It Wasn't Me - Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,13

grinned my thanks.

Walking away, I headed back to my hoodie, surprised to see that the woman next to my chair was now looking up at me…and glaring.

The closer I got, the wider my smile became.

“Pip,” I said, blinking. “You’re getting on another plane?”

She glanced down at the ticket in my hand.

“You got upgraded to a first-class ticket?” she gasped. “And you were on standby?”

I blinked. “Yes. How did you know that I was on standby?”

She furled her nose up in distaste.

“Because I heard her say she was going to start calling passengers up there one at a time that were looking to be put on the flight,” she answered. “Of all the luck. I asked her if I could be upgraded because of the…you know.” She shook her head in disgust. “I have to pee.”

She picked up her bag and walked away without another word.

I moved my hoodie over to her spot to save it and then began to pull out my iPad before I finally realized just why she was upset.

She needed the spot because it gave her more room to freak out. I understood that.

Frowning in concentration, I turned to the man beside me.

“Do you mind saving this seat for me?” I requested.

The man nodded. “You can have my coat.”

“Thank you,” I said as I got up and went back up to the counter.

I saw Piper walk by with not a little amount of annoyance on her face and regain her seat.

I also watched as she took my hoodie and shrugged it on over her own.

Lips tipping up in laughter, I turned to the attendant who was once again staring at me with a flush on her face.

“Hi,” I said. “I’d like for you to switch the tickets around for me. My fiancée, over there is deathly afraid of flying and she does better where there are fewer people to watch her freak out. That, and she tends to pass out due to the medication she takes to keep her calm. Would it be possible to switch my ticket over for hers? Can she have my first-class seat?”

The woman’s face went to Piper in the corner, who was doing a good impression of being really upset, then back at me.

Her entire demeanor changed.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said. “Give me a second.”

She went to typing away on the computer, her lip going between her teeth in concentration.

About five minutes later, she smiled, turned her head up to look at me, and grinned.

“Success,” she said, the printer whirring.

I grinned back. “Thank you so much.”

But instead of handing me a new ticket for both Piper and me, she just handed me one.

“I got her seated right next to you,” she said. “We had a pilot that was going to ride with us, and we were going to put him in the first-class seat next to you, but we’ll switch some more stuff around.”

With that, she handed me Piper’s first-class ticket.

Holy shit. Nice!

“Thank you again,” I smiled. “Have a good day.”

“You, too, Mr. Crew.”

With that, I walked over to my seat, handed the jacket back to the man next to me with a muttered ‘thank you,’ then sat down next to the still pissy Piper, and handed her the new ticket. “Welcome to first class, Ms. Mackenzie.”

She took the ticket with hesitant hands.

“I’m sorry, Jonah,” she whispered. “I’m just…nervous.”

I knew she was.

I also knew she wasn’t trying to be a little shit.

“No worries,” I said. “Now you get to sit next to me and hold my hand again.”

She looked at me gratefully.

“At least this time I have some meds to keep me calm,” she sighed. “I stole them from my mom.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m fairly sure you’re not supposed to tell a cop that you’re doing drugs that aren’t yours.”

She tilted her head. “I didn’t think you were a stickler for the rules, Jonah Crew.”

I shrugged. “I’m not.”

“I also learned why you sound so familiar,” she continued. “I didn’t realize you were related to Downy, the SWAT officer.”

“Downy, the retired SWAT officer,” I corrected her.

“Downy, the retired SWAT officer,” she agreed. “The different last names threw me off.”

Giving her the condensed version of the truth, I said, “Downy and I grew up years apart. He’s thirteen years older than me and was already out of the house by the time I came around. We had different fathers.”

“Ahhh,” she said in understanding.

Though, that wasn’t technically true.

We’d grown up with what we assumed were different fathers when, in actuality, Aspen,