Page 60 of This Baby Business
“Giving you space. Didn’t I tell you it wouldn’t take long? You got Digger. And Grace is a big attraction.”
Levi didn’t think so, at least not with Carly. Grace had helped with her business, and that was about the extent of her attraction to him because of Grace. Which, to be honest, was something else he liked about her. She wasn’t one of these women who glommed on to babies like they were trying to suck out all their oxygen.
“It’s nothing. Just…we’re having some fun.”
Matt slid him a significant look. “Yeah? And does she know this?”
“Hell, it was her idea.” He bit into his second doughnut and inhaled it in three bites. “Neither one of us is looking for anything permanent.”
“I don’t know her deal, but I know yours. And you need to remember that you’re in new territory. Just because women couldn’t hang with the life of an AF pilot doesn’t mean that’s going to be the case anymore.”
It wasn’t as if Levi hadn’t tried long-term relationships in the past. Twice, in fact, with women he believed he loved at the time. But when neither one could tolerate the long absences without cheating on him, he’d given up. Either long distance didn’t work for anyone, or he was simply easy to leave.
“Thanks for the 411. I’m good.”
“You don’t want an angry nanny on your hands.”
No, he didn’t. Levi glanced at his phone. Speaking of angry…
He had to call Frank and give him hell. The man wasn’t returning calls and messages. How did the Lanes expect to build trust when they kept lying to him? The lies had started with Sandy. And the first conversation he’d ever had with her father had begun with a lie. He’d told Levi in no uncertain terms that Grace was the child of Sandy and her boyfriend at the time. They had the birth certificate to prove it.
But in fact, Levi had been contacted again by social services after the birth certificate had been found. He’d wasted four weeks he could have had with his daughter. Now he was caught in Carly’s lie, which she thought would help him, too, but, in his opinion, was far more about her company.
* * *
Levi
By Monday,Leviwas back to work. He put in some more work on the mechanics of the sidelined plane with Jedd, took a few fight lessons and a flight to San Diego. He was alert and well rested.
That was a lie. He was alert but not well rested, and he’d blame that on his neighbor. He’d almost forgotten how much he loved sex. At least this time he was exhausted for all his favorite reasons.
Cute and Stuck-Up was not cute at all. She was freaking gorgeous. He knew this now because he’d explored and been up close and personal with every soft and sweet part of her—and there were a lot of sweet parts. She made tiny moans when he had her close, and when she finally let go for him, her whimpering sounds drew him right to the edge before he was ready. He’d had to fight hard to keep control.
“Oh my God, what’s wrong? Are we going down? Are we crashing?”
He was going to get Stone to stop handing him the difficult runs just because he was the new guy. Mary Helen Zelinski had a fear of flying she’d been working on for years. Her therapist had finally gotten her to the point where she could get inside a plane that wasn’t moving. That was last week. Today, Levi had calmly gone over the flight process and procedures. All of their many safety measures. Given her his credentials and flight record. They’d been in the air for ten minutes, Mary Helen white-knuckling it all the way.
“We’re fine, ma’am,” he said in his most assured, calm, pilot voice—the same voice he’d use to announce, “We’re going down.” He left that part out. It was never going to happen, but still. No room for emotion in the cockpit. Fear or otherwise. It’s the way he’d been trained and the way he lived his life.
“No! You can’t fool me. I’ve been watching you and you look distracted. Nervous. You keep checking that controller thingy. I sawSully, too! It was part of my therapy. I read that all you pilots are like blocks of ice, so we’re probably all about to die!”
Levi had handled plenty in his decade-plus of flying, but he’d have to say that a panicked passenger seated directly behind him with her therapist was not one of them. Still, he wouldn’t let it rattle him. Or inform her that if there was any distraction at all here, it had to do with multiple orgasms and nothing else.
“Calm, Mary Helen, calm,” her therapist instructed. “Remember what we talked about. Our pilot has an impeccable safety record—”
“Which could end at any time!”
“Breathe.”
“We’ll head back now,” Levi said.
“Why does he suddenly sound like a robot? Dr. Campbell, if you make it, please tell my husband I love him. Also, I left him his favorite casserole. I knew this would happen.”
“We’re flying safely home,” Dr. Campbell said.
“Should I request an ambulance to meet us?” Levi said and immediately regretted it.
Damn.He was really off his game today.
