Perilous Refuge. Kathleen Tailer

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       TWO

      As the plane began its ascent, Alex glanced at Chelsea who had a death grip on the armrest. The prospect of sitting next to this woman for the rest of the trip made him decidedly uncomfortable. He gritted his teeth. Who was he kidding? This whole trip made him uncomfortable. Alex lived an ordered life and enjoyed keeping surprises to a minimum. Spontaneity was definitely not his friend.

      He checked his watch as another wave of frustration swept over him. He needed to be back in the office working his normal seventy-to eighty-hour work week, not gallivanting across the United States to some tropical paradise. Because of Chelsea, case files were piling up in his office and here he was flying halfway across the world in the opposite direction.

      He looked her over suspiciously. She was actually an attractive woman. Her high cheekbones and wide chocolate-colored eyes only served to irritate him more. He didn’t want to find her attractive in any way, shape or form.

      About thirty minutes into the flight, Chelsea gingerly touched his arm. “Excuse me. Can you let me get by?”

      “Yes, give me a minute.” He closed his laptop, then got up and stowed it in the overhead bin. “Where are you headed?”

      Chelsea shrugged. “Nowhere. Anywhere. I just can’t sit here any longer. I’m going a little stir-crazy.” She headed toward the front galley of the plane and started pacing back and forth in the tiny space as the flight attendants began serving dinner to the first-class passengers.

      Alex decided to follow her. Even though the woman was an enigma, she had seemed rather sick ever since the plane had taken off and he was decent enough to want to help her when she was so obviously distressed. She certainly wasn’t faking as he’d originally believed. In fact he’d never seen anyone so miserable on a plane before. He approached her from behind, intending to offer to fetch her a soda or maybe some motion sickness meds from a flight attendant.

      Suddenly she turned and ran right into him. He caught her firmly in his arms and held her for a moment, surprised at how comfortable she felt there. The feeling lasted only a few seconds, but the frisson of warmth made him lock eyes with Chelsea before she pulled away. They both suddenly stepped back as if they’d been burned.

      “Sorry,” Chelsea mumbled. “What are you doing here?”

      “I came to check on you. You looked rather pale and I didn’t want you fainting in the aisle.”

      “I’m fine. Please don’t let me disturb you. I know you have a lot of important work to do.” She shivered and hugged herself nervously.

      The captain’s voice came over the speaker and announced their airspeed and altitude. He then asked everyone to return to their seats due to turbulence and lit the fasten seat belts sign. Chelsea’s face turned even whiter as the plane rocked under their feet. She grabbed hold of a nearby seat to steady herself and took a deep breath.

      Alex saw the fear etched in Chelsea’s face and reached out to support her other arm, even though she flinched at his touch. He gently led her back to their seats and steadied her as the plane continued to rock. They both looked over in Miss Abigail’s direction as they returned, but she was dozing and seemed oblivious to the turbulence.

      Chelsea sat, quickly fastened her seat belt and wrapped herself up again in a blanket. The plane took another dip and she grabbed on to both armrests until her fingers started turning white.

      Alex noticed and carefully removed her hand from the armrest they shared and took it in his own. He gave it a gentle squeeze but didn’t release it. Maybe he could distract her and learn something about her at the same time. “So why are you so scared to fly? Did you have a bad experience on a plane?”

      Chelsea raised an eyebrow. “I’d really rather not relive it.”

      Alex shrugged. “Fair enough.”

      The plane jolted again and Chelsea screeched and squeezed his hand so hard it hurt. He shifted, but didn’t let go. He thought a moment, then tried again. “So tell me the story of your life.”

      She didn’t respond and he gently pushed ahead. “Come on. It’s a long trip. Where were you born? Where did you grow up? These aren’t hard questions.” He raised an eyebrow. “Are they?”

      “I’m not really in the mood for small talk,” she hedged.

      “Would you rather I ignore you for the rest of the trip?”

      “Honestly? Yes.”

      Alex laughed for the first time since he’d packed his bags this morning. “Well, Miss Rogers, you must have something to hide.”

      Chelsea flinched and Alex was instantly alerted by her reaction. This lady was obviously scared of much more than just flying in an airplane. He wanted to demand answers, but he knew instinctively that the direct approach wouldn’t work. With this woman he would have to read between the lines to discover her secrets.

      He waited a few minutes for her to respond to his statement. When she didn’t, he tried again. “So? Why don’t you just tell me why you’re so scared of flying?”

      Chelsea gave an exasperated sigh. “You don’t give up easily, do you?”

      “Now you’re getting it,” he answered. “You’ll find I usually get what I’m after. Maybe it would be easier if you knew that about me right up front.”

      “And what is it that you’re after, Mr. Sullivan?”

      Alex leaned closer to Chelsea, keeping his voice low. “Information, pure and simple. Miss Abigail Van Buren is one of my oldest clients, not to mention a dear friend. I’m sure you understand that it’s vitally important for me to know everything I can about her associates so that I can adequately guard her interests.”

      Chelsea pulled her hand away and shifted uncomfortably in the seat, apparently accepting his explanation. “I was born in South America. We moved to the U.S. when I was twelve.”

      Alex nodded. “Ah, yes. I thought I detected a hint of an accent. Which country?”

      “Brazil,” she answered softly. “On a flight there to visit family a couple of years ago, my plane had some difficulties СКАЧАТЬ