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“Just like Egan,” he said. “Are you another one that would be barefoot all the time if you could?”
“Yes,” she said. “Just not possible in my job. I’m ready if you are.”
“I am,” he said. “Here are your dishes back. Washed and all.”
“You ate it all?” she asked. She thought there were at least two servings there.
“Most of it,” he said. “I transferred the rest to a container here. This way I don’t have to worry about getting it back to you.”
Which had been the plan and he didn’t seem to get it.
Damn it.
This passive-aggressive approach went right over his head.
Unless he wasn’t interested. That was a possibility too.
Then she thought of the other three speeches she’d heard today and realized that hard work didn’t just get localized to careers but also to personal lives too.
“I’m sure you’re tired after flying all day,” she said when they were walking to the helicopter.
“I’m used to it,” he said. “I sleep more and better on the island than I did anywhere else in my life other than where I grew up.”
Thoughts of him lying in bed with no shirt on, maybe nothing at all, filled her brain and she started to feel a little flush under her jacket.
“I love it there,” she said. “I’m right on the water where I always wanted to be.”
Her grandfather’s home was near her on the island. Her parents had a place close by with a water view but no beach.
She wanted a beach.
She wanted to lie out in the sun and feel the heat on her body in the warmer months.
Watch the sunset over the ocean from her deck or her bedroom balcony.
Those were the things that relaxed her after long workweeks. She did her best thinking there too.
“I don’t have a water view or anything from my place,” he said, “but I see it multiple times a day.”
“You must have seen so many beautiful things in your life,” she said.
He started the helicopter and then lifted up. It was five minutes before he answered her. She did the same with Egan. Let them do their job, and once they were set, she’d talk again.
“Not all beautiful, but they did help wipe out some of the nastiness in the world too.”
It was then she remembered she’d heard he was an attack pilot in the enemy territory. He was on rescue missions too.
So yeah, not all of his job was pretty or had a happy ending.
“Sorry for saying that,” she said.
“Don’t be,” he said. “It’s the truth.”
“I need a drink,” she said.
“Tough night?” he asked.
She realized now he didn’t know what she had going on. She’d never said.
