Page 26 of Forever Fickle

The man opened his mouth, hesitated, held up a finger, then three fingers, then all five before holding up the other hand, started to speak, and then put his hands down.

“No, I don’t think I have…” he admitted, looking completely baffled and confused at the revelation.

“Thank you.”

CHAPTER10

KAREN

Armadillo was eyeingher and glowering at Jace all afternoon – especially when they broke for lunch. She’d gone into town to get some barbecue sandwiches for everyone and when she got back, the three of them were standing there, talking, and got quiet the moment she walked in.

Then, Firefly’s parting words as he headed out for the day, was giving her second thoughts.

“Be glad it’s me and Armadillo today… and not Alpo. He’s seriously got a ‘protective dad’ mentality and would probably beat Hot Cakes to the ground for looking at you twice,” Firefly grinned knowingly.

“Nothing is gonna happen,” she hissed at him, realizing that if he thought of her like a little sister – she could treat him like an older brother. “Shut up or I’m gonna tell mom…”

The man laughed wildly – and so did she because neither knew who ‘mom’ actually was among the team.

“That’s a good one. Mel is gonna enjoy this gossip tonight over dinner,” Firefly chuckled. “Have fun, kiddo.”

“We’re nearly the same age,” Karen smiled and saw him wave as he turned his back to walk out of the office. She heard the last of the planes coming in for a landing. Armadillo had landed fifteen minutes ago, so this was Jace and she cleared him to land moments earlier.

Sure enough, the plane taxied down the runway towards the hangar and she knew he was going to refuel before their flight. The plane spun around slowly just as the engines were cut – and she saw the last student get out of the plane, giving Jace a high-five as the teenager ran towards where his mother’s car was waiting.

She smiled and waved at the woman before locking the office door behind her, only to see the woman walk towards Jace and the plane.

His face spoke volumes as he put up both his hands in almost a defensive position, shrugged, and then turned away from her, back towards the plane.

The woman looked highly upset at Jace’s open dismissal, before she looked at Karen, and then stormed off towards her car. Did the woman think that Jace was picking her? Was she hitting on Jace – or had he said something suggestive to their client?

Surely not…

This felt so strange to be walking towards the hangar, knowing that she was actually going to be spending time with Jace outside of work… almost as if it was a date. No, she couldn’t call it that because then it was personal – this was friends, coworkers, and that’s all it could ever be.

He was standing on the landing gear, checking over the plane, and was in the process of removing the nozzle from the tank when he spotted her. He waved easily, smiling at her, reminding her of his words once again.

“You were wrong, you know…” Karen began, seeing his face tighten slightly. “The Empire Strikes Back was the best movie.”

He laughed easily, shaking his head in amusement.

“You scared me,” Jace grinned. “I thought you were going to say it was theRise of Skywalkeror something. I can deal with you preferringEmpireoverRogue One… everyone is allowed to make some mistakes.”

“Oh really?” she taunted, liking this side of him so much better. This was easier, she could handle friendly banter without the pressure of more.

“Yep, but that’s okay. Maybe someday when I have more time in town, we can watch the movies together and see which is actually better.”

“You’re on,” she agreed easily, seeing the surprise in his eyes. “I’ll make the popcorn and then completely trounce your movie into the ground with all the flaws.”

“Pshawww… there are none,” he countered, grinning. “You ready to fly?”

“Actually, about that?” Karen hedged and saw his smile falter. “I’ve flown a few times in the past and I get a lot of anxiety when flying. You think maybe we can…”

“Why do you feel anxious?”

“Because I don’t want to crash,” she said bluntly. “I really like living and the idea of smearing myself across the pavement just isn’t appealing.”

“I’m not going to let us crash,” he countered easily.

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