Lifting Off Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Lifting Off

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  EPILOGUE

  Acknowledgements

  Sneak Peek at | TOUCHING DOWN, the third book in The Chase Family Series

  Check Out the Baxter Brothers’ Series

  About the Author

  Lifting Off

  The Chase Family: Book 2

  Mindy McKinley

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, places, or events is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  If you purchase this book without a cover you should be aware that this book may have been stolen property and reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher. In such case the author has not received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  Lifting Off

  The Chase Family: Book 2

  Copyright © 2022 Mindy McKinley

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: (ebook) 978-1-953335-96-8

  (print) 978-1-953335-97-5

  Inkspell Publishing

  207 Moonglow Circle #101

  Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

  Edited By Yezanira Venecia

  Cover Art By Fantasia Frog Designs

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. The copying, scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions, and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Dedication

  To my very own HEA, Scott.

  Thank you for making me believe in love again.

  Chapter 1

  Clara

  Clara sighed as she slipped off her expensive heels and rolled her shoulders to ease the tension. She’d been sitting in front of this computer in her new office for hours and hadn’t crossed a single item off her to-do list. It was possible it had grown since she sat down.

  The board of her family’s charter jet business, SkyChase, had finally greenlit the Wilson’s Wish foundation she had been working on with her brother Cam. The foundation had been Cam’s idea—providing free air transportation to families of sick children—but she had happily taken the reigns once his helicopter division was underway.

  That was a year ago and well before she knew what she was walking into. Setting up a foundation was not for the weak and unorganized. Clara was not weak, but she was going to have to work on her organizing skills or this ship was going to sink before it even left the dock.

  Blowing out a breath, Clara focused on her computer screen again and read through the list of bylaws for a similar foundation to make sure she wasn’t missing something for this project. It was nearing eight in the evening but she didn’t care, working on Wilson’s Wish gave her a feeling of fulfillment she hadn’t had before in her career as a model and influencer. It also gave her a sense of accomplishment that had nothing to do with her looks.

  Sure, her looks had their benefits, and they’d made her a nice amount of money, but she was bone-tired of people assuming there was nothing else to her. To her fans, the fact that she’d always earned top grades and graduated summa cum laude with a business degree seemed to pale in comparison to what shade of black eyeliner she was currently wearing or where she was eating dinner.

  Cam was the first person to take her seriously, to allow her to take on his dream. But even he couldn’t resist a jab here and there about how her “career change” might boost her social media numbers.

  “Clare-Bear?”

  Clara’s back straightened and she tried to ignore the way the deep, baritone voice licked its way up her spine. James. Closing her eyes for just a moment, she tried to hide the visceral reaction his presence caused in her chest, then spun her chair around to glare at him with narrowed eyes.

  It was difficult to keep them trained on his face when his entire body filled the doorway, one broad shoulder propped against the frame, his hands deep in the pockets of his fitted trousers. His mahogany hair was mussed as usual, and the way he looked at her with his deep emerald-green eyes created a tension in her core only he could induce. She’d felt it since that summer all those years ago ...

  “I told you not to call me that.” Her voice was clipped and cool. It was the only way she knew how to control the fire that was raging inside of her. How could it still be there after all these years? After one stupid kiss? She’d give a limb to never feel the heat of wanting him ever again.

  James gave her the cocky half-grin and ignored her complaint altogether. “What are you doing here so late?”

  She bit her bottom lip and crossed her arms over her chest. “Working on the foundation.”

  His smile deepened further, revealing the single dimple in his left cheek. God, it made her crazy. She ached to taste it, run her tongue along his tanned skin, bury her fingers in his hair.

  “Really? I would have thought you’d be off taking pictures of cocktails and discussing a matching shade of lipstick by now.”

  Mood officially ruined, she dropped her arms. “Fuck off, James.”

  He pulled his hands from his pockets and held them up in surrender. “I’m just joking, Clare-Bear. I know how hard you’re working on this.”

  She stared him down for a moment, and when the heat pooling between her legs threatened to overwhelm her, she turned her chair and pretended to click something on her screen. “Is there anything I can help you with? I’ve got a lot I need to get done tonight.”

  “Well, actually, I just got done talking to Carter.”

  Clara paused her mouse and looked up at him over her shoulder. “Fascinating.”

  Carter was her eldest brother and new CEO of the family business. He was as buttoned up and as serious as a human could be but damn good at running SkyChase. And he had believed in her enough to give her office space in their limited headquarters.

  James’ laughter rolled through her—the sound tickled her ears and made her shiver. She could never understand why her body reacted the way it did to him. It was like she was a puppet and he had his very large fingers all over her strings.

  “I can’t confirm that it was fascinating.” He pushed his shoulder off the doorframe. “But I did get him to agree to let me have some office space.”

  Swallowing, Clara pretended to click something else on her computer. “How nice.” James had been with the company for a year helping Cam get his helicopter division off the ground. He moved back to Chicago from Dallas—where he had a multi-million-dollar helicopter company that serviced all the big oil conglomerates—just to help Cam. She didn’t quite understand it, but it did make the butterflies in her stomach take flight whenever she thought about it.

  “I’m glad you think so.” He came toward her until he was standing directly in front of her. The woodsy scent of his cologne made her dizzy for just a moment, and when he leaned forward and put both hands flat on her desk, she nearly whimpered. “Because it look
s like we’re going to be sharing this one.”

  Biting her tongue so it wouldn’t slip out and lick her lips, it took a delayed moment for her to understand what he was saying. “What?”

  Standing to his full height, James shrugged and shoved his hands back into his pockets. “Seems there isn’t any other space available, and since neither one of us will be here full time, I think we can make it work.”

  Clara shook her head. No, this couldn’t happen. Not only did she deserve her own office, but she couldn’t work in close proximity to this panty-destroying hulk of a man and be expected to ever get anything done. “I don’t think so,” she muttered, pulling her heels back on and standing from her chair so fast it rolled into the wall behind it.

  “Whoa, Clare-Bear, it’s just an office.” The surprise in his voice matched his raised brow. “I promise you won’t even notice me.”

  Ha. Right. She had to resist the urge to laugh maniacally in his face as she marched across the room. This man had no idea what he did to her. Had done to her for the last nine years, and if she had her way, he never would.

  “Where are you going?”

  Clara leveled her gaze on him. “To talk Carter into changing his mind,” and then slipped out into the hall swearing to herself. Goddamn annoyingly gorgeous man. She was going to split her brother in two with a meat cleaver.

  James

  James groaned as he watched Clara Chase retreat down the hall, her head held high, shoulders pulled back. Christ, he could never get over how beautiful she was, and ever since she’d taken over Cam’s foundation, it had multiplied in a mind-bending way.

  He watched her lustrous, dark curls bounce on her shoulders as she walked and let his eyes slip—just for a second—to the perfect curve of her ass in her tailored gray dress. She looked every bit the office sex kitten, and the fact that she hadn’t done it on purpose made it even harder to concentrate.

  He still couldn’t believe he’d been lucky enough to kiss that woman. It may have been almost a decade ago, but he could still feel the pressure of her lips against his, the softening of her body in his hands, her sweet gasp.

  Shit. He needed to quit thinking about that day. He’d kept it at bay for years until he moved back to Chicago, and now that he saw her a couple times a week, it was as if someone had placed a loop on his memory and pushed repeat. Besides, she was clearly not interested in anything he had to offer. She’d been as cold as Lake Michigan in January since they were reintroduced by Cam.

  It didn’t matter anyway. It was his best friend’s little sister, and as close as he was with Cam, he was pretty sure that was a line no one wanted him to cross. Aside from not wanting to get sucker punched by his best friend, his heart still felt like it had been put through a meat grinder after he’d caught his former fiancée, Samantha, cheating on him with one of his pilots. He could scarcely breathe some days, much less worry about starting a relationship with someone else.

  Curious about how her confrontation with Carter was going to play out, James followed her to his office, where she was already laying into him.

  The scene almost made him laugh. Clara was standing in front of her brother’s desk, arms flailing, face adorably red while Carter stared at her, eyes wide, mouth slightly open.

  “I need that office space.” Clara punctuated her words by putting her hands on her hips. “I have a thousand things to do and I can’t have any distractions.”

  Distractions? James fought his grin. Did Clare-Bear find him distracting? That was a nice thought he was going to save for later.

  “Clara,” Carter tried. “Listen, there’s just no more offices left, and James is working hard. He needs a landing place too.”

  “Then have him share with someone else.” Her voice was nearing a shriek as she pushed her long hair off her shoulder. “I need my space.”

  Carter closed his eyes, and James could see his jaw tick slightly. “Clara, to be fair. The foundation is an extension of our business. You aren’t working for SkyChase directly. James is. Everyone else here is. I don’t have to provide you any space at all, so either get used to the idea or set up an office at home.”

  Clara’s face flushed red with wild fury, but she couldn’t argue Carter’s point. Her hands fell from her hips. “Fine. But I’m not going to make this easy on either one of you.”

  “I would expect no less,” Carter drawled, securing a heated glare from his sister.

  Clara let out an irritated groan and spun on her four-inch heel. She froze slightly when she saw James in the doorway but recovered quickly and pushed by him with a hard, intentional hit to his shoulder.

  Rubbing his shoulder, he glanced at Carter, who simply raised his hands as if to say, “Sorry man.” “Good luck,” is all he offered.

  James let out a breath. He was going to need it. “Thanks,” he grunted and followed Clara’s vanilla and freesia scent back to her ... no, their office.

  She was already angrily dragging her desk to one side of the space and James had trouble tearing his eyes away from the muscles in her sleek legs as she maneuvered the furniture. “Need some help?”

  Her head whipped to him so fast, it reminded him of Poltergeist. “No, I don’t need your help.” Sliding the desk into place with a final bump of her perfect hip, she put her hands on her hips. This bossiness was a new look for her. He liked it more than he should. He wanted to kiss that pouty frown right off her perfect face. “You can put your desk over there, but this side”—she motioned to the general area where she stood—“is mine. Don’t touch anything that isn’t yours. Understood?”

  “Understood.” He nearly saluted but thought that might be over the line. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to be here all that much. I just need a place to keep my shit. I’m flying most days, so it’ll be like I’m not even here.”

  Her lips pursed momentarily. “Good. But when you are here, if you’re listening to music, wear headphones, and if you’re on the phone, talk with an inside voice.”

  “Headphones, inside voice,” he repeated, loving the way she was giving him orders. A flash of her telling him exactly how she wanted him to fuck her nearly made him whimper. He cleared his throat instead and attempted to adjust his suddenly snug pants.

  “And for the love of God, if you hang out in here shooting the shit with Cam, I will kill you both where you sit. Got it?”

  Yeah, he had it. If ‘it’ was a headache and a misbehaving cock. “Got it.”

  “Good.”

  Chapter 2

  Clara

  “Ugh. Carter is such a joy killer.” Sree lifted her mimosa and took a dainty sip.

  “The worst,” Casey agreed. “I always imagine him at home in his suit, sleeping in his suit, showering in his suit.”

  Clara laughed. Saturday brunch with her best friends always helped her center. She had known Sree and Casey since her freshman year in college and no matter how far their lives diverged, they always came together on Saturdays for brunch when they were all in town. It felt good to complain about Carter and about giving half her office away and have sympathetic responses. Cam told her she was overreacting.

  “But ...” Sree speared a piece of pineapple with her fork. “I mean, James is hot, right? I mean, like so hot. So”—she lifted a shoulder—“maybe it could actually be fun.”

  “So much fun.” Casey sighed, downing the rest of her mimosa, her thoughts clearly going somewhere Clara didn’t want to think about.

  She’d never told anyone about that kiss or why she was constantly irritated with James. It was so long ago—part of her was ashamed she was still hurt that he never once contacted her afterward and another part felt righteous. “If by fun you mean torture.” Clara shoved a fresh strawberry in her mouth and chewed it vigorously to keep from saying more. Her friends could always read her.

  “I think the lady doth protest too much.” Casey looked at Sree and they shared a knowing glance before turning their perfectly made-up faces toward Clara.

  “You’ve
never really told us why you hate him so much.” This was Casey, who brushed her sleek blonde hair off her shoulder and narrowed her blue eyes at Clara. “I think there’s something you’re not telling us.”

  Clara swallowed and dropped her eyes to her plate for a moment before she collected her thoughts into a passable lie. “He was Cam’s friend,” she explained. “And whenever he was around, they made my life miserable.”

  “But that was like, a decade ago,” Sree pointed out, arching one perfectly plucked brow. “Surely you can forgive him for being childish back then.”

  Maybe, Clara thought, if he hadn’t kissed her so tenderly and then disappeared from her life for the next nine years. “I’ve tried, but every time he calls me Clare-Bear, it takes me right back to that time and I just want to claw his eyeballs out.”

  “Clare-Bear?” Casey gasped. “That’s adorable.”

  “I swear to God, if you call me that, I’ll tear your hair out. Every last strand.” She meant it. The only person that ever called her that was James, and he was lucky he hadn’t been gutted.

  Casey raised her hands. “Fair enough. My brothers used to call me Space Case, I get it. Every time they bring it up on holidays, I understand why people murder.”

  Clara laughed. Casey was brilliant, worked hard, and had a fledgling fashion line that was going to debut in a few months. Just like Clara, she’d dealt with the “too pretty to be smart” bias with the extra middle finger of being blonde. Clara had always been amazed at how Casey simply refused to be forced to fit where society wanted her to be.

  “My brothers just pretend that I’m not there.” Sree was no different. She was the CEO of her own company that produced a make-up line specifically designed for people of color. It was still under the radar, but Clara knew that once it hit, she’d be rocketed into the stratosphere. She had amazing friends that made her want to do more, to do better. “They all know they’re smarter than me because I’m a woman. One of these days I’m going to make a PowerPoint of all our test scores and GPAs and rock their freaking world.”