jet. She and Adam stood together on the edge of the small runway just outside the terminal building, travel bags in tow. He’d even convinced her to pack some of her beautiful, unique jewelry for sale at the trade show.
Adam took Shani’s hand and gave it a squeeze. He still couldn’t quite believe she was there with him.
“It’s pretty sweet, all right,” he agreed. “Tyler runs a charter service for corporations and high net worth types. We went to high school together. He always wanted to be a pilot, even back then.”
“Does he know what you do for a living?”
“He does. He’s not into the scene, but he’s totally cool about it. Tyler’s a great guy.”
A man of medium height with very short blond hair and a ruddy complexion came out of the building, his aviator sunglasses mirrored in the sunlight. He wore a crisp white shirt tucked into dark blue trousers. “Oh, there he is now,” Adam said, lifting his hand in a wave.
Tyler broke into a wide smile as he approached them. He pulled Adam into a bear hug and they slapped each other heartily on the back. When they parted, Tyler removed his sunglasses and slipped them into the front pocket of his shirt, his gaze shifting to Shani.
Adam couldn’t help but beam with pride. She looked so pretty in a long, flowing skirt with a sleeveless top that hugged her perfect breasts, her feet in slingback white sandals. “Shani, meet my old friend, Tyler Williams. Tyler, this is Shani Youngblood.”
Tyler pretended to do a double-take, his face scrunching with fake confusion. “Okay. No way is this beautiful woman with you, Hawk.” Fixing her with a comically stern gaze, he said, “Are you here under duress, ma’am? Do I need to call the authorities?”
Shani laughed, her large, dark eyes tilting into half-moons. “Completely voluntary,” she said, slipping her arm through Adam’s. She extended her other hand to Tyler. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much for this.”
Tyler took her hand. “Trust me, the pleasure is all mine.” He grinned, adding, “Just kidding about Adam. He’s a great guy. We go way back.”
“He was just telling me,” Shani said. “Your jet is awesome. I’m excited to make the trip.”
Predictably, Tyler beamed. Sometimes Adam wondered if Tyler loved that thing more than his wife and kid. “It’s a Cessna Citation CJ4,” Tyler said proudly. “Flies like a dream. You’ll barely know you’re airborne.”
He led them to the jet, the stairs of which were already lowered. “We’re cleared for takeoff. Come on up. I’ll give you a quick tour and we’ll be on our way.”
Adam had been on the jet before, but he was still impressed with the state-of-the-art cockpit and the six-passenger cabin. The seats were set up so that the first two faced forward. The two middle seats faced the back of the plane, creating a four-seat conversational grouping with the last two seats in the back row.
“You can sit anywhere you like,” Tyler said. “Feel free to help yourselves to wine, beer and soft drinks. There are also plenty of packaged sandwiches, fresh fruit and various snacks in the galley. Lavatory is just there. There’s a second emergency exit in the back. You can buzz me on the intercom if you need anything or have any questions during the trip. Flight time should be just under six and a half hours, give or take, depending on the wind. We’ll be traveling a distance of twenty-two hundred nautical miles at a cruising altitude of thirty-nine thousand feet and an average speed of four hundred ten knots.”
“Knots?” Shani asked, flashing Adam a secret grin. He grinned back.
Tyler, oblivious of the subtext, happily explained, “A knot is equal to 1.15 miles. The history of the knot as a measure of speed has its roots from when ships on the water used knotted ropes tied to logs thrown overboard to measure distances.”
Shani’s grin widened. “You don’t say.”
“Yes,” Tyler said eagerly, no doubt delighted at what he took to be her encouragement to know more. “Nautical miles and knots are still used today in both the marine and aviation industries. The way it works is, if we sliced the globe exactly in half vertically, then divided the half globe into degrees—”
“I know Shani can’t wait to hear this,” Adam interrupted with a