Aida shifted closer to him. “How would you describe your relationship with Mattie?”
Lily suddenly popped into view as she peered around Aida. A sort of strangled choking sound emerged from Leo’s throat. It was not his finest response, but it was the best he could manage.
“It really would help my study if you could clarify your relationship,” Aida added.
“And it would just help me. In general.” Lily winked, the gesture decidedly naughty.
“Gu-mph.” He had no idea what the sound was. For some reason, Aida scribbled it down. He had a feeling she did it just to torment him. Her lips did curve suspiciously upward as her fountain pen scratched across the page.
Alice patted his shoulder, almost making him jump high enough to touch Mattie’s JN-4. Luckily, he kept his reflexes in check. He had no idea what Aida would record in her tablet if he suddenly started leaping skyward.
“Don’t worry, my husband will be here soon. He tends not to ask personal questions...”Alice paused before smiling wickedly and adding, “Unless I ask him to.”
Leo was dubiously saved from beggingPlease don’t ask him towhen Aida said, “This will present an intriguing opportunity.”
“What opportunity?” Alice shifted her body so she could look around him to face Aida.
“To observe the difference between an established relationship between two daredevils reared in the circus world and a burgeoning romance between two outsiders who weren’t.” Aida paused and then addressed him. “You don’t come from an aerobatic family, do you?”
Leo didn’t come from any family—not that he would revealthatto Aida. He could only imagine her questions about life in an orphanage and on the streets. He rubbed the back of his head.
“The papersnevermention anything about his past,” Lily said in a stage whisper. “The articles always say he won’t comment. It is allverymysterious.”
Leo didn’t think it would help if he pointed out he could hear Lily. He greatly feared that anything he said would only encourage them further, and further encouragement was the last thing they needed. He wondered for a moment if this was how Mattie felt—always outnumbered, always trying to find her footing when everyone else seemed to balance so naturally.
To his great relief, Mattie and Carrie landed their planes in two simultaneous graceful sweeps. He barely noticed the artistic precision of their mutual descent. Breaking free of the women, he strode directly toward Mattie’s Jenny. He didn’t care if it looked like he was running, because that was precisely what hewasdoing. Ace aviators stayed alive by knowing when they couldn’t beat the odds.
Unfortunately, it took him only seconds to realize he might have made a strategic mistake. Mattie bounced out of her plane and bounded toward him. Vera followed at a more sedate pace.
“Did you see that, Leo? We have to try some similar close maneuvers during our flight duel! We could really make the audience gasp! What do you think?” Mattie looked alight with energy, and it damn near electrified him. No doubt about it; she was more perilous to his health than any enemy antiaircraft shells.
“That could be dangerous, Mattie,” Leo cautioned, and this time he didn’t just mean physically. Until this moment, he hadn’t realized how much hedidwant to fly with Mattie in formation. There was a connection between aviators, a kind of instinctual, silent communication. High in the skies where a wing wiggle or a choreographed maneuver was the only way to pass on messages, pilots needed to be in tune with each other. Part of him,allof him, yearned to feel that connection with Mattie. And that frightened him.
“Worried you can’t control your plane when you’re close to me? Afraid of a little proximity?” Mattie broke her tough stance to move toward him, a cocky swagger to her step that sent his heart thudding even faster.
He swallowed, feeling the tightened muscles of his throat slide roughly past each other. Her words struck hard, but not for the reason she’d intended. Right now, especially with Aida’s questions, he wasn’t thinking so much about airspace as he was about physical nearness. A flare of heat shot through him, and to his embarrassment, a good portion seemed to land directly underneath his cheeks. His suntanned skin could hide some of his blushes but not one this intense.
By the way Vera quirked a knowing eyebrow, she’d immediately detected his flush. Mattie hadn’t any more than she’d realized how closely her words had skirted innuendo.
“Darling,” Vera drawled out, one side of her lips rising, as if in unison with her amused brow, “you’re flustering the poor man with all your talk ofproximity.”
Cocking her head in confusion, Mattie directed her attention toward her partner in crime. “Pardon?”
“Look at him. He’s as red as a maraschino cherry.” Vera swung her arms in Leo’s direction.
Leo feared that his face had brightened even more. Mattie peered at him, her mouth forming an O of surprise as she finally registered the pink spreading over every blasted inch of his countenance. Although he tried to stop himself, he couldn’t refrain from rubbing his forehead, as if he could scrub off the tint.
Mattie, thankfully, just folded her arms over her chest once more. “Leo, are you willing to try out close formations with me?”
“I’ll consider it,” Leo ground out. “We can run some maneuvers in the air. Give it a trial run. No guarantees, though.”
A light sparked in Mattie’s eyes—gold, bright, and effervescent. A thrill shot through him as he realized he’d caused it.
“You’re not just buying yourself time to try to persuade me otherwise?” Mattie asked suspiciously.
He rubbed the back of his head vigorously. “I’m giving us both a chance to convince each other. I promise I won’t dismiss the idea outright. If our practice shows that we can pull off the tricks without putting any of us in unnecessary danger, then I’ll do it.”
“So you’re giving me a chance?” Mattie asked. “A real, honest-to-goodness chance?”
