Page 13 of Flyboy

“What?”

“Laundry.”

He laughed, a deep, surprised, natural laugh. “Would you like to give it a try?”

“Honestly, yes. And I was so happy you carried that load for her. She looked like she might be swallowed up by the whole of it. How do they carry all that on their heads?”

“I don’t know, because it was heavy. And difficult to balance.”

“It’s incredible. I’ve always wondered how women carry those heavy loads. I love being here. I love this job. I’ve been able to go all over the world.”

“And fly fast planes.”

“Yes, and fly fast planes.”

They walked along in such a companionable silence it was hard for him to believe she’d sent such a letter about him. Perhaps he’d already changed her mind? “Fatima said dinner would be ready in less than an hour. And I get the impression she appreciates timely guests.”

Ivy laughed. “Noted.” Then she turned to him. “Thank you . . . for today. It was nice.”

“You’re welcome. I appreciate you and Omar coming early so we could do some team bonding.”

“It’s important. I wouldn’t have thought so yesterday, but I think it was a great idea.”

He bit his tongue, and instead of teasing her about giving him a chance, he just said, “You’re welcome.”

Again her face was full of questions. She teetered toward him for a moment, and his heart skipped a little bit with a new, fizzy kind of hope. Nope. This was not happening right now. Not while they were on assignment together,he told himself. But then when her eyes smiled back at him, he wondered if he might just test out the idea a little bit.

“Well, I’ll see you at dinner.” Her suddenly shy smile warmed him further.

“Looking forward to it.”

They headed into their own rooms, which were agonizingly close to each other. How could he keep his focus when he knew she was right next door? He walked out onto the small balcony off of his room, and she exited at the same time beside him, a small railing in between.

“Oh!” She put a hand to her chest.

“Wow, there you are.” He shook his head.

“What do you mean, there you are?” She tilted her head, a familiar wariness returning to her expression.

“Nothing . . . You startled me as well. I came out here to think, you know?”

“Well, should I go back in? Give you your space?”

“No, please. It’s nothing like that. I’ll just go back in. You stay and enjoy.” He turned and closed his door. Then he fell onto his bed. This was going to be a long six months.

Chapter 6

The next morning, Ivy awoke unsettled. Her first thoughts were of Colton. Then when she tried to brush those aside, the next thoughts were also of Colton. She groaned and rolled over in her bed. It was lovely and soft, and her view out the window was filled with a patchwork of green trees and blue sky. What would they do today in this enchanting new place?

Since she couldn’t get Colton out of her mind, she pulled her laptop over and opened up a web browser. Typing in his name in the search bar felt either sneaky or teenager-ish, but she didn’t care. She had to know more about this man. She told herself that principally she was a tiny bit worried that she had misjudged him. But really, she knew that the trickle of intrigue had broadened into an unstoppable river. It wasn’t quite the waterfall they had seen yesterday, but she was curious, and she needed to know more.

The first page of search results was all about Top Flight. His missions had been wildly successful, making some part of national news in the various countries. Not quite like her first mission with Ace, which had made international news and created a congressional investigation. She shook her head. Ace was almost as bad as Colton at disregarding typical protocol, but she had nothing but respect for him. He wasn’t reckless necessarily. He was smart about things. Was Flyboy the same? A small part of her wanted to believe he was, the other part clung stubbornly to her first assessment of him.

But the next page started to delve deeper into his life. She saw snippets of evidence of his deployments, Afghanistan and Iraq. She saw things she already knew. He was considered the fastest pilot, daring, and an expert with these billion-dollar jets they flew.

Then she saw him with a football helmet at his side, his young eyes sparkling into the camera, and an Air Force football jersey on. She laughed. Ah, so Omar wasn’t the only football player. Colton had been a star receiver. A few more clicks and she discovered that he, too, had been drafted by the NFL. But from what she could tell, he never played professional ball.

She dug a little deeper. He was from Texas. The next picture she clicked on took the full screen. Young Colton, maybe high school or early college, smiled at her from atop a horse, a lasso in hand spinning above his head.

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