The light above our heads comes on, and the plane begins to rattle a little. Turbulence is something that happens on occasion and doesn't bother me. But Frost? I glance back at him and see his hands gripping the arms of the seat and his knuckles turning white.
“This is your captain speaking, please fasten your seatbelts.” The voice comes through the cabin, and I glance over at Pumpkin. “We’re getting ready to land in the next twenty minutes, but we’re going to have a few bumps along the way.”
I hear Frost from behind me cursing in Russian, and I turn around. “It’s going to be okay,” I say to him in a low voice, and he presses his lips together tightly.
“I hate when the plane bounces,” Pumpkin says, and I see a hand go to her stomach while the other grips her arm rest almost identically to Frost.
“It will be okay.” Without a second thought I place my much larger hand over hers and squeeze a little. She looks up at me and then away quickly.
“Tell me something.”
“Tell you what?” she asks distractedly.
“Something that will keep your mind off of the bumps.” The plane dips again as I say it, and there are a few sounds from people behind us in the plane.
We’re moving quite a bit now as the plane rocks, and the flight attendants strap into their seats. The captain comes back on and tells us it won’t be much longer, but I can feel the anxious panic from Pumpkin beside me and Frost at my back.
I turn to face her but speak loud enough for my brother to hear. “Thanksgiving is in two days. Are you sure your family will welcome the both of us?”
“Um yes.” Pumpkin swallows and then looks at me with more confidence. “They’ll love to meet the both of you.”
“Da, and will you cook for me?”
The flush of her cheeks isn’t from nervousness as she smiles. “Yes, I’ll cook for you.”
“My brother loves desserts, but I prefer…” I take my time glancing down her body before I look into her eyes. “Savory.”
“L-like what?” She leans closer to me, and I do the same, like we’re sharing a secret.
“Something warm.” I use the tip of my finger to trace the shape of her jaw before I graze her bottom lip. “Something decadent.”
I hear Frost speaking in Russian, but I ignore him, and Pumpkin doesn’t seem to hear him. I lean even closer to her, to where I can feel her breath against my lips, and I can see the flecks of gold in her ice blue eyes.
“Tell me, sweet Pumpkin, do you have something like that for me?” If I pressed my lips to hers right now, I think her desire would taste like the first drink of coffee on a cold snowy morning. This little woman could make me addicted with one tiny bite.
Her eyes slowly close, and my finger traces down her chin and to the delicate skin of her neck. I can feel her heartbeat thumping against my thumb like a baby kitten in my arms. I want to cuddle her in my lap and use her as the comfort I have been without for so many years.
“Thank you for flying with us today, please be careful when opening your overhead compartment.”
The sound of the flight attendant’s voice breaks the moment between us, and Pumpkin blinks her eyes open and leans back in her seat. She’s left me cold and separated from her, and I don’t like the dismissal of what just happened.
Without my realizing it, the plane has landed, and they are opening the cabin door. I glance up in time to see the little drunk man is the first to scurry off the plane and I grind my teeth. I would have loved one more chance at him once we were off the plane.
I stand up, and Frost shoves my bag against my chest as he walks off of the plane without me. I want to go after him, but I see that Pumpkin has turned away from me while she gathers her things.
“Do you have a bag?” I ask her, and she nods as she stands.
“Yeah, but it should be right by the exit.”
“I will walk with you,” I say, and it’s not a request.
I don’t understand why she won’t look at me as we exit the plane and walk through the lobby of the airport. I need to make her smile and talk to me like she was just before we landed. Before we almost kissed.
“Give me your phone.” I see Frost in the distance at the exit doors checking his watch. “I need to leave, but I want to call you.”
“Um, okay.” She stops at the carousel where the luggage is going around on a belt and takes her phone out of her bag.
I use it to call my phone first and then save the contact. “I will call you tonight.”
“Look, it’s okay.”
“What is okay?” My eyebrows pull together in confusion. “I don’t like the tone you use.”
“What I mean is that I appreciate you moving that jerk out of the way, and for talking to me on the flight. It was nice to just…I don’t know…talk to someone.”
“I enjoyed our conversation too.” My blunt statement makes the corner of her lip turn up and I like that.
“You don’t owe me anything. That’s all I'm trying to say.”
I step closer to her and take her hand in mine. “You don’t owe me for saving you.” She swallows as she looks up at me, and I hold out her phone for her. “I will call you tonight.”
She bites her bottom lip in that worried way like she did on the plane and takes the phone from me. “Okay, I guess I’ll talk to you later.”
When I lean down, I press my cheek to hers and put my lips to her ear. “I will think of you until then, Pumpkin.”
I breathe in the scent of lavender before I force myself to take a step back and walk away. I look back at her several times as we exit, and the whole time she’s standing there with her hand pressed to her cheek.
“You’re a fool,” Frost scolds me as we meet our driver at the curb.
“Da,” I agree, grabbing his arm to keep him from getting inside.
“What are you doing?” He looks at me like I’m crazy as I walk over to our driver.
“See that girl in there, with the dark hair.” I point to where Pumpkin is turned away from us, and my driver nods. “Take her wherever she wants to go. Name is Pumpkin. That’s an order.”
“It will be done.” He bows his head and walks into the airport to go speak to her.
“Miller, we are late,” Frost scolds as I hold my hand out and wave for a taxi.
When one pulls up to the curb, I open the door for him and wait expectantly. After a moment he rolls his eyes and gets in the back, and I follow in after him. We were supposed to be on an earlier flight, but I hadn’t really thought about it until now. I forgot about our investors’ meeting, forgot about missing our flight earlier in the day, forgot about everything when I saw her.
Was it fate that I happened to be on the same flight as her? Maybe. Am I going to do everything I can to make her mine? Definitely.