Flight (16 page)

“
They were.”

She felt closer to him at that moment. He
didn't volunteer personal information often and she felt warmed that he was telling her something that was obviously very emotional to him.

Charlie
spent the night with Ryle. She fell asleep soon after making intensely passionate love with him. And it was dawn when she woke up. He was still asleep, his arm around her mid-section, holding her back to his front in spoon fashion. She didn’t want to move. This was where she wanted to be, forever.

Only she knew she didn’t have forever. She had less than two months. Then he would be gone from Linwood. The thought sent a chill through her. She didn’t know how she could live without him. She wasn’t aware she was crying silently until tears ran into her hair and wet the pillow. She wiped at her tears, trying not to disturb him.

“Hey,” His arm tightened around her and he nuzzled against the nape of her neck. “Good morning,”

She swallowed, hoping he wouldn’t hear the break from her voice.
“Good morning,” She murmured.

“
Mmm, you taste delicious.” He murmured, nibbling at the sensitive skin at the junction between her neck and shoulder. Meanwhile, his hand was roaming up to cup and squeezed her breasts before moving downwards again. His hand slid down past her stomach to her pussy. His fingers caressed her soft flesh expertly, rubbing over her clit until she was wet. Against her butt, she could feel his huge arousal.

He left her for a moment, rolling away to reach for a condom. But he was back before she missed him, and then his
shaft was probing between her legs. She moaned as he entered her from behind, closing her eyes, her sadness forgotten for the moment as lust took hold of her. He began thrusting against her, sure and slow at first. But as the moans escaped her, he thrust harder and faster. His weight pressing her down onto the mattress, her face buried in the damp pillow, muffling her moans of pleasure. He was breathing ruggedly as he pounded her in a steadily accelerating rhythm that quickly brought them both into climax. She cried into the pillow as she came, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. He grunted low in his throat and shuddered violently against her as he came with her at the same time.

It was several minutes before he lifted his weight off her and she could breathe easier. He gently pushed her tangled hair from her face and kissed the area just below her ear.

“Why don’t we call in sick and stay in bed for the day?” He murmured huskily.

Charlie
laughed softly. “I’ve never missed a day of work.”

“
Really?” He asked, surprised.

“
Mmm.”

“
What about vacations?”

She hesitated a moment before admitting.
“I’ve never taken vacation time.”

“
You need a vacation. Maybe I should take you away somewhere.” He said.

“
Where?”

“
Somewhere where we can stay in bed for a whole week or two.”

She laughed again.
“Then why do we need to go anywhere?”

“
Good question.” She could feel him grinning against her skin. “Let’s just stay here.”

“
What I need to do right now is go home and change my clothes.” She murmured.

“
I can’t convince you to take a sick day, huh?” He teased.

“
It’s tempting, but no.” She said firmly.

On Wednesday,
Charlie met Mandy and Becky for dinner after work. They went to an Italian trattoria, sitting in a cozy corner. Since Saturday, she had spoken briefly to her friends, but they didn’t get a chance to really talk.

“
So, we want all the details.” Becky drawled after they had ordered their food and got their drinks.

“
Details?”

“
Don’t play coy, Charlie.” Becky said, giving her a mock-threatening look.

“
I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me.” Mandy said, looking a little hurt. “I was there that evening. You two didn’t seem overly friendly with each other. From what I heard, you don’t even really talk to each other at work.”

“
I was trying to avoid him.” Charlie admitted.

“
You never even gave any indication you were interested in him. And now I hear that you actually took him home and slept with him that night.”

“
He’s hot. I think that’s enough indication she would be interested.” Becky said perceptively. “And he’s probably the reason she never slept with Jeff.”

Mandy gasped,
“Is it true?”

Charlie
sighed. “Yes.” She admitted.

“
I knew it!” Becky grinned triumphantly.

“
Wow. So this attraction might be all the way back to when Ryle came into my shop, right?” Mandy asked.

“
Yes.” Charlie nodded.

“
So all that talk about him being arrogant and stuff…?”

“
Still true, but it was my way of trying to fight my attraction to him.”

“
Oh.”

“
So, you said he was more than amazing in bed?” Becky asked.

“
The sex is mind-blowing. Ryle is an expert at it and he just has to touch me and I melt.”

“
Come on, Charlie, we want details.”

“
It doesn’t really matter, because I don’t know how much longer I’ll be seeing him.”

“
Why?” Becky demanded.

“
His contract at PAL is up in less than two months. After that, he’ll be leaving Linwood. That would be the end of it.” She said, trying to suppress the lump that rose up in her throat just at the thought of Ryle leaving.

“
Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.” Mandy murmured.

“
You never know; he could get an extension or another contract.” Becky said.

“
Yeah.” Mandy agreed.

Charlie
shook her head. “No. It sounded like he definitely won’t renew the contract, even if it was offered to him.”

“
You don’t know for sure. For you, he might.”

“
He’ll be a fool to let you go. You’re smart, you’re gorgeous, and you make lots of money. He wouldn’t be able to find anyone better than you.” Mandy said with firm loyalty.

Charlie
smiled, but it was a sad smile.

“
Hey, you okay?” Becky asked, seeing the tears that sparkled in her grey eyes.

Charlie
shook her head, unable to answer.

“
You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Mandy asked softly.

“
Yes. I don’t know what I’ll do when he leaves.” Charlie admitted honestly. “I always thought my first love is aviation, and everything else would come in second. I was a fool to think that. Right now, if he asks me to leave Linwood and go with him, I would, without a second thought.”

“
Oh honey,” Mandy said sadly.

“
So, what are you going to do?” Becky asked.

“
The only thing I can do. Spend as much time with him as I can now.”

Mandy sighed.
“It sucks that love can’t be simple.”

“
Yeah, it would be so much simpler if Charlie fell in love with Jeff instead.” Becky said. “Jeff would marry you in a second.”

“
Jeff is a really good guy.” Charlie agreed.

“
Maybe you’re one of those women that can only fall for the wrong guy.” Mandy said thoughtfully. “I read it in a magazine once that some women do that.”

“
Ryle is not exactly the wrong guy. He seems pretty decent.” Becky murmured. “And I should thank him the next time I see him.”

“
Why?”

“
He sent some hockey tickets to Sean for this Saturday’s game.” Becky explained.

“
What hockey tickets?” Charlie asked, curious.

“
Apparently Sean was telling him how he couldn’t get tickets to this weekend’s game. He really wanted to see this game cuz it’s going to be between two powerful teams. Ryle said he might be able to find some tickets.” Becky told them. “And he did.”

“
Really?” Charlie murmured.

“
Mmm. And you would never guess what section those tickets are for.” Becky said.

“
What?” Mandy asked.

“
The VIP box suites.” Becky said. “It’s worth like hundreds of dollars, and it includes a catered dinner. Sean was so excited he nearly passed out.”

“
Really?” Charlie was surprised hearing this.

“
That’s not even the best of it.” Becky smirked.

“
There’s more?” Mandy asked.

“
The VIP box belongs to Prescott Aerodynamics.”

Charlie
was so surprised she could only stare at her friend.

“
I would say he has some pretty powerful friends in Prescott Aerodynamics.” Becky murmured.

Charlie
was frowning now. “Now that you mention it, there was something strange.”

“
What?”

“
Last weekend he drove me to PAL, and when I discovered I forgot my security badge, he used his to get in. Security is very tight at PAL and only people with special clearance get in during off hours.” She told her friends. “He’s only been here for a few months and his position certainly wouldn’t give him that kind of clearance. But he was able to get through without any problems.”

“
Hmm…that is strange.” Mandy murmured thoughtfully.

“
Like I said, he probably has powerful friends inside the company.” Becky said.

The next day,
Charlie went to Ryle’s place after work. Her discussion with her friends was uppermost on her mind for most of the day. As soon as she was alone with Ryle, she had to ask him.

“
By the way, Becky wanted to thank you for getting the tickets to Saturday’s hockey game. It’s really nice of you.” Charlie said as they left the plant together in his car.

“
No problem; glad I could help.” He answered easily.

“
How did you manage to get the tickets?”

He shrugged.
“A friend had some extras he couldn’t use.”

“A friend?”

“
Hmm. Did you want to go too?” He asked her.

“
No.” She answered. “But those are really good tickets; why didn’t you use them for yourself?”

He turned to look at her.
“I wanted to spend Saturday night with you. I didn’t think you wanted to go to a hockey game twice in a row.”

“
Oh.” She couldn’t find any objections to that. She wanted to spend time with him. And being alone with him would be a lot more enjoyable.

They ended up spending S
aturday at Ryle’s place. Between sessions of lovemaking, they managed to get some work done. She brought her laptop with her and set up shop on the dining table where she worked on some reports. Ryle sat across from her with his own laptop. He seemed to have all the latest technological gadgets. Other than his cell phone and iPad, his laptop computer was a tablet pc with a swivel screen which he was using with the stylus when he wasn’t typing.

Charlie
was curious what kind of work Ryle was doing, but she didn’t feel she had the right to pry. When he was working, he was so focused, he didn’t even notice when she got up to make coffee. She didn’t want to interrupt him, even to offer him coffee.

They went out for a late lunch, and then bought a few groceries for the evening.

“Frozen pizza?” Ryle teased her as she paused in front of the freezer section, perusing the selection of frozen pizza. He stopped behind her, sliding an arm around her mid-section and pulling her back against him. She closed her eyes for a long moment, enjoying the closeness.

“
Well, you have two choices. I can make frozen pizza or TV dinners.” She told him, slanting a glance back at him.

“
Or we can order in.”

“
Is that your solution to every meal?”

He grinned.
“Yeah.”

“
Ordering in every night is a little excessive.” She murmured. Not to mention pricy. She added silently. It bothered her that Ryle still did most of the paying. She was the one with the big salary; she didn’t mind if she paid for all their dates. But somehow, he annoyingly managed to stay one step ahead of her on it. 

“
How is it that your mom is such a great cook and you arn't?” He asked, giving her a little kiss on her ear as he talked.

“
Because I’m a disaster in a kitchen.”

“
What did you eat when you were living on your own?”

Charlie
thought back to her college days. “Well, for the first few years, I lived in the dorms and I took most of my meals in the cafeteria. And then when I was living with…”

“
You were living with…?” Ryle prompted lightly after a few moments when she didn’t continue.

“
When I was living with my boyfriend, Brian, he did all the cooking.”

Ryle was silent for a long moment after her answer. His arm had tightened around her, but he didn’t make any comments. She wished she could see his face and what he was thinking.

“I guess frozen pizza it is.” Ryle finally said lightly, dropping a kiss on the top of her head and released her.

She felt suddenly bereft without his arm around her. Trying not to show that it bothered her, she picked up a couple of boxes.
“Do you have any preference?”

“
Anything’s good.” He said carelessly.

She baked the frozen pizza later that evening, standing watch over it to make sure it didn’t burn as it sometimes did.
When she was cooking, any disaster was possible.

“
You don’t have to stand there and watch it; it’s not going anywhere.” Ryle teased her when he walked into the kitchen to see her once again peeking into the glass window.

She straightened and turned to make a face at him.
“Just leave the cooking to me.”

“
Okay.” He laughed and left the kitchen.

When the timer went off, she found oven mitts and took the pizza out.

“Dinner is served.” She called, setting the pizza down onto the dining table.

Ryle walked up to the table, carrying a bottle of chilled beer and a can of Coke for her.
“Nice.” He teased, coming up behind her to look over her shoulder at the pizza.

“
And to think you could be in a VIP box having catered food right now.” She said teasingly. “Instead, you have to suffer my inferior cooking.”

“
True. But I can’t do this in a VIP box,” He said, dropping off the drinks and pulling her back against him. One arm slipped around her waist, while the other hand reached down into the V-neckline of her T-shirt to cup a breast.

“
Mmm.” She moaned, closing her eyes and tipping her head back.