"Good night."
"Night," he called, already reaching for his guitar again. No need for the coat, though, since he was far from cold at the moment.
Damn it all, he was doing the right thing. He'd reestablished boundaries while reassuring her of her undeniable appeal. He'd played it letter-perfect, honorably.
So why was he certain her clouded eyes would haunt his dreams now more than ever?
Scanning the sky, Bo gripped the throttle, climbing into the cloudless morning, Vic beside him today for another run out to the Anderson place. At least he wouldn't have to see Anderson drool over Paige.
If she went for the guy someday, would a wedding invitation wing its way to Charleston?
Crap. He needed to get back to work, real work. Even if Paige mystified him, he'd discovered one thing during the past week and a half. He wasn't cut out for tooling around the skies in the equivalent of a tricycle. He needed more action than he was getting in these hops from farm to farm.
He only had a few days left with Paige, then Seth would be back up to speed. The C-17
wasn' t ready yet, thanks to the delay of some part, but he would be staying at base, other than a quick trip to Charleston over the weekend for a friend's wedding. He was in the homestretch with hanging tough.
And nowhere near finding his answers or relief. Damn, he would miss her.
He flicked the fuel gauge until the needle moved lower to match his own fuel calculations. He didn't even want to think about what could have happened to Paige with that finicky gauge and the crummy temp pilot.
The sky reclaimed his attention. Maybe if he got out of the service he could be a crop duster. Low level in a Cessna kicked ass, turning a tricycle kind of ride into an edgy risk.
He'd earned extra money during college with his private pilot's license by flying advertisement banners over ball games and along beaches. Swoop in near to the ground and fast, hook the banner, scream the plane straight up until it damn near stalled, then haul full-out forward.
Of course he hadn't saved any lives or cows that way, but he'd promoted the hell out of all-u-can-eat buffets and even delivered a marriage proposal once. He'd always assumed he would resurrect that skill when the time came for him to propose. And yet, he'd ended up with a string of broken relationships. For the first time he wondered why a guy so determined to get married someday kept shooting himself in the foot in the dating department.
Vic shifted in the small seat beside him. "I'm not sure how much you know about Paige's husband from when you met her in Charleston."
God, this guy was a broken record. At least things were quiet enough at the clinic now with no repeat intruders. Which gave Jansen more time to worry about somebody hitting on his sister.
Bo started to tell the man to lay off it, already. He was blue from the cold showers and restraint. If he got any more honorable, he'd be up for a freaking Nobel Peace Prize.
Hey, wait.
Apparently Vic didn't know about his role in Haugen's arrest. Interesting that Paige hadn't chosen to tell her brother about the full extent of their Charleston connection—a subject he wasn't all that fond of, either. He settled for a grunt in response.
"I wish I could call him her ex, but the bastard died before she could divorce him."
Now that piqued his interest. "Was she going to?"
"She said she'd married the man and she would stay with him through the trial for her daughter." The big blond guy shifted again in the seat too small for his frame, jeans and boots creaking with each attempt to get comfortable. "But once the trial was over, yeah, she was going to divorce him."
Hearing that shouldn't be so important, but oh, yeah, there came another nudge to his rocky restraint. And why was Vic sharing things guaranteed to make Paige seem more accessible?
Bo eased back on the throttle and leveled at altitude. "He didn't deserve her."
"Damn straight. Sure she made a mistake in marrying Haugen. We all make mistakes."
His voice roughened and he cleared his throat before continuing, "She just had to pay for hers and his. She says that's the price for trusting him."
He thought of the paperwork and legalities she'd mentioned haunting her even a year later. "What are you trying to tell me?"
"He broke her trust but she got back on her feet, dusted herself off, survived. Barely. I'm not so sure she can get up a second time."
Ah, the real message behind this talk. "She's stronger than you think."
Although he was feeling weaker by the day when it came to resisting Paige. Each new revelation about her offered another nudge to his self-control.