be joining this job with you,” Downy replied excitedly.
Lock, aka Downy’s son, Lachlan Downy Jr, aka my nephew, was all grown up and shit now. He’d served a couple of tours of duty in Iraq, and this was the first I was hearing about him coming home.
“He’s home?” I asked, feeling a pang of regret hit me at the realization that I’d missed his arrival. I’d missed the little shit.
But, I guessed, he wasn’t exactly a little shit anymore.
He was a grown ass man just like I was now.
Damn, I was getting old.
“Yeah,” Downy confirmed. “He got home about three days ago. He didn’t waste time asking Luke for a job without me knowing. He was signing paperwork when I came into work today.”
“Fuckin’ awesome,” I said. “What about the academy, though?”
“Since his old job put him through it at the civilian school close to his old base, he only had to have the shit transferred to Texas,” Downy rumbled. “What is that sound?”
I looked over at the hacking lady that’d moved from her seat and was making her way toward the bathrooms that I was standing next to.
I quickly moved out of the way, hoping that her germs didn’t spread to me, and spotted a seat off in the corner next to a woman that had her hood up. She had her head facing downward at an iPad and was clearly ignoring everyone and everything going on around her.
My kind of seat partner.
“Some lady that clearly shouldn’t be fuckin’ getting on a plane,” I muttered darkly, making some guy’s mouth quirk in a semi-smile.
“A-fuckin’-men,” he agreed. “If I make it back home without hacking up a lung, it’ll be a goddamn miracle.”
I snorted and kept walking as Downy continued to speak to me in my ear.
“Anyway,” Downy said. “This new department we created is going to be good. I think you’re going to like it.”
I had a feeling I probably wouldn’t, but at this point, a job was a job.
“All right,” I grumbled. “Have a good one. I’m going to get reading on my school work.”
“Okay,” he said. “Safe flight. Let me know when you get there, and don’t do anything stupid.”
I snorted. “I won’t.”
Hopefully.
I mean, other than getting another tattoo. Which was my second reason for going to Vegas.
“Later,” he said, then hung up without waiting for me to reply.
I shoved the phone into my pocket and dropped my baggage onto the empty seat, about to start searching for my headphones and iPad.
Except, before I could get them out, the loudspeaker caught my attention.
“Mr. Jonah Crew, please come up to the counter for seating assignment,” I heard over the loudspeaker.
Dropping my hoodie in the seat so my spot wouldn’t be stolen by the hacking chick that was headed back this way, I turned and scanned for the counter.
Spotting it in the far corner, I headed in that direction, knowing that I was likely going to be put into the shittiest spot there was on the plane since I was on standby and lucky to get any seat at all.
“Hi,” I smiled wide at the attendant that was standing all prim and proper in her gray business suit the airline likely required that she wear.
The flight attendant flushed.
I grinned wider.
I hadn’t done so much smiling since I’d talked to the curly-headed woman that I couldn’t seem to get out of my head two days ago.
And before that, it’d been fuckin’ years.
What the hell had the woman done to me?
After fixing her tire the other day, I’d yet to get her out of my mind.
When I’d come into my house to find her sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee, with my traitorous cat in her lap, I’d found something about the sight deeply comforting.
After that, I’d gotten her out of my house as quickly as I could manage, and then had hated myself for the rest of the day for going against my instinct.
“Umm,” the attendant stuttered over her next words. “I, well, I have a…” She looked at her computer screen and flushed guiltily. “I have a first-class seat available.”
I blinked, stunned to hear her say those particular words.
“You do?” I asked in surprise.
She nodded once.
“Nice!” I smiled. “Thanks!”
Okay, I was overdoing it a little bit, but my brother had taught me well. You can get more being charismatic and smiling than you can being broody and scowling.
“You’re most welcome.” She flushed even further. “Here is your ticket.”
I took the proffered piece of paper and