Page 9 of Confessions of an Apache Pilot

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“This is the mission. What? You can’t read the slide?” Ross asked, with a frustrated look in my direction.

“There’s not one actual word on the thing, we need a god damn decoder book to decipher it, and what size font is that? Four? If this wasn’t blown up on an eight-foot-wide projection screen we wouldn’t be able to read it. Jesus’s leather sandals, couldn’t you just use real words and maybe a second slide?”

“Just like an Apache pilot, too many letters and he gets confused.” That came from Dickhead. It also got a smirk from the new girl.

So, there is a person in there. Game on.

A look of surprise flashed over her face when I gave her a wide grin. Laura glanced over at me, then at the new girl and her own smile spread across her face. I looked away from them both. I didn’t need Laura riding my ass about liking her friend.

“We might get confused with big words and tiny letters, but at least we can find the Landing Zone the first time!” Brady quipped across the table, Dickhead’s face went red at his retort.

“Enough!” yelled Ross. “Let’s get through this already.”

Laura gave a grunt, letting us know that fun time was over.

And so Ross kept the briefing moving along. Brady, Artie, and I behaved ourselves for the rest of the meeting, not out of respect for Ross, but because Laura had asked us to. “Any questions?” Ross asked, reaching the end of the slides.

“Do you get a special medal for PowerPoint arts and graphics?” Artie asked with a straight face.

“Anyone else?” Ross asked, scowling, but ignoring Artie’s question. Again, I watched the new girl. I wanted to know if she was as stuck up as Ross, or if she had a real sense of humor.

“Seriously, it’s a legit question,” Brady added, a dramatic frown pulling his brows low over his eyes. “You have all the colorful shapes and arrows and one even had a nice moving helicopter.” Their tones were so peaceful you could almost believe they were being genuine. Almost.

Artie continued, “Yeah, you must have spent hours getting that masterpiece together.”

Ross finally conceded, “I spent the better part of two days putting it together.”

“Two days,” Artie said, looking at Brady with a smug smile and a nod. “Two days preparing a twenty-minute briefing.”

Here it comes. A glance around the room told me only the Apache guys knew what the men were up to. Everyone else was listening respectfully.

“I wish I was so under-utilized that I could spend two days coloring on my computer,” Brady commented in an innocent tone, glancing over at Artie.

“Yeah, I wish I wasn’t burdened with real work so that I could have that kind of time,” Artie responded jovially. They were having fun.

I shared their resentment towards office work. We would spend all day flying with the Beards, getting shot at, and making sure no one would hurt them. The idea that making a PowerPoint was work was laughable. As far as we were concerned, if you didn’t put your ass on the line, you didn’t deserve respect. Ross deserved none. New girl would have a chance to prove herself soon enough.

“He even managed to work in the phrases ‘force multiplier’ and ‘situational awareness.’” I laughed, those were such meaningless words yet every officer felt obligated to use them.

“Let’s go check in with the Beards and make sure they don’t have anything else for us,” Laura interrupted, bringing an early end to what would otherwise be a long round of insults. She turned to me. “Come here, let me formally introduce you to Jen. Unless you’d rather go drag her to your helicopter.” I couldn’t stop the glare that I shot her. Laura was just a little too excited by the incident in Bagram yesterday.

I stood and followed her. She was right, I should have a real introduction, not…whatever the hell happened yesterday. I normally didn’t lose my cool like that with anyone. Being in Bagram was never pleasant, too many high ranking staff officers. Add to that the fight with the old MED crew was still fresh, and then some asshole was grabbing her…Yeah, not my best moment. I should apologize and get to know the new girl and her crew, but my attraction to her was a problem. Guaranteed we’d end up flying together. I just hoped they weren’t like the last crew that’d been out here. If they were and I gave her a pass because she was hot, it’d be my ass on the line with my guys. We moved our way around the table and she stood up as we approached.

“Jen, this is Mark Sheppard, our Senior Warrant Officer and Air Mission Commander. Mark, this is Jen. Try not to punch anyone this time.”

“Jennifer Walker. Nice to meet you.” She was blushing at Laura’s last comment.

I grabbed her hand and she smiled at me when I shook it. Fuck. Me. I had been distracted and agitated enough at Bagram, I had missed many details about her. I was impressed then. Now I realized that I had missed so much. She was probably thirty, give or take. Old enough that the baby face of youth was gone, but there were no signs of aging on her smooth skin. It was that perfect level of maturity that separated her from girl to woman.

Her black hair had a shine to it that made her skin glow. Her skin wasn’t so pale up close. It looked soft and it took all my control to keep from reaching out and running my fingers over her cheek. Her face and neck were dotted with freckles, and not the creepy ginger-kind but the eloquent sort; the kind that, when compared to her dark hair made the rest of her skin and eyes glow. And her eyes. They were blue from a distance, but right here, so close in front of me, they reminded me of the ocean. I had to look at her forehead for fear of getting lost in them. The smile she gave me was so warm and inviting, I had to swallow and think of Ross’s shitty PowerPoint to keep my dick from misbehaving.

I held her hand, her skin was smooth and warm. Or maybe it was my hand getting warm while touching hers. Soft as it was, she had a strong grip for a woman. It left me with the distinct impression that she was no delicate flower. I let go of her and snapped back to reality.

Fuck, I’m in trouble. This is bad. She is not what I need out here. I couldn’t afford any distractions and Jennifer Walker wasn’t just going to be a distraction, she was going to derail everything.

CHAPTER 5

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