CHAPTER 9

Aiden

I whipped my pickup into a parking spot and hopped out. I yanked out my suitcase from the back seat and took off toward the terminal where the King Oil plane waited. It was supposed to have taken off twenty minutes ago, but I’d been hung up by a damn laptop. My travel computer had failed and I’d nearly pounded our IT guy’s door off the hinges to get another one running with all the programs I needed.

I didn’t take the time to use the wheels. With the suitcase in one hand and my tech bag in the other, I swept through the terminal and outside. The pilot waved from her seat in the cockpit. I lifted my chin, hating that I was holding up the show.

Luna probably didn’t care. She was getting paid the same amount no matter what, and this delay was nothing compared to what her commercial pilot of a husband experienced in his job, but it was a matter of pride. I didn’t abuse those who worked for me.

Mama had made sure I knew better than that.

Our longtime flight attendant’s back was to me when I charged inside. Kate was in one of the quad seats that we sometimes used for meetings in the air. She was unloading a book from her tote bag, her hand stalling and her eyes going wide when she saw me.

A pair of dark-rimmed glasses sat on her face. She never wore her glasses.

Shirley spun, her grandmotherly eyes sparkling. “Oh, I’m sorry, Aiden. I didn’t see you coming.” I didn’t recall her calling me Mr. King once, and I wouldn’t change a thing. A private plane was better if it felt like I was flying with friends. To Shirley, all of us were like her kids. “What can I get you, hon?”

“All I need is a moment with Kate.”

She gave me an indulgent grin. “I can do that. Just let me get the door closed and latched.”

Kate watched me stalk toward her. Her book was still half in and out of the bag. She stuffed it back in. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” I said as I dropped in the seat across from her. I’d left my suitcase by the entrance. Shirley was picky about where they were stored or I would’ve done it myself. I dropped the tech bag on the seat next to me. “I’m coming with.”

I tensed as I waited for her reaction. I rarely overstepped like this with my wife. The trust money had been enough.

She blinked, her eyes wide. “Oh. I didn’t realize that you had business in Indianapolis.”

“I…sure.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t?”