Standby (Open Skies Book 4) by Becca Jameson (popular e readers .TXT) 📕

least had the decency to look back as she followed her friend. Her expression was sorrowful, but she wasn’t swayed enough to stand with Shayla. And that was why Shayla never spoke about her problem. It wasn’t just management who wouldn’t believe her. Coworkers, even women, could be cruel. Fine. Let Marcy have him. She deserved a man like Hawke.

Shayla was flustered as she entered the plane, and a few minutes later, she found that her partner for the day was Heather Kotter. She didn’t know Heather well, but the woman had always been pleasant and fun to work with. She had gorgeous long, curly brown hair that bounced with every move and wouldn’t seem to stay put wherever Heather pinned it.

When Heather turned around to face Shayla, she swallowed and licked her lips. “Hey.”

Shayla sighed. Apparently, the rumors had gotten to Heather too. Great. Why on earth did so many women take Hawke’s word as gold without bothering to fact-check the information? It was infuriating, but Shayla held her head high as usual. She wasn’t about to instigate another conversation about lies about herself. If people wanted to believe that shit, let them.

She boarded the plane and started going through the preboarding procedures without looking directly at Heather. Heather worked alongside Shayla without commenting either. Work was going to get uncomfortable if everyone started treating Shayla like a leper. Of course, she knew several flight attendants personally and none of them would engage in this gossip train, but Open Skies employed hundreds of people. Shayla would have to work with dozens of them every week. She needed to ignore the stares and do her job. A job she loved. Confrontations like the one she’d just had before boarding were useless.

It wasn’t long before passengers started boarding. The flight was almost full, so there was no time to dwell on the tension between Shayla and Heather. She did her job, took care of the passengers, and served snacks and drinks.

Eventually, she had to speak to Heather, and the two of them communicated everything that was necessary, cordially, but Shayla hated this situation. She wondered if she should instigate defending herself again today. If she chose that route, she’d be doing so every damn day.

“Hey, I don’t know if you’ve heard the rumors about me, but they aren’t true. I’m not a cockblocker. I didn’t do any of the things you may have heard about me. The gorgeous, sexy, well-loved pilot is lying about me.”

Sure. That went over well.

When the flight landed, Shayla busied herself assisting a few older passengers and then cleaning up the plane. They only had thirty minutes before it would board for the return flight. It wasn’t difficult to fill the time.

The flight back didn’t have quite as many passengers but it went smoothly as long as Shayla ignored the fact that she had an increasing feeling that Heather was glancing at her more and more frequently, and a few times it seemed like the other woman might say something. Shayla walked away before she could speak both times.

Finally, the shift was over. The plane landed. Shayla did everything she needed to do and headed for the exit. Just as she was leaving the jetway, someone reached for her arm.

Shayla glanced over her shoulder to find Heather looking at her. “Hey, can we, uh, talk?” she asked in a quiet voice.

Shayla sighed. She didn’t want to be rude, but she also didn’t want to hear what Heather had to say. Something about the look on Heather’s face made her pause though. Maybe the woman wasn’t going to belittle Shayla. It wasn’t like her anyway. She wasn’t the confrontational sort.

“Sure,” Shayla looked around, orienting herself with what was near this gate. She pointed at a bar a few gates away. “You want to get a drink?”

Heather blew out a relieved breath and smiled. “That would be great.”

Shayla felt bad as they made their way to the bar, chose two seats at a high-top, and ordered two glasses of wine. Heather looked nervous. She was fidgeting.

As soon as the waitress brought their chardonnay, Heather took a sip and then a deep breath. “I wanted to talk to you, and I didn’t want to do it at work.”

“Okay.” Shayla leaned her elbows on the table. “I assume this is about the fun rumors spreading like wildfire about me.”

She licked her lips and then nodded. “Yes. But not what you think.”

Shayla furrowed her brow.

“I know everyone is whispering about you behind your back. I hear it too. I also know it’s Hawke Richman who’s spreading the gossip.”

Shayla nodded acknowledgment.

“You were dating him, right?”

Shayla shrugged. “If you want to call it that. More like I made bad choices and became a cliché booty call. Dating would imply the man took me out to dinner or movies.” Shayla knew she sounded snarky, but she felt every inch of that sarcasm.

Heather looked down for a moment and then lifted her gaze. She was playing with the stem of her wine glass. “He did it to me too.”

Shayla froze. “What?”

Heather nodded. “Yeah. He did the same thing to me a few years ago. I was so embarrassed that I never told anyone.”

Shayla leaned closer. “Oh my God.”

“I know. I feel so bad and I’ve been kicking myself for not talking to you. I know how alone you must feel. He’s very slick. He manipulates people into thinking they did him wrong and then tells everyone who will listen.”

Shayla was shocked. “That’s exactly it. How did you get him to stop?”

“I didn’t. I got lucky. He found someone else, so it didn’t go on very long.”

Shayla sat back, absorbing what Heather was saying. She felt an incredible sense of relief and camaraderie. It was just like Jake had said—no way was Shayla the first victim.

“The woman he moved on to, was she also a flight attendant? Are there others who work for the airline?”

Heather shook her head. “No. Not in that case at least. She was