Page 69 of Colton in the Wild

“Local air space. Dad and Uncle Will put out the word that today would be your first day back in the air and everybody agreed to clear out for you.”

She blinked. “What?”

Spence laughed. “You really don’t realize how much respect you have around here, do you? But they could only finagle an hour, after that, it’s back to watching your back. And sides. Or backside.”

That last had just slipped out, teasingly. The kind of smartass remark he once would have made. But he didn’t want to change the mood now, so he was relieved when she just gave him a rather arched look and said, “Well, if you want to talk about backsides…”

Spence felt himself flush. Because more than once she’d complimented his, and he’d found there was nothing that made him hotter than her hands on that particular body part as they made love. It took him a few minutes to get his focus back. He tried to ease his tension by jokingly thanking her.

“For what?” she asked with a curious glance.

“For saving me from ever having to fraternize with a customer again. Now I can just tell them to back off because the pilot’s my girlfriend.”

It got a laugh out of her. “And you can bet I’ll be watching,” she said, her tone full of teasing warning.

When they reached the point where she’d need to make a direction change, he took the plunge.

“How about we fly back to the lake,” he suggested a little cautiously. She gave him a startled glance. “It’s always been a favorite place for both of us. I don’t want what happened last time to ruin that for us.”

The look she gave him then made the caution fade away. Because it was the look that told him he’d said the right thing at the right moment.

“Yes. Oh, yes.”

A few minutes later, he caught the reflected shine of the summer sun on the lake, the place where this had begun as a nightmare. He knew they could never erase the memories of what had happened there, but they could make newer, better memories. And he wanted to start that right now.

“Hetty?”

She turned her head to look at him. “I’m glad you wanted to come here. You’re right, we can’t let what happened ruin this place for us.”

“Then let’s make something new happen.” He took a deep breath. “I wanted to do this while you’re doing what you love, in a place you love, because… I love you, Hetty. And I want us to build a life together, one that is so good that the bad stuff doesn’t matter anymore. A forever life.”

For a moment, she just stared at him. He was afraid he’d somehow blown it, this most important moment of his life. That he’d said it wrong, or that he’d been wrong all along, that this wasn’t for her what it was for him.

But then, sounding almost breathless, Hetty said, “We need to set down.”

Fear jabbed at him and he looked at the control panel for any sign of a problem. Had Chuck missed something? Were they going to go through it again, was there—

“Not that, silly,” Hetty said, cutting off his careening thoughts. “We need to set down so I can kiss you before I say yes, yes,yes!”

Spence breathed again. And didn’t even care that he probably had the dopiest expression ever seen on his face.

When they were down safely, she did kiss him, her mouth fierce and possessive. And there, in the precious Alaska summer sun, they put the seal on the deal, hotly, passionately.

Spence knew they were going to build that life. And it wasn’t going to be just good.

It was going to be great.

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