Nonstop (Open Skies Book 3)

  Nonstop

  Open Skies, Book Three

  Becca Jameson

  Copyright © 2021 by Becca Jameson

  Cover Artist: Originalsyn

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. And resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Newsletter

  About the Book

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Author’s Note

  Also by Becca Jameson

  About the Author

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  Becca’s Newsletter Sign-up

  About the Book

  Rebekah

  Life has dealt her a difficult hand, making it hard for her to trust men.

  She’s introverted and shy and has only dated a few guys.

  Dating leaves her tongue-tied and nervous. It’s not worth it.

  When her friends set her up with Bracken, she can’t help but give him a chance.

  He’s older. Confident. Kind. Patient. Trustworthy. The entire package.

  Can she open up to him and share her dark secrets?

  A hostage situation on a previous flight has left her afraid to go back to work.

  Perhaps she should have listened to her gut.

  What are the chances her next flight would end in a hijacking?

  Bracken

  After twenty years in the Army, Bracken has retired.

  He works part time for his buddy, but only as a diversion.

  No way will he turn down a blind date arranged by his friends.

  He’s had his eye on Bex for a while. She’s exactly his type.

  He doesn’t mind a bit that he has to coax a conversation out of her.

  She has him wrapped around her finger in less than an hour.

  But she has skeletons, and he’s not sure he can drag them out of her closet.

  She also has a rightfully earned fear of flying that he shouldn’t have ignored.

  Now he has to stop a hijacker and pray she will forgive him for putting her in danger.

  Chapter 1

  “I knew it was a bad idea to invite you over to watch the game with me.”

  Bracken jerked his gaze from the cute brunette in the kitchen to find his friend Kraft smirking at him from the other end of the sectional. Bracken frowned. “What are you talking about?” He tipped his beer back, taking another swig.

  “Do you know the score?” Kraft teased.

  Bracken winced as he looked at the television. Shit. Commercial. He had no idea what the score was.

  Kraft laughed. “That’s what I thought.”

  Bracken ignored Kraft and turned his attention back toward the kitchen area where Kraft’s girlfriend Christa was making scones with her friend Rebekah—or Bex as she’d informed him. The two women were covered in flour, as was the kitchen island and even part of the floor.

  Ordinarily, the mess would make him crazy, but the scene was so domestic that he couldn’t stop grinning. Domestic? Since when did he give a shit about anything domestic?

  “I knew you’d fall for her,” Kraft stated, keeping his voice low enough that the women couldn’t hear him.

  Both Kraft and Hatch had mentioned Bex to Bracken several times. Ever since Hatch hooked up with his girlfriend Libby, her friends had been pairing off with Bracken’s friends. What were the chances Bracken would actually fall for one of the two remaining women—Bex. That left Shayla, the women’s fourth friend and coworker from Open Skies Airline, and Tank, the men’s fourth friend and coworker from Westside Programmers. The four of them had also been in the Army together.

  Kraft chuckled.

  Bracken returned his gaze to his friend, growling low. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and kept his voice to a whisper. “First of all, you’re the one who set this up, so I don’t know why you’re being so smug and cocky about it. Second of all, I’ve exchanged only ten words of introduction with the woman so far. You can hardly call that falling for her.” He sat back and turned his gaze back to the television, seeing nothing.

  His attention was on the soft giggle Bex made when Christa said something funny. Her thick brown waves of hair were pulled up into a messy bun that was beyond cute. He didn’t need to look at her again to picture it. It would probably be best if he didn’t.

  He knew exactly what she was wearing too. Pink tank top, white shorts, pink flip flops. She was about five-five, tanned skin, and green eyes that reminded him of emeralds.

  Yeah, she was cute and sweet and just as shy as Kraft had warned. She’d blushed and looked away from him at their introduction. In addition, her voice had been soft, barely above a whisper. The guys were not wrong about Bracken’s likelihood of falling for her. She was exactly the type of woman who made him do a double-take.

  There were red flags. Most importantly, her age. She was twenty-five. Bracken was thirty-nine. He’d already served twenty years in the Army and retired. He now worked part-time for Tank who owned the computer programming consultant business. Bracken was good at it. It gave him something to do and kept him busy.

  When Bracken made the commitment to the Army, he swore he’d never marry. He hadn’t wanted to worry about a woman while he was halfway around the world doing a very dangerous job. And he sure as shit hadn’t wanted someone worrying about him. He’d made that choice, and by the time he’d retired, he figured he’d missed his window of opportunity.

  No one else seemed to agree with him, which was why he found himself sitting on Kraft’s sectional, glancing every few seconds at the pixie in the kitchen.

  Jesus. This was a bad idea. Bex was fourteen years younger than him. She had her entire life ahead of her. She should find a nice man in his twenties and settle down. Why would she even entertain the idea of dating Bracken?

  He knew she had though. While Tank, Kraft, Hatch, and sometimes another of their friends—Zip—conspired to hook Bracken up with Bex, the women—Libby, Christa, Shayla, and Zip’s wife, Destiny—had done the same thing. Bex surely knew a lot about Bracken, including his age.

  It wasn’t as though they’d never met. They had in passing a few times, including at Zip and Destiny’s wedding. But they hadn’t spoken or spent any real time together.

  Bracken didn’t realize he was once again staring directly at her until she glanced at him. For a moment, they locked eyes, and then she turned away abruptly, biting her lower lip as she resumed rolling out the dough for the scones.

  Part of Bracken was itching to help with the baking. After all, his nickname wasn’t Sweets for no good reason. He loved baking. He’d made pastries in his downtime in the Army to center himself after a tough mission. The guys had made fun of him for
only a few months. Eventually, they learned to keep their mouths shut if they wanted to get a bite of his confections. From then on, they called him Sweets—a very goofy name for a man of his size.

  As Christa opened the oven and removed the scones, the scent of blueberries and pastry filled the air, making Bracken groan.

  Kraft chuckled but didn’t say a word.

  A few minutes later, both women wandered across the great room with plates of warm scones in their hands.

  Christa laughed as she handed a plate to Kraft. “Not exactly afternoon baseball snacks, but I bet you won’t turn them down.”

  Bracken’s chest tightened as Bex handed him a plate. “Now that I know you’re a baker yourself, I’m hesitant to let you try my scones,” she teased, her voice soft. He imagined her voice was always a bit soft, at least when she was in uncomfortable situations.

  He brought the plate to his nose and inhaled, the steam still wafting off of the scones. “Smells delicious. They look amazing. I’m impressed.”

  She chewed on the corner of her bottom lip for a moment and then released it. “Well, you haven’t tasted them yet.”

  Bracken picked up one of the triangles and took a bite, hoping he didn’t burn his mouth. Luckily, they had cooled down enough to avoid that embarrassment. As soon as he bit into it, he moaned. Perfect. Possibly better than he’d ever had. “Wow. Those are amazing, Bex.”

  She shrugged, not meeting his gaze. “My grandma’s recipe.”

  He pushed to standing. “Gonna need a bottle of water.”

  She followed him into the kitchen, just as he’d hoped. Christa had settled on the couch practically in Kraft’s lap.

  While Bex began to clean up the mess, Bracken sat at the island with a water and his plate. “How have you been doing?” he asked, eyeing her closely, making sure she understood his meaning.

  Christa and Bex had been responsible for stopping a human trafficking ring on one of their flights a few weeks ago. They were on leave right now, so neither of them was working. Christa had been taken hostage, so she technically suffered the brunt of the drama, but Bracken knew better than most people not to judge how people process intense situations in the aftermath.

  Bex shrugged as she put the flour away. “Okay.” She didn’t meet his gaze.

  He knew she was not exactly okay. Word got around. She was struggling. He couldn’t be sure how traumatized she was, but he suspected more than she liked to admit to her friends.

  He watched her move around the kitchen, putting things away, loading the dishwasher, wiping the counters. “You’re meeting with a counselor, right? Someone from the airline?”

  She nodded. “Yep. It’s mandatory.”

  “How much time do you get to take off?”

  “Four more weeks.”

  He wasn’t sure if she was avoiding his gaze because it was her natural inclination or if she didn’t like to discuss this subject. It was hard to read her, and he didn’t know her well enough to be sure. Or hell, maybe she didn’t really care for him.

  He continued to watch her, pondering his options. Everything about her made his heart rate pick up. She was exactly the kind of woman he was attracted to. Cute, shy, petite. But damn, she was young. This was probably a bad idea, but he decided to go for it. “Have dinner with me.”

  She flinched and then lifted her gaze. For a moment, he thought she might turn him down, but then she swallowed. “Okay. When?”

  “Tonight.” He glanced over his shoulder at the lovebirds on the couch and then returned his gaze to Bex. “Now. They won’t even notice if we leave,” he joked.

  Bex’s eyes got big and she glanced down at herself. “I’m not exactly dressed for a, um, date.”

  “I think you look perfect. We can keep it casual. Do you like Mexican? I know a place that’s totally laid back.” He wasn’t dressed any different from her. Jeans. Black T-shirt. Vans.

  She chewed on that lower lip again, holding his gaze, thinking. “I guess I could do that.” She looked over his shoulder toward the living room. “They certainly won’t notice us missing, will they?” She smiled.

  Damn, he loved her smile.

  He slid off the barstool and pulled his keys from his pocket, returning her smile as he dangled them from his fingers. “Bet we can walk right out the garage door and they won’t even flinch.”

  She giggled. Even better than her smile. Her hands went to her hair. “I’m a mess, Bracken.”

  The sound of his name coming from her lips was musical. “You look perfect.”

  She turned around and grabbed a small purse from near the back door. “Give me two seconds.”

  He watched her fantastic ass as she fled toward the bathroom.

  When Kraft cleared his throat, Bracken begrudgingly faced his friend. “You two have fun,” he teased.

  Christa was grinning. Her cheeks were red. Not surprising. Her skin was so fair that her cheeks reddened up easily. Bracken didn’t even want to think about where Kraft’s hands were on his girlfriend. He couldn’t see well over the top of the couch.

  “Don’t say a word,” Bracken warned, glancing toward the hallway.

  “Wouldn’t dare.” Luckily the two of them went back to cuddling and pretended to be completely unaware as Bex reemerged from the bathroom.

  Her hair was down now, the glossy waves brushed out. There was no longer any evidence of flour on her face or shirt. She took a deep breath as she approached. “Should I follow you in my car?” she whispered conspiratorially.

  He shook his head. “We can come back for it later.”

  “Okay.”

  He set a hand on the small of her back and guided her toward the side door. He wouldn’t even be able to say who was playing in the baseball game he’d come to watch, let alone the score. Who the hell cared?

  Chapter 2

  Bex was extremely introverted and well aware of it. It made dating difficult and often not worth it. Many men gave up trying to lure her into a conversation and never asked her out for a second date. The last man she went out with more than two times had ignored the fact that she was tongue-tied, but he’d gotten frustrated with her unwillingness to “put out” on the third date. He was kind of an ass about it too.

  Bracken was not Roger though. In addition, Christa had assured Bex that Bracken was outgoing enough for the both of them, and Bex was relieved to find out that was true.

  The man kept the conversation going on the drive to the restaurant and hadn’t stopped after they were seated and had placed their orders. He didn’t even seem the least bit put out by her inability to instigate new topics.

  “So, your parents are in England?” he asked, having guided the subject toward her family life.

  “Yes.”

  “How long have they been living abroad?”

  “Five years now. My dad got an opportunity at Oxford University, and they decided they love it there, so they haven’t returned.”

  “Good thing you work for an airline then.” He set his elbows on the table and leaned toward her.

  “That has been helpful. I’ve gone over to see them twice a year.”

  “That’s good. Hell, I don’t always see my parents that often.”

  “Where are yours?”

  “Maine. They retired to a property on the water. It’s beautiful, but it gets damn cold in the winter.”

  Bex nodded. Why was it so hard to come up with follow-up questions?

  Bracken reached across the table and picked up her hand. “Relax. You look a bit like you’re at the dentist waiting for them to call you back for a tooth extraction.” He said all this calmly, not looking the least bit put out or frustrated.

  She glanced at where his thumb was stroking her hand and then back at him. “I’m not very good at conversation. This is usually the point in the evening when my dates realize I’m not quite worth the effort.” She winced, having no idea why she was bothering to tell him this.

  He flinched, a frown drawing his eyes together. “That’s
absurd. You’ve been dating some real assholes. I get that you’re quiet and a bit reserved, but it’s fine. It’s who you are. No reason to apologize.”

  “Okay.” She drew in a breath.

  “If anyone should be uncomfortable, it’s me.”

  She met his gaze again. “Why?”

  He grinned. “I’m too damn old to ask you out, and yet I did it anyway.”

  “I don’t think you’re old. Besides, I’ve always kinda preferred older men.” Her cheeks heated at the admission.

  “Is that so?” He was smirking a bit now, but not in a condescending way. “How many older men have you dated?”

  “Well…none. I just mean I’m usually attracted to them.”

  “What attracts you to us old guys?” he teased.

  She chewed on her bottom lip, thinking, and then released it. “You have more confidence, I guess. Like you’ve worked out the kinks or something.”

  His smile was infectious and genuine, and it calmed her every time. “I guess that makes sense.” He leaned closer. “Are you attracted to this particular old guy?”

  She flushed deeper. “Stop calling yourself old. Thirty-nine is not old.”

  “Ah, so you know my age. You’ve asked your friends about me.”

  Now she was squirming. Jesus. He was so intense. She had his undivided attention. He never looked away from her. His hand was nearly twice the size of hers, and it felt so warm. Plus, he was holding on to her with just the right amount of pressure, not willing to let go even if she tried. “Well, I mean, it’s more like they keep talking about you, trying to convince me I should go out with you.”