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

She laughed hard as she continued out of sight. He was a bit concerned. The woman was not modest. She had no problem flaunting her assets in front of him, and she had plenty of assets.

He was back on the sofa with his beer and her glass of wine when she returned. Luckily, he didn’t have the beer tipped back to his lips at the moment, or he would have spewed it around the room.

His eyes went wide and he groaned.

“What?” She picked up her wine glass from the coffee table and dropped down on the other end of the sofa as if it weren’t the least bit strange that she was wearing a black negligee. It hugged every inch of her body. The lace dipped low between her amazing tits, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she had on a matching thong.

The imp even drew her knees up under her as she sat down. After taking a long sip of wine, she moaned. “Mmm. That’s good. Thank you.”

His cock was hard, and he couldn’t decide if he wanted to pounce on her—to hell with the deal—or throw a blanket over her, or pull her over his lap and spank her. Two out of the three of those would cause him to lose their deal. A deal she clearly wasn’t thrilled with.

“What?” she said again, innocently before looking down at her chest. “Did I spill something on me?”

He chuckled and rolled his eyes before taking a long swig of beer. “That is not sweatpants.”

She shrugged. “Didn’t bring any. This is comfortable. I like it.”

“How the hell am I supposed to have a serious conversation with you dressed like that?”

“Hey, this whole waiting for Saturday to touch me idea wasn’t mine. It’s not my fault you’re struggling with your own rule. Besides, you’re lucky. Heather’s idea was for me to traipse out here naked.”

He forced his gaze to rise to her face but didn’t bother hiding the fact that he had to adjust his cock behind the zipper of his jeans. “Who is Heather?”

“Coworker. We worked the same flights today. That’s who I was with when I texted you. Turns out she’s also a victim of Hawke’s.”

Jake sucked in a breath. “No shit?”

Shayla shook her head. “Nope. Almost the same story. Only reason he stopped harassing her was because he met someone else and moved on. If only I could be that lucky.”

“No kidding. I’m sorry. But that’s interesting. I wonder how many others there are.”

“No idea, but Heather said his next girlfriend—if you can call any of us that—was with airport security.”

“Interesting. Did she give you a name?”

“Renee Delgado. I’m not sure who she is.”

He nodded. “Good. If there are others…”

Shayla shook her head. “Don’t get carried away. You have to see things from our perspective. Neither of us went to HR for a reason, and that isn’t going to change just because there are two of us.”

“You don’t think they’ll believe you…” He understood. It sucked, but she was probably right.

“Not worth the risk. Two disgruntled flight attendants who got their little feelings hurt because the sexy, unblemished senior captain didn’t return their affections. What were they thinking would happen when they flaunted themselves at him and tried to seduce him?” She said all this in a high-pitched, condescending voice.

He winced.

“You realize this wouldn’t change even if there were twenty of us. We don’t live in a world that is kind to the woman in an abuse situation.”

He sighed and ran a hand down his face. She was right, but he didn’t like it.

“Anyway, you said you had news too.”

He nodded. “Yeah. You ready for this?”

She lifted her brows.

“He’s married.”

She nearly dropped her glass as she leaned forward, eyes bugged out. “No.”

He nodded. “Yes. He doesn’t talk about it at work. I don’t think anyone knows. Except maybe HR. Two kids too. All are on his insurance. It took some digging to find this out. Previously, I had only discovered a divorce twenty years ago.”

Shayla leaned back. “Now I feel even stupider.”

“Don’t do that. How could you have known?”

She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “My God. No wonder he doesn’t take anyone out or even call when we’re in town. He did the same thing to Heather. Fucked her several times in a hotel on an overnight and ignored her when they were in town.”

“Makes more sense now.” Jake sighed. “I have no idea what to do with that information, but it could come in handy at some point.”

Shayla sipped her wine, her gaze on a random spot across the room.

Jake let her sit in silence for a while, knowing she was processing. He felt bad for her. She didn’t ask for any of this. She’d been duped.

On top of that, the front of her negligee had dipped lower on her chest when she’d leaned forward. He could see the upper swell of her breasts. The perfect handful. He wanted to pull the damn lace down farther, get a better view of the nipples she liked to tease him with frequently behind thin tank tops and T-shirts.

He adjusted his cock again, not thinking she was looking this time. But she lowered her gaze, a slow smile forming. “How’s the erection?”

He groaned, his gaze locked on her body. “You do not play fair.”

“And let me remind you, I said I would not. I love that you’re hard for me. It makes me feel sexy.”

He suddenly had a devious idea. He leaned forward, hand outstretched. “Give me your glass, sweetheart.”

She held it out, careful not to let him touch her when he took it. Her brows were drawn together.

He set her wine and his beer on the coffee table and turned his body to face her where she sat in the corner of the sofa. “Let’s play.”

She lifted a brow. “Let me remind you that you’ll lose and end up tied to your bed while I have my way with you if