Page 19 of Flyboy

The door opened with the code they were given, and they stepped into the building. The sight of two beautiful planes tightened her throat. She always got emotional when seeing the jets she had been trained to fly. She approached and then ran her hand along the side. Out of pure rote habit, she began an inspection of the first plane. She jerked on the parts, poked and prodded from the wheels to the pilot’s seat. Completely unaware of anything else around her, her memories raced through her first time in a plane. She relived some of her engagements over Afghanistan. She closed her eyes, breathing in the smell of the fuel, and her fingers itched to take the plane up into the air as high as it would go.

“It never leaves you.” Colton’s voice, low and rumbly near her ear, didn’t startle her as much as it amped up every emotion.

She turned to him, his face close, his body almost intimately placed with one arm leaning on the plane, peering over into the cockpit next to her. “I’m dying to go up in one.” The words came out in a reverent hush. He would never understand just how much she valued even the ability to do so. No one who hadn’t ever been barred, or who hadn’t gone through some of the emotional baggage she’d had to overcome, would understand.

His eyes filled with understanding, and then his mouth quirked. “Me too.”

The look they shared could have made her forget all their past interactions. A sort of understanding, a power between them, settled inside and started wreaking havoc on her determination to remain a professional where he was concerned.

“Hey, Omar,” Colton said.

“Yeah, boss.”

“We’re gonna take up a plane. Hold down the fort until we get back.”

“Wait, what? Aren’t the pilots arriving soon?”

“Yep. And I know you can handle it. Do our standard introduction. Tenderfoot and I will fill in when we get back.”

Ivy’s heart hammered inside. Did she dare? Shouldn’t she be there to greet the students? Was Colton being irresponsible? A bold twinkle lit his expression, his eyes daring her to resist all claims of responsibility and answer the call to go up in this jet, to fly high and far and with Flyboy. She grinned. “Omar, you’ll be just fine.”

She ignored his grumbling, and she and Flyboy went to suit up before she could change her mind. “We have to inspect the equipment, right? See if they really fly?” She laughed at her last-ditch effort to give their flight together a responsible purpose.

“We absolutely have to test the equipment. And you’re gonna be pilot.”

She pulled the helmet over her head. “Me?” Her smile grew.

“Yep, ’cause I’m supposed to do flying checks now and then on all our trainers as well.”

Something niggled inside her—a sort of unrest. His comment reminded her of their professional relationship. But she pushed all concerns aside, and she and Colton headed back to the plane. “Then, we’re actually following the rules to take a plane up?”

“Mostly.” He shrugged and then climbed up into the plane.

When she sat in her seat, the engine roaring beneath her, Flyboy behind, everything seemed to click one step closer to where things should be.

“You ready for this, Tenderfoot?” His eyes smiled at her on the screen from behind.

“You know, I still pinch myself that this is my actual job.” Their eyes met. “You do know I love my job, right?”

“Just not always your boss?” His sincerity warmed her. And for a moment, she almost opened up to him.

“My boss is growing on me.” Too bold? She held her breath. Perhaps. But she was feeling pretty daring.

“I’m glad to hear it. Now let’s get this bird up in the air.”

“Now you’re talking.”

They made their way to the stretch of runway, and then she gunned it. Colton’s voice, cheering from behind as they raced up into the air, made her laugh out loud, and soon she was cheering right along with him as they soared up into the sky.

Chapter 9

Colton watched Ivy’s face as they burst into the blue. Her face mask was open, her mouth twisted in an almost painful yearning, and her eyes alight. If joy was poignant, Ivy was the poster child for it.

And Colton wasn’t far behind. Everything around them was a shade of Colton’s favorite color. The smattering of white now and then, the sun rising in the sky, the ocean stretched out on one side, and the beautiful South Brazil coast on the other, everything filled him. But more than that, he liked the smell.

“I love the way these planes smell,” Ivy said.

His mouth dropped open, but he didn’t tell her she’d just said his exact thoughts.

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