Casey, whose soft groans and frantic whispers fed the fires inside him until they burned brighter than he would have thought possible. This was more than he’d found in that first night with her. This was deeper, bigger. This wasmore. Of everything. He felt her desire and stoked it. Felt her tension and created more. He wanted to be the one to take her higher and faster than any other man had before. He wanted to touch her as she had somehow touched him.
When finally, her body fisted around his, Jackson knew he couldn’t delay his own release a moment longer. He surrendered to the inevitable. Gave himself up to the woman who had so completely splintered his defenses.
And when the storm passed, he stretched out on the bed beside her, gathered her close and listened to the furious beat of her heart.
Tomorrow would be time enough to figure out what the hell had just happened.
Seven
Over the next week, Jackson alternately buried himself in work and indulged himself at home. But for the first time in his life, he couldn’t seem to keep his mind on business and that was a little disconcerting. It was taking all of his focus to maintain schedules, look at new routes and assign his pilots.
Before Casey, he’d spent nearly every waking moment at the airfield. Hanging with the other pilots, taking the jets up, plotting and planning the expansion of King Jets had been his be-all and end-all.
Now, everything had changed.
“I’ll take the Vegas run today,” Dan Stone said, leaning across Jackson’s desk to point to one of the scheduled flights on their weekly roster. “And I can do Phoenix tomorrow,” he added, then straightened up. “But you’ve got to put one of the other guys on the Maine flight Thursday.”
“Why?” Jackson looked up at one of his best pilots. Most of King Jets clients were wealthy, pampered and knew what they wanted. They even had favorite pilots and Dan was one that was most often requested.
Jackson acknowledged that for some people, flying was a terrifying ordeal. He just found it hard to understand anyone who didn’t love being up in the air, surrounded by clouds, with the ground no more than a smudge of green beneath you. For him, flying was about freedom. Always had been. Dan Stone was just like Jackson in that way, so the fact that the man was turning down a long flight in favor of a couple of short hops was curious.
“It’s Patti,” Dan said, tucking his hands into the pockets of his black slacks. “She’s due any day now and she doesn’t want me gone for long.”
“Ah.” That’s right. Jackson had forgotten all about Dan’s wife being pregnant with their first child. “Okay then, we’ll hand off the Maine flight to Paul Hannah. He should be fine with it. Then once Patti’s delivered, you can—”
“That’s the thing, boss,” Dan interrupted him with a wince. “Patti’s a little crazed right now, talking about how she wants me to quit flying. Too dangerous.”
“You’re kidding.” Jackson leaned back in his chair and stared up at the other man. Dan looked uncomfortable as hell.
“Wish I was,” the man said with a shake of his head. He walked over to the bank of windows in Jackson’s office and looked down at the airfield where blue King Jets were lined up like a military unit on parade. “She’s never liked me flying. In fact, it’s the one thing that almost kept her from marrying me. She’s scared every time I go up. And now that we’ve got the baby coming…”
Jackson watched his friend. They’d been flying together for years. And he knew that Dan, more than anyone else, understood that soul-deep need Jackson had always had to be in the air. “Can you do it?” he asked. “Quit, I mean. Could you really walk away from flying?”
Dan turned his head and gave Jackson a rueful smile. “I don’t know. Never considered such a thing before.” He tipped his head so that he could stare up at the blue, cloud-studded sky and a sigh left him. “I do know that Patti and the baby mean more to me than anything—including flying.”
Funny, but Jackson had never really thought about the inherent dangers in air travel. To him, being in a plane, behind the controls of a powerful jet, skimming through the sky—it was second nature. Something that was as much a part of him as his brown eyes. Sure, there was a risk whenever you took a plane up. But hell, he faced a higher chance of an accident just taking his car on the freeway.
And he wondered if he could walk away from something he loved so much for the sake of someone he loved more. The question had never come up for him before. Was it because the thought of crashing, dying had never bothered him much since he’d never had anything to lose? As that question resonated in his thoughts, his mind dredged up images of Mia. And Casey.
Casey?
Jackson shifted uneasily in his chair. Loving his daughter was one thing. It was to be expected. But feelings for her mother weren’t a part of his game plan. Yes, he wanted her. More every damn day, despite how many times a night they came together. But anything more than lust was simply not allowed to happen. There were other considerations—Marian.
That name shot through his mind like a blazing comet, leaving behind a streak of fiery red sparks. Hell, he’d forgotten all about Marian over the last couple of weeks. He’d never called her back after walking out on their dinner together. He’d never bothered to check in to say he’d been busy and hestill hadn’t proposed.
“Everything okay?” Dan asked, frowning at him. “You suddenly look like you’ve got food poisoning or something.”
Not surprising, given the thoughts rushing through his mind. But Jackson shook his head and said, “No, I’m…fine. Just have a lot on my mind.”
“I know the feeling,” Dan mused with a shrug.
“Anyway, I’ve got some time still to think about this.”
“Sure you do,” Jackson said, preferring to think about Dan’s problems than his own. “And, if you do decide to hang up your wings, I want you to know you’ve still got a job here.” He stood up, held out his hand. “You can take charge of the ground crew, or you can move into design. You’ve always had a good eye and I can use a man who knows what passengers want in a plane and can look at the designs with a pilot’s eye.”
Dan nodded, shook Jackson’s hand and said, “Thanks, boss. I appreciate it.”
When the other man left, Jackson dropped back into his chair. He had to make a call. Had to go see Marian, explain about Mia and tell her they wouldn’t be getting married anytime soon.