Page 40 of Terms of the Flight

“It was nice meeting you, Mr. Blackwell,” Khaleya said to my pops.

He smirked for the first time, which let me know he liked her more than he was letting on.

“That’s Darren to you now, Julia Roberts,” he said.

Khaleya’s mouth dropped open, and my mom elbowed my pops. I brought my fist to my mouth to hold back my laughter.

“Mhm, I’m going to let you have that one. But next time I’ll be ready,” Khaleya told my pops with a smirk.

I shook my head and pulled her lightly towards the exit. As we walked away, she leaned over and whispered, “Did your daddy just call me a prostitute, like Julia Roberts inPretty Woman?”

“Nah, Doll, I think he was calling you a regal woman or some shit like that.”

I foundmyself thinking about what his mother told me over and over about his ex. I could clearly see why she was so excited to meet me. According to Meredith, the last woman was an opportunist and caused Myheir to second-guess himself.

That was the one thing she couldn’t forgive when it came to Mia. Myheir hadn’t told me a thing about ole’ girl, and his mother had even held a few details to herself once she realized I didn’t know a thing about Mia.

It was actually the reason I told her I had prior engagements I needed to get to. For some reason, I couldn’t stop the feeling that me and his ex had more in common than I wanted to admit. I was using him to get to the next level as well.

Meredith didn’t know she was talking to another opportunist in different skin. When we got in the truck, I kept all my thoughts to myself. I knew it was making Myheir nervous, but I needed a second to think things through clearly.

“Your thoughts are loud as fuck, Doll. Go ahead and tell me what happened, so I can alleviate whatever is bothering you.”

“I don’t know what to say, Myheir. But I found out about Mia. Why didn’t you tell me so I was prepared?”

I looked over at him, and he was rubbing the bridge of his nose, which let me know she was still a topic that he didn’t get into often. His mother had mentioned she watched a piece of her son go away after that relationship.

“Myheir. We’re back to that now, all because of one conversation with my mom?” he asked.

I crossed my arms and tilted my head to the side. “Don’t try to flip this on me. Why didn’t you tell me before we came here? I should have known about your relationship.”

“I’m not going to front, Mia is a sore spot. But it’s not going to affect what we have going on. Now tell me why this is bothering you so much,” he asked.

I turned to look out of the window to get my thoughts together.

“Your mother mentioned she didn’t like her for you because she was an opportunist who used you for what she could get from you. I’m doing the same damn thing.”

We were just pulling up into the parking lot of my apartment community. The driver placed the car in park. So Myheir asked him to step outside the truck for a moment. Once the door closed behind him, Myheir returned his attention to me.

“You’re nothing like her. Do you realize I sought you out? I presented this situation to you. Not the other way around, so get all of that out of your head. This shit is mutually beneficial. What was going on with Mia was nothing like this.”

He reached over and cupped my chin. “This is our shit. Don’t allow words that never came from me to fuck with you. I’d tell you if I wasn’t feeling something. Honesty is the key to makingthis work. So, my bad that I left that shit out. I didn’t expect that to be important.”

I nodded.

“I hear you. Well, I enjoyed your mother and your dad. Even though he called me a damn prostitute.” I chuckled.

Myheir smirked at me.

“I’m sure he meant it in a good way, Doll.”

I lifted a brow. “How many good ways can you call someone a prostitute, Big?”

“I haven’t met many?—”

Before he could finish, I nudged his shoulder, causing him to laugh.

“Alright, alright. But he does fuck with you, though.”