Leather & Lace- THE SPECTER SERIES [book five]

Chapter TWO

Lacey Paxton

Your whole body begins to tremble as you cross the rickety gangway, your hands feel clammy, your mouth begins to dry and the vertigo sets in, making you feel slightly dizzy..

Oh god.. This is insane.. You're insane..
What have you signed yourself up for?..

Caught up in a swell of passengers, there is no turning back, soon you are bustled on board the airliner.. A perfectly put together flight attendant takes your ticket with a sharp smile, before pointing you toward the front of the plane.. You make your way through to your seat, squishing in by the window and quickly pulling out your phone to dial the one person who could talk you off this ledge..

"Lacey?.." Hadley answers almost immediately..

You look over your shoulder as the seats begin to fill, lowering your voice to a whisper.. "I don't think I can do this.. Why did I let you talk me into thinking I was ready.. I can literally feel my blood pressure spiking.. I'm terrified.."

There is a soft chuckle down the line.. "Because you are ready, Lacey.. Don't let your anxiety get the better of you, just because something makes you feel nervous, that isn't necessarily a reason to avoid it.. Remember?.."

You nod, even though she can't see you.. You can't just hide yourself away from the world forever.. And this is your career.. It is important to you..
You need to be brave..

Suddenly a tall, broad shouldered man flops into the seat beside you and you squeak in surprise, pressing yourself into armrest by the window to get some distance from him.. Dressed in casual dark denim jeans with a baseball cap pulled low over his face..
That combined with his dark aviator sunglasses makes it difficult for you to discern much else about him.. The collar of his jacket popped, masking his jawline.. But what you notice most is the way he smells.. It's strangely enticing.. Comforting and familiar..
He smells of leather and motor oil.. Sweet and metallic.. Masculine.. Strong..

Dropping your voice even lower you mumble quickly into the phone, covering your mouth as you do.. "Hadley I gotta-- I gotta go.."

"Wait, do you mean--?" You hang up on her.. Extremely rude, you know, and you'll apologise later.. You would just really much rather this guy not hear your mental meltdown..

You take out a small packet of sanitary wipes, cleaning the buckle of your belt and the tray in front of you as 'baseball-cap guy' pulls out his phone and begins tapping away at the screen..

You try to calm your racing thoughts, but you can't.. Only when he speaks do you realise your breathing is shallow and frantic.. "Nervous flyer?.." He asks..

You keep your eyes straight ahead, swallowing hard.. People tend to make you uncomfortable.. Men in particular tend to make you.. Uneasy.. To say the least..
Even friendly ones with subtle southern drawls like this one..

Its not that you think they are all these scary monsters, you understand the impossibility of that..
But some of them.. Some of them are to be feared..

"Um.. Something like that.." You twist your hands together nervously..

"Here.." He holds out a colourful cube puzzle, all jumbled and out of sorts..

Without thinking, and because the valium you popped back at the gate is finally kicking in, you reach up and accept it with a curious glance..

"It'll distract you.." The stranger hums kindly..

You smile shyly, your mousy blond hair falling over one eye.. "T-thanks.."
Looking down to your hands you begin to fiddle with the cube.. Like, really fiddle with it, but the frustrating box makes absolutely no sense..