understanding smile and she nodded with genuine warmth. “I understand,” she said and stepped into the tiny galley.
Rachel glared at Emerson’s back before taking her own seat, irritated beyond words with the man and his obnoxious, mysterious agenda. “How could you tell her that?” Rachel demanded when she and Emerson were alone. She crossed her arms over her stomach, glaring at him while he casually sat down in one of the large, leather seats. “I thought I was supposed to be impervious to fear and doubt. You’ve been preaching all along about how I can’t show weakness to anyone!”
“Ms. Carson?” Emily said from behind her.
Rachel twirled around, embarrassed to be snapping at Emerson like that. And then she suppressed that feeling. Emily wasn’t the enemy, she told herself and forced a smile onto her face.
“This might help,” Emily was saying, offering her a champagne flute filled with frothy liquid.
“Please,” she sighed, “call me Rachel?” she asked. This woman seemed kind now and Rachel was desperate for human interaction without a hidden agenda. Rachel took the glass but she wasn’t sure she wanted to drink it. “Can you tell me what’s in it? I don’t want any sedatives or anything like that.”
Emily shook her head with a warm, caring smile. “Nothing like that, ma’am. It’s just orange juice and champagne. It might help you relax during the takeoff and landing. I know it can be a bit daunting if you’re frightened of those times.” Emily hesitated another moment, then said, “I can assure you that the captain is extremely capable and knows how to handle this craft expertly.”
Rachel blinked, surprised by the assurance.
“Emily is married to the captain,” Emerson was saying and Rachel could feel the smile in his words.
She glanced back at him, showing him her exasperation. “Is nothing a secret from you?” she demanded. How could he have known that she was jealous of the other woman? Hadn’t she hidden her feelings well enough? Obviously not, she thought with irritation.
He chuckled again.
Rachel smiled gratefully at Emily. “Thank you. I’ll definitely try this and will let you know if it helps at all.”
Emily grinned. “There’s more where that came from so just let me know if you need a refill.”
When Emily retreated to the galley once again, Rachel spun back around in the leather chair and glared at Emerson as he took the seat opposite her. “How did you know?” she asked after several tense moments of silence.
He smiled slightly. “Why were you trying to hide it from me?” he asked softly, keeping her eyes captured with his.
She rolled her eyes at his obtuseness. “Because you told me not to reveal any weakness.”
He sighed, still watching her carefully. “Now you can show me any weaknesses you have.”
Her eyes narrowed, feeling suspicious all of a sudden. “Why is that?”
“Because I’m going to show you the other side,” he replied mysteriously.
That wasn’t what she was expecting to hear. But the plane moved at that moment and she realized that the doors were already closed. She took the glass Emily had given her earlier and downed the entire amount, then placed the glass carefully on the table in front of her. “What’s the other side?” After everything that had happened over the past month, she wasn’t sure she could handle “the other side”.
Unfortunately, he didn’t answer her quickly enough to distract her, the plane was taxiing for takeoff and that was all she could remember. When the plane started down the runway, Emerson broke all the rules regarding takeoff and landings. He unbuckled her seatbelt and lifted her into his lap. By the time the plane had reached enough speed to lift of the earth, he was kissing her so passionately and so thoroughly, she had no idea what was happening. Only that his hands and his mouth were covering hers, his lips were doing things that created those wonderful tingles inside of her and his hands were smoothing against the skin of her stomach, creeping higher and higher until his palm was cupping her breast. She gasped when his thumb found her nipple and she arched into his hand, completely forgetting all of the resolutions she’d made about staying away from him and not letting him reduce her down to a puddle of lust.
When the plane was in the air and leveled off, he lifted his head and Rachel stared up at him. She was surprised that she’d reacted so quickly and passionately to him despite her anger towards him. And then