“See, the risk is that you’ll say no, which would suck, and I would honest to God be heartbroken. But the reward...the reward is us getting to see where this thing between us goes. And I reckon it’ll go somewhere good. And I reckon maybe you need the chance to move on, too.”
“You mean I come to France?”
“Yep.”
“For a holiday?”
“At first, yeah, I guess. You’re gonna be grounded awhile, and I should be on base awhile, so come to Corsica, see if you like it. See if you like me.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I’ll like you. And Corsica. But—”
“Plenty of call for good pilots in the Mediterranean. Or we could end up back here—or any damn place we choose. Who knows? Let’s just take off and see where the plane goes.”
“I don’t know if I can—”
“Fly away with me, Cowgirl. Take a risk.”
Panic darted across her eyes.
Don’t say no. Please don’t say no.
“Cody, I’m not good at taking risks.”
“And I’m too good. Which makes us perfect. You’ll keep me grounded and maybe I’ll scare you, just a little, in a healthy way. But we might have to make a stop on the way to Corsica.”
She frowned. “Texas?”
“Time to front up. Stop running. Stop pretending that all this extreme stuff is helping me, is bringing my brother back.”
She smoothed her thumbs over his. “It’ll be good for you.”
“Be a damn sight easier with you there. Wait—is Texas even on the way to France?”
“When you’re going from one end of the Earth to another, pretty much anywhere is on the way.”
“So? How about it?”
Her face fell. “I can’t. For starters, right now I’m financially in the sh—”
“I’ll pay for everything. Not because I’m a misogynist, you understand. Just because it makes sense.”
“I can’t take your money.”
“Tia, your helicopter wouldn’t have gotten shot if you hadn’t taken me up there.”
“I would have gone up anyway to drop off the climbers’ kayaks. I would have died.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” He kissed her knuckles. “Just promise me you won’t let this decision be about money—I’d hate to lose you over something that doesn’t have to be a problem.”
“I could pay you back when I’m on my feet again.” She was just thinking aloud, thinking hypothetically, but it filled his lungs with hope. “That could take years.”
Years. Years was good. He cleared his throat. “Was that a yes?”
“No!”
He flinched. Crap.
“I mean,” she said softly, “I can’t make a decision that big so quickly.”
