Page 38 of Puck King
“How so? How are we even?” My hands had stopped trembling from the fear of the helicopter crashing onto the sidewalk forty-five storys below, but the feel of Colton’s calloused palm flat against mine had started a very different tremble, which came along with warmth.
He chuckled, and my breath caught in my throat as he intertwined his fingers with mine. “I thought you were just a woo woo physio who was going to give me some bullshit exercises and not really fix anything.”
As if to soften the blow, he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. I felt like a passenger – a stranger, watching Colton’s lips kiss someone else’s hand, not my own. But when I felt the scratch of his rough chin at the base of my thumb, reality came rushing in. And it wasn’t good. How could his lips feel so right on my hand? I imagined what they would feel like against other parts of my body and squirmed a little in my seat.
He cleared his throat. “What, no biting comeback?”
He set my hand on my thigh and gave it a pat. It was a very friendly gesture, and I was reminded that he was raised to kiss women’s hands. I had taken it way too far in my mind. A quick blink helped bring me back to reality, and stop imagining what Colton King’s scruffy jawbone would feel like on my inner thighs.
I cleared my throat. “I still don’t understand how we’re even.” The catch in my throat had cleared as I continued. “Are you saying you think that I’m good at my job?”
He laughed, and even in the dim cabin, his smile was practically blinding. “Alison.” He paused. “I want to apologize for that day.”
“Which one?” I crossed my arms against my chest and raised my eyebrows.
He took a deep breath.
“I’m waiting, Mr. King.” I couldn’t hide the smile. This flirting felt fucking real. The electricity in the air between us seemed to crackle, and for the first time, I trusted myself. I knew that my instincts couldn’t be wrong.
“Alison. You’re the most talented physiotherapist I’ve ever worked with. And I’ve worked with probably half the guys in the city.”
“Colt—”
He interrupted. “Please, let me finish. I was rude that day, and I’m sorry. I was also rude the night that we agreed to this whole arrangement. The truth is, Alison, you’re so much more than just a physiotherapist. I was a dumb jock who couldn’t see it and now…” He clicked out of his harness and his body bridged the gap between us, his hand on my jaw. “How could I have been so blind?”
I wasn’t sure what happened first. Did I stop breathing? Or did my heart rate double with the heat of his hand on my face? I wrapped my fingers around his wrist while he cupped my cheek. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered. I looked down, but he put his thumb under my chin and lifted my gaze to meet his.
Was he going to kiss me?
I wanted him to. My breath hitched in my throat and I swallowed hard, but his lips stayed inches away while his gaze held mine. My fingers were still wrapped around his wrist, the glow of the instruments flickering in his eyes. And then it happened.
On our fake date, my fake boyfriend took my face in his hands and kissed me.
For real. It had to be real. There was no faking the tenderness in his touch and the soft and slow passion in his kiss.
When he drew away, I took a moment before batting open my eyes. His were still closed.
“Colton,” I whispered. “I wouldn’t want anyone else to be my first.”
He blinked and then furrowed his brow. “Your first? What?”
“No. Not that.” I could tell that he was confused and I gave him a wry smile. “Take my whirlybird virginity, Mr. King.” I was still breathless from the kiss, but instead of discussing what had just happened, I did what I did best and diffused the tension – the thick sensuality that hung between us in the small cockpit, with humor.
Luckily, he smiled back. “Happy to oblige, Miss Moffat.”
The rotors whirred above our heads once again, but this time, instead of terror, exhilaration rippled through my body from my fingertips right to my toes. As we lifted off, Colton turned to me and smiled. He had a great smile, but there was another dimension to the one he gave me that night; a certain sparkle in his eye that made me feel like I was going to melt, and that all that would be left on the helicopter would be a pile of green silk in a wool coat.
His powerful smile was accompanied by a wink. He tapped my thigh and gave me a thumbs up, which I returned. His voice crackled through my headset. “Lady Moffat. This is your captain speaking. We’re going to be cruising at an altitude of ten-million feet, at an airspeed of Mach seven.” The helicopter tilted forward and I got a good look at the pad beneath us, before the rooftop fell away. I gasped. He chuckled into the headset. “In other words, hold onto your panties.”
I didn’t know where we were going or what we were doing, but it didn’t matter. We could’ve flown to a hot dog stand and it still would’ve been the best damn night of my life.
Nineteen
Colton
The further theglow of the city got behind us, the more spectacular the stars began to shine. It was a cold night, one of the coldest of the winter, and a full moon meant a bright and spectacular sky.
I could tell that Alison had relaxed when the rasping of her breaths through the microphone got quieter. “Over to your left,” I pointed, “you can see Orion’s Belt perfectly.”
