The Spiral Down (The Fall Up #2)(10)

I leaned to the side to block her view of him and assured, “I understand. I promise I’ll handle it.”

Even if I have to use Carter’s pillow idea.

She didn’t seem convinced, but she nodded and slowly moved away.

Turning my attention back to Henry, I stepped into his space, the bill of my hat nearly bumping his forehead. Being afraid to fly was one thing, but being a dick to a person trying to do their job was something else completely. I didn’t care how famous he was.

“I will say this one time and one time only. I don’t give a single f*ck who you are. You will watch your damn mouth. That woman does not get paid enough to deal with that shit from you. She only has to make one call and you’ll find yourself banned from flying for the rest of the day.” I loomed forward, forcing him to shuffle back. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I’d like to get home today. Catering to rich *s is only a small part of her job. She has safety checks to perform before we can even close the cabin door.” I gave his chest a shove. “Now, we wouldn’t want her to be distracted while she does those, would we?”

His eyes flared wide in understanding, but he remained silent.

“Sit. Down,” I ordered in an angry whisper. Great pleasure washed over me as his cocky attitude melted away.

Breaking our stare, I settled into my new seat on the aisle. Casually crossing my legs, ankle to knee, I blocked him in our row.

He remained standing, glaring down as me as he hunched over with his elbow propped on the seatback in front of him. He was dressed similarly as he’d been the day before, but today, the V-neck pulled tight over his muscular chest was gray and his jeans appeared to be genuinely tattered from wear rather than the designer denim he’d been sporting. His blond hair wasn’t the mass of messy spikes as it had been. Instead, it was naturally sweeping across his forehead. A thin layer of blond scruff covered the curve of his strong jaw, making it obvious he hadn’t shaved since I’d seen him last.

He didn’t look like a spoiled multimillion-dollar superstar anymore.

But he sure as hell was acting the part.

“That seat’s taken,” he informed, rudely.

“Yes, Forrest Gump, it is. By me. Now, sit.”

He lowered his tall body into his seat. “Um, no. My bodyguard—”

“Paid me two hundred bucks to come sit up here with you.”

His mouth fell opened and closed several times before he finally exclaimed, “He did what?”

Ignoring his outburst, I searched for my seat belt. “Better buckle up,” I suggested. “Wouldn’t want anything to happen to a superstar like you in the air.” I winked, knowing good and damn well it was going to set him off.

“Where’s Carter?” he seethed. Then he suddenly paused the anger to flash a kind smile at the flight attendant as she walked past.

“Hey, look at you, fast learner,” I praised with a wide grin.

As he settled deeper into his seat, his piercing, blue eyes dropped to my mouth, lingering for a beat too long.

My smile wavered under his scrutiny, and for the briefest of seconds, I swear I saw a victorious twitch pull at the corner of his lips.

“Who the hell are you anyway? Air marshal who pulled the short straw on babysitting?” he asked quietly—as if he suddenly gave a damn about the dozen passengers who had been watching his hissy fit.

I narrowed my eyes. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously,” he bit back. His gaze stayed locked on mine as he tipped his empty glass to his lips, sucking back nothing more than a drop of melted ice before passing it to me. “Take care of that.”

I rolled my eyes and then signaled to the flight attendant.

She gave Henry a wary glance before retrieving the glass, switching it for a cup of ice water. “Everything good?”

“Perfection,” Henry replied with a saccharine smile. He then held her gaze and tossed back the water as a show of good faith. When she was out of earshot, he grumbled a curse. “Anyway…who are you?”

Tugging my hat off, I ran a hand through my thick, dark hair before rocking it back on. “Evan Roth. Your pilot. We met yesterday.”

The muscles in his jaw ticked as he gave me a quick head-to-toe appraisal. “Oh. Right. You broke my plane.”

“I didn’t break your plane. It had—”

Suddenly, ice flew from his glass, landing in his lap when an air wrench sounded outside the plane. His free hand slapped down on my forearm before gripping impossibly tight.

“Shit! What the f*ck are they doing out there?”

Lifting my arm with his fingers painfully biting into my skin, I pinched the bridge of my nose.

Deep breath, Roth.

Deep f*cking breath.

I pointed out the window. “That’s a good sound. You want to hear two of those, actually.” I cupped my hand to my ear just as the second one sounded. “See.”

His tense posture momentarily relaxed. “Why are you here?”

“I told you. Two hundred bucks. Given the company, I’m not so sure it’s worth it anymore. But I’ve heard there might be some free drinks to sweeten up the deal.” I clapped my hands and rubbed them together.

“I’ll buy you whatever drink you want if you go get Carter before we take off,” he replied with attitude, but it barely masked the shake of vulnerability in his voice.