Page 96 of Falling for the Playboy Pilot

“Yes. Dalton.”

“The man who goes through women like tissue paper, held you all night and didn’t try to get in your pants?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Holy shit.” She leaned back against the cushions with a huge grin on her face. “This is far more serious than I thought.”

“Trust me, it’s not.”

“What do you mean?”

I took a deep breath. “Because he got a text from another woman and he will be meeting her today. He was still asleep when it came through. I saw it and bailed.”

Cheryl’s expression shifted from confusion to understanding, then to something that looked like pity. “Oh.”

The single word carried all the weight of disappointment I felt crushing my chest.

“Yeah. Oh.” I tucked the phone away, hating how pathetic I sounded. “So you see? Whatever I thought happened last night was just me being stupid. He’s got his afternoon planned with someone else, and then he thinks he can just text me for tonight like I’m some backup pussy.”

Cheryl was quiet for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip. “Did you ask him about it?”

“Ask him what? ‘Hey, are you planning to sleep with another woman before you see me?’ I think that text speaks for itself.”

“But maybe⁠—”

“Maybe what?” I snapped, then immediately felt bad for taking my frustration out on her. “Look, I get it. I’m not his girlfriend. We’re not exclusive. Hell, we’re not even really anything. But after last night I thought maybe there was something there. Something real. But apparently I was wrong.”

Cheryl reached over and squeezed my hand. “You’re not wrong to feel hurt. Even if you’re not official, spending the night like that? It means something.”

“Does it, though?” I pulled my hand away and stood up, pacing to the window. “Maybe that’s just how he operates. Maybe he cuddles with all his hookups.”

“Janna, come on. You know that’s not true. Herc is a lot of things but he’s not a cuddler.”

I turned back to her, crossing my arms. “How well do I really know him? We’ve hooked up a couple times, but what do I actually know about Dalton Lucas besides the fact that he’s a good pilot and looks incredible with his shirt off?”

“You know he’s haunted by something. You know he has walls up for a reason. You know he fought for you yesterday.”

“He fought because his ego was bruised, not because he cares about me. He could have just peed on me if he wanted to mark his territory.”

She burst into laughter. “Gross.”

“That’s basically what he did. He doesn’t want me but no one else is supposed to touch me. That’s so high school. It’s stupid. It’s not like I asked for a proposal. He’s being dumb. And weird. I know I’m young, but he’s the one acting like a child. He needs to grow the hell up. He’s off fucking a harem and I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs.”

Cheryl shook her head. “I don’t think that’s true, but even if it is, there’s only one way to find out.”

I glanced at the clock on the wall. Two fifteen. “I can’t just show up and spy on him.”

“Why not? If he’s just hooking up with some random woman, then you’ll know where you stand. And if it’s something else?” She shrugged. “Then maybe you’ll stop torturing yourself and take Tyler up on whatever he was offering yesterday.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, that would be bad. Really bad. I don’t want to be the Reddington doorknob.”

She frowned. “What?”

“Everyone gets a turn.”

She burst into laughter again. “I don’t think that’s what anyone would think.”

I shook my head. “I can’t. I didn’t even want to get together with Dalton but dammit, he’s hard to resist. How did you manage?”