Page 59 of Forever Fickle

Karen glanced up at Jace in that moment as they rose to their feet, seeing his gaze. She saw a flicker in his eyes, a recognition, as he gave a small nod, before leaning forward to kiss her gently on the cheek.

“It will be okay,” he breathed against her skin. “I promise you.”

She nodded, feeling a lump in her throat, as his hand slipped into hers, their fingers laced, as if they were clinging to each other in silence, not wanting to let go.

Twenty minutes later, the service let out and she realized that time was slipping by faster than either of them expected. As they walked in the parking lot towards her car, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and saw the text message from Alpo.

If I remember right, Hot Cakes flies out in the morning?

Yes,she replied simply.

I’ll cover for you tomorrow – take the day for yourself.

I’d rather come in so I’m not thinking about it all afternoon…

Karen texted back, realizing it was true. Her screen got blurry before her eyes as she stood there beside her car – only to feel Jace suddenly at her side.

“Hey…” he breathed, pulling her into a hug against him. “Not yet, okay?”

Not fighting the feelings in her, she circled her arms around his waist, just feeling so vulnerable and needing to be held in that moment.

“Shhh… let’s just spend today close to each other and not even think about tomorrow, okay?” Jace whispered against her hair. “I need to see that smile, pick at that sassy attitude, and just feel you near me. I’m not ready to accept what tomorrow brings.”

“Me neither,” she admitted softly, breathing deep of his clean pine and soap scent. “I just want to be somewhere that feels like we are alone.”

“How about we hide away, pretend we are the only ones in the world, and just watch the clouds pass us by…”

The temptation he was offering had her look up in surprise at him.

“Do you trust me?” he whispered, his eyes searching hers.

“More than I ever imagined,” she answered openly, realizing it was true, as he took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips and kissing her knuckles.

“Let’s go to Flyboys… I’ve got an idea.”

“Are we going flying again?”

“If you want to – but that wasn’t what I had in mind,” he smiled.

CHAPTER17

KAREN

“You want me to what…?”

Karen stared at Jace, laughing at his statement in disbelief as she stood in the hallway at Flyboys. He’d told her he was going to go get changed out of his uniform and asked her to make some coffee for the two of them… only to have him return, wearing his T-shirt and a pair of running shorts - holding another pair of running shorts in front of him.

“You’re wearing a dress and look absolutely beautiful in it, but I thought maybe we could relax a bit…”

“In shorts?” she said flatly, smiling at him.

“And a Flyboys T-shirt,” he grinned. “I wouldn’t want you to get sunburned.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” she replied glibly, before laughing. “You never told me what you had in mind, but fine. I’ll go change without question, following your lead.”

“That’s my girl…” he teased, leaning forward to kiss the tip of her nose. “Trust me and just play along.”

“Fine. I’m playing,” she placated, shaking her head. “I’m playing.”

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