Page 91 of Cockpit
Because I do.
When the door handle moves against the lock, I jump. “He’s gone. I got him to walk with the neighbor and her son to school today. It’s safe to come out now.”
I open the door to see Grayson standing there. His hair is disheveled, his shorts are slung low on his hips, and he has the most adorable smile on his lips.
“Oh. My. Fuck,” he says as he walks past me and falls on his back onto the bed with a definite thump. “That was horrid and hilarious.”
He looks up, and when our eyes meet, the laughter comes. Uncontrollable laughter that makes my sides ache and my cheeks hurt. We are both still grinning when he yanks my hand and pulls me on top of him, wraps his arms around me, and presses a kiss to the top of my head.
“Adventures of the pussy ninja,” I say, and we erupt into another fit of laughter. When it subsides, I close my eyes and enjoy the feel of his body against mine. “I take it that doesn’t happen that often.”
“It never happens. No one ever gets to spend the night in my bed.”
This has me laughing again, but it’s a bit more forced as I freak out a little bit. I’m not certain if it’s because I want to be the first person who he’s let sleep in his bed, or if the fact it happened at all means I’m not alone in what I’m feeling. That things between us are a little more serious than I’m allowing myself to acknowledge.
My thoughts turn elsewhere when Grayson’s hands begin to wander, and his lips begin to possess.
“I was a good girl.”
“Mm-hmm,” he says as he lifts my shirt up and traces a line down my lower belly as his other hand tugs down my shorts and panties. My legs spread. His tongue licks. My hands grip. “And now I’ll reward you.”
The three men in suits sit before me while I stand. I hate the way they stare at me in judgment, as if they haven’t known me my whole life. I hate the way they handle this whole thing as if it’s my fault, when they’re the ones risking lives by grounding me.
“You’re pretty sure of yourself, thinking you can take a five-million-dollar helicopter out during a thunderstorm on a call when you were advised against it. On top of that, you went and switched hospitals on your own accord when you’d been ordered otherwise,” Mike says as he peers at me over the top of his bifocals with his bushy black hair moving as he nods his head.
I clear my throat. “I have to be sure of myself to do what I do, sir.”
“Being sure of yourself and putting lives at risk are two completely different things.” This time, it’s the red-haired one who speaks. He was my little league coach once, but I don’t think that piece of history will sw
ay his vote either way.
“If it were your loved one I was trying to save, would it matter?”
He glares, my point more than made, and he doesn’t like being shown up. “I’d like to think that it doesn’t matter who the patient is. You put the lives of your crew and the patient at risk.”
“I did. I left for the patient against Cochran’s orders, but I didn’t force anyone to go with me. My crew chose to fly with me, sir. Some opted not to. Others opted to assist. The patient was critical to begin with.”
“And the helicopter? How would you cover the cost if it had crashed from a lightning strike?”
I’d be dead so I wouldn’t be able to pay for shit. I reign in the words I want to spew and lower my eyes for a second and take a deep breath, knowing I need to eat a bit of humble pie to get my wings back. When I look back up, I meet the eyes of each of the three gentlemen before I speak. “Gentlemen, I realize I made an error. My months at dispatch have taught me there are rules and protocol for a reason. I understand that I took unnecessary risks. I also understand that the reason you have me as your pilot is because you know I’m good at what I do. You know that when it comes to our patients, they are who matter. I was monitoring the weather on a second-by-second basis and reevaluating our situation as needed. The air pressure was within acceptable parameters, and the helicopter’s performance was not hindered during the flight.”
The three of them look at one another, and there are a few whispers between them before they look back at me and the black-haired one speaks. “If you had the chance to do it all over again, would you still defy orders and take the helo on the call?”
Yes. Without a doubt.
“I’ve had an awful lot of time to think about this during my grounding, while I waited for the investigation to conclude, and I’d like to think that answer would be no.” Fuck you for telling me I shouldn’t save a life. “That I’d put the best interest of the company, its crew, and its property first and obey the order.” Smile big, Grayson.
“That’s good to hear, son,” my old little league coach says.
I’m not your son.
“You have quite an impressive history with the company,” the blond man, who hasn’t spoken yet, says as he thumbs through a file in front of him. My file, no doubt. The one full of commendations and positive performance reviews.
“Thank you, sir.”
“I’d like to see that history continue.”
“Yes, sir.”
