Casanova In Training (7 page)

Yet he couldn’t force the words past his mouth. Not even the flirting decline, which seemed almost instinctive, considering how it normally flowed without a thought. Until now. Until her. Until Jaydee.

“Just the check,” he informed her. Gathering up the money Jaydee had left, he pocketed it. “And hers as well.”

“Leaving already?” she asked with a manufactured pout.

“Yes.” He gave her a pointed look. “Check.”

She smiled but it was definitely more forced. “Sure thing, handsome.”

“Don’t speak,” he ordered Tinman and Lizard the second the waitress left.

They obeyed for all of two seconds. Tinman started.

“What’s up with you, man? You’re turning
that
down? And since when do women call you Gio? Hell, anyone. You damn near bit our heads off for that.”

He ground his jaw. “Thought you said Ashley was waiting.” He wasn’t even going to address the Gio bit.

Both of them snorted at that.

“Nothing that would have stopped you before.” Tinman again.

Lizard rolled the bottle in his fingers. “He’s after something else. Something darker and sexier. Something which can handle a B-2 as it streaks through the sky, or a crotch rocket down here on the ground.”

Gio remained impassive, despite the overwhelming urge to hurdle the table and slam a fist into Lizard’s face. When the check came, he scooped it up and slapped sixty bucks down to cover it all.

“You two have fun now,” he said with a grin.

“Seriously? You’re not coming?” Lizard asked.

“Nope. Going home.” He touched two fingers to his head and strode away.

Lizard caught up with him at his convertible. “Giovanni.”

He turned and braced a hip against the door. “Jason.” His reply was the same tone as his friend’s.

“What are you doing, man?”

He sighed. “Going home.” Alone. Damn it all, he wanted to be with Jaydee.

“That’s not what I mean and you know it. You can’t be in a relationship with her. Hell, you aren’t supposed to even sleep with her.”

“I know the rules,” he ground out.

“Then why?”

“I slept with her after Mike’s funeral. That’s what we were talking about in the hangar.” No point in telling Lizard he’d just fucked Jaydee in that very hangar moments before he’d arrived.

Lizard swore a round of curses before shoving his hand along the top of his short hair. Then he crossed his arms and stared. Gio mimicked the action and lifted a brow as well.

“What?” he demanded.

“You can’t see it, can you?”

“See what, Armstrong?”

The man shook his head. “Nope. If you don’t know, I ain’t ruining my fun by watching the realisation hit you. Just do one thing for me.”

Gio sighed and waited for his friend to continue. “What’s that?” he asked when nothing else was forthcoming.

“Stop being a dick. She’s a damn good pilot who doesn’t deserve your derision.”

This was the second time Lizard had said this. The man was right and it annoyed him to no end to know Lizard was defending her. “Anything else?” Gio asked sarcastically.

“Yeah,” he said, before spinning on his heel and walking away. “Don’t get caught!”

A grin lifted his lips. He had no intention of getting caught. In his car, he headed for his apartment only to pause in the drive.

Where did she live? Was she home? Or had she gone back to base? Bigger question. Why did any of it matter?

Grumbling at himself, he parked in the garage and walked into the house. He and Mike had shared this place before he’d died. Gio strode to Mike’s room and opened the door. He knew what he’d see the moment the light flicked on, and he wasn’t wrong. Boxes. Sealed boxes of his best friend’s things. They remained here because his family wasn’t ready to get them back.

So here they sat, their very presence mocking him. With a snarl, he snapped off the light and slammed the door shut, only to stomp to the kitchen for a beer.

* * * *

It was midday on his final day of being off when Gio found himself pushing through the doors of their ops centre. The halls were quiet as he made his way to the room with the simulator in it. He opened the door then stepped into the totally dark room. Flipping the switches, he frowned as he found himself staring at the room as it normally was. No sign of the numerous whiteboards Jaydee’d had, full of that gibberish-looking crap all over them. Nothing that even said she’d been in there.

What were you thinking
—
that she’d be waiting for you?
his brain chided.

As he exited the room, he ran into a guard. The petty officer nodded and gave a proper greeting.

“Have you seen any of the other pilots?” he asked as thunder boomed overhead.

“Sorry, sir. You’re the only one I’ve seen since Commander Amos left.”

She
had
been there. He shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets before giving a sharp nod to the guard and walking away. He paused at the exterior door and stared out of the vertical rectangular window at the downpour.

He took out his baseball cap, snapped it open, and shoved it on his head as he bolted outside. Long strides took him to his car and he slid gratefully behind the wheel.
At least I put the top up yesterday.

He started the engine and headed back to his place. While he was at a red light, he looked up in time to see Jaydee walk into an apartment building with bags in one hand and an umbrella in the other. He knew it was her. Something happened to him when he was around her, he could feel her beneath his skin, almost. So he didn’t doubt he was seeing things.

When the light changed, he whipped into an available spot along the street and got out again. Soaked, and with water dripping off his hat and clothes, he moved into the lobby. The place was quiet and he found what he was looking for. Mailboxes.

Two B. He went to the lift and lowered the gate before pressing the button. When it stopped, he lifted the gate, slid open the door, and stepped out into the empty hall.

Thunder rumbled again and the lights flickered. The cold air made him shiver and he walked to find the right door. There was no name, just bronze numbers on black paint. Another chill hit him and he pressed the doorbell. A few moments later and he found himself once again in Jaydee’s presence.

She looked soft. As she had when she’d lain in his bed. Her hair fell unconfined in soft waves around her face. She had on a tatty, long-sleeved shirt and lounge pants. No shoes, but socks.

Her tortoiseshell eyes widened. “Gio? What are you doing here?” She glanced up and down the hall before pulling him in and closing the door. “How did you find me?”

Was it his imagination or did she sound a bit panicked? He glanced around her place and smiled. It was nice. Hardwood floors, a love seat, an overstuffed chair, and a recliner. A small table and chairs to one side, and there were stools by the island. Large windows, too. The other side of her place was full of whiteboards, a table with computers, and books.

“Nice place,” he said.

Her fingers tightened on his arm and he bet she didn’t realise what she was doing.

“How did you find me?”

“I was driving by and saw you walk in.”

She shook her head. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Only half teasing, he said, “You have a man who will be pissed I’m here?” She didn’t answer and he peered at her. Her lower lip was caught in her teeth. “Jaydee?”

She blinked and seemed to realise he was still there. “Why are you here?”

“We have some unfinished business, you and I.”

“You’re soaking wet.”

He arched a brow. “It’s raining out.”

She nodded and continued like he’d never said a word. “You should get dry.”

“I have no other clothes—”

Jaydee walked off, pulling him behind. Dutifully, he followed her back to her bedroom. It wasn’t girly, it was…functional. Dark, natural colours, the area was spotless and gave no insight into who she was.

She opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of men’s warm-up pants. “These should fit you.” A pair of socks was next. “There are towels in there.” Then she walked away.

He didn’t know whose clothes they were, but he was really cold. So he went to her bathroom. Again spotless but nothing feminine. He stripped down, dried off with the large, white towel then threw on what she’d given him. Rubbing his short hair briskly, he hung the towel up over the opaque squares blocking the room from anywhere else. His soaked clothes he draped in the shower.

He emerged slowly and found her sliding something in the oven. The lights dimmed a bit when another rumble of thunder rolled through. Warm again, he approached. She went to the sink.

“Thank you.”

She looked up at him from where she washed some vegetables. “Why are you here? We work together so there can be no—”

“Stop.” He trailed his fingers along the countertop. Hearing those words from her would only annoy him. The hell with the rules, he wasn’t about to ignore the heat between them. Nor was he going to let her ignore it.

“I am merely—”

“Jaydee,” he said with force.

“Then what reason could you have for coming here?”

He could taste her confusion. “Is my being here a problem?”

If he only knew. Jaydee chewed on her lower lip briefly. Gio was a distraction she truly didn’t need. But she couldn’t ignore him, nor could she bring herself to let him leave looking all wet and soaked.

“Jaydee?”

“No,” she muttered. “It’s fine.”

When he stepped further into the kitchen, she retreated around the cooktop counter, trying to keep a bit of space between them. The gleam in his eyes told her he knew exactly what she was doing.

“Talk to me, Jaydee,” he said, drawing back one of her stools and settling his body upon it.

She gulped and did her best to take her eyes off him. It didn’t work. He sat there wearing those warm-up pants and socks. His hard, muscled chest taunted her with recollections of how it felt to be pressed against him. She itched to touch his smooth skin, lick it, and more.

“What do you want to know?”

“Tell me more about this”—he frowned and paused—“this EG.”

Her heart pounded and she did a quick scan of her place. She’d got this because of its size and inconspicuous location. It was cheaper than a regular apartment and offered her more privacy. Plus the view was amazing, especially on nights like this, when the rain and lightning sliced the sky.

“Jaydee.” Fingers snapped in her face.

“Huh?” Gio had moved and now stood right before her.

“EG, sweets. I think I lost you for a moment there.”

She blinked a few times. “Right. EG.”

With a glance back at the oven, she walked over to her corner where all her stuff was and drew a quick sketch on one of the whiteboards. She turned to face him only to discover he’d sneaked right up behind her, leaving her face to face with his gorgeous chest.

“I know most of the time when you fly, you use the jet engines, but, when you’re up in the stratosphere doing those long flights, we use electrogravitics.”

He backed off, grabbed the lone chair, and sat, his focus still on her. “Okay. This is why we can go for so long without fuel?”

She nodded and shoved her hands in her pockets. “Exactly. There are several relations which allow this. Gravitational mass is proportional to electric charge, is one. Gravitational mass density is proportional to electric charge density, is another.” She wrote out the symbol equations for both.

“These electrogravitic relations can be expressed in terms of field potentials. That would be—gravity potential is proportional to negative electric potential.” The symbol equation for this one went up on the board as well. “Consequently, an electric potential field gradient which extends between the positive and negative—”

“Oh my God, stop, please,” he interrupted. “I’m so lost. You have to dumb it down for me. Can you give this to me in words I will understand?”

She capped the marker and returned her hands to her pockets. Rolling her lower lip in her teeth, she sighed. “Jet engines get the planes up in the sky. When the antigravity propulsion is turned on—the flame jet generators which are fitted on each of the four engines—several million volts are produced.” Gesturing with one hand to the tail of the plane, she said, “The engine exhaust, along with the rear of the plane, houses a negative charge which creates a ‘hill’ behind the jet.” She moved to the front of her sketch. “All the jets have a leading edge ionizer which is positively charged. This, because of electrogravitics, produces a ‘well’ to fall into. With me so far?”

She paused and looked at him. His face had this slightly confused expression. But when he nodded, she continued. “So the plane—after the jet engines are off—will pretty much ‘fall’ towards the ‘well’, while the ‘hill’ from the back of the jet continually ‘pushes’. All of this keeps the jet moving with silence, and the only reason to refuel would be to keep the voltage up.”

She uncapped the marker and drew something else. “When all this is working, an ellipsoidal ion plasma sheath surrounds the B-2, which basically renders it undetectable.”

“Hence stealth bomber.”

Jaydee nodded with a smile. “Exactly. Even though it is not really invisible, and can be detected.”

“So, what are you doing here? Why go over all of this?” He shifted then pinned her with his gaze again. “How do you know so much about this stuff?”

She hesitated. There was much more to tell him about the jets but he seemed transfixed on her for the moment. Which might work in her favour. “I’m trying to figure out what went wrong with Commander Walker’s plane.”

The pain in his eyes made her feel lower than a snake. Something
she
had, or hadn’t, seen had been the reason for the jet going down.

“You’re hedging with your answers, sweets.” Gio moved in the chair and she found herself short of breath as she stared at him.

“I am not.”

A sex-infused grin lifted the corners of his all too kissable mouth. “You are. How do you know all of this…stuff?”

More hesitation. “It is my area of expertise.”

He stretched his long legs out in front of him and crossed his arms over his bare chest. “So how did you get your wings? I mean, I’m guessing this kind of thing took a while to learn.”