Page 45 of Angel In Armani

Lucas watched the helicopter descend toward the ground and tried not to hold his breath. He couldn’t see Sara from this distance—the helo was a dark blur against the late-afternoon sunshine—but he knew she was up there. And he wouldn’t feel relaxed until she was firmly back on the ground.

Which was dumb.

“Man, that looks awesome.”

He turned his attention to the two rookies standing with him. In the end, Sam had been Dan’s pick for having the done the best that day, finally loosening up enough to unleash a series of fastballs that had nearly set the batter’s hair on fire. So he was the one up in the air with Sara but Lucas had let the other two—Tico and Walsh—come with Sam to the airfield. A little envy wouldn’t hurt their performance, and Sam would be even more pumped if he got to show off in front of his friends.

He remembered that feeling all too well. He’d been about the age of these three when he’d first met Mal and Alex. The three of them had delighted in beating one another in any stupid contest they could come up with.

Teenage boys.

Idiots.

Not that he seemed to have learned that much in the intervening years. At least not when it came to women. He was feeling pretty teenage himself as he watched the chopper bring Sara closer and closer.

He needed to figure out how to convince her to give him another chance. Because the more time he spent near her, the more he knew that there was no way he was getting her out of his system anytime soon.

Every time she looked at him, the blood in his body rushed south and he struggled to think straight.

He really needed to figure out how to win her over.

The chopper was close enough now that he could see the concentration on her face as she brought it in to land, her brows drawing together, eyes fixed on whatever point she was aiming for.

Christ, even that was sexy.

There was something wrong with him.

Yeah, and her name was Sara Charles.

“Will we get another shot at a ride in that?” Walsh shouted as the wind from the rotors started to buffet them.

Lucas shrugged and made himself look at Walsh. “That depends how well you do.”

He saw determination light in the kid’s eyes. He wanted the ride. Or wanted to win. Either way worked. Sara had been right about getting them to focus on something smaller. She might not know baseball but she’d apparently been right when she said she understood guys.

Which was kind of unsettling, really. Did she see through him as easily as she’d seen through the rookies’ bravado?

If so, he was in serious trouble.

The noise and wind from the chopper finally died. The doors opened and Sam climbed out, grinning widely. He jogged across the field and Walsh gave him a high five. “Dude, how cool was that?”

Sam hitched a shoulder. “Pretty cool.”

“More than pretty cool,” Tico said. “That pilot chick is hot.”

Lucas stiffened. “Hey,” he said. “Around here, we treat women with respect. Ms. Charles is the team pilot and you will be polite.” He heard the snap of anger in his tone. Maybe a little more anger than the dumb comment warranted. There was a thread of possessiveness in it, not just his annoyance at a teenager mouthing off at a woman.

Tico winced then held up his hands. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Lucas nodded, once. “Think before you talk then. There are plenty of women involved with the Saints, and they’re all more important than you three at this point.” He jerked his head back toward the stadium. “The three of you should head back. I’m sure the coach has something for you all to be doing.”

Looking suitably subdued, they turned and jogged off immediately. Lucas saw Sam turn back, though, and steal a last glance at the helicopter before he gave up and sprinted a little to catch up with his friends.

Lucas turned back and saw Sara walking around the helo, her expression one of concentration.

He walked over to where she was. “Problem?”

“No, just checking things out. I’ll take the helo back to the airfield in a minute.” She stopped for a moment. “Unless there’s somewhere you need to go?” Her tone was polite. Damn. She was back behind her wall again.

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