Page 135 of Falling for the Playboy Pilot

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DALTON

Isat beside her for two hours. A doctor had come out to the field to triage firefighters that were coming in. No one was seriously injured. A broken ankle, some smoke inhalation, and one dude had cut his arm. The tent that had been set up for the injured had mostly cleared out.

Janna was going to be fine. I had told myself that a hundred times and the medical team along with Chief had said it as many times. But until she woke up and told me to fuck off, I wasn’t going to believe it.

Soot clung to her clothes, her hair was a tangled mess, and her face was covered in dark streaks. The nurse had wiped some off, but it was going to take a gallon of soap and water to get rid of it all.

Chief appeared with a bottle of beer. The condensation clinging to the brown glass told me it was nice and cold.

“I know beer is probably not medically advisable, but I have a feeling you need it,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said and took it from him. It felt like I had a horrible case of strep throat. I’d been sucking down water but nothing soothed it.

He pulled over one of the folding chairs and sat down. “That was a hell of a thing you did,” he said.

I shrugged. “I just landed a plane.”

He scoffed. “Yeah, I got pictures of that plane. I don’t know how the hell you made it out in one piece.”

“Sorry, Chief.”

Chief chuckled and took a sip from his own beer. “You know, I’m starting to think things between you and Janna are a bit more serious than I thought.”

I didn’t deny it. Couldn’t. Not after what I’d just been through, not after the absolute terror of thinking I might lose her. “If she’ll have me after I was such an asshole, yeah. It’s serious. Today really put things in perspective for me.”

“Well, there are few women who wouldn’t want to be with the man that walked through fire for them.”

I shook my head, looking down at Janna’s soot-streaked face. “She’s the hero here, Chief. She dragged Pickle five hundred feet through that inferno and was smart enough to get them into the diner. She saved him. And then she flew that ancient piece of junk and got us all here.” I took a long pull from the beer, the cold liquid soothing my raw throat. “I was just the guy carrying oxygen.”

“Bullshit,” Chief said firmly. “You crash-landed a plane in a cornfield, rode a horse through a fire zone, and pulled two people out of hell. Don’t you dare minimize what you did.”

“Anyone would have⁠—”

“No,” he interrupted. “Not anyone. Most people would have waited for backup, followed protocol, played it safe. You risked everything because you couldn’t stand the thought of losing them.” He paused, studying my face. “Losing her.”

I couldn’t argue with that. He was right. The thought of a world without Janna in it had been unbearable. Still was.

“She’s going to be okay,” Chief said quietly. “Doc says her lungs are clear, no permanent damage. She’ll be hoarse for a few days, but she’ll be fine.”

I nodded, my throat tight with emotion I couldn’t quite name. Relief, maybe. Or something deeper.

“And Pickle?”

“Concussion, but he’s tough. Cheryl’s with him at the hospital. He was asking for you both when he woke up.”

That was good news. Pickle was going to be okay. We’d all made it out.

Janna stirred slightly, her fingers twitching against the white sheet. I leaned forward, setting my beer aside.

“Hey,” I said softly. “You with us?”

Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first, then finding mine. Even exhausted and covered in soot, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“Did we make it?” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

“We made it,” I confirmed. “All of us.”