“I don’t want Dr. Kelly going to Stuttgart. He’s going to try to claim my research as his own or at least take credit for some of it.”
And there she went, whining to her boss about her ex-husband.
“I won’t let that happen. Keep up the good work, Dr. Boudreaux.”
She sank back into her chair, hopeful relief making her limbs weary.
Keep up the good work? She’d do her darnedest.
She always did.
Kaci’s plansfor Saturday morning had been to let Lance think he was going to give her another hour of flight-prep training, but seduce him in her living room instead while Tara was working the day shift.
But Lance’s plans for Saturday morning turned out to be something different.
“Come with me,” he said from her doorway. He had a pair of aviator sunglasses on top of his head and a brown leather jacket over a white thermal T-shirt. She wanted to yank him inside and not even bother with the pretense of doing flight-prep training, but he wouldn’t budge. “We’re on a timeline. We have to go.Now.”
Curiosity got the better of her. “Can Miss Higgs come?”
“Absolutely not.”
Since that was his grown-up pilot jock voice, she didn’t argue. “How long are we out for?”
“Back by noon.”
She arranged an impromptu playdate for Miss Higgs with the Hamms across the hall and squeezed the cat extra tight before she left. Miss Higgs gave her a frosted eye roll, as if to sayChill, lady. I’m not dying while you’re gone today.
Kaci certainly hoped the cat was telling the truth.
And she owed the Hamms a nice gift certificate to their favorite Southern buffet.
“Where are we going?” she asked while she followed Lance to the parking lot. “Do I need my spud launcher?”
He flipped his glasses over his eyes and gave her an ovary-exploding smile. “Trust me.”
“You get a watermelon cannon?” she asked.
He laughed. “No.”
“We shooting bottle rockets?”
“Nope.”
“Goin’ muddin’?”
“I didn’t say you were going tolikeit,” he said with a cocky grin.
She thought he was kidding.
But ten minutes later, he pulled in front of a metal-sided shed before a tarmac lined with propeller planes.
“Oh, no,” she started.
“Trust me?”
“You still owe me another hour on that game thingie.”
“You’re ready, Kaci.” He squeezed her knee. “You can do this.”
