Page 7 of Forever Fickle

“I would hazard a bet that you’re right,” he admitted, glancing at his watch. Maybe it would befifteenminutes - and the fastest free beer he had ever chugged in his entire life.

* * *

Ten minutes later,he was enjoying another free beer courtesy of ‘Mandy’ who had joined the table where he was practically cornered by Cordelia.

Mandy was almost as obnoxious as the yoga instructor – however – she was a painter… and offered to paint him nude.

That was a first for him!

“Ladies,” Jace smiled placatingly, wishing the beer was a bit stiffer as a redhead walked over to the table, to say ‘hello’. “You are all so incredibly talented and lovely, but my flight is getting ready to board.”

The trio – including the new woman – all groaned in frustration as Jace was handed two more business cards and felt a hand touch his pants, causing him to jump nervously.

Someone was awfully touchy!

“Stop…” he chuckled, feeling his face heat up with embarrassment. “You girls are going to make me blush. I promise next time I’m in the area that maybe I’ll give one of you a call. You never know? As a pilot, I…”

“Ohhh he’s a pilot?”

“I love flying!”

“I’ve never been in the ‘Mile High Club’… but I could be!”

“Me too!”

“All three of us could join, eh, Mr. Sorensen?”

“You could indoctrinate all of us, couldn’t you?”

Jace hesitated, trying to keep his eyes from popping out of his head at the unbelievable invitation. Had they no shame? My goodness, none of these women were something he would bring home to his mother.

No, his mom would have an absolute hissy-fit and his sister would laugh uproariously before teasing him about S.T.Ds and such.

He wondered for a moment if he could catch something just standing nearby – and abruptly shot to his feet.

“I have to go,” he said bluntly, trying to cushion the abruptness of his words with a smile. “I’m sorry, girls, but it was very nice to meet you all.”

Jace peeled someone’s red-tipped fingers off his wrist and disentangled himself from the growing crowd, quickly feeling his pants pocket where someone had touched him to make sure his wallet was still in place.

It was still there,he thought, relieved.

“Nice to meet you again,” he called out, waving, as he headed for his gate, turning to walk the other direction.

“…And please don’t be on my flight.”

* * *

Hours later,Jace was sitting on the plane at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas and couldn’t help the smile that touched his face as he looked out the airplane’s windows while they waited for a gate to disembark.

The area was flat and surprisingly a little windy. He could feel the plane shake a little as it was rocked slightly, and their landing had been a touch rough. He was here – and it was time for him to take on the role of teacher for a few days.

For a moment it reminded him of his days at the Academy when he was learning how to fly a Falcon for the first time.

Gosh, that had been embarrassing. He'd teetered in the wind, finally finding his ‘groove’ and straightening up the plane before landing it… hard.

Checking his phone, Jace saw that he had two emails from the guys and felt the plane lurch forward, before smiling. Finally, they were advancing to a gate.

The first email was simple – a sincere ‘Thank you’from the guys for helping out. The second email was a little more surprising.

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