Harden My Hart (The Notorious Harts 3)

His eyes are watching me, a hint of disapproval at the corners.

‘What’s the matter, sir? Are you worried I won’t know what to do in the event of a crash?’

His laugh surprises me. It’s thick and coarse, deep like the rumbling of thunder in the middle of the wet season. For a moment my breath catches in my throat.

‘In the event of a crash I don’t imagine anything you do will make much damned difference, Cora.’

His cynicism is both amusing and refreshing.

‘I presume you signed the relevant employment forms?’

I shake my head. ‘There wasn’t time.’

His brows shoot up. ‘Then you need to stop working immediately.’

‘What? Why?’

‘For litigation, for starters.’

‘Worried I might fall and sue you? Bankrupt you even?’

He’s fighting a smile. Why does he do that? Why not just let it take over his face? He draws on his beer, long and slow, his eyes holding mine just like they did last time.

‘Who knows?’

‘Fine. I promise not to sue.’

‘Did you at least sign a confidentiality agreement?’

‘No.’

He swears. ‘For God’s sake. Were you dragooned into service this morning or something?’

I don’t have the same hesitation he does when it comes to smiling. I let one spread across my face and his eyes drop to it, his expression hard to read. ‘Actually, yeah.’

‘For God’s sake.’ He goes to press the button in his armrest but I reach across, my hand on his, shaking my head.

‘Everyone else is asleep. Don’t wake them. Whatever you need, I can get it.’

‘I can’t believe Edward didn’t cover this.’

I liked Edward. The idea of him getting in trouble because of an administrative oversight makes me panic a little. ‘It’s not his fault. It was all very rushed.’

‘That’s no excuse.’

‘Actually, it is. Do you have any idea how much work goes into getting a plane ready to fly on the spur of the moment? You should be grateful Amy managed to find a replacement, that Edward was able to get me up to speed on how your flights are run. So I didn’t sign some papers. Is that really such a big deal?’

His eyes spark with mine. Lightning flashes between us and for a second I remember that I was supposed to be circumspect for Amy’s sake, but that doesn’t come naturally to me.

‘I’m not grateful. I’m pissed off.’

‘I can tell. But you shouldn’t be.’

‘You’re saying I’m wrong?’

‘Yeah.’

Silence. It crackles and hums.