Come To Me (Dare With Me #3) - J.H. Croix Page 0,3
from above,” she explained, gesturing to the sky, which was blue today with fluffy clouds scudding across its surface as the wind had started to pick up.
“Have you flown since you’ve been here?”
She shook her head quickly, her curls bouncing. “I took a plane to get here, but that’s it.”
“Well, then, I’ll take you. Coming in on a commercial flight doesn’t give you the kind of view you can get in the smaller planes.”
“You will?” she squeaked.
“Of course.” I felt my phone vibrate in my chest pocket over my heart. “I actually need to go.” That vibration was the alarm I’d set to let me know when it was time to head out to the plane hangar for a scheduled flight. “Not today, but give me your number,” I said, sliding my phone out. “I’ll text you when I’ve got a free day to take you.”
“Isn’t that kind of expensive?”
“You’re not paying.”
Gemma started to shake her head, and I shook mine harder in return. “Seriously. Give me your number,” I repeated.
After she recited it, I punched it in and sent her a quick text. “Just so you have mine. Now, I gotta roll.” I slipped on my helmet.
“Thank you again!” she called as I started my motorcycle.
With a wave, I drove off. The distance from her place out to the small airport in Diamond Creek was short. There was a commercial airport here, but I was aiming for the one where small planes, which were serious business in Alaska, were housed in a collection of hangars lining the runway. I flew planes for one of my best friends. Flynn Walker owned and ran an outdoor resort in the wilderness, twenty miles, give or take, from Diamond Creek proper. They served guests for a variety of outdoor activities, along with guided plane trips.
I’d met Flynn when we were in the Air Force together and would lay my life on the line for the man. So far, there were four of us who’d moved here after he let us know we could make good money. It was a dream job. I loved to fly planes, and Alaska was flat out beautiful, the kind of beauty that elicited a sense of awe.
After my time in the Air Force, I’d needed a place where I could land and do what I did best, and Alaska turned out to be exactly what I needed. Some of my best friends in life, close enough to call family in my heart, were here, and I got to live and work with them. Diamond Creek was a small town, but it catered to tourists, so there was good food and decent shopping, if that was your thing. I didn’t care so much for the shopping, but I sure as hell cared for the food and the people.
I made it to the hangar just in time. While I rounded up the family I was taking for a scenic jaunt, I made a mental note to check the schedule and text Gemma when I had a free day. I wouldn’t mind more than a free day with Gemma.
Grant tossed a five-dollar bill toward his older brother, Flynn, and rolled his eyes. “There you go. You win.”
Flynn swiped the money from the table with a chuckle. “Don’t worry, you know you’ll win it back.”
I grinned at Grant. “You absolutely will. Flynn’s lost his touch at cards ever since he and Daphne got together.”
Flynn cuffed me lightly on the shoulder where he sat beside me on the couch. “I’m not that bad.”
Tucker, who sat across from me on the other side of the sectional, cast Flynn a knowing look. “Hell, yeah, you are. It’s all right. We’re all happy for you. Plus, I’ve been winning more lately.”
“It’s not like we play for much money, guys,” I offered as Flynn gathered the cards and began to shuffle them.
I’d been working here going on four years now. Flynn owned Walker Adventures with his younger brother, Grant, the very one who was giving him a little hell, and his younger sister Nora. I supposed Cat counted too, but she was only seventeen. Their mother had started the resort with Flynn’s stepfather, although it had never really gotten off the ground. After they’d both passed away within a few years of each other, Flynn had left the Air Force to come home and take care of his siblings. Flynn was the oldest of the four, the only one who didn’t share the same father. He’d been