Playboy Pilot

Before I could respond, he turned back around and kept going at a faster pace.

An unwelcome feeling of loneliness washed over me. I watched him until he turned a corner and was out of sight.

That was an odd comment, though.

If I don’t choose Brazil…have a nice life?

Was I stupid for listening to this stranger’s advice? Time wasn’t exactly on my side. I had to pick something. So…Rio de Janeiro? And if I ended up dead, I’d blame it on Rio.

Wasn’t that a movie?

Blame it on Rio?

I started to sweat in his jacket. God, I was still so hot and bothered.

Blame it on Carter.

I COULDN’T HELP BUT FEEL disappointment when the flight attendant pulled the plane door shut, even though I knew it was ridiculous to feel that way. Sitting in first class, instead of sipping my pre-flight champagne and enjoying warm roasted peanuts, I found myself looking up, hopeful as each passenger boarded.

I thought for sure Carter would be on this flight, although he hadn’t exactly said he was heading to Brazil. A recording came over the cabin PA system, and a flight attendant followed along demonstrating the oxygen mask and seatbelt. After the demo was finished in English, she performed an encore, the second time moving along to a recording in…Brazilian? Wait. No. That wasn’t right. Portuguese? I think. Shit. I was heading to a country I knew nothing about and definitely didn’t speak the language.

Once we were in the air, another flight attendant came to take my dinner and drink order. Oddly, I noticed she resembled the seatbelt mime. Tall, thin, with a pretty face that was heavily made up, yet she could have done without it all. Both had their dark hair pulled back and done up in a tight twist in the back. A third flight attendant came up to the front of the plane, and for the first time, I realized they all looked the same. It was as if someone had built the ideal flight attendant, then cloned her.

After about ten minutes, the plane seemed to level out. Since the seat next to me was empty, I slipped off my Tory Burch ballerina flats and decided to close my eyes. Of course, that was almost exactly the same time that the Captain decided to make his welcome announcement.

“Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Supreme Commander otherwise known as Captain Clynes. I’d like to take a moment to welcome you this evening to my home away from home here on this beautiful Boeing 757. Our flying time from Miami to Rio de Janeiro will be a little over eight and a half hours tonight. We anticipate a smooth…”

Holy shit. That voice. Is it…could it be?

Just then, the flight attendant arrived with my Appletini. “Excuse me. Do you happen to know the Captain’s first name?”

“Of course.” She lifted her hand up and wiggled her fingers, showing off a massive rock on her ring finger, then winked and leaned in. “I used to yell it every once in a while. Engaged now to someone else, so I don’t anymore. That’s Captain Carter Clynes, though. The man gives new meaning to flying the friendly skies.”

Captain Carter Clynes. It all made sense now. The wings on his jacket, being on a first-name-basis with the airport lounge staff, even the quick way he pulled up the flight schedule on his iPhone. How could I have missed the clues? I knew how. I was distracted by his looks and cocky attitude.

It was definitely not easy to relax after that. Knowing that Carter was on board, that my life was in his hands for the next eight hours, made me anxious, to say the least. Although it wasn’t the type of anxiousness I have waiting in the chair for the dentist to come in. It was more like that anxious feeling I get when I hear the clank of the lock bolt into place after I’m seated on a roller coaster. It would either be the ride of my life, or I’d wind up splattered on the ground.

A few hours later, another announcement came overhead. Carter’s voice was low and raspy as he spoke. “This is Captain Clynes here. We’re just about across the Caribbean Sea right now. I’m going to go ahead and dim the cabin lights and hopefully you’ll be able to catch some shut eye.” A minute later, the lights turned off and the cabin became dark, except for a few reading lights illuminated above some of the seats. Deciding to try to get some sleep, I reclined my seat all the way back, pulling the blanket up to my chin, and shut my eyes. Low music started to play after that. At first, I wasn’t sure where it was even coming from. Until I recognized the song being played—Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. And the singer—it wasn’t John Lennon crooning about Lucy—it was Carter singing over the cabin PA system.

He really was nutty. But for some reason, I couldn’t stop smiling for the entire song.

I WAS MOMENTARILY confused when my eyes opened the next morning. At least I thought it was morning. It took me a minute to fig

ure out I was still on a plane. Was I really going to Brazil, or had last night all been a dream? The seat next to me was no longer empty, too. A flight attendant was drinking coffee and reading a paper. I pressed the button to upright my seat and smiled at the woman next to me. It wasn’t the same attendant who had shown me her sparkly ring and dished about Carter.

“Morning. Hope you don’t mind me sitting here. We take turns on our breaks and it’s much more comfortable to sit in one of these big cushy seats than in that fold up jump seat.”

“I would imagine.” I hesitated before I asked the question I was thinking, figuring she might think I was a little crazy. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Where are we heading to?”

Her manicured brows rose. “Rio de Janeiro. Is that not where you’re supposed to be heading?”

“No. It is. I just made a last minute change in plans last night and for a second, I thought I had dreamt I was heading to Brazil.”

“Nope. We should arrive in about an hour. It’s good you got some sleep.”