Christyne Butler - Flirting with Destiny

He glanced out the large window over the sink, his eyes following the direct sightline to the cabin. It wasn’t hard to imagine Tanya’s toned muscles slick with soap as she stood beneath the hot spray of the cabin’s shower—

“What are you grinning at?” Mac walked into the kitchen, having switched out his jeans for sweatpants, but still wearing the same T-shirt that boasted he was a founding member of the Mile-High Club—Huey Style in faded lettering across an image of a helicopter. “Or do I want to know?”

He probably didn’t, so Dev settled for a noncommittal shrug instead.

Opening the refrigerator, Mac grabbed a package of sandwich meat, cheese, mustard and a couple of water bottles. He shut the door with one hip, tossed a bottle at Dev and sat at the table. “Pass me that loaf of bread behind you.”

Dev did as requested.

Mac pulled out two slices and squirted a healthy amount of the yellow condiment on both. “You want one of these?”

“No, thanks. I grabbed a burger at the Blue Creek a little while ago.”

Mac stopped spreading the mustard and looked at him. “You went to the Creek for lunch?”

“Yeah.” His mouth suddenly dry, Dev cranked open the water bottle and took a sip. “So?”

“Your first time back in town in months and you go to a bar?” Mac’s surprised tone turned flat. “Alone?”

Dev returned his friend’s stare. “Yes, alone. I did fine.”

This time Mac only offered a raised eyebrow and went back to sandwich making.

“I did,” Dev pushed, wondering why he felt the need to defend himself. No, that wasn’t true. He knew why. He and Mac had had too many conversations like this in the past. Conversations where Mac had seen him in much worse condition than he was now. “I’m not saying it was easy. Hell, it was way harder than I’d thought it’d be. Racy stepped in, but I was...tempted.”

Silence filled the air for a long moment as Mac sliced his sandwich from corner to corner into two perfect triangles. “Well, we all get tempted,” he finally said.

Dev thought back to the sight and smell of that tall frosty beer. Swiping his tongue across his lips, he swore he could almost taste the forbidden liquid there. “But I got through it. I ate my burger and fries, washing it down with bland, boring ice water.” He took another sip of the same. “Then I got out of there.”

“Is that why you called me?”

There was no reason to lie. “Actually it was the idea of paying a visit to White’s Liquors across the street after I left the bar that made me call.”

Mac took a bite of his sandwich, chewed and swallowed before he spoke. “Yeah, I used to avoid that side of town like the plague. Still do at times. If you were interested in eating out, you should’ve come to the coffee shop at the airstrip. Everyone’s been asking about you.”

Dev’s fingers tightened, the plastic bottle crinkling in his grip. “I already told you I have no plans to get back in the air again.”

“I know you did, but that was when you were still in the hospital. I figured once you got some distance from the accident, you might’ve changed your mind.”

“I haven’t.”

“I read the report. It wasn’t your fault.”

Mechanical failure due to electrical wiring defect. Yeah, Dev had read the report, too. Actually, he’d listened as Adam sat beside his hospital bed and read it to him a few months after the accident.

Final determination: pilot not at fault. Commended for landing disabled aircraft resulting in no loss of life. License to fly fully reinstated.

No, thanks.

Dev took another long swallow of water. “Like I said, I’m done flying.”

Mac opened his own water bottle and did the same. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing Liam and Bryant started lessons last month. From what I’ve heard they’re both doing pretty well. Should be certified in the next few weeks.”

A buzzing filled his ears. Swallowing hard only expanded the noise until his head throbbed. “My broth— my brothers are taking flying lessons?”

“You didn’t know?” Mac looked at him, the last bite of his sandwich frozen halfway to his mouth. “Forget I asked.” He dropped his hand to the table, regret in his voice. “I can tell from your face. Sorry, man. I thought they told you.”

“Flying helos?” The question sounded stupid, but he blamed it on the still faint ringing. “They’re learning to fly helicopters?”

Mac nodded. “When they and your father came by looking for information on replacing the bird, I figured Liam and Bryant were backups for you. Isn’t that what you always planned once it was decided having the helo was helping the family business?”

Yeah, the few months they’d had the helicopter before the crash had proved the benefit of seeing their various work sites from the air. Not to mention the ease and speed in getting to jobs located outside of Destiny.

Dev searched his brain, trying to remember if anyone in his family had talked about buying a new helicopter, much less flying the damn thing.

Faint memories of his parents weighing the needs of the business vs. the safety of their sons while sitting at his hospital bedside came back to him, but once he’d made it clear to everyone he had no intention of getting behind the controls again, he’d thought the subject was dropped.

Apparently not.

“You okay?”

Dev blinked, realizing he’d been staring at the empty water bottle held tight in his hand. As he eased his grip, the plastic crinkled and popped back into place. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

Mac only nodded as he rose and cleaned up his mess. He downed the rest of his water bottle then grabbed two more from the refrigerator, tossing one at Dev. “Not to change the subject, but are you sure you want to sit in on this pincushion session?”

No, he wasn’t, but it was better than heading home and dealing with his brothers and the secret they’d kept from him for the past month. “Sure. Why not? Just don’t expect me to change my mind.”

“About working with Tanya?”

Just the sound of her name lightened Dev’s mood. “Not necessarily.”

Mac shot him a dark look as they headed out the back door and across the yard, following a well-worn path to the cabin. “Why? You’ve already said you’re not interested in any of her methods.”

No, he wasn’t, at least not anything that had to do with needles or munching on foreign plants. He didn’t have any idea what that left in her bag of tricks, other than a massage, of course, but there’d been something about the tone of her voice when she’d spoken of her work.

She believed in what she did.

He used to feel that way about flying. About being a part of the Destiny Fire Department’s volunteer squad. Two pieces of his life that were gone now. The burning aches across his shoulders, hips and down one leg were constant reminders of that fact.

And he had no one to blame but himself, no matter what that damn report said.

Dev could see his friend was waiting for an answer, but they’d arrived at the cabin so he only said, “Let’s just say she intrigues me.”

“Look, seeing how Tanya and I have just started to rebuild our relationship, I don’t have any right to say this...” Mac paused, one foot on the low porch that ran the length of the cabin. He glanced at the closed front door for a moment, then turned to him. “But I’m going to anyway.”

Dev waited, not sure how he’d respond if Mac came right out and asked him to not to spend time with Tanya in any way, shape or form.

Up until this moment, he would’ve done anything his friend asked of him. Except fly.

And now, stay away from Tanya.

He had no idea why someone he’d just met fascinated him so much, but she was the first woman in the past year to make him feel like his old self, and he couldn’t walk away from that.