By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Becca Jameson

Heather

Life has not been kind to Heather.
After eighteen years of living with an abusive father, she took her savings and left town.
But the cycle of abuse is hard to escape.
She made one bad choice after another, until her last boyfriend hit her.
She’ll never let another man hurt her.
Or trust any man easily—not even Neil, as wonderful as he is.
Even though their friends try to fix them up, they are both stubborn.
Heather must face her past before she can look to the future.
Will Neil still be there for her?

Neil

Neil is kind and fun and sexy and all that is good in the world.
But he has skeletons, and letting a woman get close to him again wasn’t in the cards.
Until Heather tugs at his heartstrings.
He wants her.
Maybe they can be friends. Maybe add a few benefits.
Or maybe he can let go of his past and convince her to let him all the way in.
There is trouble at Open Skies though.
The threat eventually hits too close to home for Heather, but Neil’s not going anywhere.
He wants her to stay and let him shoulder some of the burden.
Earning Heather’s trust and love is an uphill battle he intends to win.

Heather is tired but nothing would prevent her from being Kaley’s 1st Birthday party. She arrived early to help with the decorations as did Neil. Everyone has been hoping these two would get together, but Heather holds back. She’s always made bad choices when it comes to men and she’s afraid Neil will turn out the same.

Neil comes up with a plan when he finds it’s her loud and abusive neighbor that’s causing her to lose sleep. He asks her to house sit while he’s away on a project. He wants to get to know her and hopefully make some headway past her barriers.

Heather manages to catch up on sleep and also meets Neil’s sister while house-sitting. She also manages to admit she feels something for him, not that she’d be able to act on it.

When Neil finishes his job he catches an early flight home. He wants more time with her.

This is a favorite scene.

Neil was too impatient to wait for the flight he had originally intended. He finished his job too late Saturday evening to catch a flight that night, but he was able to change his ticket and get on the first flight out Sunday morning.

He knew Heather had worked Saturday night until late, so he wasn’t sure if she would be awake yet when he arrived. He smiled as he pulled into the garage. Her car was in there. He kind of liked that. Her car next to his. It was a silly thing, but it made him smile.

He assumed she would have heard the garage door going up and then back down, but as he opened the door to the kitchen, he grinned, realizing why she hadn’t heard him.

Heather had music playing. Loud enough to drown out the garage door. She was standing at the stove, flipping bacon— based on the scent in the air— swaying to the music.

She had on a white tank top and navy cotton shorts, probably what she’d slept in.

When he set his bag down, she spun around and screamed. She nearly stumbled backward and fell on her ass. “Jesus.”

“I’m so sorry. I couldn’t see a single way to avoid scaring the hell out of you.” He rushed closer and steadied her, taking the spatula out of her hand before she dropped it.

She was gasping for breath as she reached for her phone and stopped the music. “You’re early.” She jerked her gaze from him to look at their surroundings. “I haven’t even started cleaning up yet.”

He chuckled as he turned off the burner and removed the bacon to set it on a paper towel. Seconds later, his attention was back on her. Damn, she looked so fucking amazing. Her brown curls were in a high loose bun, many of the tendrils loose around her face as if they refused to be contained.

She had her palm over her chest, still breathing heavily.

He wanted to pull her into his arms, hold her against him, and inhale her scent, but he settled for reaching for her hand instead and holding it loosely, stroking her knuckles. “I took an earlier flight.”

“I see that.”

“In retrospect, I should have told you.” He tried to grin.

“It’s okay. You used up one of my nine lives, but I still have a few left.”

He chuckled. Thank God she was making a joke of it. He glanced at the stove. “You were cooking. I’m starving. Can I join you?”

“Of course. It’s your house, and most of the food is yours too. You shouldn’t have stocked the fridge for me. That was over the top.”

He shrugged. “I should have paid you to stay here. It’s what normal people do when they ask someone to house sit.”

“Normal people don’t get house sitters unless they have pets or at least one plant,” she pointed out. She turned toward the flowers on the table. “I kept the bouquet looking well. Whoever heard of flowers that lasted two weeks?”

“They do look pretty good. See? I needed you.”

She laughed. “You didn’t need the flowers.”

He shrugged. “Sure, I did. They made you smile.”

She glanced down at herself and then tugged her hand free and crossed her arms. “I should put more clothes on.”

“You’re fine.” She was far more than fine. She was sexier than ever. Maybe he should let her put more clothes on. He could see the outline of her breasts and the points of her nipples. It took great strength not to stare at them.

Neil pulled out a bar stool. “Sit. I’ll finish the cooking.”

She climbed up and sat, but leaned on her elbows, keeping her arms in front of her, her posture telling him she knew her nipples were hard and showing through the top. “You might want to add more bacon.”

He headed for the fridge, grabbed the bacon, and proceeded to follow her advice. The eggs were on the counter. So was the bread. So he popped two slices in the toaster.

“How was your flight?” she asked.

“Mine was fine. I should ask how yours was? Anything new?”

She sighed. “You can’t even imagine. Every day something new happens. And the airline is keeping it all hush-hush. The only reason we flight attendants know is because we pass the information around like we’re playing telephone. Only I guess we literally are.” She chuckled.

Neil frowned though. “What happened yesterday?”

“One of the ticketing agents here in Dallas either didn’t get the memo to check all tags before putting them on suitcases, or she chose to ignore it. Pure bedlam. Baggage was backed up all over the place when dozens of pieces of luggage came out of the conveyor belt behind the scenes with a destination that didn’t match any flight.”

“Seriously?” Neil flipped the bacon and then reached for the eggs. He held up the carton. “Fried?”

“Yes, please. Hard. Just one.”

“Got it. Anyway, didn’t that cause delays?”

“Oh yeah. All of the flights were delayed yesterday, and I’m certain many of the customers arrived at their destinations without their luggage. It took quite a while to determine where the mislabeled tags originated from.”

“Remind me not to fly Open Skies anytime soon,” he joked.

“I don’t even want to fly with them. People are going to start complaining soon, and guess who’s going to be on the receiving end of their wrath?”

Neil winced as he cracked three eggs into the pan. “No kidding. I don’t want your job either.” He pulled out the orange juice and filled two glasses, handing her one. “I assume you like OJ since the carton is half empty.”

“Aren’t you astute,” she teased.

“Oh yeah. Very.” He hoped she could hear his sarcasm.

He noticed a nearly empty mug of coffee on the counter and lifted it. “Want a second cup?”

She hopped down from the chair. “I can do that while you finish the eggs. You want one too?”

“Yep. At least one. Might need two. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Why did you change your ticket to such an early flight? You could have slept in and returned this afternoon.”

He removed the eggs from the pan, turned off the burner, and faced her.

She was leaning against the counter, one hip cocked out to the side, waiting for the first cup of coffee to brew.

He considered what he should say for a few moments, stalling, and then reached up to toy with a stray curl hanging near her ear. It was all he would permit himself. He would have grabbed her hand, but she had her arms crossed, probably to cover her breasts again.

“I wanted to see you,” he admitted. “Not for an hour this evening but for several hours all day.”

She bit her lower lip as she stared at him. Finally, she released it and smiled. “I’m glad.”
Becca Jameson. Jetway: Open Skies, Book Six (Kindle Locations 634-688). Becca Jameson Publishing.

A kiss, but nothing more, yet the beginning of hopefully a relationship.

It’s enough that when Heather’s neighbors escalate, he’s the one she calls.

Holy moly this book! I truly didn’t know what was going to happen or when!

5 Contented Purrs for Becca!

Becca Jameson

Becca Jameson is a USA Today bestselling author of over 100 books. She is most well-known for her Wolf Masters Series, her Fight Club series, and her Club Zodiac series. She currently lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and Goldendoodle. Two grown kids pop in every once in a while too! She is loving this journey and has dabbled in a variety of genres, including paranormal, sports romance, military, and BDSM.A total night owl, Becca writes late at night, sequestering herself in her office with a glass of red wine and a bar of dark chocolate, her fingers flying across the keyboard as her characters weave their own stories.

During the day–which never starts before ten in the morning!–she can be found jogging, running errands, or reading in her favorite hammock chair!

…where Alphas dominate…