the river beyond. “I’ve thought about you every freakin’ minute. My apartment was crap before, but I really can’t stand it now, because everywhere I look, I see you. It’s gotten so bad I’ve spent the last two nights in the hangar. Gall isn’t speaking to me.”
“Because you slept in the hangar?”
“Because I’m too stupid to live.”
“He said that?”
“He did. He, uh…” It was several moments before he came around slowly to face her. “He said falling in love would make a person stupid. But I, being me, had taken stupid to a new level and let you go.”
Her eyes went misty. “You don’t want to have Gall mad at you.”
Later, they argued over who moved first, but the important thing was that they came together in an embrace that fused their bodies and mouths. Eager hands opened articles of clothing, but when he pressed her up against the window, she appealed to his reason and said that anyone on the hotel grounds could see them, and he asked, “Who cares?” and when she said she did, he pulled her to the floor, where her few remaining inhibitions were stripped away as swiftly as the rest of their clothes.
Eventually they moved to the bedroom, where they made excellent use of the king-size bed, then lolled, temporarily replete, stroking each other.
“That morning,” he said. “When you came out of the bathroom, just out of the shower, wearing my shirt.”
“Hmm. You looked at me funny.”
“Well I was feeling funny.”
“Why?”
He rubbed his lips against her temple, started to speak, then paused before saying, “I was about to say that that was the first time I’d ever been glad to see a woman on the morning after. But it was more than that. I also realized how much I’d miss waking up with you if you weren’t there.”
She closed her eyes against the emotion welling up in them. “I don’t know where it will go, Dent, or what will happen,” she whispered against his throat. “I only know I want to be with you like this as often as I can be, for as long as I can be.”
“I can live with that. In fact, I
“Do you?”
“Hell no. Despite what Gall said, I’m not stupid.”
She tweaked a chest hair. “Are you after my money?”
“Absolutely. But first things first.”
He touched her in a way that caused her to gasp, and then he was above her again, moving inside her, not as frenzied as before but slowly and with feeling. Teasing aside, cupping her face between his hands, he kissed her closed eyelids, and when she opened them, he said, “They don’t look sad anymore.”
“That’s because I’m deliriously happy.”
“Then that makes two of us.”
“So you cared about whether or not I called you?”
Looking deeply into her eyes, he reached for her hands, positioned them on either side of her head, and, palm to palm, linked their fingers tightly. Resting his forehead on hers, he settled his weight on her and said gruffly, “I cared. I cared like hell. Thank God it only took you a week.”
Softly she kissed his mouth. “A week and eighteen years.”
Acknowledgments
During the writing of this book, I needed a lot of help with the flight sequences for both a twin-engine private aircraft and commercial airplanes. My thanks to Ron Koonsman, my friend and first go-to person, who provided so much valuable information, including an introduction to Jerry Lunsford. He patiently and painstakingly answered my many questions and acquainted me with the totally alien landscape of a cockpit. Jerry Hughes advised me on technical aspects and terminology. Others, who asked to remain anonymous, know how grateful I am that they shared their personal experiences and vast knowledge.
I apologize for any mistakes, which are mine entirely and not the fault of the above-mentioned pilots.
About the Author
Sandra Brown is the author of sixty
Also by Sandra Brown
Copyright
First published the United States of America in 2012 by Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
