She wanted to believe him. And in the far-back corner of her mind, a tiny part of her did.
Gary listened to a podcast on his phone. Or at least he tried to. Mostly, he watched his seatmate sleeping, her dark lashes splayed on rosy cheeks as her pouty lips parted with gentle breaths.
Why was he so fascinated by her? No doubt, she was attractive. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her he’d fantasized about kissing those lush lips. But he encountered plenty of beautiful women on a daily basis, some of them his fitness clients. Yet what he felt with those others was nothing like the magnetism that drew him to Katie. It was beyond physical. Something in her soul. Like a common spirit, trapped inside a strict façade.
The plane suddenly dropped in the air, and a claw clamped onto his forearm.
“What was that?” Katie squealed, her terrified eyes scanning the area is if the plane might fall apart.
“It’s okay,” Gary soothed as he peeled her death-grip off his arm and clasped her hand in his. “It’s just a little turbulence. Like a bump in the road, only it’s in the air.”
When it happened again a few seconds later, her eyelids squeezed as tight as her hand. Though he enjoyed the contact, he tried not to read too much into it.
This is only a nervous reaction. It doesn’t mean she likes me.
“Is this your first time to fly in turbulence?” he asked.
“Yes,” she squeaked. “I think you look like Superman.”
Huh?
“Superman?” Gary cleared his throat. “Is that a good thing?”
“In case we die, I thought you should know,” she said, her face pinched with tension. “You have the same eyes.”
He couldn’t help being pleased at the compar
ison.
“I think your eyes are beautiful, too,” he said. “I love how they change color. Today, they’re gray-green.”
“I call them hazel. I guess they’re okay, but I like yours better.” Her cheeks flushed crimson. “I mean, I’ve always wished mine were blue, like yours. And Mr. Gherring’s—his are blue, too.”
“Because of Superman?” he teased, distracting her through another bump in the air.
“I’m sorry. I think this medicine makes me say things I shouldn’t say.”
“What medicine? Dramamine?” He stroked his thumb on her skin, enjoying the velvety soft texture.
“This stuff’s a lot stronger than Dramamine. It’s like I’m drunk or high or something.”
“Why are you taking medicine?” he asked, hoping it wasn’t something serious.
“Anxiety. I’ve never flown before. It’s the only way I could make myself get on the plane.” Her throat convulsed with an audible gulp. “And I wasn’t planning to tell you that, but here I am, running at the mouth again.”
“If you were afraid to fly, why did you agree to come?”
“Mr. Gherring needed me. I couldn’t let him down.”
Guilt hit him in the face. It was because of him she’d been forced to fly for the first time in her life, and she’d been too embarrassed to confess her fear.
She wrested her hand away and wrung it in her lap. “You must think I’m the wimpiest person in the world. I’m afraid of spiders and flying and everything else.”
“No, I don’t. Everyone’s afraid of something.”
“You’re not afraid of anything.”
“I’m afraid of…” He paused, trying to come up with an explanation without bringing up the cancer. “I’m afraid my life will end before I’ve really lived. None of us know how long we have on this earth. So my mantra is, ‘Live life to the max, for tomorrow you may die.’ That’s why I have that bucket list.”