Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
I shook my head. “I’m not flying by private aircraft. I’m flying by this airline,” I told him, pointing at the woman at the counter and the sign behind her. “I have my ticket on my app.” I started to pull it up when the man grabbed both my suitcase handles.
“Your previous reservation was canceled. You have been booked to fly via private aircraft. If you’ll follow me this way,” he said, then began to walk away, rolling my suitcases and taking my duffel with him.
My heels clicked against the floor as I hurried to catch up with him.
“I’m sorry. I think there has been a mistake,” I called out after him.
He was walking like he was in a freaking race. Or it was his long strides I couldn’t keep up with.
“No mistake, Ms. Raines. I have all your details with me.”
Okay, so was my publisher doing something new with travel and had forgotten to tell me? Was this some special deal they had gotten?
“No one told me of the change,” I explained.
He only nodded his head once again. No other explanation.
This private plane thing sounded sketchy.
I was calling Lynette, my agent. She would get to the bottom of this.
I wasn’t sure who had booked my flights and handled my travel this time. It wasn’t always the same person. Typically, it was my publicist’s assistant, and that role changed a lot. Hopefully, I wasn’t about to fly on some tiny plane that they’d gotten a cheap price on. If so, I’d book my own flight and deal with them later.
“Noa,” Lynette said in greeting after one ring.
I continued to almost jog to keep up with the man taking my luggage.
“Something changed with my flight that I hadn’t been informed of. They’re taking me to some check-in for a private aircraft,” I told her. “You know I hate flying, and if this is some tiny plane, I’m not getting on it. I’ll book my own flight.”
“Huh,” she said, sounding as perplexed as I was. “I wasn’t told of any new travel arrangements. I’ll call and find out what is going on. And don’t you dare pay for your flight. If this is a small plane, then they will put you back in first class on the commercial flight, like your contract lists.”
I wasn’t a diva. Although it sounded like I was being one at the moment. But flying was not my favorite, and I liked having space when traveling. I often wrote while in the air, and first-class seating made that easier.
“Okay,” I replied. “I’ll try and stall this guy, if I can ever catch up to him.”
“I’ll be quick,” she assured me before ending the call.
Slipping the phone back into my pocket, I tried to talk to the man one more time. “Excuse me,” I said. “Could we stop for a moment? I’m waiting on some clarification on this change.”
The man didn’t slow down. “I heard,” he replied. “I can assure you that the aircraft that you are booked on isn’t small or cheap.”
Scowling at the back of his head, I let out a frustrated groan. It seemed I would have to chase him and my luggage until he was ready to stop. Could this day suck any more?
If he didn’t slow down, I was going to be forced to break into a run in my heels. Not something I wanted to attempt. The image of me face down, sprawled out on the floor, flashed in my head, and I pushed it away. I had bigger issues than my possible future embarrassment.
“I’d like to know who changed my reservation because I believe there has been a mistake!” I told him, exasperated.
“There hasn’t been,” he snapped, not glancing back at me.
Dammit! Could he not stop for a minute and explain this?
As if he read my mind, he suddenly halted and reached into his pocket, where he slid out a slim, flat cell phone in a cherry-red color. Not really something I would have guessed he owned, but I liked it.
“Haze,” he said flatly into the phone.
I watched him, catching my breath, and noticed his eyes change, as well as his expression. He visibly paled. Interesting.
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry. Yes.” He nodded emphatically. “I understand.” The Adam’s apple in his throat bobbed, and he quite literally looked ill. Even his broad shoulders and intimidating size seemed to shrink. “Yes, sir.” Another hard swallow.
If he lost any more color, he’d match the white walls.
When he slid the phone back into his pocket, his gaze did the briefest sweep of the area around us before they met mine. “I’m sorry, Ms. Raines. I was walking too fast, and I shouldn’t have spoken to you so abruptly.”
Unexpected, but I liked this much better.
“Yes, thank you, but now that we aren’t training for the Boston Marathon, could you please tell me where you got the information that my previous flight was canceled and changed to a private one? I just spoke with my agent, and she knows nothing of this. It’s concerning me.”