Page 4 of Stranded with the Billionaire
Sterling ignored Jake. Somewhat.
He wasn’t conventionally handsome. He might be tall, three inches taller than Sterling’s impressive five foot ten stature, but he was a little thin. He also had a craggy face. Whatever that really meant, Sterling didn’t know but she decided the word craggy suited Jake. Maybe if he ever smiled he might be handsome, but right now he was simply serious and all too male.
Sterling tried to ignore him while waiting for any morsel that would fit into her next article. She wondered if she should start asking him annoying questions in a clueless fashion to see what he might say. Deciding to save that for later, Sterling poured herself a small measure of white wine and enjoyed it in the tiniest kitchen she’d ever been in. That was saying something since she’d been in her Uncle JimBob’s motor home and it had a miniaturized kitchen all its own.
Sterling had come a far way. From a tiny nothing town of perhaps eight hundred people, if one were being generous, all the way to the big city as a writer.
Okay, tabloid writer.
She could handle that as long as it kept paying the bills and catapulted her career onto something higher.
Wait, were flight attendants allowed to drink on the job? There was no way to pour it back into the bottle without making a mess. Plus, it was the good stuff. No way was she going to pour it down the drain. With a grimace, Sterling kicked back the last of the wine like a shot. She sighed over the fact that she’d barely gotten a good taste of the last large gulp.
“Rough day?” a voice said from behind her.
Sterling gasped and turned around. “Aren’t you supposed to be flying the plane?”
Richard had a smile as he reached past her into the fridge for a bottle of water. “Autopilot.”
“Yes, but if something goes wrong,” Sterling gave a speaking look at his chair that was just visible through the cockpit door. “Don’t you need to be there to fix it?”
“Relax,” Richard shrugged and uncapped his bottle. “Nothing is going to go wrong.”
Sterling watched him return to the cockpit with a wary eye. She could see the headline now,Pilot jeopardizes billionaire Jack Ramesly’s life all for a bottle of water.
Richard would probably get fired.
Then again that headline wasn’t as good asTed Searson dead in jail after possible poisoning from best friend pharmaceutical chain owner David Ramesly. David released as FBI frames son Michael for father’s deeds.
Sterling grabbed her phone and typed in a few headline ideas and the start of a new article.
Three hours later, she had outlined a couple of article ideas, penned an article, had managed to snap a couple of photos on her cellphone of Jake without his being any the wiser, and she was distinctly bored. Jake had not received any more calls and was assiduously working away on the laptop. Sterling decided to ask Jake once again, if there was anything that he required. This time she was able to get him a bottle of water.
How dull.
She grabbed a glass, put in some ice and brought it, a coaster, a napkin and the bottle of water over to him, setting it down on the desk. No one would ever complain about that level of service.
“Just the bottle is fine,” Jake said distractedly.
Sterling kept her smile pasted on and whisked away the ice, napkin and coaster. She entered the kitchen, putting the items away and taking another small sample of wine for herself when she heard a curse from the cabin.
Hurriedly gulping down the wine, Sterling tossed the glass into the bin and went to the cabin. “Sir? Is something wrong?”
Jake glared at the computer screen. “No.”
Something was very wrong if his expression was anything to go by. Sterling really wanted to know what he was looking at. She looked at his water bottle. It had barely been touched. Jake probably wasn’t going to the bathroom anytime soon.
Maybe she could. If she just innocently looked at the screen as she walked past…
“Have you ever heard of Sterling Denver?” Jake disgustedly asked.
“She’s a tabloid writer, isn’t she?” Sterling responded with just the right tinge of curiosity and confusion.
“Yes,” Jake practically spit out the word. “A friend has sent me tomorrows article and she’s outdone herself again. How does she know these things?”
Sterling eased herself to stand beside Jake and look at the screen. There was tomorrow’s article that she had just submitted a few hours ago.
Michael Ramesly arrested by FBI!
