I’m going to die. With my tits out, no less.

My stomach is in my throat as we plummet to the water. With the back of my head plastered to the windshield, I can’t see where we’re headed, but I imagine it’s blue and deep and scary as hell. And from the look on Dex’s face, I’d guess that we’re going to arrive any second now.

He grabs my belt buckle with one hand and yanks me into my seat.

“Buckle up, buttercup,” he says, holding me against the seat as he struggles to break out of the nosedive. My fingers feel as nimble as cinder blocks as I try to fasten my seatbelt. I finally get it clipped in without a second to spare because Dex releases me to flick a couple of switches on the flight deck.

My God.

The ocean is approaching so fast. I’m hyperventilating as I wonder if we’ll explode on impact at this speed or just rocket down to the bottom of the ocean where our heads will explode from the pressure.

I try to say a last prayer, one to each of the Gods just to hedge my bets, but I can’t speak. My chest is burning, and it feels like my voice is being shoved down to my stomach.

Dex’s flexed forearms strain as he pulls the yoke up, starting to straighten the plane out. He flicks a few switches, yanks open the throttle and thankfully, the engine starts back up. The propeller roars back to life, and in the next few seconds, Dex has the plane level and flying parallel to the ground.

Neither of us says anything for at least a minute. I’m the one to break the silence when he turns over and takes a long look at my breasts.

“Can you keep your eyes on the clouds?” I ask, yanking my shirt closed.

“I was keeping my eyes on heaven,” he says, smiling to himself. I’m not in the mood.

“Are you seriously talking about sex?” I say, my voice just an octave under a scream. “We almost died!”

“No, we didn’t,” he says, adjusting his shorts in his crotch region. My arousal is somewhere back up there at ten thousand feet, but he’s still as hard as when I was grinding on him. Shit. I was grinding on him.

How does he keep getting my body to do that so easily?

“I’m an Air Force pilot,” he says in that smug cocky voice that drives me nuts. “I’ve done more than this.”

“This is not an F-22 Raptor,” I scream, my blood pressure jacking back up again. “It’s a prop plane. It can’t do stunts.”

“I just did it,” he says with a shrug.

“And you got kicked out of the Air Force, hot shot,” I say. It’s a low blow, and we both know it. His knuckles turn white as he squeezes the yoke, his jaw clenched shut as he stares at the horizon.

I take a deep breath, feeling bad as I look over at him. It was my big ass that hit the yoke and made us free fall after all.

“Dex,” I say softly after a few minutes of silence. “I’m really sor—”

He flicks the switch to my microphone off before I can finish.

Fine, asshole. I’m not sorry.

We ride the rest of the way back to the island in silence.

* * *

“Dex,” I say when we’re back on the beach. “Are you not going to talk to me anymore?”

He slams the metal stakes that the plane is attached to into the sand with a little more force than necessary. I cringe as he picks up the hammer and smashes it down onto the stake, grunting as he’s probably picturing my face on the head of it.

His body is tense as he moves around with short jerky movements. He looks pissed.

And it’s my fault. Just as we were starting to get along…

“I’m sorry,” I say, feeling a lump in my throat. “I didn’t mean it. My adrenaline was going and I—”

“Do you want to know why I got kicked out of the Air Force?” he asks, waving the hammer around. He stops when he sees it still in his grip and tosses it onto the sand. “Since you’re always bringing it up.”

“I’m sorry, Dex,” I say again, feeling horrible. He made a dream of mine come true today, and I ruined it all. He didn’t deserve that. He doesn’t deserve any of the ways that I’ve been treating him. “You don’t have to tell me anything.”

He exhales hard as he places his hands on his hips, staring down at the sand. A bead of sweat drips down his temple as he closes his eyes. “It wasn’t because I messed up,” he says, running his hand through his hair. “And it wasn’t because I was incompetent or negligent.”

He opens his eyes and looks at me with a sadness that breaks my heart. “I got kicked out because I disobeyed a direct command.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” I say, feeling terrible that I’m making him tell me his secret.

“I want to tell you,” he says, locking eyes on me. “I want you to know.”

My body goes still as I wait for it, my hands trembling by my sides.

“I was doing a tour in Iraq,” he says with a hard swallow. His eyes are suddenly off the beach and back in the war-torn country. I don’t like this. I wish he was back here with me.

“I was flying the Raptor on a mission,” he says, his voice thick with emotion. “There was a known high-ranking terrorist in a house, and I was on my way over there. Yazen Maalouf. It had been confirmed that he was in the location, meeting with his mistress. My orders were to take the house down, but when I was approaching with my finger on the trigger, I saw two kids playing in the front yard.”

I get a slight chill despite the warm sun on my face as I listen to him. I can’t imagine what that would feel like-being ordered to kill children.

“The heartless fuck on the other line of the radio was screaming at me to fire, but I couldn’t. I kept looking at the kids. My finger wouldn’t move. They were smiling as they pointed up at my jet, and I just couldn’t. I flew by and Yazen Maalouf got away.”

I want to run to him and feel his strong arms wrap around me, but I just stand there, standing awkwardly and quiet.

“That’s how I got dishonorably discharged,” he says with a sigh. “I’m lucky I didn’t have to face the firing squad.”

“You did the right thing.” My thoughts are jumbled right now but I know it. He did the right thing.

“Did I?” he asks, looking at me with sad eyes. “Three days later, Yazen Maalouf was responsible for an attack that killed two of my fellow soldiers. Ask their wives and children if I did the right thing.”

“Dex,” I say, breathless. “That’s not your fault. Those soldiers signed up to the military, knowing their deaths were a possibility. Those kids had no choice in the matter. They were innocent.”

“Maybe,” he says as he pulls out his sunglasses and puts them on. “Or maybe I deserve to face the firing squad.”

“Dex,” I say as he walks away. It falls on deaf ears.

I’ve been so busy thinking that Dex and I have been fighting a war that I forgot he really did fight in one. It couldn’t have been an easy decision what he did, but I think he made the right choice.

I’m lost in thought, feeling horrible at all the wrong turns the day took that I don’t notice Kara walking up to me.

“You two are getting close,” she says, eying me savagely. “I don’t like it.”

“I don’t really care,” I spit back at her. My eyes fall to the hammer in the sand and I’m tempted. Man, am I tempted.

“First you flirt with my husband,” she says, twirling a circle with her finger in her perfect blonde hair. “Now you’re flirting with my pilot. Are you trying to annoy me, or are you just a really big whore?”

I step up to her but then swallow my words when I remember what’s on the line. I have a big payday coming my way if I can get the prince to purchase the yachts and then I can finally pay my way through flight school.

But that’s not what’s really getting to me. If I get fired, I’ll probably never see Dex again, and as much as I hate to admit it, that’s the thing that’s really going to hurt.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Mrs. Gladstone,” I say, lowering my head in a show of submission. It kills me to do it, but now is not the time. One day it will be, but not right now.

“Keep your stinky truck-stop pussy where it belongs, in your pants,” she says, glaring at me. Her glare turns into a smile as she raises her chin in triumph. “If I see you speak to Dex one more time. I’m getting you fired.”

This day has just gone from bad to worse.

And the sun is still up. I still have a few hours to go.