7. Greer

CHAPTER 7

GREER

Anxiously pacing the aisle of my plane was not how I wanted the week to begin. As I waited impatiently for Austin to arrive, I wondered if he was punishing me by making me wait, or if he would show at all. I'd offered to pick him up, but he'd declined, just like I knew he would.

The longer I waited, the more I realized I was nervous. And that alone was rare for me. I was a people person and always had been. Carter used to say I'd never met a stranger. But for some unknown reason, waiting for him to arrive made me anxious.

I was also full of shit.

I knew exactly why I was nervous. As a card-carrying people pleaser, I hated it when people I cared about were angry at me. Business was one thing, but my personal life and the people in my circle were something else.

Stopping in the middle of the aisle, I glanced out the window to the parking area next to the small private terminal. No black Tahoe in sight.

"Fucking hell."

I propped my hands on my hips and tipped my head back to exhale a frustrated breath. The muscles in my neck were tense and threatening to give me a tension headache. Our international flight plan had a departure time thirty minutes from now, and he still wasn't here. How would I explain it to my meddling sister if I arrived without the very man I'd been going on about?

I supposed there was a possibility he wouldn't show. It wasn't like Austin needed the money. The job and his honor were more important to him than anything, and I loved that about him. He didn't give a single fuck about his family's money, or mine.

"Mr. Rowan? I believe your guest just pulled up," my pilot informed me as he entered the plane.

Turning quickly, I glanced out the window and smiled. "Thank you, Jason." I'm sure the relief in my voice gave me away.

"Bill and Sandra just arrived. It won't take us long to be ready to go. As soon as you're settled, we'll be ready for departure."

"That's perfect, thank you." I watched Jason head to the cockpit. The engines fired up outside as I waited for him to board. I really needed a drink to settle my nerves, but I'd wait.

My breath hitched when I caught sight of him making his way to me. Carrying a dark brown duffle with a hanging bag draped over his shoulder, all I could do was stare at the hint of his exquisite form. He wore dark denim that sat low on his hips and molded to his thighs, accompanied by a blue and white plaid shirt stretched across his broad chest. It was the same color blue he wore that night in Chicago and caused the tint of his eyes to sparkle.

"Good morning, Mr. Rowan." His tone was not completely belligerent. Maybe just condescending, but an improvement, nonetheless.

I smiled at him and mustered my most relaxed tone. "Good morning, Austin. Glad you could make it," I glanced at my watch, "with twenty minutes to spare."

"Did you think I wasn't coming?"

I watched as he placed his bag in the luggage closet, then hung the other one on the small rod next to mine. Simply having our clothing together felt very intimate. My mind immediately went to my walk-in at home, imagining our things in there together. Him, striding into our closet after a shower, the towel wrapped around his waist as beads of water clung to his warm, tanned skin for dear life. Lost in the fantasy, I almost missed him calling my name.

"Earth to Greer."

My eyes snapped to his face even though his Aviator sunglasses concealed his eyes. But I could see the skin between his brows was furrowed.

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

"I asked if you thought I wasn't coming?"

I turned and took my seat, motioning for him to sit across from me. "The thought crossed my mind, but I knew you wouldn't do that to me."

Austin took off his sunglasses as he sat in the oversized leather bucket seat and fastened his seatbelt. It suddenly occurred to me how ironic that statement was.

"What makes you think that?"

My gaze fell to my lap before looking up at him. "You're too honorable. That's who you are."

His eyes bored into mine before narrowing as he studied me. "You know nothing about me, Greer. For all you know, I might be petty as fuck. I might be an asshole, bent on revenge. My time in the service has changed me from that na?ve twenty-two-year-old who placed his trust in the wrong fucking person."

I remained calm, even though I was a complete mess inside. Nodding, I looked back down at my hands. I wasn't sure what to say, but I knew I had to say something. "I deserve your ire. And I'm sorry, but maybe if you'd let me explain..."

Austin held his hand up. "I don't want to talk about it."

I released a heavy, aggravated breath and rubbed my eyes. Allowing things to settle for a moment, I finally replied to him. "I'll be your verbal punching bag for a while, because I know I deserve it. But at some point, you're going to let me explain what happened in Chicago."

"Don't hold your breath."

We sat in companionable silence until departure time. I checked my email while he scrolled on his phone, neither of us looking at the other. My nerves were already shot, but I wasn't foolish enough to waste the rare opportunity to explain.

When the engines revved up higher, Jason announced we were ready to depart Portland. I'd been so engrossed with my thoughts of Austin that I'd missed both Sandra, the flight attendant, and Bill, the co-pilot, boarding the plane. Looking over Austin's shoulder, I raised my hand to wave as I smiled at her. They'd been with me ever since I bought the Pirates and were like family.

He stared out the window with his familiar scowl as we departed PDX. The eight-hour flight to Costa Rica was going to be a bumpy one, and not from turbulence.

When we reached our cruising altitude, Sandra came by to offer us a beverage.

"Sandra, this is Austin Wentworth. Austin, this is Sandra Malone, the best private flight attendant a person could employ. How are the kids?"

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wentworth," she said to him before turning her attention back to me. "They're fine. My parents have them while we're working and on the beach in Costa Rica."

"Well, I'm happy you'll get to enjoy a little vacation time."

She looked at Austin. "He really is the best boss in the world. Not many employers would treat us to vacations the way Mr. Rowan does."

Austin looked over at me, his ire temporarily absent. "I'm sure he is."

She clapped her hands together, breaking our stare. "What can I get you to drink with your breakfast? We have a fruit and yogurt bowl, as well as more traditional breakfast fare."

With a smile, she handed us both a menu of items I'd ordered from the caterer. I stared down at it, pretending not to know what was there.

"Thank you," Austin replied. "I'll have coffee and juice with the egg white omelet." Out of my peripheral vision, I saw him hand the menu back to her.

"And you, Mr. Rowan?"

"I'll have the Greek yogurt bowl with berries. And coffee, please."

"Very well, gentlemen. I'll return shortly."

Austin sat across from me with his hands clasped in front of his mouth, elbows on the armrests. His eyes roamed my hair and face, making me oddly uncomfortable.

Again, I didn't get uncomfortable. He just knew how to make me squirm.

"What?" I asked quietly.

He motioned toward my head. "What did you do to your hair?"

I couldn't tell if he was throwing a dig at me, or if he was being serious. Instinctively, I ran a hand through it. "What do you mean?"

He lifted his steepled index fingers from where they rested against his lips to point at it. "It looks different. More silver than gray. And the cut is different."

"You don't like it? My stylist said it made me look younger." I was a little self-conscious about my appearance around him. He was young at thirty-six, and here I was at fifty-eight, trying to impress him.

Austin shook his head. "You don't have to do all that not to look old, Greer. You're in shape, and it's obvious you take care of yourself."

My heart fluttered with a glimmer of hope he wouldn't completely push me away.

"Thank you. I try." His little compliment made my cheeks heat.

He continued to stare at me as I stared back. It was strangely intimate and weird at the same time. While I loved his eyes on me, we had eight hours to become very comfortable with each other. Even though work had placed us back in the same space many times, we'd never really talked about anything important. Like this growing tension between us.

"I guess we should get to know each other again if we're going to pull this off."

Sandra placed our breakfast at the table I preferred to work at when I traveled.

"Breakfast is served," I said, motioning to the area behind him.

We unbuckled and stood up, closer than we'd been since he'd been in my office. The smell of his cologne and body wash tried to make me hard, but I thought about unpleasant things to keep it away. And, as if to torture me further, the plane hit a pocket of turbulence, causing him to reach out for me.

I looked up into his eyes as he held onto my biceps to steady me. There were so many things I wanted to say and do, but I only smiled.

"Thank you," I said, slipping from his grasp. I headed for the table as we hit another pocket of turbulence. If we'd chosen to eat in our seats, we'd both be wearing our coffee.

I slid into my side while Austin did the same. Picking up my napkin, I unfolded it and placed it on my lap. Austin mirrored my movement before taking a sip of his coffee.

His eyes flicked up to me. "When did you start training?"

I smiled. Of course, that would be the question he asked. Fitness was important to him. "A little over ten years ago."

He nodded as he took a bite of his food. "What made you choose triathlons?"

It kept me sane while you were a fucking SEAL, living your life in harm's way.

"I've always been a runner. And I was on the swim team in college. So it made sense to do both."

"They had those way back then?" he deadpanned.

My gaze cut to his. "Your brother and I attended college in the mid-80s. We're not that old. And by that time, triathlons had been around for about ten years."

He continued to eat, enjoying his little digs at me. I'd allow it. "Seems like an awful lot of training for someone like you."

"What do you mean, someone like me?"

Austin took a bite of his omelet, letting my question hang in the air. His face was more relaxed than before. "It's an intensely demanding training regiment and takes a lot of time. I used to compete before the Navy."

I nodded. I knew all that.

"But why would you do all that at, what, forty-eight? Seems extreme."

"Not really," I lied. "It's a great way to burn off stress, and that was a particularly challenging phase of my life. I'd just started a new franchised professional football team and my family needed me to," I trailed off, hoping he'd let it go. He had his own issues with his own family.

But when his eyes focused on me, and the scowl returned, I knew another difficult question was on the tip of his tongue. And I had an idea of what it was going to be.

"Tell me about your wife."

No question.

A statement.

And one that seemed to be as painful for him to ask as it was for me to answer. If he'd punched me in the stomach, it would have hurt less.

"Why do you want to know about that?" I asked timidly. I stirred my berries into the yogurt, my appetite suddenly vanishing.

"It seems like something I'd know about as your boyfriend." He lifted his fingers to put air quotes around the word boyfriend. "That seems like the logical place to start. You weren't married when we were in Chicago. Seems you waited what, six months after I left for the Navy? You want us to be prepared, right?"

He put his fork down and stared into my eyes. Was I ready to tell him everything?

My gaze fell to the table as I picked up my orange juice. I drank it slowly, hoping to buy some time. I wasn't ashamed of my marriage. I was ashamed of what happened while I was married.

"Greer," Austin called. "Tell me about your wife."