Smoke watched Laura step outside. She was so damned hot! Her hair was still damp from the shower—that had been fun. She was wearing one of his T-shirts and nothing else.

“Are you going to let me go next door now and get some clothes?” She put her hands on her hips and gave him that sexy smile.

She'd said she was going to get some earlier, but he'd blocked the bedroom door with his body—that's how they'd ended up in the shower.

“Nope.” He grinned. “I made us some coffee. Come join me.”

She took a step towards her side of the deck. “You can't stop me,” she teased.

He was up from the table. “We both know I can...and I will!” he added, as she made a break for it.

He caught her easily. Closing his arms around her waist and lifting her off her feet. She beat her hands against his chest. “Put me down, you big Neanderthal!”

He laughed and went to the sofa, keeping hold of her so that when he sat she was straddling his lap.  He was getting hard again. How did she do it to him? She'd ridden him hard before they got out of bed. He'd taken her against the wall in the shower not half an hour ago and now he wanted her again. He just could not get enough of her!

“I'll let you go soon,” he said and planted a kiss on her lips. “Have coffee with me first, though?”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a sweet little kiss on the end of his nose, making him smile. “Okay. Are you working today?”

He felt himself tense. He wasn't, but he didn't want to get into this one.

She took his silence as affirmation and planted another little kiss on his forehead. “Then we'd better make the most of the time we have. What time do you have to leave? Is it Jack?”

He felt the tension slip away. That wasn't the reaction he'd feared. No sulking, no pouting, no telling him it was the weekend and he shouldn't be working. He smiled. “I don't know yet. It's not Jack. The only flight on my schedule today is taking this hot chick back to San Francisco.”

Laura frowned, “I thought she was doing a one way car rental.”

“No. That got canceled. See, now she has her own private pilot at her disposal. So I'm just waiting for her to tell me what time. I'm hoping it won't be till tonight though.”

Damn! That smile was making him harder.

“Oh. I see. Do you think she has plans here for today?” She arched an eyebrow.

Another game, huh? Well, he'd win this one. “Maybe. I understand she's met a guy here. She really likes him. She wants to spend the day with him and...she's hoping to get into his pants again before she has to leave.”

She threw her head back and laughed.

Man, he loved it when she did that. It was such a carefree sound. But. Was she laughing at him? Suddenly he felt like she might be. What was he doing? He'd told her she didn't like to make herself vulnerable. Truth was, neither did he. “But, I could be wrong.”

She tightened her arms around his neck and kissed him long and deep. The way her body pressed against his gave him all the reassurance he hadn't known he was so desperate for. When she finally broke away she smiled down at him. “You're not wrong. She does really like him. She would love to spend the day with him—and get into his pants again later. She's just not sure how all this is going to work. She's not used to making plans with a guy.” She planted a little kiss on his lips. “And I don't think he is either.”

Wow! That was laying it out there. Maybe he should do the same. “Yeah, I heard he's not too good at planning when it comes to women. Prefers to fly by the seat of his pants.”

She nodded.

“But something's going on with him. I know he's hoping she'll spend the day with him. And sometimes he gets a crazy idea in his mind and he even wants to plan ahead.”

“He does?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I heard he wants to ask her if she'll be his date to the Phoenix fundraiser, but he doesn't know if he should. She might hate the idea.”

Her smile was back. “She might love the idea! I think he should ask her.”

A little rush of happiness settled in his chest. “I think he just did.” She looked so happy it made him a little uneasy. “Maybe she should think about it before she says yes. I mean she hardly knows him. I hear he has a pretty bad rep when it comes to women. He's a bit of heart breaker, you know. Loves 'em and leaves 'em.”

She smiled. “She already knows he has this huge ego. And she's figured out he has some demons in his past, she doesn't mind that. She has some too. She's prepared to take a chance. Isn't there some quote about how every saint has a past and every sinner has a future?”

“Oscar Wilde.” He needed her to know the score, but wasn't willing to get into the heavy stuff, so he simply said, “I'm no saint, Laura.”

She searched his face. Her eyes held a hundred questions, but she let it go with a laugh. “Then that must mean you have a future. And besides, I already told you. I'm no angel. So. You're taking me to the fundraiser. Subject closed.” She climbed out of his lap and picked up her coffee. “What do you want to do today?”

He let it go too. He'd given her fair warning. “We have a few options. There are a couple of houses I was going to go look at today. You could come, if you like. Or we could go fly. I'm going to start instructing again, so I'll need to take one of the Cessnas up and get the feel for it. We could take a hike. Or...he put a hand on her thigh, we could just hang here. Whatever you like.” He was finding it hard to believe, but he really didn't care what they did. As long as they did it together. If she weren't around, he'd go fly, no question about it, but she was.

“You're seriously thinking about buying a house here?”

He nodded. “The guys are making this their permanent base, so it will be mine, too. Plus, I've got a few plans in the pipeline with Jason and Rochelle at the airport.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Like I said, instructing and maybe taking on some other flight duties too. We'll have to see how it pans out. Even if I don't stick around here, I could always rent it out.” That was what he kept telling himself. Property here wouldn't be difficult to rent. He'd already talked to Ben about it.

“I'd love to go looking at houses, if you don't mind me tagging along.”

He couldn't resist. “I thought you weren't a tag along kind of girl?”

She looked at him from under lowered lashes. “You're not the only one breaking your own rules here, Captain Hamilton.”

***

“Do they let you use this the whole time you're here?”

They were riding up the Eastern shore of the lake in the airport pickup. “They shouldn't. Most FBOs have a crew car. It's like a courtesy car for the pilots. On the busier fields you can use it for maybe a couple of hours, but out here there's not much call for it. So I use it. I am going to buy something though, now that I'm based here.” He glanced across at her with a wicked smile. “Though Rochelle says I don't need to. She's happy to let me use this and she'll call if she needs me back.”

Laura felt the heat in her cheeks. She had actually admitted to him that she'd been jealous of Rochelle! And now he was teasing her about it! Two could play that game. “Well, if you do need to go see her, you could always drop me off at Michael's on the way.”

“Touché, lady, but I think that game is over. Rochelle is crazy about her husband and she's not my type anyway. And Michael? He's a good guy, I like him, but I think he must be blind, stupid or both.”

“What do you mean?”

“He walked away from you to leave the way open for me. I would never have done that.”

Wow! Smoke being open? They were still playing with each other, but the game had changed. Everything had more meaning now. Every jibe was loaded with a question, or laced with an answer. They were feeling each other out, but she wasn't sure what for. “Maybe he's just smarter than you and he knows how to stay out of trouble. Didn't you ever think of that?”

He glanced across at her. “All the time, lady. All the time.”

He turned off the main road and headed up into the foothills. In just a few minutes they rounded a bend to see the cutest little house. It had a white picket fence around a flower garden and a front porch complete with swing. It was a two story, painted white with neat dark green shutters around the windows.

“Oh, Smoke! This is lovely!”

He smiled as he parked in the driveway at the back then came around to open her door.

“Are we meeting a realtor?” she asked.

“No, the place is empty. Has been all summer, apparently. The key is in a lock box”.

He led her to the back door and tapped a number into the lock box that hung on the handle. The door opened into a big bright modern kitchen. It was filled with white cabinets and black appliances. Big windows looked out onto an orchard at the back of the house and an area with raised garden beds.

She looked at him and laughed. “I know you said you're from the Central Valley, but it's hard to picture you as a farm boy. I don't see you growing veggies out there.”

“The Central Valley? What the hell makes you think that?” He seemed irritated.

“Sorry. I thought that was where you meant when you said you grew up in the valley.”

He shook his head. “Napa Valley. Come on, let's take a look around.”

She followed him through the dining room and into the living room. She gasped and looked at him, all her questions about Napa forgotten. He was grinning happily.

“Oh, my God, Smoke!” A wall of windows framed a magnificent view of the lake. “What an amazing view! I'll be honest, I wondered why you wanted to look at property up here and not down on the water. Now I get it! It's fantastic!”

“I like the water, but I'd rather be up high, see further. And this,” he nodded through the window, “is why.”

“Is that what you like so much about flying?”

“I suppose so. It's more than that, though. When you're up in the skies, you can see so much more of the world than when you're down in it, and you're not obliged to be a part of it. Or shackled to it either. At the same time it's like there is freedom and responsibility all rolled into one. You're responsible for your passengers, you brought them along and you need to make sure that you get them safely where they're going.” He gave her an odd look. “You'll probably think it's my huge ego, but when I'm flying I'm responsible for their lives. I don't take that responsibility lightly.”

That was an odd thing to say. She'd never thought about it like that before. “So, that's why your job comes before everything else, right?”

His face was set, lips pressed together, he nodded without looking at her. “Pretty much.”

Why would he get pissy about that? She thought it was pretty cool and gave her new respect for him. Whatever his problem might be, she pressed on regardless, she was curious. “I imagine it must be weird when you're not flying?”

He raised an eyebrow, still staring out at the view, looking irritated—or something.

“Well, up in the air it's all in your hands. I'd never thought of it before, but it is isn't it? All the responsibility, all the decisions, all the lives, everything. Once you're back on the ground it's back to normal, right? I can see why you'd rather be flying than anything else.”

He nodded, looking cautious now. He seemed to think it over before he spoke. “I love my job. It's not what I do, it's who I am.”

“It suits you,” she said with a smile. It seemed they were having two conversations with only one set of words. He was making some point that she didn't understand. “Can we explore the rest of the house?” she asked, wanting to lighten the mood, and also genuinely wanting to look around too. It was a lovely place, not too big, not too small, bright and airy with all the huge windows, but still cozy and warm feeling. Not waiting for him to answer, she wandered out into the hallway and headed up stairs.

***

“What do you think?” asked Smoke. They were sitting on the swing on the front porch, looking out at the fabulous view after touring the whole house, the grounds, and the outbuildings.

She grinned at him. “I don't think you should buy it.”

He smiled through pursed lips. “And why's that?”

“Because....” She looked around as if seeking some flaw to the place. “Because it's got a picket fence, and you're not a picket fence kind of guy?”

“I could tear it down.”

She looked at him, horrified.

He laughed, “Or maybe I could learn to be a picket fence kind of guy.”

Oh, she doubted that!

“What else. Why don't you think it's for me?”

“Because, it's so perfect, I want it! And, it's far too cute to be a guy’s house. And that little workshop by the orchard? I could turn that into my ideal workroom.” The idea had been growing in her mind the whole time they were looking around. It was a ridiculous idea, but it felt so right. She could buy the place if she sold the store. She could escape San Francisco, have her own little workplace and a great group of friends all around her.

Smoke was staring at her. “You're kidding me, right? You moving out here is even crazier than me doing it!”

She nodded. “I know, but sometimes the crazy stuff makes the most sense.” She laughed. “So be warned, we may need to get into a bidding war over this place. I love it!”

“Sorry, lady, but I love it too. Let's go see the other two, shall we? See if we can find one for you, cos this one's mine.”

She nodded, feeling thoroughly disappointed. She really could see herself buying this place, living here. But she could hardly argue if Smoke wanted it. She wouldn't even know it existed if it weren't for him.

“Okay, maybe you'll like one of the others better and I can have this one?”

He laughed. “I doubt it, but let's go see.”

As they drove away, Laura watched in the mirror until they turned the corner and the house vanished from sight. It was such a lovely place. But still. It was just a crazy idea. She needed to drop it, whether Smoke wanted to buy it or not. What the hell made her want to move up here anyway? She looked over at him as he pulled the truck out, back onto the main road. There was her answer—he made her want to move here. And out of all the crazy ideas, that one had to be the craziest yet! There had to be something wrong with her head. She'd spent most of her life running from guys who wanted to pin her down. Now she'd met one who she knew would run—or more likely fly—a million miles rather than be pinned down himself, and she was thinking about moving her whole life to be closer to him? That really was crazy!

She had to keep reminding herself that she was probably only so attracted to him because he would never try to hold her down. She couldn't help the smile that came at the thought—except in bed!

“What are you smirking at?” he asked. “I hope you're not scheming up ways to buy my house out from under me?”

She laughed, “It's not your house yet!”

***

“Are you sure you don't want to stay till morning?” asked Smoke. “I could have you there by eight, or earlier if you need?”

She shook her head and picked up her bag. She wanted nothing more than to spend another night with him. And that was exactly why she had to leave. “I can't, Smoke.”

He nodded and took her bag from her hand. “We'd best get going, then.”

When they got to the airport, he drove up to the gates and swiped his pass. Once the gates had rolled back into place behind the truck, he drove out towards the hangars. Laura was relieved not to have to face Rochelle. She still felt a little embarrassed that she'd jumped to conclusions.

“Are you okay over there?”

She nodded. She was just sad to be leaving, and she wasn't going to say that out loud.

“Want to watch me pre-flight?” he asked before he got out of the truck.

She looked up at him, surprised. “I'd love to, except I don't know what it means.”

He laughed. “It means we're going to check old Papa Charlie outside and in to make sure he's ready to fly.”

“He?” she asked with a laugh.

“Yep,” Smoke patted the side of the plane. “He's my old buddy.”

“Boys and their toys! How long have the guys had it?”

He frowned. “They've been leasing him for a few years now.”

“Oh, I thought they owned it?”

“No, they just lease. Come on, I'll show you how to pre-flight, then maybe next time you can help me.”

Her breath caught in her chest—next time? Oh, she liked that idea.

He was looking at her intently. “If you want to?”

His face relaxed when she smiled. “I'd love to.”

***

Once they were up in the air, Smoke turned to her. “You're quiet, are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” she said, but frowned when she couldn't hear herself.

He laughed and reached over to bring the mic on her headset down to her mouth. “Try again.”

“Oh, thanks. I didn't think of that. I'm fine. I'm just trying to keep quiet and not distract you. You've got so much going on.” And it was such a turn on for some reason, to watch him fly the plane—to watch his capable hands move over the instruments, listen to him talk to Air Traffic Control. He was in his element and she wanted to enjoy watching him, not disturb him.

He smiled, that soft smile that made her pulse race. “Thanks. You really mean that don't you?”

She nodded. Of course she did—why would she not?

His smile spread, then the controller's voice came through her headset, giving him a new heading. He adjusted course and then smiled at her again. As she smiled back, a terrible thought crossed her mind....

She was falling for him!

***

Smoke shut down the engines and took his headset off. Laura took her own off and tried to unbuckle her seat belt. He smiled as he watched, letting her struggle. This was another first—letting a woman he was seeing fly up front with him. He just didn't do that. Hell, he hadn't let very many stick around long enough to fly with him at all. But this had been good. He'd enjoyed her being there. He laughed as she yanked at the shoulder strap.

“How the hell do I get out of here?” she asked, frustrated.

He got up and leaned over her. “You can't until I let you.” He'd meant it as a joke, but the look of panic on her face threw him. He undid the buckle quickly. “Just kidding. You do it like this.” He slid the clip in and out to show her. “See, you can escape any time you like.”

She met his gaze. “Thanks. That's good to know.”

He stepped through to the cabin and opened the door to let the steps down, wondering why the relief in her voice bothered him so much.

The lineman met them with the golf cart.

“Evening, Captain Hamilton, Do you need any fuel or a tie down?”

“No, thanks. It's just a quick turnaround tonight.”

The guy nodded and waited while they climbed on the cart.

Inside the FBO Smoke felt uncomfortable. This should be the point where he made himself scarce. The point where he would normally kiss the girl then, literally and figuratively, fly off into the sunset. But with Laura, nothing was going as it normally would. And when it came to her, he seemed to be incapable of doing what his better judgment told him he should.

“Well, I guess this is it, then,” she said, with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. “Call me if you want to go to the fundraiser together.” She reached to take her bag from him.

He snatched it away and held it behind his back with a laugh. “At least let me bring it to the car for you?”

She nodded.

He snaked an arm around her waist as they walked across the parking lot. When they reached her car he backed her up against it and dropped the bag. Taking her face between his hands, he kissed her. Her arms came up around his neck and he felt her relax, her body melting, yielding to his own in what felt like an invitation. Eventually he lifted his head and looked into her eyes. They were full of a longing that pulled at him. Touching something deep inside him, something that felt like it might be his heart.

He rested his forehead against hers. “I can't make myself walk away, Laura.”

“Then don't,” she whispered. “Stay with me.”

He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.