by Aliyah Burke
Gio watched the man stride away. Was he behind the incident? He hated the indecisiveness that filled him over this entire situation. Keel and Lizard rose and he took his time. He returned his empty mug in the rack and pivoted on his heel. His pulse skyrocketed.
Jaydee stood a way back from him, waiting with what he knew to be endless patience. A sudden icy contempt burst through him and he narrowed his eyes while stiffening his posture. He knew that they were alone but couldn’t make himself move.
“Thought this was not to be advised,” he forced through clenched teeth.
A brief spark of hurt lit her gaze before it vanished, leaving him once again facing the unflappable, ever calm Jaydee Amos.
“I had a thought about Mike,” she said. Her voice dragged over him like crushed velvet, setting nerve endings on fire.
Ignoring his physical reaction, he strode towards her, all attention on Mike. “What?” he demanded.
She twisted around and headed for the door. He fell into step beside her. It barely took any time and his mind was drifting back to them.
“I don’t think it was an attack on you. Mike took up his own plane and while I don’t know what purposefully caused the accident—if anything—it would take a lot to fix your plane and sabotage Mike’s without anyone noticing.”
He mulled that over for a bit. Made sense. “Okay, so it would be hard, but would it be impossible?”
They pushed through and made their way to where their bombers waited.
“No, not impossible. I haven’t figured it all out yet but wanted to let you know, taking into account I said I would keep you apprised.”
“Jaydee.” Her name sounded tortured as it rolled from his lips.
She met his seeking gaze, her own brimming with sorrow and passion. “Don’t make this harder than it already is.” Her tone was soft yet insistent.
He watched her walk away with part of his heart. It had been hard as hell to lie in bed and let her leave. How the hell would he get through this? In his periphery, he saw her meet Keel and begin their pre-flight.
“What the hell, man?” Lizard asked.
“Let it go.”
“Fuck that. What’s going on?”
Moving his gaze from the underside of the wing to Lizard’s questioning face, Gio sighed. “I told you.”
“So, what, that bitch can just—”
One step put him directly into Jason’s space. “Do not call her that!” He shook with the extent of his anger. The urge to throw Lizard against the landing gear and beat the shit out of him swam over him.
“Okay, sorry.” Lizard stepped back. “You really love her, don’t you?”
Gio stared at his friend for a moment. “Get the pre-flight done,” he barked and got back to it himself. Love. Damn him for mentioning that four-letter word.
She’d made her choice, there wasn’t anything he could do about that particular shitty situation. Not anything that would be legal, anyway. Kidnapping was still a crime as far as he knew.
Outside pre-flight done, he climbed in, ignored Lizard, and sat in his seat. His actions were automatic. He shouldn’t be here, his mind was anywhere but where it should be.
Smack!
He blinked and snarled. “What?”
“Get your head out of your ass,” Lizard snapped back. “I have plans tonight.”
“I’m fine.”
Lizard snorted and looked away. Damn it! She wanted him out with other women, did she? Wanted him to act like he had before she’d arrived on the scene? Fine. He would. He forced everything but flying the B-2 to the back of his mind and waited for the go to take to the sky.
He nodded to Lizard as they headed from the plane back to the building. The day had been a good one. Lot of tests, pushing the envelope, and whatnot. He’d loved it.
After his shower, he left the building to see Keel and Jaydee standing together, laughing. Her relaxed attitude tore through him like a jagged knife. Why couldn’t she be like that around him? In public?
More pain speared him as he watched her follow Keel’s car from the lot on her motorcycle. Logically, he knew there was nothing between her and Keel. Logically. None of that mattered to the primitive male in him who was beating his chest and demanding he kill another for touching what was his.
He shook his head in disgust as he walked to his car. Jaydee wasn’t an object.
Mine! his brain demanded.
Keel was happily married. With a kid to boot. Or was he?
Shit! I have to get over this.
He climbed in his car and headed towards Kerrigan’s for a much-needed drink.
The rest of the week passed in a similar fashion. He was coolly polite to Jaydee. She looked tired but it seemed he was the only one who noticed. The lab geeks were still around and he knew, he knew she put in time with them as well.
* * * *
He glanced across the open area and spied her and Lizard at the same picnic table. He grabbed a drink for himself and Lizard then paused, went back and picked up one more.
“What’s going on here?” he asked, lowering himself to a vacant seat. He used one hand to slide a drink to Jaydee then to Lizard. Although one of the hardest things he’d ever done, he kept his eyes off Jaydee’s sweaty body. Everyone had gone running together and damn if she didn’t look amazing.
“Thanks.” She spoke softly before uncapping the bottle and taking a healthy swallow.
“Yeah, man. Thanks.” Lizard also drank.
Keel ambled up with his own drink in hand and sat down beside Jaydee with a grunt. “Crap, is it just me or did that feel like torture?”
Gio agreed with him. PT this time of day seemed ludicrous. But they only had certain times to get their workouts in. So, when Keel had asked if they wanted to accompany him on his run, he’d accepted. Then he’d learned Jaydee would be running too.
She’d shown up in a black top and tight shorts, the colour of which showcased the lean muscles in her legs, along with her amazing ass. She’d barely glanced at him and he’d made sure to run abreast of her, not behind.
Once they’d begun running the weather had changed and grown hot. So, now, here they all sat, grateful for the shade from the tree and the refreshing water and sports drinks.
“You suggested it,” he said with a wry grin.
“There was a breeze then.”
Gio finished his drink and used the opportunity to steal another peek at Jaydee. She was lost in thought. He knew the look.
“So,” he said, cracking his neck, “who’s up for going out?”
Lizard chimed in immediately and surprisingly Keel did as well. That was two. Spinning his empty bottle, he stared directly at her.
“What about you, Amos?” She didn’t say anything and he knocked on the table to snap her from her thoughts. “Amos!”
“Sorry, what?”
Like always, those eyes made him melt. Professional relationship. He’d said it over and over until he sort of believed it. Yeah, right.
“We’re going out tonight. You joining us or are you too good to hang with your fellow pilots?”
“Won’t it cramp your style having me along?”
If she only knew. “Nope. The women there know you’re one of us, so you’re not a threat.” He waited for any flash of pain in her eyes or expression. There was nothing.
“Sure, why not.”
He stood. “See you all tonight.”
With a wave he headed off. He had to leave or there’d be no way for him to control himself. How could he? She wore next to nothing, her firm body aglow with sweat. Christ, his cock was so hard in his shorts, it hurt.
Inside he took a shower. A cold shower. Captain Fentress waited for him when he made his way to his locker. Standing up tall, he ignored the fact that he wore only a towel.
“We’re getting another pilot.” Fentress leaned against the other row of lockers.
“Sir?”
“Next week. Another is coming in.”
A bad feeling grew
in his gut. “To replace Amos?”
“Yes.” Green eyes held his. “That a problem for you?”
Yes. It meant she would be leaving soon, and no matter what crap she’d spouted he knew she had feelings for him that went beyond bed partner.
A blank expression on his face, he arched one brow. “No, sir, any reason it should?”
“Just curious. I’ve seen the way you look at her.”
He shrugged with way more nonchalance than he felt. This screamed dangerous waters to him. “The same as pretty much every other red-blooded male. She’s hot. I’m not blind.”
“But?”
“But what, sir?”
“Nothing.” Fentress pushed away from the lockers. “I merely wanted to give you a heads-up on the new pilot.”
“Thank you, sir.” He frowned. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Go ahead.”
“If he’s not flying with me, how is his arrival relevant to me?”
Fentress gave him a stare that would have quelled another man. Fortunately, he wasn’t just another man. “It’s relevant, Lieutenant Commander, because you two will be going head to head to secure the final spot in a combat squad.” He strode off.
Combat squad. Just the thought got his pulse thrumming. It had been a while since he’d actually been assigned to one. He’d been taken from one and sent to the test facility because he’d forever been pushing the envelope. Had he been pleased? Hell no. But the man who had sent him had known exactly how to push his buttons.
“They are saying there’s no way a Navy pilot could be better than one of theirs. Guess, by your attitude, they were right,” Admiral Griffin had said.
Better than him? Not likely. So he’d turned his attention to learning to fly the B-2. And he was the best now. Sure, it had been like flying a tank at the beginning, but now he loved it. Jaydee’s face came to him and he sighed. Second best, perhaps.
Glancing at his Blue Angels Citizen Eco-Drive watch, he put on clean clothes in a hurry. As he tied his shoes, he felt his skin prickle at the knowledge that he would be seeing her soon.
She was the last to arrive at the bar. He, Keel and Lizard were already at their table when he lifted his head in time to see her walk through the door. She wore jeans and a T-shirt that happened to cover considerably more than other women in the establishment, but she was one hundred per cent sexier, in his opinion. Jaydee rocked a pair of heavy black boots and her hair was drawn back into a serviceable ponytail. She sliced through the crowd with ease and she stood at their table in short time.
“Hey, Jaydee,” Lizard said.
“Hey.” She sat in the lone vacant chair. Across from him. He’d planned it that way.
“Here’s your drinks,” Carly, the waitress, said. “I brought you water, Jaydee, since that’s what you normally have, but if you want something else…” She trailed off with the offer.
“No, thank you, water is perfect.” She took the bottle with a smile.
Carly gave her a grin. He noticed how Lizard continued to watch Jaydee and wondered. But Gio didn’t remain focused on Jaydee and Lizard too much longer for a brunette walked up, trailed her fingers along his shoulders, and the back of his neck. Then she sat her scantily clad ass in his lap.
“What’d I miss?” she asked while picking up her 57 Chevy and taking a sip. “Hey, who are you?” Everyone there knew she meant Jaydee. “And why would you only drink water at a bar?”
For her part, Jaydee barely blinked as she slowly lowered her bottle. Despite the trim and stacked woman seated on his lap, it was the slow swipe of Jaydee’s tongue to capture the single lingering droplet of water from her lip that did him in. It was an act that made blood rush to his cock.
“I’m a pilot with these men and I drink water because I prefer not to dull my senses and possibly engage in something foolish.”
“Shelly, that’s Jaydee,” Gio informed his date.
“Hi,” she chirped, obviously dismissing Jaydee. Her heavily perfumed body settled closer to him. “Can we play pool?”
“Sure.” Anything to get her off him. “Go grab a table.”
She slid from his lap, plastered a big wet kiss on his mouth and sauntered off, drink in hand. Damn her! Although he wasn’t sure which her he meant. But Jaydee was supposed to be jealous, not lost in thought. And he knew she was, for he knew her expressions.
“Anyone else want to play?”
Keel stood up. “I’m in.” He nudged Jaydee and said, “Come on, partner.”
She blinked up at him. “I’m playing?”
“Yes. You n’ me against Casanova and his date.”
He waited and, sure enough, she lifted her head and met his gaze. “All right.”
She walked with Keel to the pool table. He stared at her ass before putting his attention on Lizard.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Casanova.”
“This is on her, man. I’d much rather be with her. She’s the one who told me to go back to my old ways.” His words were bitter.
“There has to be a better way.”
“What’s with the change of heart? You were almost as pissed as I was when I first told you.”
“I know.” He clapped him on the shoulder. “I was wrong. Go on, they’re waiting on you.”
He sighed and headed to the table with his drink. Keel and Shelly watched him while Jaydee never spared him a glance. In fact, she currently spoke to a man at the next table. The growl had to be forced back.
“Ready?” he asked, forcing his tone to remain calm.
They played two games and each pair took one. Racking the balls he said, “Best two out of three?”
“Sorry, no. I must get going.” Jaydee’s smooth voice slipped tantalisingly along his skin.
“Hot date, Dusti?” he asked as if talking to any other pilot.
As if he wasn’t on eggshells awaiting the answer. And as if he’d actually be able to curb his raging jealousy should her answer be in the affirmative. Those multi-hued eyes slid to him.
“No. Thank you for the invite. Have a good night.”
She said her farewells to Keel and Lizard, who’d found a blonde to adore him, then made her way to the door and left after stopping at the bar. He assumed she had paid for her water.
Lord help him, all he wanted to do was follow her and…
“Casanova,” Shelly whined, dragging her long, painted nails down his chest.
“What?”
“I want another drink.”
“Go get one then.” She pursed bright red lips. “Tell them to put it on my tab.” The smile returned and she sashayed off, tugging at the hem of her very short, tight dress. What the hell was I thinking?
He hadn’t been. All he’d wanted to do was make Jaydee jealous, so he’d gone back to his usual. Gorgeous, fake, and not at all what he wanted. These women were merely a distraction because, yes, he loved women. And it wasn’t to say Jaydee wasn’t gorgeous, because she was. Hers was a real beauty, not one bought and paid for.
His gaze landed on Shelly as she sauntered back through the increased crowd. He leaned against the wall and observed her. She flirted heavily and he continued to wait for some bite of jealousy and got none. Just like before.
With a groan, he gave his empty bottle to a passing waitress. She winked at him and blew him a kiss before continuing on her way. “I’m out,” he told Lizard who was playing tonsil hockey with the blonde. Keel had left moments after Jaydee had.
“Catch ya later, man. Have fun.” Lizard’s face disappeared again.
Shaking his head, he scanned for Shelly. She stood with another man, his hand possessively upon her ass. He chuckled and moseyed up behind her.
“Night, Shelly.” He ignored her squeal of surprise. “You be safe,” he added with a pointed look at the man whose hand had never left her ass.
She stared at him before giving him a tentative smile. He knew she was after having an itch scratched and didn’t begrudge her. And, since he wouldn’t h
ave been going home with her, he figured she might as well get it somewhere. He’d known after finding Jaydee again, she was the only one for him.
He turned and headed for his car. The weather had become stormy and he sighed. Time to go home.
Jaydee yawned and worked out the kinks in her back. She was leaving in three weeks. Part of the time she’d be up with Keel, and when he was up with his new pilot she would be working with three of the doctors who were staying behind. Her secret was out now—everyone knew she had the title ‘Doctor’ in front of her name, along with Lieutenant Commander.
It bothered her, but Dr Thompson had told her she would be remaining for a while to help straighten out some things. Okay. It was bullshit. She had one week back in the air and then she would watch another pilot fly her plane.
She always knew she would be back in the lab and had accepted that. Just, typically, she didn’t have to see the jets, smell the fuel, or watch the pilots talk and joke about how amazing it had been.
“Damn it,” she muttered, kicking an imaginary object.
“Hmm. Now here’s a sight, the great, unflappable Jaydee Amos swearing.”
Gio’s voice made her close her eyes briefly before she summoned up the courage to face him. Her breath caught as she stared at him. He wore jeans that hung from lean hips—they had worn spots on them. A tan shirt hugged along powerful shoulders and arms before falling around his rock-hard abs. She lowered her gaze and moved it down to where his black shoes were on the carpet.
“Gio.”
His name was dragged from her on a sigh. A sigh of longing. The past week had been hell on her. Each day, the looks he’d given her had grown less and less personal. She continued to tell herself it was for the best, but it wasn’t easy. Not at all. Until finally she ignored it and went on with her work.
“Dusti.” He strode in and gestured with his chin at the boards behind her. “Find anything?”
Hurt speared her before she understood why. Liar, she knew exactly from the first second. He’d come for information, not her.
You’re the one who told him to end it, her subconscious took much pleasure in reminding her.