Kade Johnson

I recognized Madison immediately, of course.

But I swear my cock knew she was there before I did.

As soon as the elevator dinged and the door opened, it knew.

I’d always liked the scent of jet fuel, but it had never been a turn on.

Not like that.

It was definitely Madison.

By the time my brain caught up, she’d turned around and walked away. 
My first instinct was to follow her. And I even took two steps forward before my logical brain reminded me that my instinct was eight years out of date.

She’d always been pretty. With a quick smile.

But the Madison who’d just walked away from me was not pretty. She was drop dead gorgeous.

Long, brunette mermaid hair. That perfect heart-shaped face. Lips that naturally turned up at the corners.

And a tight black skirt that did everything to remind me what I knew about that body beneath it.

She was wearing a white button-down shirt tucked into that skirt, revealing her narrow waist.

I bet I could still wrap my hands around that waist.

But I worked here now. And she was the boss’s daughter.

I had to keep it together.

And keep it in my pants.

I needed a minute before I walked down to reception to meet up with Quinn.

The last thing I needed was to walk into my new office with a hard-on.

I’d only met Quinn Worthington once and during the interview calls, neither one of us had mentioned my previous relationship with his sister. It was possible he didn’t even remember me from back then.

Not likely. But certainly possible.

He was younger than I was. Five years? Maybe more.

And when I’d been with Madison, Quinn had been away at a boarding school or some such to prep him for college.

It occurred to me then that Quinn might have hired me without telling Madison.

And if Madison worked here…

I thought she’d be far away from here by now.

I’d seen enough social media updates—not stalking—to know that she’d finished her degree in psychology.

She’d finished it just like she’d set out to do.

Madison completed everything she set out to do. It was one of the many things I admired about her.

Unfortunately, though, it had been the end of our relationship.

We’d decided not to do the whole long distance thing.

I don’t know what she’d been thinking, but I always sort of thought we were on a break.

I’d dated, of course. It had been eight years after all and a man had needs.

But I’d never let myself get serious with anyone.

Was it because of Madison?

Not that I would ever admit it.

I turned left and went toward what looked like a lobby. All my interviews and discussions had been via facetime. My reputation was good enough to get me a job anywhere in the industry.

But life happened and I needed to be closer to home.

There was no one at the receptionist’s desk. Quinn was in the glass-walled conference room on the other end of the lobby with two men.

I took a seat on one of the little sofas in the spacious lobby. This whole side of the office had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the tarmac.

I had an involuntary little sense of excitement. This third floor office space was perfect.

I should have known Noah Worthington would do it right. The man had gone from being a commercial pilot—like me—to owning a fleet of small jets. He had started out in Dallas/Fort Worth, but for some unknown reason, he’d moved his main office to Houston.

Rumors suggested it had something to do with his wife Savannah. And apparently they were living in Houston now.

The receptionist must have already left for the day. Not a problem. I didn’t have anything else I had to do today.

I stretched out my legs and pulled out my iPad. Scrolled idly through my emails.

But. Damn it. I couldn’t concentrate.

Madison was somewhere in this office. I know she recognized me, but she’d turned walked away.

At the sound of feminine heels coming toward me from the elevator area, I looked up.

And watched as Madison walked straight toward me.

I stood up. Bad idea.

All the blood had rushed to my cock.

Then she smiled and I nearly came undone.

Madison

Kade Johnson had gotten even more handsome with age. But it was like that with guys.

He was wearing black slacks and a white button-down shirt. Basic pilot attire. Same basic outfit I was wearing except that I was wearing a skirt and heels, of course.

Was that why I had butterflies in my stomach? Just because we were wearing the same kind of clothes?

Of course not. Sometimes I put too much into all the psychological theories that had been hammered into my head.

He recognized me now. I could see it all over his face.

It had certainly taken him long enough.

I afforded him the same hospitality I’d give anyone visiting my father’s company.

Only, he was doing more than just visiting. And since I was going to be working here for the next three months, I had no choice but to be cordial.

We’d parted as friends and promised to stay in touch.

That promise had been made eight years ago and I hadn’t heard from him since that day we’d said good-bye in the parking lot of our favorite taco pub.

“Hello Kade,” I said.

“Hello Madison.” He smiled back.

I was impressed by how quickly he’d recovered from not recognizing me.

“You’re working here now.”

“What are you doing here?”

We both spoke at the same time.

We’d always had an uncanny kind of sync.

Was that how his first day and my first day were the same?

But no, I was being fanciful. I’d worked here on and off as needed over the years and this was the first time Kade had shown up.

It was just a weird quirk of chance.

Unless…

I narrowed my eyes in the direction of the conference room.

Had Quinn orchestrated this?

“Quinn didn’t tell you, did he?” Kade asked, echoing my thoughts.

“No,” I said. “But I saw your name on the schedule.”

“Quinn moves fast,” he said.

“We don’t like to waste time here at Skye Travels.” I held the envelope with the copies close to my chest. Like a shield.

“It’s good to see you,” he said. “But, seriously, what are you doing here?”

“Working,” I said. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get these to Quinn.”

I turned and walked straight for the conference door.

Quinn met me there and took the papers off my hands.

I went back to the reception desk, took my seat, and put the headset back on.

I did all this without glancing at Kade one single time.

I could do this.

I could be around him and not focus on him.

I was very pleased with my progress so far.

“Why aren’t you somewhere straightening out lives?”

I jumped back, stifling a yelp.

Kade was leaning on the counter, smiling at me.

In my efforts to not look at him, I hadn’t seen him move over to the reception desk.

Maybe this was going to be a bit harder than I thought.

Kade

“What makes you think I’m not straightening out lives here?”

I laughed. “I’m sure you straighten out lives wherever you go.”

Maybe coming over here hadn’t been the best idea.

Although I had admired her from a distance, I wasn’t quite prepared for looking into those green eyes of hers up close.

She had the oddest expression on her face. I couldn’t quite tell if it was curiosity… or amusement… or desire.

Being a man, I opted for desire.

“I thought you were supposed to be in Denver,” I said.

“Denver. How would you know that?”

How would I know that indeed? “I read it somewhere.” Ok. I’d given away my hand. So now she knew I’d kept up with her, at least enough to know that.

“Have you been cyber stalking me?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

I pulled back with a feigned wounded look. “You know,” he said. “If you’d keep your accounts a little more updated, I would have known that you were here and not in Denver.”

She shrugged. “I—”

The phone rang and she deftly tapped a key on the computer.

“Skye Travels. This is Madison Worthington. How can I help you?”

She was using her maiden name and she wasn’t wearing a ring. Two things social media had gotten right.

I put my elbows on the counter and watched her work.

I liked the way her face flushed, knowing I was watching her. It made me think of other things that made her flush.

Then the conference door opened and Quinn followed the two men out.

I nodded at the two men in fancy suits as they passed, noting that they wore that satisfied expression men wore when they felt like they’d gotten a good deal.

Quinn stepped up to me.

“Nice to meet you in person,” he said, holding out a hand.

I shook his hand and didn’t tell him that we’d actually met one time before.

It explained why he hadn’t told Madison about me.

Madison was watching our interaction as she finished up her phone call.

Quinn glanced at his watch. “Instead of meeting in my office, why don’t we have a drink? There’s a little bar across the street called the Skyhouse.”

“Sure,” I said. “Is the Skyhouse part of Skye Travels?”

Quinn looked blankly at me for a moment. “No,” he said. “Just a coincidence. Wait here while I close up my office.”
“Take your time,” I said, then turned my attention back to Madison.

She’d taken off her headset and was shutting everything down for the night.

“Come with us,” I said.

Her fingers froze as she met my gaze. “I can’t. I already have plans.” Then she looked back down, pulling out her handbag.

“Another time then,” I said.

Before she could answer, Quinn was coming back toward us.

“All ready to go?” he asked, not even noticing that he was interrupting.

My gaze locked with Madison’s and held.

She hadn’t said no outright.

I took that as a good sign.