Breathless Descent (Texas Hotzone 3)

“I’m ready,” Kent said, looking gaunt and tired, as if he hadn’t eaten or slept for a few days.

“What time’s your flight?”

“Three,” he said.

Caleb nodded and stood up. “I’ll go to the airport and wait with you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Kent said. “I’ll be okay. They gave me a week to pay and there’s security at the airport.”

Yeah, Caleb knew how that went. His buddy in the Army had been given time, too, and a good beating as a reminder that the hours were ticking by. Caleb suspected Kent was smart enough to know that was a possibility or he wouldn’t have brought up security. “You sitting at the airport with time to find yourself in trouble isn’t a good idea.”

Kent ran his hand over his jaw. “You got me there.”

Caleb motioned to the door. “I’ll follow you,” he said. “But right now, you follow me outside.”

Kent laughed, but without humor. “You don’t have to watch over me like this,” he said. “I do know how to fight, you know. I seem to remember you and I sparring a time or two.”

That was years of training ago, but Caleb didn’t want to throw around his skill, verbally or physically—not unless he meant business. So instead, he said, “My Special Forces buddy with ten years of training wasn’t worried when he ran up a tab with his bookie, either,” he said. “But the four guys with baseball bats whacked some sense into him.”

Kent swallowed hard. “I’ll follow you out.”

Enough said, Caleb gave him a quick incline of his head, and they moved to the parking lot without delay or disturbance. Caleb climbed in his truck to trail Kent and then reached for his phone to call Shay and delay their lunch to an early dinner. Not surprisingly, her voice mail picked up. She was probably in the air for her flying lesson. He tossed the phone on the truck seat in case she called back.

He didn’t know what was going on with her. Maybe she’d thought she wanted him, but it had always really been about the forbidden fruit. The fantasy. Her to-do list that included sex with him, suddenly took on a new meaning, and he pounded the steering wheel in a rare display of frustration.

No, this couldn’t be about sex. She’d told him she loved him, even before he’d told her he loved her. He’d seen it in her eyes, felt it in her touch. But he’d seen something else, too—fear. He had a lot of training and experience spotting fear. She was scared and the sex was a place for her to hide.

She was running from him, he’d realized once he’d left her this morning, once he had enough space to consider what was happening. She wasn’t ready for the commitment that coming out publicly required. Which meant one of two things—he hadn’t convinced her he was here to stay and was fully committed to her, or he hadn’t made her see how much he loved her.

Perhaps if he could figure out what it was that was scaring her… Because if it wasn’t her family, it was him. He ground his teeth. She thought he was going to hurt her, which meant he’d hurt her in the past when he’d shut her out of his life, no matter how good his intentions. He had to prove to her he wouldn’t hurt her again. He had a week before her parents returned for him to undo ten years of damage, or he had a bad feeling Shay was going to use her parents like she was using sex—as a shield, a barrier that he couldn’t get past. He couldn’t let her do that. She meant too much to him.

***

SHAY STOOD ON THE SIDELINES of the airfield as her instructor, Lori Day, an ex-Army pilot turned flight instructor, killed the engine of the Cessna Skyhawk.

“I’m doing it!” Sabrina yelled, jumping out of the plane and running toward Shay after riding up front with Lori to get a feel for what it would be like behind the controls. “What a high. I can’t wait to get started.”

Shay grinned. “I had a feeling you’d like it.”

“How close are you to flying solo?”

“Five hours,” Shay said. “I can’t wait. Caleb wants to be my first passenger. And since he can fly, I figure if I screw up, he can save us.”

“You can always take along a chute,” Sabrina laughed.

Lori approached. She was tall and athletic, with striking dark brown eyes and silky raven hair that fell below her shoulders when it wasn’t tied back, as it was now.

“I take it you guessed she’s a little excited,” Lori said, indicating Sabrina with a nod and smiling at Shay.

“I had a tiny hint of a clue,” Shay agreed.

“You know what I think?” Sabrina said. “Lori should come to work at the Hotzone, and we could offer flight lessons.”