Samuel Johnson was not impulsive.

He also hadn’t dated anyone since Jessica, his girlfriend of four years, had been killed in Afghanistan two years ago. So for two years, he’d kept his heart guarded.

At twenty-five, he wasn’t easily impressed. He kept his head down and his heart in the sky. As a pilot, the only place he felt at peace was in the air. That’s where he felt closest to Jessica. With Jessica in Heaven, it was his way of staying close to her.

Ironically, his focus on flying these last two years had given him a marketable edge. He hadn’t planned on ever leaving Houston, but when he was filling out applications, he’d run across an ad for Skye Travels. He wasn’t sure why Noah Worthington even advertised. His company was legendary.

When Noah had called him to interview and then offered him a job on the spot, Samuel had hesitated. He’d put Noah off for two weeks. He was pretty sure that no one ever put Noah Worthington off, certainly not for two weeks.

But in the end, he couldn’t resist the offer to work for Noah, even if it meant leaving Houston. Technically, he was already on the payroll. He had to take one flight up to Dallas to meet with Noah this week, but otherwise, he’d spend the week packing and getting everything ready to move. Not a bad way to spend the first week on the job.

Until this morning. This morning, Noah had called and asked him to not only pick up a birthday present for his daughter, who just happened to live in Houston, but also to deliver it to her.

Samuel found the whole thing a little perplexing. There was no way that Noah Worthington thought he was going to fly out of Dallas today. Legend had it that Noah was better at forecasting than most meteorologists.

He was also well-known for his stubbornness. Samuel supposed that his daughter’s birthday wasn’t something he would give up lightly. If there had been a way for him to get here, Samuel had little doubt that he would have done so.

Samuel had been surprised to learn that Noah had a daughter living in Houston. He had heard that he had an ex-wife living in California and a current wife living in Alabama. Samuel hadn’t paid much attention to whether or not he had children.

He had a daughter all right. Samuel was nearly speechless as he watched Danielle gingerly nibbling on a cracker. She was beautiful, and he could most definitely see where she could be from California. Her long hair was a swirl of pale lavender and brunette. And it was soft. When he’d held her hair back while she was throwing up, he’d been in awe at the softness of it.

If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought she was pregnant. He almost laughed out loud at the idea. That definitely didn’t fit his first impression. She’d even suggested she didn’t want children.

“Are you better?” He asked.

She nodded and gave him a half-smile. It was the same expression he’d seen on Noah’s face.

“Good.”

“I’m so sorry.” She swept her hair up and dropped it across her left shoulder. “I feel mortified.”

“No need to apologize.” He kept his gaze on her mesmerizing green eyes. “Remember. Two little sisters.”

“Maybe so, but I’m not your sister.”

Thank goodness for that. It had been a long time since Samuel had been this attracted to anyone. About six years, to be precise. He remembered the day he’d met Jessica like it was yesterday. Jessica was nothing like Danielle. Jessica had been jogging in Houston Park with no makeup and her natural-brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. She’d been friendly.

Samuel had been playing Frisbee with his golden retriever, Jack, when the Frisbee landed right at Jessica’s feet. Samuel had always thought it was divine intervention. Laughing, she’d picked it up, and tossed it back toward Samuel. Jack had stopped to look at her, barked once, then turned around and went after the Frisbee.

“Thanks,” Samuel had called out as she waved and jogged away. Three days later, Samuel and Jack had been sitting on a park bench waiting for her. When she saw them, she stopped right in front of them and bent over, hands on her knees, as she caught her breath.

“We’re not stalking you,” he’d said.

“I’m not worried,” she said. “I’m lethal with my hands.”

“I can’t stop thinking about you.”

She’d laughed. And that had been that. They had dated for two years. Then Samuel had proposed, and they’d been engaged when she was deployed to Afghanistan.

Samuel had done everything by the book. He’d had his life with Jessica planned out.

Only Jessica had been returned to him in the belly of a plane, a flag draped over her coffin.

Samuel had done little more than go through the motions for the next two years. He’d all but shut down his life, everything but flying. He stayed in the air as much as possible. When he was flying, he didn’t have to worry about the world.

Or other people.

Jessica had been practical and no-nonsense. Down to earth. He never knew if the military did that to her, or if she was drawn to the military as a result of her personality. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

Now he was sitting here in front of a girl who appeared to be the exact opposite of Jessica. A girl with lavender streaks in her hair. A girl wearing perfect makeup, skinny tights, and a dark gray sweater dress.

And in the mere minutes since he’d met her, she’d thrown up in her wastebasket. Not exactly a very romantic start.

Nonetheless, Samuel was enchanted.