She looked slightly disappointed at my answer. “You travel a lot? And that’s the only reason you were there?”
“Yes…to both of your questions.”
Linnzi took another sip of her water and looked away for a moment before asking, “You’re in the Air Force?”
With a wide grin, I replied, “Yes, I am.”
“Saryn told me. You’re a test pilot, right?”
“I am.”
“What exactly does a test pilot do?”
Fucking hell, being this close to her for the first time after so many years was driving me crazy. I wanted to kiss her. Haul her into my arms and tell her I loved her. Wanted her. Needed her.
“I do all sorts of things in fighter jets. I’m certified to fly a few different ones, and my job is to fly and evaluate new and modified changes in the aircraft to determine if everything is operating correctly.”
She lifted one brow. “I speak multiple languages but even I don’t understand a word of what you just said.”
God, she was adorable, and being this close to her was doing all sorts of things to me. Smiling, I replied, “I make sure that when a situation comes up—a bad situation, like a flat spin, or stalled engines, things like that—that the plane’s computer system can help the pilot get things back under control.”
“Sounds dangerous.”
I played it off and shrugged. Because in the grand scheme of things, it was dangerous, but what I did saved countless lives. So in that sense, the danger was worth it.
She frowned, and for a moment I swore I saw a bit of anger in those baby blues of hers. “Do you purposely put the plane in bad situations?”
With a wink, I replied, “Yes, ma’am, I have to do that very thing. That’s my job.”
Linnzi drew in a sharp breath and then attempted to play it off. She was affected. I could see it in her eyes, in the way she was breathing. In the way she looked at me.
“When did you start flying, Nolan?”
I smiled once more. “When I was fourteen. My daddy wanted me to learn. He was a pilot in the Air Force himself, and he taught me to fly.”
“Crop planes,” she whispered so softly I barely heard her.
“I’m sorry?” I asked as I leaned in closer, which was a bad fucking idea. I hadn’t been this close to her in eight long years. I could smell her perfume, hear the slight hitch in her breathing, and it invaded my senses. She thought the things I did in planes was dangerous, but being this close without being able to touch her was the most dangerous thing I’d ever encountered.
“Nothing,” she said, an obvious attempt to change the direction of our conversation.
“We should probably get out there and join the party. Are you feeling better?”
Linnzi gave me a bright smile. “Yes, and you’re right, I’ve kept you entirely too long.”
“Nonsense, I’ve always loved talking to you, Linz.”
As we walked out of the kitchen and out toward the backyard where it sounded like everyone was, Linnzi asked, “What type of planes do you fly, Nolan?”
“Fighter jets. F-22, F-35, F-16, T-38, to name a few.”
“Wow!” she said with a laugh.
“I like planes, what can I say,” I replied with what I hoped was a sexy smirk. I liked seeing the way Linnzi reacted to me.
She tripped, and I quickly reached out and grabbed onto her. “You okay?”
With a quick nod, she replied, “Fine. I’m fine.”
“Good, wouldn’t want to see you get hurt,” I said with a look of concern in my eyes.
“Thank you. By the way, what’s your rank in the Air Force?”
“Captain.”
She smiled softly. “Captain Nolan Byers.”
I stopped in my tracks, and we faced one another. “You know my last name?”
With a slight frown, she thought for a moment. “I guess I do. I think Saryn might have mentioned it when she told me you were coming to the party, but yeah. I guess I remembered.”
Before I had a chance to say anything, I heard a sweet little voice call out to me.
“Uncle Nolan!”
Linnzi and I both turned to see Liliana running toward us. She had obviously not seen me earlier in the kitchen.
I bent and scooped her up and started to kiss her as she let out a string of laughter.
“I missed you, Uncle Nolan!”
“Aw, I missed you too, sweetheart. Don’t tell anyone, but I brought you a gift too!”
She covered her mouth and giggled. “I won’t! Promise!”
I set her down and fixed her party dress. She grabbed onto my hand and started to pull me away. “Come on, you have to meet my friends!”
With a quick glance over my shoulder at Linnzi, I shrugged. “Talk later?”
Linnzi chewed on her lip for a moment before she called back, “I’d love to.”
And just like that, a five-year-old girl pulled me away from the woman I loved, the same woman whom I hadn’t been able to talk to in eight years. My heart pounded in my chest, and I wanted nothing more than to run back to Linnzi, to see what other things about us she remembered. But I knew I couldn’t. I was as scared as I was excited to find out what she remembered.