Page 38 of Confessions of an Apache Pilot

I didn’t chase after her this time. I didn’t see taking that little shit down a peg as disrespectful. I’d been protecting her. Why couldn’t she see that? What was I missing? How was that the inappropriate thing?

Letting her cool off was going to be the only way forward. Nothing was going to get resolved if I spoke to her now, while she was still pissed. Still, this had to be done. I couldn’t let him continue to hound her. No man would ever speak to her like that again, she was mine now. She was just going to have to get used to the way I did things. Once she calmed down, we’d discuss it and hopefully we could come to terms with what’d happened.

I let a slow smile spread over my face. She was mine. That’s why she was pissed. If I was some random guy she’d have just rolled her eyes and walked away. She hadn’t wanted me getting into that fight. She didn’t like being the center of attention. And your boyfriend telling off your ex was bound to draw a crowd. Now I knew why she had been avoiding me, what her hang ups were. She already knew she was going to end up in a relationship with me, and she’d been doing her best to avoid it. Little did she know I always got what I wanted, and I’d had my eye on her since that first day in Bagram.

It was going to be a good day. I stretched and let myself watch Jen’s ass as she walked away. I turned to find Karolyn staring up at me.

“That was such a nice thing that you did for the Captain back there. Too bad she doesn’t appreciate it. I would appreciate any man that did that for me.”

Yeah, sure. “Go back to your helicopter.”

She frowned, her bottom lip forming a pout. When I narrowed my eyes she huffed and stomped off. A woman like Karolyn would get off on the drama of what just went down. That was why Jen was so fucking fascinating. Why I couldn’t get her out of my mind. She forced me to chase her. To convince her of how good we’d be together. She tried to avoid anything that would smear her reputation. I liked that she took pride in her job. That didn’t change what was happening between us.

A loud crash snapped me out of my thoughts. Brady had decided to join me.

“Brady, I need a favor from you,” I told him, not taking my eyes off Jen.

“Just name it.”

“Karolyn is becoming a bit of a problem for me. I need you to…take care of her. Make her not my problem.”

His expression was unusually serious. “Here? But you said…”

“I know what I said, but just this once, you can.”

He nodded solemnly. “Consider it done.”

That night I awoke from a rather peaceful sleep. I rolled over and watched Jen. She had tried to sleep with her back turned to me, but sometime during the night she rolled over and was now facing me.

I held back a laugh. The movies always show the girls sleeping so delightfully, making hardly a sound. Jen had her mouth open, hair a mess, and was letting out the funniest little snores. She would probably be mortified if she knew I was seeing her like this. Yet all it was doing was making me want to crawl onto the cot next to her so I could gather her in my arms and hold her as she slept.

My nostrils filled with a new scent. Honey and butter, on warm, fresh pumpkin bread. I shifted and caught the sound of movement. Glancing around, I made sure no one was watching me watch her. The movement was from outside though, as was the smell. I leaned up, trying to hear better.

I heard the gentle and unassuming music of an accordion, followed by a woman's scream and rapid footsteps. The music faded with the footsteps, chasing them across the base.

The noise woke Jen up. “What on Earth is that noise?”

“That’s the sound of a problem being tamed,” I replied, leaning back into my cot and shutting my eyes, a smile plastered on my face.

CHAPTER 21

Jen

Laura’s patented laugh echoed off the walls in our sleeping area. “And Artie held you off the ground, literally kicking and screaming?” She was practically in tears, she was laughing so hard. She held onto her belly as if it was aching.

I gave her an unamused look. “Laura, it’s not funny.” I slapped at her, but couldn’t stop the smile from spreading over my face. There was no holding a straight expression when Laura was laughing. No matter what was happening, you ended up joining in. “He had Artie hold me while he choked Scott. It was humiliating.”

“Humiliating, or hot? Seriously, who gives a shit about Scott? Shep was ready to mop the floor with the asshole and you’re upset by this?”

“Well…no.” I deflated. “I don't know. I’ve never been with a man that stood up for me. I don’t need him to fight for me, I can do that myself. And I don’t care about Scott. That wasn’t the problem.”

“Shep knows you can fight your own battles.” She gave me a look that said, in no uncertain terms, ‘duh’. “That’s not the point. He’s not going to let anyone disrespect you, ever. How is that a bad thing?” she asked. “Besides, Shep had every right. Scott came in, puffing his chest, trying to boss Shep around. In front of his woman? No man would let that stand. At least not a man you’d want to be with.”

“Well, that’s true, but…” I stammered, but I hadn’t even finished the sentence before Laura was speaking again.

“You liked it, admit it. You liked seeing him put Scott in his place.”

I didn’t get the chance to answer. Artie, Brady and, of course, Mark came walking in. Laura wasn’t wrong, though. Scott had put me through hell when we’d broken up. And since I’d been out here he’d been acting like I should just forget everything that had happened and give him another chance. That wasn’t about to happen. I hadn’t admitted it out loud yet, but I was actually grateful to Mark. Scott sure as hell hadn’t listened to me the multiple times I’d told him to fuck off. Something told me Mark’s warning had stuck. I doubted I’d see Scott again, and if I did he wasn’t going to have the balls to come up to me.

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