that I didn’t want to talk to him. But by the time we’d taken off and the cheese trays were being wheeled down the aisle, the earphones were giving me a gnawing headache and I could no longer pretend to be asleep.
I busied myself with tasting the various cheese samples and tried my damndest to ignore the man next to me. But he wasn’t easily ignored.
“Now, keep in mind, Lennie, that this is a resting vacation. You can’t go out partying or running on the beach or swimming in the ocean.”
“Maybe you could just wrap me up in a bed sheet when we get to the house, and I could just lie there like a mummy for the week.”
“Actually, that’s not far from what I expect of you this week.”
I dropped the stinky white cheese on the tray, no longer hungry. “What you expect from me? How about this, Graham? How about you leave me the hell alone, and I’ll pretend we’re on different planets for the next week.”
The flight attendant, a cute guy with a crooked smile and a nice, boy next door face had been watching me. It seemed he’d finally worked up the courage to ask me for an autograph. He walked over with an airline cap that had a number of autographs on it.
Graham stuck up his hand to stop him from handing me the hat. “I’m sorry, but Miss Harlow is not signing autographs right now.”
I glared at Graham as the embarrassed attendant pulled the hat out of my reach. His shoulders sank as he turned away. I picked up the plate of cheese, dropped it in Graham’s lap, snapped shut the food tray and slid past my asshole manager.
I hurried to catch up to the flight attendant. I tapped his shoulder and took hold of his cap and pen. “Who should I make it out to?”
His face darkened with a blush, which only added to his wholesome appearance. “Ronald, please. And thank you so much, Miss Harlow. I’ve been collecting names on that hat for three years.”
“I see you’ve got an impressive collection of autographs.” I finished signing the hat and handed it back to him. “Uh, Ronald, one question. Are there any empty seats in coach?”
His smooth brows knitted together. “In coach?”
“Yes, I’m feeling a little claustrophobic up here.” I smiled sweetly as he glanced past me toward Graham.
“Oh, I see. Yes, as far as I know we’re only about half full back there. With summer ended, this is no longer a popular flight. But there are a few vacant seats up here as well—if you are just looking for a little more space.” He smiled back, and his gaze once again flitted to Graham. “They are only serving peanuts, soda and juice on that side of the curtain.”
“Peanuts and juice sound divine. Thank you so much for your help.” I turned around. Graham’s bushy, chocolate brown eyebrows were doing that little dance they did whenever he was quickly trying to figure out what I was up to.
I walked back to our seats, and he moved his legs to make room for me to slide over.
I didn’t say a word as I continued past our row. Duff glanced up from whatever he was reading on his tablet. He didn’t question me as I walked by. My biggest obstacle was still to come. Axel was sitting alone, taking up nearly both seats with his mass. As if my movements were always on his radar, his big eyes popped open as he was ripped from the nap he’d been taking. He sat forward like an unwieldy, startled giant. It almost seemed as if the entire plane shifted with his movement.
“Lennie, where are you going?”
I patted his oversized hand. “Shh, go back to your dreams, sleepy head. I’ll be fine. I’m just going to take a little walk.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No, you’ll probably upset the whole physics thing going on with the plane. Stay here. I’ll be fine.”
He sighed. “You’re going to be the death of me, Lennie.”
I leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Stop worrying.”
I continued on toward the heavy curtains that separated first class from coach. I pushed through them. The two flight