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But what if Sid was different? He had already proven he was unlike the other toppers she knew. Could a man who quoted Aurora 293 really be all that bad?
She’d have to let down her guard if she wanted to find out.
“Sid?” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“Yes?”
“Can you make the walls clear?”
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and he tapped the console. The walls disappeared, leaving them to float silently above the Earth.
Reflexively, Jayna gasped.
“Too much?” Sid moved his hands towards the controls.
“No,” she said and quickly reached out to catch his wrist. A jolt of excitement ran through her at the touch, and she forced her attention to the incredible view outside. “Just…Wow.”
“I know. It never gets old.” A moment later, Sid nodded towards her hand on his wrist and said, “I’m going to need that back soon.”
She quickly let go and immediately missed the feeling of his skin touching hers. “Sorry.” She folded her hands in her lap. Then, in the light Irish accent of Aurora 293’s Dr. Tierney, she said the only thing that seemed appropriate for the moment: “You’d best do whatever it is that you do.”
Sid’s eyes widened in surprise. He clearly recognized the phrase.
Jayna’s heart skipped a beat at the brief but undeniable connection. She raised her eyebrows and smiled, trying to act unaffected, but she quickly turned her gaze away so she could catch her breath. He hadn’t been mocking her. Could he really be a fan of the show? She found the possibility almost as attractive as his deep brown eyes.
They floated in silence for several minutes, and although Jayna stared intently at the glowing Earth below them, her thoughts kept returning to Sid. He was a topper who was also now her employer, and despite her better judgment, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She needed to reinforce the wall she had built between them, and fast.
But he was turning out to be very different from the arrogant jerk she had expected. Did she really want to keep out someone who was so intriguing and easy to talk to? What if, instead of reinforcing the wall, she tore it down? It could be amazing, just like the view when he turned the walls invisible.
The nose of the plane tilted, and the vast ocean stretched out in front of them. The blissful weightlessness was replaced by the acute sensation of falling.
As they fell faster and faster, she realized that was what would happen if she didn’t keep the wall between herself and Sid. Sooner or later, reality would take over and drag her back down.
“Sid?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you turn the walls back on? Small windows, please.”
His expression was both confused and hurt, as if he realized the symbolism of this request. He tapped the controls, and the walls of the cabin went dark.
Jayna immediately missed the amazing view. She didn’t want the walls up. She didn’t want to keep Sid at arm’s length. She wanted to acknowledge and explore the incredible attraction she felt for him.
Unfortunately, letting her guard down would be far too risky. Keeping the walls up would be hard, but it was the right thing to do.
Chapter 12
Sid had barely made a dent in the Kingdom of Tangaroa dossier Emmaline had put together for him, even as the limo approached the park’s entrance. He hated being unprepared for a corporate visit of any kind, let alone one as important as this tour of a park remarkably like the one he had just purchased—especially when he had no idea what he was supposed to do with it.
Still, during the ride from the launchport, he’d tried and failed to read the information. But how was he supposed to concentrate with someone like Jayna sitting right across from him?
And not just because she was incredibly beautiful. His emotions were still spinning from their strong, completely unexpected connection during the parabolic flight. It wasn’t because she had quoted Dr. Tierney, either—although that had certainly been a factor. Few people were even aware of that silly show, and not even Emmaline knew about his secret fandom.
Sid dared a glance at Jayna, and the intensity of his attraction scared him.
As the limo pulled to a stop, he forced his attention away from her and turned to take in the park. There was an unmistakable similarity between the Kingdom of Tangaroa and the Realms of Neptune, right down to the giant sea god statue towering over the entrance. In contrast to Neptune’s three-pointed trident, however, Tangaroa held a flat club in one hand and a straight spear in the other.
Kalani stood at the base of the statue. The tall, broad Polynesian man could easily have been the model for Tangaroa. Jayna’s eyes lit up at the sight of him. The second the limo door opened, she sprinted the short distance to Kalani and wrapped him in a giant hug.
