Page 3 of Flyboy

“I heard it. And what better way to prove her wrong?”

He saw the hesitation on every one of their faces. “I know we need a smaller team, but I thought maybe Jed, Rocky, or Omar could come with us? Ivy seemed to get along well with all of them.”

“I think a good consideration of any of those others is a great idea.” Ace was still holding back support of asking for Ivy. Colton could read it all over his face.

“And Ivy.” Colton didn’t know what it was about her ridiculous letter of complaint, but her words—as off base as they were—had cinched his determination to ask for her on his Brazil team.

“Wait, are you serious?” Ace tried to study his face through the screen.

“I’m serious. Hey, don’t worry about me. She’ll be singing a whole new tune in no time. No one can resist my Texas charm for long.”

“That might be the wrong approach . . . ” Amanda didn’t often mince words. She was careful with her tone, but Colton could see all over her face how bad an idea she thought it would be for Colton to ask for Ivy on his team.

“I’ll address her concerns myself.” Colton smiled.

“And just how will you do that?” Ridley had been quiet. Colton wondered what he thought.

“I’ll call her. Ask her point-blank.” Colton shrugged. “And then after I hear her reasoning about why I’m not qualified to lead this organization, you can let her know her next assignment.”

“Colton.” Amanda’s smile gave him hope. “You’re the fastest pilot we have. No one would ever dispute your contributions to the pilot world either. They’re still studying your move at Top Gun, you know. But have you considered that there might be some truth to what she says?”

“Whoa. Now hold on, Mustang. We all have different theories about discipline and rule-following, and everybody’s style is needed.”

“It’s true, Flyboy. None of us can argue with your record.”

“Darn right. If it weren’t for the Fly, things would have gone very differently in Afghanistan. Someone had to break the rules, and that someone was usually Colton. But I see your point. The Ivys in the world are important too.”

Didn’t have to tell him twice. He couldn’t seem to get her out of his system. And he was hoping that being in such close quarters with the woman day in and day out would cure him of his interest, especially now that he knew she loathed him enough to write a three-page letter of complaint. He’d never seen two more highly incompatible people. And he obviously drove her to distraction.

He smiled.

Was that a good thing or a bad thing? But he had to convince the other three that working with Ivy was a good idea. “Okay, so here’s how I see things. She obviously has a problem with me. Maybe I can learn something from her, and to be honest, maybe she can learn something from me. She’s coming at me all wrong, and we all know it.”

Was he just asking for trouble?

His attention wandered out to the fenced pastures surrounding his home. He had one more day here and then it was off to Brazil, ahead of his team. “I want Ivy. I need her, anyway. I’m heading down to Brazil early. And she and either Omar or Jed can join me down there at the end of the week.”

It was hard to tell what everyone really thought about his opinions from a Zoom call.

“Let’s talk about our other teams, then.” Amanda seemed ready to let it go. Ridley hadn’t said much, and he knew if Ace had a real problem, he’d hear about it, now and later.

But they moved on. The slide show of all their potential pilots started playing, and the Top Flight board of directors started picking out the best pilots for the teams they were each putting together.

Colton could never have guessed that their new idea, to gather discharged military pilots and put together an international training program, would have taken off the way it had. They had more work than time, more pilots applying to be a part of it every day, and a healthy income. When Ace had told him there was money to be made and that he could still get up in a plane now and then, Colton had jumped at the chance. There was nothing else to do with his life anyway. Everything lacked the thrill of being up in those planes; nothing felt as important as being deployed for his country.

Top Flight filled a lot of holes in his life.

And he was lonely. But so far, he hadn’t found anything or anyone that could solve that problem. When he figured out what women really wanted, he was sure he’d also see, plain as day, that he wasn’t it.

He hardly listened as the other three assigned the teams. When he logged off the call and stared at the names of those who would be on his team for the next four to six months, he didn’t know if he really wanted what he’d fought for.

Ivy. Who hated him, apparently.

And Omar. He hadn’t spelled it out to the others, but Omar was there to be a buffer between Ivy and him.

He rubbed his face. This was going to be some assignment.

Chapter 2

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