The Pairing (The Proposition #3)(56)

“Sometimes I think I favor flying at night.”

“You do?”

He nodded. “For some reason, it seems much more tranquil. There’s a vulnerability to it as well. In the day, everything is within your sight distance. But in the dark, you have to rely on your instruments and instincts.”

“I’d love to learn how to fly.”

“You would?”

She nodded. “I’ve always thought it would be something amazing to learn.”

“Then I’ll teach you.”

She turned to him in surprise. “Really?”

“Sure. Why not?”

With a shrug, she replied, “You’re a busy man, and I don’t know how fast a learner I would be.”

He smiled. “For you I would make time.”

As she stared at him across the small interior of the plane, she knew she was ready to make more time for him as well. Where it would lead them, she couldn’t wait to see.

Chapter Fifteen

As the cornflower-blue horizon spread out for miles and miles before her, Megan couldn’t help fighting the urge to pinch herself. She was actually up in Pesh’s plane during her first flight lesson. From the moment they had taken off, she had been overwhelmed by such a surreal feeling. It must’ve been something about being in control of the plane as it rocketed down the runway and then took off into the sky. Of course, she really wasn’t in total control of the plane. Pesh was able to take over at any moment from his spot in the co-pilot’s seat. That made her feel a little better considering she had so little flying experience, and the manual she had read at least twice didn’t prepare you for everything.

Now as they coasted along the city skyline, she kept both hands firmly gripping the steering wheel, or yoke as it was called in small plane terminology, as they passed through wispy strands of white clouds. When Pesh had first offered to give her flying lessons, Megan didn’t know if she should believe him or not. Looking back, she wasn’t sure why she ever doubted him considering he was always a man of his word. And now, just two weeks after their first date in Savannah, they were back up in the air flying around Atlanta on a Thursday afternoon.

It had been quite a week together of having dinner after work or them picking up something on the way to her house. Although, the first day back at work proved both difficult and awkward as they tried to appear as though nothing had changed. But the fact was everything had changed, and it wasn’t just because they had become physical. As much as Megan tried to fight her growing feelings for Pesh, it was virtually impossible. A man like him made it too hard for any woman not to fall in love with him, and as much as she didn’t want to acknowledge it, she could see herself falling for him.

Of course, he was also full of surprises. Like on Monday when he had asked her to see if there was an extra heart monitor in one of the empty patient rooms on the first floor. She had obediently gone to check. While she found the heart monitor, she also found him. The gentleman she had once known became somewhat of a sex fiend when he locked the door and disappeared with her behind the curtain. A mid-day sex session in an empty hospital bed made for quite an experience, especially when the brake on the bed released, and they literally banged into the walls.

But besides the naughty sexcapade, he’d wanted to spend down time with her and Mason. Earlier in the week, Pesh brought Mason to see his plane. Megan had to smile at the image in her mind of Mason on Pesh’s lap in the pilot’s seat as he explained the ins and outs of the buttons and knobs. Pesh had shown such patience with Mason by constantly fielding his questions and letting him wear one of the headsets. He’d even gotten the ATC to send a message over the headset so Mason could hear. While it was supposed to be a pre-flying lesson for her, it turned educational for Mason as well. And to make it a day that neither Mason, nor Pesh would forget, they’d gone by McDonald’s afterwards so Mason could play on the playground. The fact that Pesh was so willing to do anything to make Mason happy was slowly starting to crack Megan’s tough resolve against dating him.

It wasn’t just the fact that Pesh was so wonderful with Mason that had her reeling. When they talked, she shared more with him than she ever had with a man. He made it easy to open up to and speak of both the good and the bad in her life. He was such a good listener that she never felt like she was just rattling on and boring him. He truly seemed interested in everything she said. It was an amazing feeling.

“Still doing okay over there?” Pesh asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

She grinned. “Fine.”

“I wish you could see your face,” he mused.

“Do I have some dopey expression?” she asked.

“It isn’t dopey. It’s wide-eyed wonderment like a kid on Christmas morning.”

“Oh, I would totally believe it since this certainly feels like a very big and very dangerous toy.”

“It’s a wonderful sight to see. I’m so glad I get to share this with you.” He took one of her hands from the yoke and brought it to his mouth. As his lips kissed over her knuckles, she tensed.

“I need my hand back. I don’t feel like I have a good grip on the steering wheel like you said I should,” she protested.

Pesh sighed and released her hand. “How I regret telling you that tip now,” he lamented.

She smiled. “That’s not fair to try and distract me. I need to focus, so we don’t crash.”