Page 7 of Forever Flirting

Maiden, his former wingman and friend at the Academy, had been forced out and transferred after damaging a plane - and having some sort of panic attack in the air. Cajun dubbed it the ‘double doozie’, rubbing him the wrong way immediately.

That wasn’t like Maiden at all, and she was the one true competition he had for first place on the scoreboard.

Now, Alex was first… and never said a word about it. He was afraid something else would fall apart around him if he even acknowledged it, putting the words out there to the Universe. People thought he was modest, humble, or stoic. Nope. He feared another disaster.

He’d graduated, been assigned to a base, excelled in everything he did…

But tonight?

Tonight, was different.

Yeah, Alex had been hoping to pick up a girl for the evening to fool around with… or maybe two of them? But he never anticipated meeting anyone who made his heart beat fast, fascinated him, or he felt such an attraction to, like Everly.

Even her name had him wondering more about her… was it a family name? A shorted version of it?

… And those devastating eyes?

Nobody should have such warm, soft, luxurious eyes… and selfishly, he really wanted to see them on a pillowcase next to his head.

Alex liked her –a lot– but he was also completely honest with himself. He had nothing to give and wasn’t a good person.

He smoked too much, and probably wasn’t thinking clearly after the tequila shots that he bought. He was hoping to loosen up the woman that looked so prim and proper. Yeah, he saw that twisted bun-thing on the back of her head, the pleated skirt, and pale pink sweater…

Talk about instant attraction!

There was nothing better than a good girl turned bad,he mused, staring after the taillights of her car as she drove out of his life.

Angry, rejected, and feeling lonelier than ever before… Alex did the one thing he said he would never do.

He strode back into the bar with a purpose, looking for the most gullible and easiest girl on the dance floor, not even caring about the consequences of his actions. He was determined to wipe Everly’s face from his mind in the arms of another woman.

He wasn’t proud of this.

He certainly wasn’t happy.

… And fooling around with some nameless girl in the parking lot in her car, certainly didn’t make him feel any better about Everly. No, he felt worse than ever before and impulsively made one of the biggest mistakes of his life, that could not be undone.

CHAPTER3

MAESTRO

Robins AFB, Georgia

Eleven months later…

Alex was gearingup for a flight when his commander walked in with a harsh look on his face.

“Maestro – I need to see you.”

“Yes, sir,” he replied immediately, hefting on his harness over his shoulders and loosening the buckles so he could stand up straight.

Right before climbing into the cockpit of his plane, Alex would yank the straps, tightening it, to keep his legs in position in case of ejection. That harness would help minimize injury during the explosive detonation under his seat, preventing him from breaking several bones or having flailing limbs when he was launched from the plane in an emergency.

As Alex walked into the office, his commander slammed the door behind him, visibly bracing himself against it as he got in Alex’s face.

Nose-to-nose.

“Are youstupid, Stupid?” he screamed at him and Alex winced.

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