“Well, my friend, did you save any room for dessert?”

Thirteen

WHEN THE CAR first stopped, having arrived at its destination, Taylor assumed there had been some sort of mistake. But then the driver got out and opened the door, quashing all her hopes of a mix-up.

“Mr. Andrews is waiting for you inside,” the driver said with an efficient nod. As Taylor got out of the car and took in the sight that ominously greeted her, all of her preplanned early exit strategies fell to pieces.

Looming before her was a jet.

A private jet, from the looks of things, not that Taylor had ever ridden in one before.

Having seen the car pull up, Jason stepped out onto the jetway and welcomed her with a smile. “Hello, Ms. Donovan. Ready for this?”

Not at all sure that she was, Taylor eyed the jet warily as she crossed the tarmac and climbed the metal steps leading up to the passenger hold. When she got to the top, she stopped before Jason, going for an unimpressed look.

“How original. Didn’t I see this in Pretty Woman?”

Jason smiled pleasantly. “Let’s hope the evening ends as well for me as it did for Richard Gere.” He winked.

That shut her up right quick.

Taylor coolly passed by him and stepped into the plane. She took in the rich cream leather captain’s chairs—eight of them—the matching double couches that flanked both walls, and the tawny marble wet bar near the back. Not a bad setup.

“You rented this?”

Jason gave her a look. Hardly.

“I bought it three years ago. Commercial travel got to be too much of a hassle.”

Taylor’s eyes darted nervously to the cockpit. “Please tell me you’re not flying it.”

Jason laughed at the horrified look on her face. “You’re safe. I’ll be back here with you.”

Taylor glanced around the small seating area. Great. How cozy.

She took a seat near the back, in the chair closest to the bar, thinking a Grey Goose on the rocks might soon be in order. Jason eased into the chair next to her.

“Now can you tell me where we’re going?” she asked as she fumbled with her seat belt.

He shook his head. “Not yet. Although I’ll give you a clue: from what I’ve seen so far, it’s a place that suits you well.”

Taylor considered this hint. Then an excited look crossed her face.

“Napa Valley?”

Jason shook his head. “It’s not Napa. And no more guessing.”

“I hope I’m at least dressed appropriately,” she said, gesturing to her outfit. “Someplace ‘where you’ll be teaching me something’ didn’t give me a lot to go on.”

Jason deliberately took in the black V-neck tailored shirt and fitted gray skirt she wore. Taylor self-consciously crossed her legs at his gaze, inadvertently drawing his attention to the slit in her skirt that parted mid-thigh.

“I think you’ll do just fine, Ms. Donovan,” he said.

Taylor was just thinking that perhaps this was a good time to restate her “this is only business” speech, when the plane’s engines suddenly roared to life. At the sound, she turned in her chair and peeked out the window. Without thinking, her leg began to bounce nervously.

After a few seconds of checking out the runway, she glanced back and saw Jason looking curiously at her bouncing leg. Never one to show any weakness, Taylor steadied herself and feigned a casual smile.

“So . . . I guess we’re off now. Good. Great.”

The jet taxied to the runway, completed its turn, then shot forward with a thunderous firing of the engines. Taylor self-consciously began to tap her fingers on the arms of her seat.

Okay, fine. Yes, it was true.

She hated flying.

Feeling Jason’s eyes on her, she made an attempt to cover her nervousness with casual conversation. “So what kind of maintenance goes into a jet like this? I assume you have it serviced regularly?”

Jason shrugged unconcernedly. “I have no idea. I pay other people to worry about those things.”

Taylor’s eyes widened at this. Good god, they were toast. She spun back around to peer out the window.

The plane ascended, and they rose smoothly for a few moments. But then they hit a patch of turbulence, and Taylor’s hands tightly gripped the armrests of her seat. She closed her eyes, trying to push all thoughts of screaming death-plummets from her mind. Surely fate was on her side in this flight, she thought. Jason was her insurance policy, after all. The world would probably stop spinning on its axis if something were to happen to its Sexiest Man Alive.

“So I’ve been reading about your trial in the papers,” she heard Jason say.

She opened her eyes. “You have?”

The plane dropped with the turbulence, and Taylor’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She glanced out the window, uneasily studying the ground below as the plane began a turn.

Meanwhile, Jason reclined unworriedly in his chair. “And I have a question for you.”

“Hmmm.” Taylor looked up. “Wait.” She had definitely just heard a sound she had never heard on a plane before. She quickly looked over at Jason.

“Does the engine sound normal to you? I think we’re losing altitude.”

He ignored this. “Anyway, I’ve been thinking about your trial—”

“—Seriously, is this pilot certified? How long has he been working for you? And what kind of training do you need to fly private planes, anyway?”