Crashed into Love: Boxed Set by Seline White Read Free Book Online Page B

cradle, rubbing sleep from my eyes with
my other hand. “Hello?”
    “Nina? Are you alright?” Liam’s voice rippled in my
ear. Sounding crisp, masculine, and entirely too chipper for this time of the
morning. Time! Shit, what was the time?
    I groaned, burrowing into my pillows. “I over slept.
Didn’t I?”
    Liam chuckled. “Yep. The girls and Anderson left ten
minutes ago.” His voice deepened apologetically. “I’m really sorry. I meant to
arrange wakeup calls for all of us and forgot. It’s my fault you’re late, so
I’ll wait for you.”
    Shooting upright, seeing stars, my heart rate kicked
into panic mode. “Just let me throw on my uniform. I’ll be right down.”
    “Great. I’m in the lobby. See you soon.”
    I didn’t think an Olympic sprinter could’ve dressed
as fast as I did. Lungs wheezing, body burning, I slapped clothes and make-up
on, and crushed everything into my suitcase.
    My hotel room door slammed behind me as I charged
down the corridor to the bank of elevators.
    Liam slouched against a marble pillar. His briefcase
was on the floor next to a black duffel bag. He straightened and collected his
belongings the moment he saw me.
    I darted over to him, careful not to slip on the
glossy tiles in my heels. “God, I can’t tell you how sorry—”
    Liam shook his head. “Tell me in the taxi. Come on.”
He jogged to the awaiting cab and threw our bags into the trunk. I dove into
the back seat, expecting Liam to take the front again. My eyes widened as he
slid into the back with me.
    Leaning forward, he said to the cabbie, “We’re
running late so the quickest you can get us to the airport the better.”
    “Sure thing, Captain. Leave the driving to me.” The
guy grinned.
    Liam threw me a look. “Everyone thinks I’m a captain
when I’m not with Anderson.” Pointing to his shoulder embroidery, he said, “I
don’t think people know how many epaulettes you need to be in charge.”
    I did. Four.
    Shyness and embarrassment smothered me as we
screeched into traffic. How could I sleep in on my first overnight? How did I
think I could earn the stripes decorating Liam’s shoulders if I couldn’t even
set an alarm?
    Liam didn’t say anything for a few kilometres while
he texted on his phone. No doubt telling the crew he’d collected the tardy
flight attendant and to organise the paperwork to fire her.
    I shook my head at my stupidity. It seemed as if I
were cursed. Everything I did landed me into trouble. For the first time in my
life, I kinda wished I did have Mary Poppins’ skills and could step into
a pastel painting and leave the endless embarrassment behind.
    “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve over slept
four times.” Liam turned his body to face me, smiling. “Don’t worry about it.”
    I swallowed, trying to keep my eyes away from the
shirt clinging to his chest. “I am worried about it. If Ms. Klein finds out—”
    “Ms. Klein has gone back to the head office. She’ll
never know.”
    My fists curled, hating that I came across as such a
dopey airhead. I stared out the window, thought-kicking myself.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Joslyn and Samantha beamed and clapped when Liam and
I appeared in the crew room at Sydney airport.
    I blushed and Liam whispered in my ear, “Don’t feel
embarrassed. You’re not a shift worker unless you’ve been late multiple times.
I’m sure next week it’ll be Joslyn’s turn.” He chuckled, raising his voice and
shooting his step-sister a look. “Plus, at least you didn’t get frisky and try
to hide the evidence with a scarf.”
    A smile broke over my face; I laughed.
    Joslyn threw a pen at Liam. “I thought you didn’t
notice.”
    Liam rolled his eyes. “Come on, Jos. A scarf?
Seriously? It’s a foghorn announcing you’ve got a hickey—especially seeing as
you never wear them.”
    Anderson appeared from the small alcove where printers
and computers were. “Ah, now that the crew is together, I have some news.”
    All eyes trained