Page 22 of Forever Fickle

“Why?” she asked, turning suddenly and meeting his eyes. “Why? Why me? What did I do to draw all this attention from you? You’re going to be leaving and I’m not the week’s entertainment for you.”

“No, you’re not,” Jace replied, not looking away from her, his eyes warm and slightly dismayed – almost as if he couldn’t believe it himself. “I can’t explain it, but I really want to get to know you better, Karen.”

“I’m sure you are a very nice guy,” Karen said softly, hoping that he would listen this time and understand what she was afraid to say aloud. “But this can’t be anything more than two people meeting at work. It needs to stay civil, polite, and not become some part of whatever fantasy you are concocting in your head.”

“So, this is a fantasy of mine,” he smirked, smiling at her. “Knowing you are watching me, listening to me, feeling this attraction between us…”

“Listen to yourself,” she balked, nearly laughing at him. “Those lines might have worked for other girls,Hot CakesSorensen… but I’m not like those other girls. Those pick-up lines aren’t going to work on me.”

“What will then?” he asked bluntly, causing her to lean back in her chair and look at him in disbelief. She realized this was a conquest for him and the man before her had never been told ‘no’ a day in his life.

“I guess you’ll have to figure that out for yourself, won’t you?” Karen said candidly, looking at him with unwavering eyes and brutal truth. If he was interested, she wasn’t going to make it easy for him to break her heart. “Now, if you are done? I’ve got some things that I need to finish before I head out for the day, Mr. Sorensen.”

“You can call me Jace or Hot Cakes.”

“I’mnotaddressing you as Hot Cakes… and Mr. Sorensen has more of a business formality to it, wouldn’t you agree?”

“You’re doing this deliberately.”

“I’m drawing the line in the sand,” she agreed, not looking up. “Now, if you don’t mind, Mr. Sorensen?”

Jace got up without another word – and stormed out angrily, slamming the front door behind him. Part of her wanted to laugh at his childish antics, but another part of her felt bad for him.

She saw him marching past the window, not even glancing in her direction, and moments later a Cessna was taxiing down the runway at breakneck speeds.

Pressing the ‘call’ button on the radio, she spoke evenly.

“Cessna 639, this is Flyboys… do you copy?”

“I copy.”

“Please announce all departures and landings for the safety of others in the area. Cessna Alpha 38 is in the vicinity with a student pilot. Do you copy?”

“I Copy, Flyboys,” his voice was angry at being chastised. “Cessna 639 is rising to four thousand feet to clear the airspace. I’ll be back later.”

“Copy that, Mr. Sorensen,” Karen said, knowing it would just make him angrier than he already was. If the grown man was going to throw a tantrum at not getting his way, he had better find a way to deal with it on his own… not at someone else’s expense.

Safety first on the runways… always.

That is what Firefly and Armadillo had told her repeatedly – as well as the other men who worked there that she’d met briefly. They were big on safety, and no one would chide her for calling out Jace on lack of protocol.

Sighing heavily, she realized that he was probably trying to let off some steam and round two between them would occur again in the morning when she arrived for work. The two fighters needed to go to their corners before coming out swinging again.

Finishing up the bills, she cleared off the desk, put things away and realized she was dawdling in the hopes to see Jace. Shaking her head foolishly, she realized that perhaps she was just as drawn to him as he was to her – and that is what made this so hard to handle.

There was something about Jace that just struck a chord in her from the very first moment she’d laid eyes on him. The way he’d stood in front of her car, pointing at the sign and giving her that lopsided smile… yeah, he’d gotten under her skin in a split second.

Getting her purse, Karen pulled out her keys and hesitated. Armadillo had left and she wasn’t sure Jace had a key to get back in. Looking up at the hook, she saw the spare key was still there on the wall in Harley’s office.

Pressing the button on the radio, she called out.

“Mr. Sorensen, will you be landing soon? You left your key… do you copy?” Karen released the button and waited.

After several minutes passed, she tried again.

“Mr. Sorensen, do you copy? This is Flyboys calling.”

Just as she was getting ready to mash the button again, she heard his voice.

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