Friendly Skies Read online

  “You are my client only while Matt is on his leave of absence for six months,” she said. “He’ll be back by Christmas, so we can just keep our relationship out of the office until then. Even if he ends up not coming back, by then Mark might be able to take the lead on the Bradford account. God knows, Rich loves Mark’s Tesla enough to have him promoted.”

  Jason was silent, his expression unreadable.

  “I know it’s not ideal,” she continued. “But I can’t have either of us quitting our jobs, and I also can’t bear the thought of not being with you.” She sighed. “I want to be with you, too.”

  After a long pause, he nodded. “Okay, we can do this on the sly. But I don’t like it. I want everyone to know about us. I want to introduce you to my family, and the dry-cleaning lady and the cashier at the grocery store. But it can wait. For now.” He gazed steadily into her eyes, daring her to argue with him.

  She smiled softly. “Great. It’s settled, then. I’m starving. Perhaps tonight you would settle for just telling the pizza delivery guy?”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  JASON COULDN’T REMEMBER EVER being this happy. He was holding this gorgeous, voluptuous, naked woman in his arms, in his bed. Life didn’t get much better.

  When Judy walked into the hanger this morning, he nearly tripped over his own feet. It never once occurred to him that her agency could be the one Rich hired to handle the press release and advertising campaign. But then, he never gave that part of the business much thought. He was only involved at this stage because of the merger of Callahan and Bradford.

  She had been a vision, standing there in her suit skirt and heels, her legs looking like they could go on forever. She was such a sight for sore eyes. He had thought he had begun to get over her, but he was so, so wrong. Seeing her standing there with Rich, his first impulse had been to take her in his arms and kiss her with all the lost passion of the last few weeks. His second impulse had been to rip her clothes off. He had given in to his third impulse, which had been to mentally undress her. After that, he fixed his poker face and tried to be all business. It had nearly killed him.

  He was good, he thought, he’d been all business right up until he asked her if he could ride with her to lunch. That had been an impulse decision. He’d been planning to drive himself, needing a little time to pull his shit together and prepare for the rest of the afternoon. Just being near her had wrecked his concentration. Once in her car and it was just the two of them, it had been impossible to keep it light. She deserved an explanation, even if it sounded hollow and shitty to his ears. She deserved so much.

  He had hated every second of being away from her. At first he’d been shocked by how much he missed her. Once he got over being shocked, he realized that his feelings were not subsiding anytime soon. He thought the last thing she needed while working out her divorce was a jealous boyfriend in her way. It was incredibly difficult, but he thought he’d done the right thing, leaving her alone.

  But now, he couldn’t believe he was here with her, holding her close like she belonged to him. What cosmic chain of events took place to allow this to happen? He would not have expected them to meet again this way in his wildest imaginings. If someone had told him this morning when he woke up that he would end the day with this beautiful woman in his bed he would have laughed out loud.

  While he absorbed the idea that they might be able to be together, he realized it was important that she respect his decision to sell the company. He hoped she didn’t think he was “selling out.” It really was what his dad wanted. And he had been honest – he wasn’t management. He belonged in the sky.

  “Hey Judy, you awake?” He asked quietly.

  “Mmm. Yes,” she said, turning in his arms and giving him those big doe eyes.

  “Do you think it’s okay that I’m selling my dad’s company? You met Rich, you know the background now.”

  “Oh, sure. It seems like a good match. Why? Are you having second thoughts? What does your family think?” She asked as she caressed his shoulders.

  “My sisters are ambivalent as long as Mom is taken care of financially, which she is. They had never been involved in the company other than a summer job here and there when they were in college. They don’t know it yet, but they are also getting a portion of the proceeds from the sale to Bradford. I set Mom up to get half, and then the remaining half is divided three ways.” He kissed her head absently, lost in thought.

  “Mom would probably like to see it stay in the family, but she understands more than anyone what Dad was trying to do, so she’s pretty supportive. I guess, I don’t know, I just wanted you to think I was doing this for the right reasons.” He tightened his arms around her.

  “My opinion shouldn’t matter. But for what it’s worth, I trust your judgment. It sounds like you are making your dad’s vision a reality. It’s admirable.” She drew his face to hers and kissed him, and then curled into his chest. After a few minutes, she was asleep.

  He blew out a sigh of relief, and his last thought before sleep took him was that he might be falling for this woman.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  JUDY AWOKE THE NEXT morning to a typical overcast Seattle day. As she opened her eyes she realized two things. First, she was in Jason’s arms, in Jason’s bedroom, in Jason’s house. She smiled. This was the best way to wake up. She loved the feel of Jason, long, warm and solid against her first thing in the morning.

  The second thing she realized is that it was full daylight, meaning she had overslept and was going to be incredibly late for work. Shit. She was wearing an old t-shirt of Jason’s and nothing else, and the only clothing she had with her was her suit from yesterday. She needed to go home and get ready, which meant battling rush hour traffic to get downtown.

  “Jason,” she said, gently rubbing his chest. “Jason, I have to go home.”

  Jason’s eyes opened slowly and he smiled at her. He pulled her close and kissed her deeply.

  “No, you do not need to go home. You need to stay right here,” he started another one of those slow, deep kisses that lead to other activities.

  “No, it’s Friday - I have to go! I’m going to be so late. Don’t you need to get into the office? What about flights - wait a minute - you aren’t flying are you?” She started to panic a little bit for both of them.

  “Hey, no, it’s okay,” he pulled her close again. “I’m not flying until next week. Rich wanted me around for the meetings yesterday.” He began kissing her again. “See?” He murmured into her hair. “It’s perfectly fine for us to stay here.”

  “I have to go, really.” And she started to get out of bed. He sat up and watched her get dressed. “What are you doing?” she asked, as she zipped her skirt.

  “This is not as entertaining as when you remove your clothes, but if it’s all I can get, I’ll take it,” he grinned, running his hands through his marvelously messy hair. It was as if he knew what that did to her. She threw a pillow at him and walked out of the room in search of her suit jacket and purse, resisting the urge to strip off her clothes again and dive into bed next to him.

  He pulled on an old pair of sweatpants and followed her. “Can I at least make you coffee?” He began putting together a pot of coffee.

  “I don’t have time. I’m due at the office in an hour and it might take me that long to get back downtown in traffic.” She gathered the rest of her things and stopped moving abruptly at the sight of him. His hair was disheveled and sticking out from sex and sleep, and his sweat pants sat low on his hips. She stared at his body for a moment, taking him in like a long drink of water after crossing the desert. His hip creases were beckoning her to touch, to kiss.

  She hated to leave, but she had to. That image, though, that was going to stay with her all day.

  He noticed her long appraising look. “You sure you can’t stay?” He asked, with just a hint of a smile, a sexy, persuasive note in his voice.

  When she shook her head, he said, “Tonight then, after work?
It’s Friday night, I’ll take you to dinner, and have my way with you after.” He slipped his arms around her waist.

  “I wouldn’t miss it,” she smiled. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  She gave him with a peck on the cheek. It was that small, nondescript, friendly little peck that made her feel, just for a moment, what it must be like to married to Jason. It’s funny that it was that seemingly harmless kiss that gave her such a rush of emotions. He must have picked up on it because just as she left, he looked at her quizzically and raised an eyebrow. She just waved and got into her car. Whew. That was intense.

  *

  All day at work she was thrumming with anticipation to see Jason again. She practically floated through meetings, completely blissed out, incapable of hiding it even a little bit. Stephanie definitely noticed.

  “Hey Judy,” she pulled Judy aside after a late afternoon meeting. “What’s with you? You look, uh, distracted. Everything okay?” Her good-natured concern almost brought Judy back to earth for a minute. Almost.

  “Oh, yes, I’m sorry. It’s been a long week, but things are fine.” Judy smiled.

  “How are the ‘proceedings’ going? Everything okay there?” Stephanie was being supportive. She was known more for being tough than kind and Judy appreciated her concern.

  “Yeah.” Judy left her little joy bubble while Greg was the topic of conversation. “We go to mediation in a few weeks. Hopefully it will resolve without too much bloodshed.”

  “Okay, well, let me know if you need to talk. Oh, and when is the next Bradford meeting?” Stephanie asked solicitously.

  “Two weeks. Creative will present the campaign. Media is already working on packages, so hopefully Creative doesn’t let us down.” Judy said, thinking very work-like thoughts for maybe the first time all day.

  “I’m sure you can sell it. Rich likes you. He said you were a breath of fresh air, though it’s entirely possible he was referring to your skirt suit,” Stephanie rolled her eyes. Working with Rich might give Stephanie an aneurysm from rolling her eyes.

  “Oh, thanks for handling last night with him,” Judy suddenly remembered that Stephanie handled drinks with Rich so she could go home and…rest. “I was so exhausted.”

  “No problem. I need to connect with Bradford, too, especially since they are getting bigger now. It was good. One thing we need to keep in mind, as soon as Bradford approves the campaign, we need to put together the launch party. Since it begins with the third quarter, we should look at dates around July 4,” Stephanie sauntered away.

  Judy thought for a moment about the meetings, the campaign planning and the launch party. She and Jason were going to have their work cut out for them keeping their relationship under wraps. She felt the same way he did: She wished she could just shout it out in the middle of the office, how much she cared about him and how happy she was that he felt the same way.

  After work, she stopped home to change clothes, get some clothes for tomorrow and head over to Jason’s. She texted him when she was on her way, and he responded immediately, “I’ve missed you.”

  She practically ran from the car to his front door when she arrived, and Jason was right there opening it just as she reached it. She didn’t stop moving until she was in his arms. He pulled her close and buried his head in her hair.

  “Welcome home,” he murmured in her ear.

  “Good to be home,” she answered in his ear, her heart fluttering at the thought of calling Jason’s house ‘home’.

  He kissed her long and deep and like they’d been separated for months, not just a matter of hours. They reluctantly let go, and he guided her to the kitchen where she picked up on the aromas of what she hoped would be dinner.

  “Instead of going out, I made dinner. I thought it might be nice just the two of us.” He looked sheepish for some reason. “And,” he cleared his throat awkwardly, “I want to have your undivided attention. I don’t want to share you with the public.”

  He shyly turned to the stove, where something smelled delicious, and Judy realized she hadn’t eaten in hours.

  “I would love dinner in.” She slipped an arm around his waist. “I don’t want to share you either. I also didn’t know you could cook.”

  She pulled the cover off the pot and heavenly aromas traveled through her senses and caused her stomach to growl.

  “That is crab bisque, a special recipe from one of the fishermen I met right after I moved to Seattle. It’s our first course, and just in a nick of time,” he said has he reached under her shirt to touch her stomach.

  It was crazy how every touch of his reverberated through her body. She felt like her entire person was humming. Not to mention, there was nothing sexier than a man in the kitchen.

  She had never felt like this with Greg. Not even in the beginning when their relationship was new, and she was finally able to let out all her suppressed feelings she’d had for him in college. She had felt like they fit, but she had never had this raw heat that pulsated through her body. She and Greg had a good relationship and at least in the beginning they had things in common. They were attracted to each other and things were fine in the bedroom. But with Jason she had white hot fire. Every single part of her body and mind responded to him. It scared her a little, but the need to be with him overpowered her fear.

  The clouds from the morning had cleared out just in time for another magnificent sunset and they ate al fresco on Jason’s deck. He had prepared a feast. She spooned some of the bisque to her lips. It felt like velvet as it traveled through her mouth and down her throat. She groaned with pleasure.

  “This is delicious,” she moaned between mouthfuls.

  “I’m glad you like it. It’s one of my favorites.”

  After the bisque, He brought out a fresh greens salad and steak-frites.

  “Steak-frites is my favorite! How did you know?”

  “I didn’t,” he laughed. “But it might be my favorite, after Mexican, of course.” He leaned into her, nuzzling her neck. “Tell me about your day,” Jason said while they ate.

  “I floated through work today without managing to remember a single thing.” She took another bite of steak. “Oh, except that our next work meeting about the campaign is in two weeks, and once the campaign is signed off on by Rich, you and Bradford, we have to plan the launch party.”

  “There’s a party?” Jason looked up from his plate.

  “Yeah, I think it’s going to be increasingly difficult for us to keep this a secret. It will be black tie or cocktail attire, and the thought of you in a tux, well, I’m afraid I won’t be able to contain my feelings about that,” she tried to keep it light, but she was a little worried. The party could be a nightmare.

  “Well, maybe by then, we’ll be good at it,” he cleared her dishes and delivered a soft kiss. “How was your dinner?”

  She leaned back in her chair in complete satisfaction. “It was perfect. I savored every bite.”

  “Good. I want you to keep your strength up.”

  Her body immediately reacted. She was so hot she might need to climb into the freezer for a minute. He led her to the couch and she curled up next to him with his arm around her, laying her head on his chest.

  “Tell me about your work. You go back in the air next week, right?” Judy asked.

  “Yes, I’m flying routes to Portland on Monday, and on Tuesday and Wednesday I’m back and forth to Spokane. All business routes. Thursday and Friday I’m back in town. I’ll have to supervise some of the maintenance on the planes when I get back, but those are generally shorter work days,” he explained.

  “Are you home at night when you fly those routes?” She asked, wondering how she will see him when he’s working, but also out of curiosity about how he managed this career with the rest of his life.

  “I’ll be home Monday evening after the Portland routes, but I’ll stay Tuesday night in Spokane. The last flight of the day on Tuesday is for a group of lawyers flying over for court in Spokane on Wednesday morning. I
t works out; I’ll go stay at Mom’s and catch up a bit. Then I’ll run the lawyers back to Seattle Wednesday afternoon. I’ll be home Wednesday night, maybe about the time you get off work.”

  “That is really nice you can see your family. I bet your mom really likes that.”

  It said something about him that his family was important. This was a man with values, loyalty and kindness.

  “I feel like I need to look in on Mom. Dad’s passing was tough on her. My sisters are pretty close to her, but she needs all of us.” He had a twinge of sadness in his eyes.

  She brought his hand to her lips. The need to comfort him was overwhelming.

  “I’m so sorry, Jason.” she hugged him.

  “It’s okay,” he said into her hair as he kissed her head. “Tell me about your family. You know a lot about mine, I’d like to know who is responsible for bring you into my world. What is your maiden name?”

  “Stephens. I think maybe I’ll go back to it after I divorce Greg,” she said, thinking out loud.

  His expression went unreadable again. How does he do that? He obviously had an opinion but he kept it to himself.

  “What is your family like? Big? Small?”

  “We are pretty small. It’s just my mom, my younger sister and me. Dad passed away when we were in elementary school, so it’s just been the three of us. Mom never had any interest in dating or remarrying, but I think now that Kate and I are out on our own, she might be warming to the idea. Kate is always trying to set her up with someone and get her to ‘circulate,’ as she puts it.”

  She told him about growing up in rural Illinois, and how she had felt responsible for Kate while Mom worked.

  “What happened? To your dad, I mean?” he asked, running his fingers up and down her arms.

  “It was a car accident. Dad was a radiologist and he’d been at the hospital kind of late. It was snowing and the roads were icy. He lost control and hit a tree,” she recalled.