Page 26 of Breaking Emily's Rules
“The coffee I could have done without. But what about the date?”
“Maybe we need to forget about that? You have to admit it’s been less than a stellar beginning.” She stared at the ground, and a blush the size of Texas crossed her cheeks.
“Running out on me didn’t help.”
“Maybe, but you didn’t look too happy with me. And by the way, I’m sorry I asked you out because I’m not ready for you—I mean, I’m not dating anyone. I mean—I made a mistake, asking you out.”
“And you make a lot of them, don’t you?”
She seemed to ignore the comment. “The reason I left so quickly that night had to do with my sister. Otherwise, I might have stayed to see if you were okay. But I thought I should get Molly out of there. She tends to cause trouble wherever she goes.”
“Shedoes?” He felt a grin coming on. “From where I stand, you caused the trouble. I wouldn’t have walked outside if it wasn’t for you.”
“And I thank you for doing that, but I didn’t ask you to.” Emily raised her chin.
That put her lips in decidedly much closer territory to his. “No, you didn’t, but you didn’t exactly stop me.” Now he moved till he was only inches away from her, and their gazes locked.
“So—um, can we talk about me getting my pilot’s license?”
“You want yourpilot’s license?” This stunned him. He thought for sure she wanted to take a onetime lesson for kicks. So many people did just that—either they were gifted a onetime lesson or they chose to cross it off some list of things they’d always wanted to do at least once.
“Is that a problem?”
“To get your pilot’s license, you’ll have to log more than twenty hours of flight time. That means with me. Next to you. In the plane.”
“You’re the only regional airport for miles.” Emily backed up another step and hit the wall. He had a small office.
He pushed one solitary flyaway hair off her forehead, even though what he wanted was a fistful of that hair in his hands. “I’m not sure I should let you anywhere near my plane.”
“Don’t you have insurance?”
Not a comforting thought. He had boatloads of insurance, thanks to his dad, but the plan was never to use it. The thought of his father pulled him front and center.
What the hell am I doing? She wants her license, and I happen to run a flight school. Be professional, idiot. No matter how great she smells.
Stone forced himself away from her and walked behind his desk. “What made you decide you want to get your pilot’s license?”
She gave an audible sigh and sat back down on the chair across from his desk. “You’re not going to believe this.”
“Go ahead and give it a shot.” He crossed his arms and leaned back.
“This begins with my great-grandmother and namesake, Emily Parker. I traced her back to the early nineteen hundreds.”
“This sounds like a long story. Can we fast-forward to the new millennium? I do have a business to run.”
“Short version coming right up. See, it turns out my namesake was a pilot. At a time when there weren’t many of them.”
“How nice for you, but what has that got to do with anything?”
Emily blinked. “I wasn’t aware I needed a great reason to get my license. My friend Rachel seemed to think it was a neat idea. The first Emily Parker was a maverick, and I want to follow in her great footsteps.”
“And that’s it?”
“What do you mean, that’s it?”
“What do you know about flying?”
“Not much. That’s why you’re here.”
