Worth the Wait

Chapter 1

I nuzzled the softness that was supporting my head. It was so warm and comforting. I tried my best to ignore the person trying to wake me, but the more I tried to ignore, the harder the person shook me. I got up and looked around my eyes adjusting to my surroundings and I saw Rachel and the flight attendant looking at me. I frowned and pushed myself up flexing the muscles in my back and rubbing my neck trying get the cramp that had developed even though I had a more comfortable area to rest my head. At least I had gotten some sleep.



“ Mr. Gordon the pilot would like talk to you.” The flight attended whispered trying to be quiet so she wouldn’t wake the other passengers. I looked at Rachel whose face was unbelievably close to mine. We were eye to eye. If I had leaned an inch forward we would have touched lips. I could feel her breath upon my lips because of her slightly parted kissable lips. I know she felt our closeness because I saw her eyes flutter shut.



“Y- you should go.” she stuttered out. I smirked and got up moved past her and Lea, being very careful not to wake Lea up. The flight attended led me to the pilots cabin. I looked in and saw someone who was the last person I expected to see.



“James, the guy from aviation school? Ah, what’s the last name…um” Logan bit his bottom lip as the pilot in front of him laughed. He set the controls to his assistant pilot allowing him to control the aircraft and undid the straps on his seat. Sliding the chair back he grabbed James, embracing him tightly and patting him on the back roughly. The hug soon turned into a chokehold.



“You think you know a guy and he can’t even remember your whole name. Well I remember your name, Logan Gordon.” James almost fell over with laughter as Logan struggled against his hold.



“Choking, not breathing!” Logan gasped out pulling on James arm, which was wrapped around his neck. James let go and lightly popped Logan upside the head.

“Ow! Dammit! James Spencer I’m going to kick your ass all over this plane if you don’t cut out the violent stuff. You should have stayed in the Air Force if you wanted to do all that.” James waved Logan off and rolled his eyes. “Quit being such a crybaby Logan. It’s you that should be in the Air Force but you’re not so I guess were both stuck here until further notice. So anyway, what’s been going on?”



“Nothing much, making a living in aviation. Been flying for two years and I haven’t had a late arrival yet. That’s pretty good in my opinion. Plus since its good money I could be getting a pretty nice sized house soon.” James bucked his brows and looked at the controls of the controls of the plane. Smiling he looked at Logan and pointed at the joystick.



“You want to land the plane?”

“Oh no I’m cool. I think I’ll get back to my seat, I was woke up from a good rest because of you.” Logan pointed at James and then punched him lightly in the chest.



“Having dirty dreams are we? Aren’t we a little old for that?” James said as he tried to punch Logan back but missed as his friend backed out of reach.



“Man, please. It’s nothing like that. Maybe a dream once or twice a month but that’s healthy. Gets the imagination going. Normally it’s about an old school crush or of a close friend of mine who mostly is in the spotlight. She and a few friends are actually going to Vegas with me.”



“ Who’s this friend? Do I know her?” James asked as he sat back down in the pilot’s seat.



“No, you don’t. I’ve never talked to you about her either. But, yeah she’s a pretty amazing person.” Logan leaned against the cabin walls and folded his arms. James looked at him as if waiting. “What?” Logan asked wondering what his friend wanted.



“Aren’t you going to tell me more about this “special person”?” James said using his fingers to imitate the quote sign.

“Well what do you want to know?”



“Well, for one have you…. you know…” James looked at Logan winking. Logan frowned and scratched the side of his trimmed beard. “Nope. Not going to either. We’re just cool. I’ve known her for a while and I’d like to keep it that way. I don’t like the idea of losing special people.”



“ But, you can’t tell me you’ve never thought about it. I want to meet her, is that okay with you?” James said getting up and making a step toward the door. Logan shrugged and motioned for the pilot of the plane to follow him to where he had been seated. James looked back at his co-pilot Chris, “Can you handle it for a sec?”



“Yeah of course. I wouldn’t be co-pilot if I couldn’t.” Chris said snorting and waving James off as the pilot followed James out of the cockpit. They arrived at aisle 12 seats D-F and found Rachel asleep her head resting where Logan once had been. Logan reached past Lea and grabbed Rachel’s hands carefully and squeezed it lightly shaking her at the same time. Rachel stirred and slowly opened her eyes to see Logan looking at her with someone else. She smiled and whispered, “Took you long enough.”



Logan smiled and quietly chuckled and winked at her, “Well, when you’re as famous as I am you can’t help but to attract attention.” James rolled his eyes along with Rachel and nudged Logan clearing his throat.



“Huh? Oh, oh yeah. Rachel I would like you to meet someone. This is my friend James Spencer he is also pilot of this plane. James this is Rachel Wallace, a very close friend of mine who also happens to be studying to be a lawyer and a linguist. French is the language she specializes in.” The two shook hands and smiled exchanging hellos. James held Rachel’s hand a little too long for Logan’s liking and causing a small growl to rise from his throat causing the two to look at him and let go of each others hands. Logan frowned wondering where the growl came from but dismissed it as James placed a hand on his shoulder.



“Well man, I got to go. We’ll be approaching Vegas soon and I don’t want to make Chris too happy about landing the plane. He’s still a rookie so I have to make sure he doesn’t get too nervous. This is going be his first time landing an airbus. Feel free to give him any tips after we land.” Logan nodded and was about to comment when he saw James look at Rachel and bite his bottom lip. Rachel looked back at him slightly smiling and winked at him.



“ Nice meeting you, have fun.” James smiled and patted Logan on the shoulder one last time and made his way back to the cockpit. Logan clenched his jaw a few seconds and let it go and carefully made his way past Lea and sat down in his seat. He looked out the window and sighed. He noticed Rachel was looking at him laughing.



“What is it this time? Nothing to stay awake for so I know you’re not laughing because I look sleepy.” Logan said cocking and eyebrow at her.

“You’re jealous.” She said giggling. Logan rolled his eyes shaking his head.

“Of what?” He asked crossing his arms and leaning against the window.

“Of the pilot. Don’t deny it either because we heard you growl. Then you stare the guy down from behind when he leaves. You were mad because we were flirting.” Rachel stuck her tongue out at him and laughed as Logan made a grab to catch her tongue but missed.

“Are you trying to say I’m being possessive?” Logan asked as shifted in his seat and began to feel for his seatbelt. Finding it he buckled and looked back at her.



“Maybe, but do you think you were?” Rachel slowly inched toward him her face coming closer and closer to his. Logan gulped and pressed his back against the window. Rachel had always had a smell about her that made Logan crazy. Her scent was invading Logan’s senses causing his jaw to clench to restrain himself from doing something he might regret. ‘Why is she playing with me like this?’ He thought as he felt her breathing on his lips making him lick them. Rachel smiled softly and spoke quietly as if dropping into a seductive tone.



“Last time I checked, it was rude not to answer someone when they’re talking to you.” Their noses touched and were lightly rubbing together. She tilted her head to the side and leaned forward even more but instead of kissing Logan on the lips, she kissed him on the cheek.



“ In my opinion I think the old Logan from 8th grade is coming back. I miss him but he’s too possessive and sometimes needs to worry about himself. I mean I am a grown woman. I could take care of my self last time I checked.” She backed away from him and Logan exhaled a whoosh of breath looking at her shaking his head.

“Well, now that’s over how about you wake everyone up or else they’ll miss the view of Vegas. Trust me it’s breath taking.” Rachel nodded and turned to her sleeping friend Lea and shook her awake.



“Wha? Are we there yet?” Lea asked sleepily. She looked at Rachel and stifled a yawn. Logan wrinkled his nose and waved a hand in front of it.



“ Sheesh Mara, would you put a warning label on that morning breath?” Rachel laughed and lightly punched Logan in the arm and Mara laughed.



“Oh it couldn’t be that bad?” She yawned again making Logan clap a hand over his nose. Rachel rolled her eyes and unbuckled her seatbelt to stand up and wake Taylor, Paul, and Kira. All were quite refreshed by their naps.



“Alright I had you all woken up because I didn’t want you to miss the view of Vegas. It’s breath taking, amazing, and a view that you can only see from up here.” Logan said as he pointed out his window. The others had to unbuckle their seatbelts so they could look out of Logan’s window because the view was better from where he was. Logan smiled as he heard gasps after the clouds that were blocking the window cleared. The city of Las Vegas shone brightly like the ocean on a sunny day. You could see buildings like the MGM, the Stratosphere, and Mandalay Bay. The pilot came on the intercom and turned the attention of the passengers to the city below.



“This is your pilot speaking. I would like to say thank you for flying US Airways and I hope you enjoyed your flight. Right now I would like to direct your attention to the right side of the plane. You can see Las Vegas City in all her glory. The current time is 12:47 and the temperature is 79°F. I wish you folks luck and I hope you win a lot of money. Again I want to thank you for flying US Airways and we hope to see you again. We’ll be landing in about 20 minutes.” After the pilot got off the intercom everyone began to change the time on their watches and grabbed coats or got up to use the lavatory. Logan saw Kira daydreaming and frowned grinning a little.



“Hey Kira, what are you thinking about?” Kira snapped out of her reverie and looked over at him and Logan saw her face begin to turn red.



“Oh nothing really.” Logan laughed and to Kira’s dismay she began to turn even redder.



“Come on it had to have been something or you wouldn’t b so red and I know it couldn’t have been anything dirty, come tell me.” Logan said trying to coax the answer out of her.



“Fine. I was just wondering what the pilot looked like. I mean he just sounded so sexy over the intercom. I think he must be really cute.” Logan’s smile fell as his friend had just referred to James as sexy. ‘Great, that was just great. I walked right into that one. Why do I do that to myself?’ James thought to himself.

“He is cute. Logan introduced him to me a few minutes ago while you were all asleep. He’s really nice too.” Rachel said and Logan felt a twinge of jealousy. He clenched his jaw a few times then let it go.



“Hey Logan, why don’t you introduce us all to him? I really would like to meet him.” Kira said and to Logan’s dismay, Lea agreed. He groaned and exhaled heavily.



“Fine. After the plane lands you can meet wonder boy.” He grumbled and turned to look out the window. After the pilot came on the intercom again it was only a few minutes until they landed. The landing was very smooth to Logan’s surprise and the plane coming to a halt wasn’t as jerky as some of the others he had seen. Logan told everyone to wait until everyone else got off of the plane. After the last few people got off Logan took everyone to the front to the cockpit. He saw James putting on his jacket and cap.



“Hey air head you’ve got a few other people that want to meet you. They thought you sounded so dreamy over the intercom that they just had to meet you.” Logan introduced all of his friends. James was very polite to all of them, making them think he was one awesome guy. Logan rolled his eyes every time some kind of Mr. Perfect remark came out of his mouth.



“I’ve already met this person.” James stepped up to Rachel and grabbed her hand and smiled. Logan narrowed his eyes at him watching him. If he got too close Logan was swore he was going to make him fly. ‘Whoa. Where did that come from?’ Logan sighed and began to make his way to the door of the plane.



“Hey, Logan. I just wanted to tell you that I’ll be in Vegas for a week. If you want to talk or play poker give me a call.” James said. Logan was getting ready to say, ‘Hey, I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t you stop flirting with the girl I can’t seem to squash my feelings for.’ but decided against it because he’d probably get it from Rachel. He saw the co-pilot get up from his seat and stretch and decided to congratulate him.



“Great landing, real smooth. I think you did better than I’ve ever seen James do. You did great with the stop too. It wasn’t as jerky as I thought it would have been.” Logan held out a hand to shake Chris’s hand and smiled at the firm handshake he got from the 19 year old. “Thank you. I appreciate it a lot. First time landing something this big.”

“Well you did great.” Logan looked over at his friends and noticed that James was still holding Rachel’s hand and was talking to her separately from everyone else. Logan cleared his throat loudly catching their attention.



“I think we’d better get out of here so we can get a car and a hotel. That is if you ladies want to go shopping tomorrow.” Logan said as he went past them glaring at James and making his way to the terminal to the baggage claim with Rachel following him.





The group picked up their luggage and went to rent their cars. Taylor got an SUV and Logan got a 20012 BMW. Taylor wasn’t too happy when he found out that the rental agency actually had them to rent. They made their way to Mandalay Bay. Paul and Taylor got a room together and the girls got their own rooms. Since there were two beds to a room the girls ended up taking 1 room and the guys 2.



Logan was glad he had saved up for this trip and it was also a help that the group got a discount because he was a pilot. The rate was $175 a night. Everyone got his or her rooms on the same floor. As they made their way to their rooms Logan was quiet and didn’t join in any of the conversations his friends were having. He was madder than he thought he was about James making moves on Rachel. As Logan made his way to his room and unlocked the door he heard his name called and saw Rachel making her way toward him.



“Hey Logan you ok? You look a little tired.” Rachel stopped at Logan’s side. He had yet to open the door. He grinned and slipped the card key into the door and waited till the light turned green, pushing the handle down and opening the door. They both went inside and Logan threw his duffle bag into the corner and plopped down onto the bed.



“I’m fine. So, where do you want to eat tonight? I was thinking ESPN Zone but I’d rather go there when the game between Duke and Texas goes down.” Rachel sat down beside Logan on the bed and poked him in the stomach. He squirmed and stifled a laugh but Rachel caught it and looked at him.



“Ticklish are we?” She began to poke him in his sides and lightly rub under his chin. He squirmed trying to get away from her and then a devilish smile came upon his features as he looked at her and pushed her back on the bed taking her by surprise. He grabbed her wrist and pinned them above her head.



“You know you set yourself up for this because I remember that you are extremely ticklish, am I right?” Logan’s smile turned Cheshire as he held both her wrist down in one hand and tickled her side with the other causing her to shriek with laughter. They didn’t notice until too late that Kira, Lea, Paul, and Taylor had walked in and had been watching them and in their current position this set little teasing ideas into their minds. Taylor cleared his throat causing both Logan and Rachel to freeze and look over at the door.



“We’re not interrupting a special moment are we?” Taylor said with a grin on his face. “We’ll come back later when you’re done.” Paul chuckled and playfully began to shoo Lea and Kira out of the room. The tips of Logan’s ears turned red and Rachel’s face was beginning to resemble a tomato. She pushed Logan over to her side where the bed ended causing him to hit the floor hard.



“Don’t get the wrong idea Paul. You just wish that had of been you.” Rachel stuck her tongue out at Paul while Taylor laughed at him. Paul waved her off scoffing. “Believe what you want.”

Logan crawled over and grabbed Rachel by her ankles as she began walking over to the others making her gasps and fall backwards onto the bed again. She looked down to see Logan and narrowed her eyes making him let go and quickly get up to hide behind Taylor. He gave a smile trying to charm his way out of the beating he would later receive from his friend. Taylor sidestepped and popped Logan in the back of his head making his “brother” fall face first. “We need to get dinner. You two and can have your lovers spat after we get back but for the time being try to behave yourselves. Come on lets go downstairs.” Taylor ignored the flood of curses that escaped Logan’s mouth as he held his forehead since it had been the heaviest hit on the floor. Rachel followed the rest out making sure to walk on Logan’s back as she went out of his room.



While sitting at the table Logan tried to wait the night out. He had tried to act like he was going asleep at the hotel but of course Rachel ruined that for him. Dinner was pretty good but aside from the trips down memory lane Logan was getting pretty bored. His favorite time of the day was night. He had a knack for getting the things that called for his attention at night. It drove his friends’ nuts because they could never get in contact with him because he was usually sleeping. Things never happened in the day time anyway. Logan thought it was really boring so he thrived for the setting of the sun. Plus with working at night he was always busy. Usually when Logan was up with the rest of the working world he would take care of assignments exactly when they came in. Sometimes he would find himself with nothing to do and that left time for reflection on the past. Logan hated remembering the past. It reminded him that the people who were once in his life were dead because of him. When he got back in contact with Rachel most of that changed because she wasn’t going to take him gloating like a baby for the rest of his life. He got more accustomed to the day again but that was a reason why he worked himself to death, to stay busy. The busier he was the less time he had to think about the past.



Logan was brought back to reality as he felt someone poking him in the chest. He looked over to his chest to see Lea looking at him with a soft smile.



“Hey are you ok?” She asked softly looking at him with concern. Lea had always been the person to show utmost concern for anyone. That was one great side of her everyone appreciated because she made an effort to help you however she could. Logan returned her smile as he answered, “Yeah I’m just a little tired that’s all.”



“Aw, come on man you can’t be getting sleepy on us like that.” Taylor said, “This is Vegas. This is the place where you’re supposed to live at night.”

Logan just rolled his eyes and stifled a fake yawn. ‘Please hurry up so we can leave. I really want to start my night.’ Logan begged in his head to him this was boredom with a capital “B”.