Page 29 of Falling for the Playboy Pilot

11

DALTON

Icouldn’t help the grin that spread across my face as I walked away from her door. The look on her face was exactly what I’d been hoping for. She’d been so damn cocky last night, sitting there with Laser, laughing like she owned the place. Now she was paying for it. And I was going to make sure she paid even more.

Real fire pilots could fly even when they weren’t one hundred percent. It was a tough lesson all of us had to learn at some point. Today was her lucky day.

Laser and the princess had made quite the ruckus when they dragged their drunk asses home last night. I hadn’t heard it, but others did. Everyone was talking about it because Laser was not the type to get that drunk. She could hold her liquor. I had a feeling Wild Bill’s little show last night had been the catalyst for Laser’s overindulgence. Princess seemed to have kept her company, which made me like her a bit more. Laser was good people and she had needed a friend. The new girl had stepped up and I respected that.

But I still wouldn’t go easy on her.

I headed toward the simulator room. The hangar with my S-2 was off to my left. I caught a glimpse of Gilbert and Tyson working on it. I knew Chief thought I owed the mechanics an apology, but it wasn’t going to happen. I was pissed at Tyson for being an idiot and pissed at Gilbert for letting me take the damn thing in the air when it wasn’t ready. He should have known better. He should have checked and doublechecked to make sure the hydraulics worked.

I stepped into the simulator room and started flipping switches, bringing the equipment to life. The screens flickered on, displaying a digital landscape of mountains and forests. I adjusted the controls, setting up a scenario that would test her limits. If she thought yesterday was tough, she was in for a rude awakening.

It was fifteen minutes later when the door creaked open behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to know it was her. I could smell coffee and had to wipe away the smile on my lips. I didn’t want her to know I thought it was funny she was miserable. In fact, I was going to lay into her for getting wasted while she was technically on.

When I turned around, I shook my head at the sight of her. She looked like hell.

Eyes half-lidded. Hair pulled into some messy approximation of a ponytail. Hoodie half-zipped and hanging off one shoulder. Her skin had that dull, slightly gray tone that only came from too much alcohol and not enough water. She was wearing a pair of leggings and tennis shoes. She looked like she was heading to a yoga class. The leggings showed off her shapely legs. I wondered what she was wearing under that hoodie. That gave me an idea. I could blast the heat and get her to take it off.

And that was absolutely unprofessional.

“How’s your head?” I asked, deadpan.

“Fine,” she croaked.

“If you throw up in the simulator, you clean it.”

“If I throw up in the simulator, I’ll make sure to aim in your direction.”

I smirked. Couldn’t help it. She was trying to act tough but she was a mess. I had been there and done that.

“Have a little too much to drink?” I asked.

“Not at all. I had just enough.”

I bit back a laugh. Feisty until the very end.

“Alright, Princess, climb in.”

“Got a cupholder in that cockpit?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“Are you always going to call me Princess?”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Great.”

She took a long drink from her cup and then put it on a small table in the corner. I watched as she walked back across the room, shoulders back and chin up. She was dying but doing her best to pretend she was fine.

“Let’s do this,” she said after getting situated in the cockpit. “Do your best to kill me.”

I ignored the comment. “Alright,” I said, tapping on the tablet to load the first run. “Scenario one: low-visibility mountain navigation. You’ll fly out of base, follow the canyon corridor, find the lead plane, and mark the drop zone with a smoke bomb. Spotter’s directing from the back. That’s me. Let’s see if you can keep us alive.”

“Challenge accepted,” she muttered.