Page 13 of Forever Fascinating

“Don’t just try… do it,” she urged. “Girls like a guy that smells clean or smells like a very nice cologne – not an ashtray.”

“I hear ya…” he chuckled lightly, holding up a half empty pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his trousers. “May I?”

“I’ll nag you until you stop,” she warned, before smiling and waving him off. “Go do your thing. I’m going to see my man – who smells amazing and is the perfect guy.”

“Sounds like I’ve already lost the competition…” he joked easily, because he wasn’t interested – and the woman before him only had eyes for Alpo and it was obvious.

“Fumbled the football before ever getting to the starting line, buster,” she taunted, nodding. “Enjoy.”

“I plan on it,” he smiled, giving her a mock salute before walking outside.

Texas really was pretty… strangely different, yet nice.

Back home near Boston, there were so many buildings, towers, parks, and landmarks – but here? Everything was wide-open, like you could look around for miles and miles, seeing scrub brush, cactus, fields, and the occasional cluster of trees or hills.

Lighting his cigarette, he slipped on his sunglasses and inhaled deep, closing his eyes, almost sighing in relief at the wave that rolled over him.

Smoking was like a bad habit that you didn’t want to have, couldn’t explain, but when you took that first drag on the cigarette… it was relaxing, like slipping on a worn-out pair of sneakers.

He jogged down the few steps easily, putting his hands in his pockets, and slowly walked down the sidewalk that ran the length of the building. He was hoping for a bench, a swing, or a pergola to sit down and enjoy the breeze for a few before going back inside.

Matthew was actually dreading going into the reception – because of her.

Hot Cakes was going to kill him if he so much as looked at his sister, and when he waved hello, causing the other airman to look at him in anger… he knew in that moment who the beautiful blond was.

Maybe he could stay out here, feign an illness, or…

Matthew felt every nerve down his spine suddenly flare in awareness the second he heard a door open in the distance. He didn’t even have to turn around before he knew who it was.

He could practically feel the other pilots’ hands around his neck, causing him to drop his cigarette down on the pavement, crushing it immediately, as he looked up to see the ethereal vision slipping out of a doorway not fifteen feet away.

He was glad he put out his cigarette, because it would have fallen from his lips in that moment.

Standing there, hands in his pockets, he knew he was looking at her boldly. His eyes roved over her behind the tinted lenses of his dark aviators, grateful she couldn’t see his reaction.

She was breathtakingly beautiful and made his stomach clench, just seeing her standing there in the breeze. Soft, bouncy curls fell just past her shoulders, but were swept aside with a comb to hold them back from her oval-shaped face, revealing a long, delicate neck like a woman in some an antique painting.

The bridesmaid dress she was wearing reminded him of a Grecian goddess. It was flowing, the top layer made of a gauzy material of the palest shade of a robin’s egg blue. A stunning, form-fitted bodice with one single wide strap of sheer material, holding it in place.

He didn’t know much about girly things, but assumed that such a dress would need alternate underthings… that were suddenly visibly dancing silently in the forefront of his mind right now.

Matthew bit back a groan and let his head sag forward, almost in defeat.

Hot Cakes was going to kill him.

The man would torture him, stake him out to die in the desert, or possibly castrate him for the rampant thoughts going through his mind right now just looking at his sister.

Looking up, he realized that he was so screwed no matter what he did or said, because he couldn’t leave the area, reception, or this very place, without saying hello – or goodbye.

This…whatever this was… could never happen.

“Hello,” she said softly – and every thought left his head.

He was a dead man.

CHAPTER5

JANA

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