She strode alongside him in double-time steps, her life rolling out of control faster than the ripple of grain in the fields. "You've got this all planned in seconds."
And what was that about his plane not being fixed so he wasn't leaving Minot yet? Her tummy flipped. His foot thudded on the bottom porch step.
"Bo? Bo, stop damn it." She grabbed his arm, lowering her voice and trying not to pant over the hard play of muscles under her fingers. "We're going to be alone at your place for the weekend? Are you a glutton for punishment or what?"
A hint of his old smile ticced the corner of his mouth. "Apparently so." He sprinted up the steps. "I'll start working on the flight plan and airport clearances."
She grabbed the rail for support as the screen door banged shut after him, his plans rocking her foundation in too many ways. She couldn't handle this. The sexual attraction between them was one thing.
Getting closer to any man—this man—was another matter altogether. Two weeks of intimacy, puppy dog names and shared memories whittled away at her resolve. Who knew what might happen to her heart if they moved onto that date-two scenario?
Kirstie would not be going to Charleston. The visit to her old hometown would upset her daughter, anyway.
Nudge.
Just one little word, but it kept echoing through her head. She'd been letting life drag her along for the past year while she raced to keep up and dodge the next disaster. Right now she wanted to take charge for a change. She would face the lawyer and that safety deposit box herself. And she would quit running from her attraction to Bo.
The time had come to introduce this man to a girl-next-door type in serious need of a fling.
Chapter 10
Bo wanted to fling Paige on her back and just work this crazy attraction out of their systems.
Arriving in Charleston Saturday morning after too many travel delays that crunched them down to the wire on scheduling, he wondered if they would have five free minutes for sex
—about all the time he would need, given his current state of frustration.
Except that he wanted hours with her, not some rushed encounter. But then, not much had gone according to plan this weekend. At least they were finally at the base and ready to climb into his Jeep that he'd left parked at the squadron.
His intent to fly her out in the Cessna had shifted, due to an emergency repair on the aging plane. For the best, no doubt, that the problem hadn't occurred midair.
So they'd booked a civilian flight instead, a last-minute credit-card nightmare that left Paige so pale Bo struggled for a face-saving offer to help. Luckily, Seth had come through with some frequent-flyer miles on a red-eye. Truth or face-saver? At least it put her on the plane.
So much for his hopes of arriving late Friday afternoon and dazzling her with an evening of romance since Kristie was safe and sound with Vic and Seth.
He shuffled his duffel bag from his shoulder onto the Jeep's back seat along with his guitar, marshy Charleston air steaming up off the asphalt. They were both too dragging-ass exhausted to talk and in serious need of a shower. And for some odd reason she ended up looking cute with her hair mussed and glasses skewed, sweat dotting her upper lip until he wanted to kiss it away.
The nudge moment of realization had lowered his defenses, leaving him wide-open to endless more tiny nudges as he finally let himself just watch her and breathe in her new scent. No tropical sunscreen or Skin So Soft today. She wore something distinctly flowery wafting on the humid coastal air. Chosen for him?
She passed over her small carry-on and travel tote. There was no talk of a hotel for her, even if neither of them openly acknowledged how the evening would end—after they met the lawyer at the bank and went to a wedding. Damn. Deadly testosterone buildup would level him before they saw the cake cut.
If Paige didn't cut and run first.
The military environment and routine wrapped itself around him with relaxing familiarity, while Paige stiffened more with every second back in the sunny South. Just because of the lawyer's appointment. Right? He didn't want to think overlong about the possibility this base, place, he caused those tensing memories.
Time to put the testosterone on hold and help her through the day.
Bo closed the passenger door behind her. "Do you want the Jeep top up or down?"
"Oh, uh..." She smoothed a hand over her hair, then shrugged. "Down is fine. It's not like I'm trying to impress anyone, and the wind sounds nice."
"Fair enough." Stowing the roof, he couldn't keep his eyes from straying to the rows of parked gray planes, waiting, calling, reminding him of decisions to be made.
Later. Paige's problems first.
He settled behind the wheel and guided his Jeep past a blur of military-reg brown buildings, through the security gate. Her head tipped back, she blinked against the bright morning sun then closed her eyes while the wind whipped over them, swirling stronger as they crossed bridges into the water-locked historic region of Charleston.>"You're both late." She glanced over at Bo on the other side of the plane, trying to keep her voice low enough that he wouldn't hear. "A call would have been nice."
"Sorry. I didn't think I needed to check in with my baby sister." He tugged her hair again before swinging Kirstie up on his back and lumbering off toward the kennels.