Rerouted Obsession - A Sexy New Adult Contemporary Romance Novella Read Free Page A

something along those lines. Jake figured she had assumed his lifelong friend and personal pilot, Will, was the wealthy buyer that had come to purchase her father’s airport. Why else would a beautiful woman shower a man she had known for three seconds with so much attention? He silently thanked his lucky stars he had decided to stretch his flying wings today and give Will a much-needed break. It wasn’t his fault Scarlett had seemingly jumped to the wrong conclusion.
    It’s better this way , he thought, I don’t need to spend the whole time I’m here swatting her away.
    As they made their way inside to his smaller, private office, Jim asked him, “So what intrigues you about my little ole airport in this out-of-the-way pocket of Montana?”
    “I am trying to gain more holdings for my company, Penner Enterprises. I’ve spent the last five years building the company from the ground up and have acquired four other small airports that are now running smoothly and producing a pretty high profit. From what I have learned from our talks, Mr. Seymour, I think your airport will be the perfect addition to the roster,” Jake explained, settling into the chair in front of Jim’s desk.
    “Call me Jim. You were a pilot before starting your company, right?” Jim questioned, looking over papers that Jake was pretty sure were his notes on Jake and Penner Enterprises.
    “Yes, I flew commercially for ten years. I love to fly, and I know how important small airports, like yours, are to the flight industry. They connect many rural towns to the larger airports,” Jake continued looking around Jim’s office, which was across the small hall from the main office that he assumed was flight scheduler Scarlett’s domain. Jim’s office reminded Jake of a masculine library, and was complete with a model airplane collection along one wall. All that was needed was a decanter full of scotch.
    “These are so intricate,” Jake said, admiring the model airplane collection.
    “Thanks. I took up the hobby to keep my mind busy after my wife died,” Jim said matter-of-factly.
    “Oh, I’m sorry to hear about your wife,” Jake said sincerely.
    “She passed many years ago, but some days, it still feels as if it just happened.”The older man looked wistful for a moment.
    “Well, Jim, from what little I have seen, it seems like things run real smoothly around here. I am going to spend the next few days checking everything out. I’ve decided that if I like what I see, I’ll plan on keeping the staff you already have here. I want you to stay at the helm of operations, if you will,” Jake briefly explained.
    “I have to be honest with you, Jake. I am getting on up in years, and I think it would be wise for you to bring in someone else to run things. I’ll stay on and help the new manager out as much as they need, but I am ready to retire,” Jim replied.“I don’t want to burden my girls with this place. When you contacted me, I knew selling was the right thing to do.”
    “All right. I appreciate your honesty. I will have to rearrange my schedule and spend more time here than I originally planned. Hiring an operator is going to be pretty time consuming,” Jake replied.
    During the hours that followed, while discussing several terms and proposals so the sale contract could be drawn up by Jim’s attorney, Jake realized that he and Jim had a lot in common. They developed a friendly rapport, and when it was nearing time for the airport to close, Jake wasn’t ready to head back to the cabin where he and Will were staying while in Pinesville.
    “Do you mind if I have a look around the property?” Jake asked Jim as he got up to stretch his legs.
    “Feel free to roam about as you would like, Jake. I will be here for a couple more hours, anyhow,” Jim told him as he looked over his reading glasses.
    Jake left Jim’s office and wandered around the hangers, checking out the condition of the property. Everything was in impeccable shape and