“She’ll do it,” Shay said, popping back into the room, “but her brother is in from out of town and took her car out for the night. She needs a ride. I just sent Kent to get her, but he wants to jump with us.”
“Of course he does,” Caleb said. Now he had a suicidal man, a pilot he didn’t know, a gambling addict and Shay—the woman who twisted him like barbed wire—to juggle all at once. Thank God Ryan was coming along because this was going to be one hell of a night.
“I’m going to go meet Mr. Wanted-to-jump-off-a-building myself,” Ryan said. “If I might be saving his life tonight, it seems fitting I introduce myself first.” He headed to the door, and Shay blocked his exit.
“You aren’t going to say anything like that to him, are you?”
“Me?” Ryan asked. “Say something inappropriate? Never.” He snorted. “Okay. Not this time.”
Shay didn’t move, and he added, “I joke around, but I don’t play with people’s lives.”
Shay apparently accepted that answer. She stepped aside to let him pass. Ryan lingered and said, “No wonder Jennifer and Sabrina like you so much.”
“What does that mean?” Shay asked. “No wonder they like me so much?”
Ryan laughed. “You’ll figure it out.”
Bobby sauntered toward Shay. “He meant you don’t take any crap, and you know how to hand it out. Two things both Jennifer and Sabrina excel at.” He put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “Later, man. Call me if there are any disasters. Preferably after you’ve fixed them all.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Caleb said. “Get the hell out of here and go see your woman.”
Bobby laughed, gave Shay a little salute and then headed out, leaving Caleb alone with her.
He cast her a quick inspection. “What happened to changing clothes?”
“I couldn’t find the flight suits you were talking about.” Hesitantly, she added, “I think I have clothes left at your place. I could run over there and change.”
“You don’t,” he said and walked past her, not sure if he was right or wrong on that point and not caring. She didn’t want to be at his place, so she wasn’t going to his place. “Let’s get you that flight suit.”
***
HE WAS ANGRY ABOUT her jumping, and Shay didn’t understand why. But she was going to. She was going to right now. Shay stalked after Caleb, not about to let this tension-ridden communication—or, rather, lack of communication—continue.
By the time she caught up with him, he was already in the small storage room, the dim overhead light guiding his search for the flight suits. Shay stood there, studying his profile, and her heart swelled with the feelings she had for this man. Anger faded into something deeper, softer. He’d been there for her today, brave and strong—her hero in so many ways.
“Caleb,” she said hoarsely. He turned to face her, so tall and broad, and perfect to her. His eyes were unreadable, his jaw, firm. And Shay forgot what she wanted to say.
He hung a flight suit on the rack near her. “They were shoved way in the back,” he said. “No wonder you couldn’t find one.” He bent down and grabbed a pair of boots, setting them down close to her. He opened another locker and grabbed some socks. “Those are my socks. You won’t fit the boots with pantyhose. Don’t worry. They’re clean.” It was a joke but neither of them laughed.
There was a serious note in the air, awareness riddled with tension that Shay desperately wanted to erase. “Thank you for being there for me today.”
“That’s what family is for,” he said softly.
The words hit her like a blast of cold air. “Is that what we are now? Family?”
“I thought that was the point in all of this,” he said. “I’m trying to give you what you want.”
“All of this,” she repeated. “You mean us.” It wasn’t a question.
“That’s right,” he said. “Family sticks together, but they don’t sleep together. I think that might be a bumper sticker in a few Texas counties.”
There was bitterness beneath the words. She heard it, felt it. It was the first time she’d ever heard bitterness from Caleb, and she’d been the one to put it there. She’d hurt him, and that wasn’t her intention.
“Caleb,” she said, stepping toward him. “I—”
“Shay!” Ryan called. “Oh, Shay. Georgie boy is really needing a you-fix.”
Shay wanted to scream at the timing, and because she so desperately needed some connection with Caleb. She pressed her hand to his chest. She could feel his heart race under her touch, and it gave her hope. She lifted her gaze, all but melting in the heat of his stare, and whispered, “I don’t want to lose you.”
“Shay! Ah, there you are.” Ryan had arrived at the storage room, and Shay turned to face him as he added, “Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but George demands your presence. Well, it was more a whimper. Either way, he needs you.”
Caleb’s hands came down on her shoulders. “Stay here and change. I’ll keep him company until you’re ready.” He maneuvered around her, his body brushing hers. And then, the all-too-familiar feeling of Caleb being gone and of her being left to wonder about the next time, which might never come.
***
LORI DAY HAD ARRIVED just in time for George to finish up his training and was now behind the wheel of their Beechcraft King Air C90G plane. Caleb came aboard and leaned into the cockpit.
Kent was there. “I’m riding up front instead of jumping,” he said. “Thinking about taking flying lessons from Lori.”
Right. Flight lessons. Funny how he’d never felt that urge until he met Lori. Caleb eyed Lori. “You got a handle on these wings?”
She cast him a scathing look. “If it flies, I can handle it.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” he said and left her to check her equipment, thinking Kent was in trouble because the last time he’d seen him as taken with a woman as he was with Lori, she’d been the principal’s daughter. And like the principal’s daughter, a twelve-year Air Force chick had the power to bust balls. But she was a distraction, and better that Lori bust his balls than a bookie’s goons.
Caleb hopped to the ground in front of Shay. George stood off to the side and listened to Ryan tell an Army story as only Ryan could tell it—colorfully. George was actually laughing, while Shay was pale and looked like she wanted to be sick. But still, she was going to jump.
Caleb discreetly pulled her aside. “Tell George you’re afraid of heights, Shay.” She looked surprised that he knew. “Don’t look surprised. Of course, I know. And that’s why you’re taking flying lessons. You want to take control of your fear.”
“How can I urge him to face his fears, to use today as a way to move forward, if I can’t do it? Besides, three days ago you wanted me to jump with you. And you weren’t happy when I refused.” She lowered her voice. “Why, Caleb?”