Page 9 of Owen

Curious, I ask, “Are you a nanny for one of the team members?” I feel compelled to find out everything about her, secretly hoping she’s here for the entirety of Gregor’s training.

“Nanny? Eh, no.” Rolling her eyes, she looks as if she’s pissed off with me.

Shit.

“Oh, sorry. Are you one of the wives? Is your husband a pilot too, like Gregor?” My eyes drop to her hand, searching for awedding band. However, I can’t see properly while she clutches the baby that’s now pulling at the neckline of her sundress.

“Negative to that, too.” She mumbles something else under her breath that sounds distinctly like “male chauvinist idiot.”

Ouch.

“Sorry if I offended you.” The keys jingle when I hold my hands up in surrender. She does not explain who she is as she accepts my apology with reluctance.

I hold out the selection of keys for her to take as she shimmies the restless matching red-haired baby up the side of her body, then takes the red bunch for the largest villa from me.

If she’s not the nanny or one of the wives, who is she?

“Poppy, baby.” I hear Gregor calling out as the steady beat of loud footsteps runs in our direction, making the baby in the woman’s arms squeal and clap her chubby hands.

As the red-haired woman turns to greet Gregor, he reaches out for the baby, who willingly climbs into his arms as if she’s done it plenty of times before.

The penny drops. “Are you Gregor’s boss’s girlfriend?” If she’s not a wife or the nanny, she must be. I don’t know why I feel disappointed.Or why I am even fucking asking.

Gregor splutters. “No, Owen, tryboss. Squadron Leader Sommers is my boss.” He acknowledges her. “Ma’am.” He mock salutes her.

For a heartbeat, my mouth snaps open, then closes again.

She slaps his hand away from his forehead, stopping him from saluting her. “We are outside of work. I’ve told you hundreds of times to stop doing that and to call me Jade.”

Gregor winks at me. I think he enjoys winding her up.

“Squadron Leader Jade Sommers, this is my cousin, Owen Brodie. Jade, meet Owen. Owen, meet Jade.”

“Ah, so you’re the cousin who caused the scar above Gregor’seyebrow trying to teach him to do BMX stunts when he was a teenager?”

“It was an accident.” I defend myself, then mutter under my breath, “Squadron leader?”

My eyes are glued to hers; she looks younger than Gregor’s thirty-five years. I always imagined squadron leaders to be older. Apparently, this is not the case.

“Yes, I’m the squadron leader.” She smirks, hearing my indiscreet musings.

“Wow,” I gasp, in complete awe.

Ignoring us, Gregor admires Poppy’s white cotton dress, telling her she looks pretty. Then he says, “Isn’t your mommy clever? She iswow.” He smirks, then lifts his head to address me. “Jade is the world’s first female pilot to join the aerobatic display team. She’s abadass.”He mouths the last word, conscious of crass language around tiny ears. “Jade’s flying call sign is Red 1. She’s number one, isn’t she, Poppy?” He tickles the skin under the baby’s chin, making her giggle.

I’m speechless. That’s incredible.

“What do you do?” She folds her arms around herself, lifting her eyebrows high in expectation. “Pump weights at the gym, spend your days surfing, work on your tan, take dozens of selfies, and post them all over social media?” she teases back.

I don’t get a chance to respond when Gregor says, “Good one.” He chuckles. “Better question,whyis he staying with me?” He looks smug as hell. “When he should be on his honeymoon.”

“Oh gosh,” she gasps, glancing down at my ring finger and then back up, mouth agape.

“Owen is a runaway groomsman.” He pulls his lips into his mouth and takes a step back, cowering away from me like the dumbass he is. If he didn’t have Poppy in his arms, I would havehim in a headlock within seconds, exactly like we used to do to each other when we were younger.

Jade exclaims, “You stood her up?”

My cousin laughs out loud while I cringe and die a little more inside.

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