But right after snapping at him, her cheeks flushed as she looked around the rapidly filling coffeehouse. This was hardly the place for private discussions. People were going to assume she was crazy and a man-hater. She just might be a little bit of both.
He didn’t seem offended. “Well then,” he drawled.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. She was going to get into serious trouble if her boss came out from his office in the back.
“Don’t worry about it, doll. But while you’re standing there, maybe I could get my coffee.” He was still leaning in way too close for her comfort, and her body was still reacting to his.
With trembling fingers, she picked up the coffee cup and turned away before speaking just loudly enough for him to hear.
“Obviously another pilot with an ego big enough to make up for a small package.” Of course it was anything but small, but he didn’t know that she knew that.
“Stormy!”
Stormy’s shoulders hunched. Dang it, of course her boss would chose the exact moment she lost her cool to come and check on her. Now the wretched man would bust her for being less than her absolute best with a customer.
But Green Eyes had deserved her wrath. If only her boss were a woman, this would be so much easier to explain. However, Henry hadn’t liked her from day one, and now she was practically handing him a solid reason to fire her.
The man had a high-pitched, nasal voice that was like nails on a chalkboard. Henry was known as Mr. Customer Service and took any opportunity he could to insult the girls in front of the clientele. It was his petty form of vengeance, or so the theory went, for being turned down left and right by the opposite sex.
“Henry, I’m—”
Before Stormy could even finish, Henry interrupted. “Captain Armstrong, I’m sorry about the delay and about Ms. Halifax’s behavior. This one is on us.”
“No, no, everything is fine,” Captain Armstrong said with a smile. “Ms. Halifax is clearly having a rough morning, and maybe she just wasn’t getting my sense of humor.” As the man spoke to Henry, his eyes never left Stormy, as if to apologize for the entire scene he’d helped create.
It didn’t matter. Despite his clear remorse, she was still seething.
“Nevertheless, your coffee’s on us,” Henry said before turning to Stormy. “Finish with the captain, and then immediately join me in my office.”
Stormy’s heart sank to her stomach. Her day had just gone from bad to worse. She had zero doubt that she was about to get canned—and on the same day she’d received an eviction notice. What was next, getting struck by a rare strike of Seattle lightning?
As she began to come to terms with the gravity of her situation, images of living on the streets or staying at a homeless shelter began to circle in her mind. Jobs, even service jobs, didn’t come easy, especially if you’d been fired from your last one.
“Hey. You okay?” It took a moment to realize that the captain was speaking to her.
But when she did, she gave the man a withering glare before deciding she’d best make this coffee a great one, since it was most likely her last one.
“Right! One quad shot Americano coming right up!” Stormy made quick work of making the coffee and handing it over the counter. “I apologize for my behavior,” she told him through gritted teeth.
The pilot took a sip of his hot coffee before smiling. “Thanks for the apology. You don’t need to worry about it, though. I can take it as good as I give it. Hope your day goes a little better than the way it’s been so far.” He tossed down a hundred-dollar bill as if it were petty cash and then strode off to his gate.
Stormy stood there motionless as she watched the incredible backside of Captain Armstrong as he walked away. Damn, she wished he were short, fat, and ugly. Why was it that if a man was good-looking, it made you think he was actually a decent human being? It had to be the smile. No, it definitely had to be the eyes.
Possibly the backside.
Whatever the hell it was, she wanted to hate him—but she couldn’t quite do that. For now, she could just feel anger.
The man had insulted her, most likely gotten her fired, and he couldn’t even apologize. He figured throwing out a ridiculous tip would make up for his rude behavior. Either that or he wanted her to know he was rich, thinking he could buy a night with her.
He would be wrong on both fronts.
But there was an upside here. Being fired would mean that she wouldn’t have to deal with him or any of the other jackass men who roamed the airport hallways thinking they were God’s gift to women.
The one thing that worried her the most, though, was the fact that she was still stupidly attracted to the man. How in the world could she find him attractive? What was wrong with her that she found it acceptable to be attracted to the man who couldn’t be bothered to remember they’d slept together?
Stormy had been loved and taken care of by incredible parents. She’d had a few hard knocks in life, but who the hell hadn’t? She’d never been neglected or tortured. On the whole, her life had been pretty damn great, actually.
Enough reflection. Hardening her resolve to deal with her slimy boss, she squared her shoulders and forced herself to turn toward the office. Though her feet were dragging, she made her way inside and stood in the doorway.
Henry made her wait while he scribbled for several moments in some notebook behind his pathetically small desk. It was a power move on his part. Not surprising, she thought. How much respect could the man have for himself, working at a crap job with horrible wages despite his law degree from Harvard?