Page 19 of Owen

“That’s what I said.” He throws his hands up to the constellations again. “At least someone has some common sense around here. I felt powerless,” he mumbles, rubbing his hand across his stubble.

“Time to claim back your power, Owen.” His eyes fill with warmth, his shoulders dropping and his face looking less tense. Even the deep V between his eyebrows seems to soften as he grants me what looks like a genuine smile.

“Thank you,” he says.

“For?”

“Making me feel better than I have in days, maybe weeks, months. Who knows?”

“All part of the service,” I reply with one hand on my empty wineglass and the other still on his knee. I’m glad I joined him for a drink. He obviously needed someone to talk to.

“Another?” Owen points to my glass.

I put my hand over the top. “No, thank you. Training tomorrow.”

He tucks a lock of his blonde hair behind his ear. “Discipline, I like it. Did you always want to become a pilot?”

I clear my throat, happy to share. “Since I was ten. My fatherwas in the Air Force, as was my grandfather and my great-great-grandfather, too.”

“Did you feel you had to follow in the family footsteps, or is it something you wanted to do?” he asks, sounding genuinely interested.

Usually in control, I find it hard to concentrate as he begins to draw a figure of eight with his fingertip across my skin.

I reply, “It’s something I have always wanted to do. I love it.” My whole body lights up. I feel it every time I talk about my job, and with him touching me the way he is, my entire body is burning for more. Contently, I sigh. “When it’s just you, the aircraft, how it responds to you, it’s intense and nothing comes close to how exhilarating it is. When I sit inside that cockpit, everything changes. I just focus on the mission and what I need to do next. Maintain a cool head, make split decisions under pressure if I have to.” My voice is dreamy. “I focus on flying and leave my personal problems on the ground.” I almost whisper my last words as his fingers move up my thigh.

“Do you have problems, Jade?” He waits several seconds and when I don’t reply, he says, “I hope you don’t mind, but I asked Gregor if you were in a relationship.”

My heart jumps at his unexpected question.

Owen confesses quietly, “He told me you’d broken up with Poppy’s father. He also said your ex is a bit of a douchebag.” His face is serious, and his eyes stay glued to mine.

My forehead tightens in a scowl when I think about my ex. “No judgment?” I ask the same question he asked me.

He shakes his head slowly. “None.”

“Until I had Poppy, I didn’t have any problems. But now, every decision I make, from childcare to my next career move, they all feel like problems. It was just me before. I had no oneelse to think about. But now…” I can’t hide my emotions, my voice thick with love. “She’s all I can think about.”

Unsure why I am opening up to a stranger, I babble my innermost thoughts that have been playing havoc with me. “Lately, I can’t stop thinking about the safety of my job. What happens if I make an error? What happens if the aircraft fails? Who would look after Poppy? Michael? I don’t think so,” I scoff, forgetting who I am speaking to for a moment.

“Michael?” Owen questions.

“That’s my ex’s name. Poppy’s father,” I whisper, ashamed I couldn’t make it work between us.

He nods. “Does he not see her?” His eyes fill with sadness.

I avert my gaze across to the pool that’s lit up like a blue lagoon. “Oh, hecansee her. He just doesn’twantto. He’s not interested.”

“Well, that’s a damn shame, because she’s super cute.”

My heart flutters. “She is.”

“She looks like you.”

“Poor girl. She’ll have to spend her life in the shade. Red hair and pale skin are not fun in the sun.”

“She’ll still shine the brightest. Just like you.”

My breathing stalls when he places a knuckle under my chin.

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