Page 4 of Lost Without You
She sipped her coffee and Ethan’s gaze caught on her full lips, the bright red lipstick drawing his eyes like a magnet.
What had she asked him again? Oh yeah, sleepless nights…
“Yes. Too many to count. When you’re working a case, you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. Lots of stress.”
Ethan shuddered when he thought about the restless days and nights, often weeks and months of pressure that involved working a case.
“I can’t imagine. In my job, the only stress is about competing for tenure. Not life and death, mind you, but you wouldn’t know that by talking to my colleagues. You have no idea how ruthless some academics are,” Rachel replied and shook her head.
“Sounds interesting. Maybe I could set my next book on a college campus.”
“Only if the investigation is solved by a feisty linguistics professor with a penchant for solving puzzles,” Rachel quipped.
She took another sip of coffee, then licked her lips and Ethan shifted in his seat again.
He shook his head. “No way. Then you’ll demand half my royalties.”
“Twenty-five percent. I’m not greedy.”
She smiled and the sight made his breath catch. Ethan was about to reply when their flight was announced. Good thing, too, because their banter was verging on flirting. His timing, as usual, was shit.
“Flight 634 to New York is now boarding first class passengers. Please report to gate A2.”
“That’s us,” Rachel said as she stood up and grabbed the handle on her luggage.
“Rachel,” Ethan murmured as she turned to him. “I’m going to ask one last time, are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“I’ve been waiting for thirty years. What do you think?”
Chapter Three
Rachel
Rachel was strapped into her seat, but she was itching to get up and move around. Or rather, to get away from Ethan.
Unfortunately, the flight attendants started serving breakfast and there was no way she was going to miss out on an additional cup of coffee and a pastry she desperately needed.
Ethan sat beside her, reading a book, cool and calm while she was irritated as hell. She appreciated Ethan’s concern, but she was a grown-ass woman and didn’t need coddling. If he asked her that question about being ready for this investigation one more time, she was going to tell him to take his book and…
“…what would you like?” the flight attendant standing nearby spoke and Rachel blinked, looking up and shaking her head.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.”
“I said that we have coffee, juice, water, and tea. Which would you like?”
“Coffee, please, one cream, two sugars. Thanks.”
Rachel gratefully accepted the steaming cup of java and took a long sip, letting the warmth seep into her body. Air conditioning on planes was always too cold for her liking.
“You really do need your coffee. You seem distracted. Are you all right?” Ethan asked.
Rachel turned her head to unleash her annoyance at his question but stopped short when she saw the genuine concern in his dark gaze.
“I’m fine, Ethan. I appreciate your concern, but I’m strong enough to handle whatever comes my way,” she paused. “Tell me, if you were dealing with my brother, would you be asking him the same question over and over?”
A flash of surprise and a hint of annoyance swirled in his eyes, but he quickly recovered.
“Yes, I would. This is your father we’re talking about. We may find nothing, or we may find out stuff that’s upsetting. I’ve seen a lot of cases where family members wanted the truth but had a hard time dealing with it.”