to lose it in front of a twelve-year-old. “You know what? Never mind. How’s five bucks sound?”
“Five bucks?”
“Give me your water and I’ll give you five bucks.”
“Make it ten.”
Char glared.
The girl glared back. Fine. Ten bucks to make her feel better about Jake being an ass? Deal; she’d take that bet.
Char reached into her back pocket and pulled out a twenty. Shit.
The girl swiped it from her hand before Char could do anything. Grumbling, she grabbed the cup and made her way toward Jake’s seat.
Two more rows.
Finally. She stopped at Jake’s row and cleared her throat.
He didn’t look up.
She cleared her throat again.
Finally, he slowly raised his head. His mouth dropped open. “Char?”
“Jake,” she purred.
“How are you? I mean, it’s been forever!” His smile didn’t reach his eyes.
Actually it had been eleven months, one week, and five days. But hey, who was counting? Not her.
“Hasn’t it, though?” She leaned against the seat.
“We should catch up.” He eyed her up and down before coughing and looking away.
“We should.” She agreed, and then before she lost her nerve she dumped the entire cup of water down the front of his pants. “But I don’t date assholes who abandon me after sex.”
“What the—”
He made a move to stand up just as she buzzed the flight attendant and announced loudly, “Sorry, it seems Jake Titus just peed his pants. Could you please help us?”
Snickering erupted around them, and Char smirked at a gaping Jake. He reached across the seat toward a striking elderly woman sitting next to him.
“Well, well.” Char leaned on the seat and whispered. “Looks like you’re going for every type of woman these days, eh, Jake?”
“Oh, he truly does,” the lady piped up. “Did you know that he had the balls to take a whore to his brother’s engagement party?”
Holy crap, please let the elderly lady be talking about someone else and not referring to herself.
“I, uh…” Char took a moment to compose herself. “Actually, I believe it.”
“And you know what else?” The woman released Jake’s hand and leaned forward over his seat. He rolled his eyes but otherwise kept silent.
“What?” Whoever this crazy lady was, Char liked her. A lot. Pity that Jake was going to break her heart. No judgment, but was he really the type of guy to go for women twice his age?
“His high school sweetheart is marrying his brother. He tries to pretend it doesn’t bother him. But a grandma knows these things.” She patted Jake’s hand.
Ah… grandma. Wait? Was this the infamous Grandma Nadine Kacey was always talking about? Even though Char had grown up relatively near the Titus family, she’d never actually met the old woman before… until now.
“So…” Grandma leaned back. “I’m going to fix him.”
Jake groaned.
“You mean you’re going to neuter him?”
“Oh, honey.” Grandma choked on her laughter. “There would be nothing better for the boy than getting neutered. Did you know I even looked into a male chastity belt?”
Jake groaned again. “Dear Lord, save me from the female sex.”
“Sex,” Char snorted. “Kind of what got you in this predicament in the first place, wouldn’t you say?”
The flight attendant chose that exact moment to walk up. “Where’s the young man who wet his pants?” There was a nice pair of Depends in her hand.
Both Grandma and Char pointed to Jake.
Chapter Three
Karma. Oh, how he loathed it. That’s what was happening to him. After all, a guy can only whore himself around the world so many times before God starts smiting or killing, or in Jake’s case, plaguing him with emotional women.
“I did not—” Jake cleared his throat and whispered, “Have an accident. This woman here”—he pointed to Char—“accosted me.”
The flight attendant looked between the two of them. “With what, sir?”
“Water,” Grandma answered for him. “She threw water on him.”
“Um…” The flight attendant shifted nervously on her feet. “Sir, did you, um… that is to say… did you want to report her?”
“To whom?” Char laughed. “The air marshal? What’s he going to do? Taser me for throwing water on this one’s favorite anatomical part?” She thrust her finger in Jake’s face and laughed. “Seriously! It’s not like I said ‘bomb’.”
“Oh, hell.” Jake pinched the bridge of his nose as the word “bomb” was repeated and then murmured back through several seats behind him, until like a literal bomb the plane was in an uproar.
“Ma’am!” The flight attendant raised her hands in front of Char’s face. “Calm down. I need you to calm down. Do you have a bomb?”
“What?” Char’s face fell. “Why the heck would I have a bomb?”
Good. At least she had enough sense to stop talking when—
“If I had a bomb, it’s not like I would be stupid enough to announce it anyway!”
Just kidding. No sense, no logic. How could he forget? It was
“Ma’am! I need you to stop raising your voice.” The flight attendant motioned to someone behind her. Within seconds a man in jeans and a white t-shirt appeared. Well, it wouldn’t be fair to call him just a man since he probably ate small children for breakfast. Even Jake shifted uncomfortably and avoided eye contact with him.
“Are you the one talking about bombing the plane?” The man asked.
“What?” Char looked to Jake for help. And honestly, helping her probably would have been the right thing to do, all things considered.
But, she
And there was also that one time in high school when she’d told everyone that the reason he didn’t play sports was because he was afraid everyone would see his girl parts in the locker room.
So, yeah. Perhaps he wasn’t feeling very Samaritan-like.
“Jake!” Char smacked him on the shoulder. “Help me out here!”
With an evil grin, he opened his mouth to talk, but his grandma slammed her hand across it before any words could come out.
“Both of them. They both have bombs.” Then Grandma Nadine promptly burst into tears.
Real honest-to-God tears.
The next thing Jake knew, he was getting zip-tied and then force-fed peanuts by a man who had hands larger than Jake’s face, because the minute he was escorted to his seat he nearly passed out. Swell, a nervous breakdown. Just another thing to add to what had to have been the worst few months of his life.
Next thing he knew, Char was spouting out nonsense about how Jake needed protein. For some reason—
