“I say I’ve got to get going.”
“So that’s a yes, right?” he called out as she headed down the hall toward the side exit to get to the other hangars.
She stopped and turned back. “Joe, I’ve got a bunch of paperwork to finish, weather to check, flight plans to file, and I need to check on the Cessna Caravan. I’ve got lessons and a flight.”
“Actually, you’ve got two flights,” he corrected. “And the Caravan’s still grounded.”
It had been grounded for a month for repairs and maintenance, way longer than either of them had expected, but she’d been told it would be done today. “Still?”
“Yeah. You’ve got the—” He flipped through the schedule. “—Cardinal today.”
“How much longer on the Caravan?” Zoe loved the sturdy single-engine Cessna.
Joe shrugged. “I’ve lit a fire under maintenance.”
Dammit. There was nothing wrong with the Cardinal, which was also a perfectly capable single-engine, but the Caravan had a turbine engine, so it had more oomph and was way more fun to fly. “And what do you mean two flights?” she asked. “There’s only one on the books.”
“I added a new one last night and moved your schedule all around, delaying your lessons. Sorry, I forgot to text you.” He flashed his smile again. “Okay, so I guess I need two favors. But hey, you’re going to get paid for the flight.”
She hated when he messed with her schedule. She actually made more money on the flight lessons she gave, which helped her pay off her loans. Getting a pilot’s license and keeping it was incredibly expensive. “You do remember the last time I did you a favor?” she asked. “I ended up flying your mother to Breckinridge and we got snowed in? Do you have any idea what it’s like to spend three days with your mother?”
“I’m familiar,” he said with a shudder. “Which is why I paid you to do it.”
“It was her seventieth birthday,” Zoe said, “and she was meeting—and I quote her here—her boy toy.”
Joe laughed. “Yeah, you probably deserved double time on that one.”
Zoe looked around, suddenly worried. “She’s not my additional flight today, is she?”
“No. He is.” Joe gestured to the man walking in the front door, his long legs eating up the space, his every movement exuding an easy confidence.
Parker James.
Completely of its own volition, Zoe’s gaze ran over him from head to toe. He was of course fully dressed now, but that didn’t matter. She could still see him as he’d been in her shower earlier, the room steamy and humid, his long, lean, hard body slick with water and soap running in rivulets down it.
She stared at him, doing her best to hold back all the tumbling mass of emotions hitting her at once. Normally she was good at that, really good, but naturally her one really good life skill deserted her, leaving everything she felt all over her face. Annoyance. Embarrassment.
And let’s not forget the very reluctant lust.
Parker stared at her right back. Not annoyed. Not embarrassed. As for what he was feeling, he kept his own counsel.
Damn him. And then Joe’s words sank in.
Parker was her first flight?
“Zoe,” Joe said. “This is—”
“You,” she said to Parker.
He smiled. She didn’t know all of the smiles in his wheelhouse yet, but she labeled this one The Big Bad Wolf.
Five
Joe divided a look between Zoe and Parker. “You two know each other?”
“Little bit,” Zoe said.
Parker said nothing.
“So . . . old friends?” Joe asked.
Zip from Parker. A silent alpha. One more thing to add to the list of reasons why Zoe was not going to like him, despite what he looked like naked.
“Not old friends,” she said.
“New friends?” Joe asked. He was speaking directly to Parker now, but Parker didn’t appear interested in defining their relationship.
Or lack of one.