Page 16 of Rex's Honor
“I still am, but I will admit to being spoiled, and I do enjoy flying first class.”
“When you’re used to being transported in the cargo hold of a C-130, a no-frills airline is first class.”
“I wasn’t surprised at all when I heard you’d become a fireman. You always said you wanted to become an arson investigator.”
“I also said I wanted to join the military after I got my degree.”
“But you dropped out of school.” She flipped down the visor, exposing a small mirror so she could put on a little makeup.
“I got my degree. Six years ago, but I finished it.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Puckering her lips, she applied the lip gloss, trying to ignore the pull he had over her mind and other parts.
“I’ve been meaning to ask. Why the Peace Corps? You never talked about that in college.”
She leaned back in her seat. She could be honest, or she could lie. Her mother would tell her to fudge a little, especially if she cared about the man and wanted him in her life. Her father would tell her to be brutally honest. If he couldn’t take it, he wasn’t the man for her. What was odd, however, was that it had been her father who had an affair for years, so his advice didn’t float.
Well, it did, just not coming from him.
“I’d planned on going back in high school, but then you and I happened, and I figured you’d be joining the Air Force after college, and having both of us living in faraway places wouldn’t make for a solid foundation for a life together.”
“What?” He snapped his head in her direction as he exited the highway toward the airport. “You would have given that up just because of my plans?”
“Not your plans. Our plans.”
“But you never told me about this dream.”
“I wanted you more than I wanted the Peace Corps,” she admitted.
“But not enough to come after me when I left.”
Talk about brutal, though it wasn’t the truth. “We could go back and forth all day on who didn’t chase after whom. I thought you’d come back to school, and when I walked into the apartment we rented for our senior year, I assumed you’d be there. But you never showed up, and that said a lot.”
“I suppose it does, but maybe my leaving just opened the door for you to return to what you really wanted.”
“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?” All morning he’d waffled between being nice but standoffish or acting like he’d been annoyed by everything about her being on his boat.
The car rolled to a stop at the rental return.
“No. I’m just trying to understand because so many of your actions contradict each other.” He stepped from the vehicle, giving the attendant the keys before grabbing his suitcase from the back seat.
So did his, but she wasn’t about to continue this ridiculous conversation any further. They walked into the airport in a chilly silence that made her skin prickle. She glanced his way a few times, but he looked straight ahead. He did that when he was either pondering something or annoyed.
She figured right now he was both.
“We go through the main security, then we get a bus over to the small airplane hangar. The crew is on the jet and ready to go.”
“I haven’t flown on a plush private jet since my dad took the golf team to the Bahamas.”
“Do you still get to play?” she asked, stepping into the airport security line through pre-check, grateful the conversation shifted quickly and easily.
“I play when I can. How about you?” He dumped his bag on the conveyor belt and stepped through the metal detector. He didn’t look back as she followed suit.
She gathered her things and headed toward the bus terminal. “Not since the last time with you.”
“Well, maybe we should play a round at the club while I’m home. I’ve always enjoyed the way you cock your hip right before you swing.”
She stepped through the door he held open and climbed onto the bus. Her stomach pitched and rolled. And here he thought her actions were conflicting. He sent her one mixed message after the other, and it felt more like watching a tennis match than having a conversation.
