Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Lila.” My voice held a warning. “Is Jace here? Is that why you’re asking me to help?”
I knew the military had a table for career day, but the people manning it were usually recruiters. I also knew if I gave Lila a bone, she would run with it.
She puckered her lips with a cheeky look, lifting a causal shoulder. “Maybe. But Mr. Neelyisleaving early.”
I rolled my eyes, even though my palms were sweaty. “I told you. He’s off-limits. Remember, he’s military and probably not single.”
She flashed those big hazel eyes rimmed in eyeliner. “Would you stop already about servicemen? They’re not all like Ryan. And Jace asked you out for coffee. So he’s single.”
Servicemen’s lives were volatile. They were always on deployments, missions, and assignments. I hadn’t minded Ryan’s career at first, but I was growing tired of that life even before I’d caught him cheating. And Jace was a pilot, which told me he would never be around. At least with Ryan in aircraft maintenance, he was mostly relegated to a base, not on long missions as I suspected a pilot would be.
I shuddered. “Speaking of Ryan. He’s flying in today.”
She rose. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “I didn’t expect him until the spring, but then or now, I need to buck up or cut off one of his appendages.”
She giggled. “I know which appendage too.” She crossed the room. “All the more reason for a male distraction, as in the pilot type. Maybe ask him out while he’s here for career day. He and Dax are here. And they’re both looking good. Oh, and his full name and rank is Captain Jace Callahan. It has a sexy ring to it, don’t you think?”
I snarled at her, my brain already queuing up the image of Jace’s dreamy blue eyes, his hot-as-sin grin, and what he would look like in uniform. Truth be told, I loved a man in uniform. I just didn’t like what came with it—broken hearts, lonely nights, and an empty bed.
She snickered and scampered out, leaving mischief in her wake.
The idea of seeing Jace again set my stomach performing a fast-paced gymnastics routine. Maybe I should ask him out. Maybe meeting him at Devil’s Hollow was fate throwing me a lifeline.
As I tried to focus on grading the rest of the papers, I couldn’t shake the image of Jace and those piercing blue eyes that had studied me with eagle intent at Devil’s Hollow or the way he smirked, all cocky and handsome. I dared to admit to myself that I would love to experience one night with him.
Heat slicked the back of my neck at the thought of Jace and me tangled between the sheets. God, it had been entirely too long since I had a great sex. Maybe that was the ticket. One night, no strings, just to shake off the fear of being with someone new. But deep down, I knew better. One night with Jace Callahan would be my undoing.
4
JACE
Ishoved my hands into my flight suit pockets as students drifted from table to table, grabbing candy and trinkets while college reps and local businesses made their pitch.
Our table had been busy earlier, mostly with guys either in their sophomore or junior years with wide eyes, hungry to learn more about fighter jets but not ready to commit to the military.
“I’m glad you came with me,” I said to Dax as he stood proudly in his uniform, though he'd complained how he hated to wear his dress blues.
A colleague who flew helicopters had a change in his schedule at the last minute, and the upper echelon had assigned Dax to man the table with me.
“No offense, dude, but I’m not happy. I’m just as miserable as you are being here. This is what I get for being off duty today.” His clean-shaven jaw tightened. “I should be at Devil’s Hollow rock climbing.” It was rare to see him without scruff or in a dress uniform. “High school. I didn’t think I would ever see the inside of one again.”
“You and me both. The gym smells like too many teenage hormones, reminding me of running suicides and kissing girls on bleachers.”
I would like to say that my high school days were all a bed of roses. But as I stood at our table stacked with Air Force brochures, model fighter jets and helicopters, and a bowl of candy, I itched to escape faster than the speed of my F-15 Strike Eagle.
Being back in a high school gym was hell for a grounded pilot. Torture, really. Memories of senior year hit me like a Mack truck jackknifing on a downhill mountain road.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek as if the act would erase that dark day when the principal had come into the gym during a pick-up game of basketball with my mom at his side. Her eyes had been red and puffy, her skin pale. At that moment, I knew something had happened to my older brother.
A cold rush swept down my spine, and for a second, the floor tilted as I felt that same vertigo that had yanked me from the sky.
Dax nudged me with his elbow. “Did you hear me?”
I shook off the memory before it affected me in public. “What?”
“I’m sure you could kiss one woman behind the bleachers,” he said, wiggling his brow. “Why don’t you take a break and find Monroe’s classroom?”
