“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“For sharing this,” she gestured at the ranch spread out below us, then up at the stars. “Your family, your home, the sky. For letting me belong here with you while I recover… even temporarily.”
Temporarily. The word struck me harder than it should have, considering we’d never discussed permanent anything. But temporary felt like the wrong word entirely.
“You do belong here with me,” I murmured before pressing a kiss behind her ear, then along her neck.
She turned in my arms, slipping her arms around my neck and searching my face.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
Instead of answering, she kissed me—not the kind we’d been sharing around the family all evening. Hungrier—like she was done being proper and polite. Her body pressed flush against mine, all soft curves and heat—no more careful distance, no more playing it safe.
I responded automatically, my hands moving over her back, pulling her closer against me. She tasted like lemonade and something distinctly Alex—sweet and sharp at the same time. When she broke away, her breathing was already uneven.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for hours.”
“You don’t say,” I hitched a lopsided smile. “You’ve been lookin’ at me like you had plans since this afternoon.” I nipped at her neck. “And that shit you pulled under the table tonight? Shame on you.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it,” she kissed me again, hands smoothing down my arms as her hips pressed against mine.
“Alex—”
“What?” she paused, looking up at me with eyes bright in the starlight.
“Just makin’ sure this is what you want to do. You’ve been... more direct. Maybe a bit more keyed up than usual.”
She tilted her head, studying my face. “Does that bother you?”
“Hell no,” I shook my head. “Just want to make sure it’s me you want, not just…” I gestured vaguely at the space between us, “adrenaline or whatever’s got you so wound up today. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow to another conversation where you ask to pretend like nothing happened.”
Her expression sobered. “It’s not just adrenaline, Finn. Though honestly, seeing your family appreciate who I am was exhilarating. But watching you be proud of me... was really, really hot.”
“And the game you started at dinner?” I raised an eyebrow.
“What about it?” she shrugged, barely containing her smirk. And there it was—that spark I’d seen all evening that made my pulse quicken.
“Was that the adrenaline?” I pressed. Something about the way she was looking at me now—like she was sizing me up—made me want to push back. See what she’d do.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she looked away innocently, but her fingers were tracing patterns on my chest—deliberately light, deliberately distracting.
This was the first time I was truly seeing Alex the flirt, and it was intoxicating. But more than that, it was familiar. Likerecognizing another pilot in the air—recognizing myself in the air.
“Say I won,” I growled, catching her wandering hand and stilling it against my chest, heat pooling in my belly as the air shifted between us.
“At dinner?” She tilted her head, playing dumb, but I could see the challenge lighting up her eyes. “I seem to remember you jumping up from the table pretty quick there, flyboy. That doesn’t sound like winning behavior to me.”
The casual way she threw down the gauntlet sent electricity straight through me. “Is that what you think?”
“I think,” she stepped closer, “that you got flustered and had to make a tactical retreat,” her voice was pure innocence, but her hand slipped from mine to trace along my collarbone. “Very un-lieutenant-commander-like, if you ask me.”
Something predatory unfurled in my chest. She was baiting me—we both knew it—and she was enjoying it.
“Tactical retreat?” I backed her against the railing, hands settling on either side of her body, caging her in. Her breathing quickened, pupils blown wide as she looked up at me. “Darlin’, that wasn’t a retreat. That was me being polite to my family.”
“Oh, so you were beingpolite.” The way she said it made it sound like the most boring thing in the world. “How very... considerate of you.”
