Page 26 of Falling for the Playboy Pilot

JANNA

T he room buzzed with low murmurs and the occasional scrape of chairs as everyone settled in.

I sat near the back, my fingers drumming lightly on the edge of the table.

The scent of bitter coffee filled the room.

Everyone was either dressed in flight suits or the standard fire-resistant pants and shirts with the Reddington logo.

The energy felt different. The usual joking and nonsense conversations that often took place when we were all gathered around in the kitchen in the mornings was absent. Everyone was serious and focused. It wasn’t my usual go-to, but since I was the newbie, I decided I better be just as serious.

I had opted to go with water instead of coffee.

The last thing I needed was caffeine. A few of the older, more seasoned crew were downing coffee like it was water.

Dalton was sipping a Gatorade. It was hard not to look at him.

He wasn’t sitting. I could see the tension in his shoulders.

Gone was the playful man that had made me pancakes and then fucked me on his kitchen island.

His stance confirmed what I suspected—it was serious. My gaze went around the room. Pickle was the only one that looked moderately chill. He was leaning back in his chair, his coffee on the table in front of him. His arms were crossed over his chest.

Wild Bill was at another one of the small tables with Gilbert and Tyson.

Cheryl was sitting beside me. Chief stood at the front.

There were several maps pinned to the wall that was all corkboards.

The maps covered areas in southwest Colorado.

The San Juan Mountains, Mesa Verde and Canyons of the Ancients and a portion of Northwest Utah are all mapped out.

In my research, I knew we would typically stay within about a hundred and fifty miles of base.

If things get wild in California or Arizona, we might get called in for mutual aid.

“Alright, listen up,” Chief barked, tapping a spot on the map with one of his fingers.

“We’ve got three new starts from last night’s lightning show.

One’s up near Black Ridge, another in the canyon west of here, and the third’s just south of Pine Hollow.

We’re gonna hit ‘em hard and fast before they get any ideas about spreading.”

I leaned forward, my eyes scanning the maps.

Black Ridge was rugged terrain, tricky to navigate but manageable if you knew what you were doing.

The canyon? That one made my stomach twist. Tight spaces, unpredictable winds, and if things went sideways, there wasn’t much room to maneuver.

Pine Hollow was the easiest of the three, but “easy” was relative when you were dealing with fire.

It got my juices flowing. And I immediately felt guilty about it. I should not be excited about fire, but I was anxious to get in the air and actually do something.

Chief started assigning crews. I waited, my heart thumping in my chest like it was trying to escape. When he finally called my name, I straightened up so fast I nearly knocked over my water.

“Janna,” he said, his eyes locking onto mine. “You’re on Air Attack for Black Ridge. You’ll be spotting for Dalton and his crew.”

Dalton. Of course it had to be Dalton. I could feel his gaze on me from across the room, but I didn’t look over. Instead, I nodded at Chief, trying to keep my face neutral even though my insides were doing somersaults.

“Got it,” I said, my voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through me.

Chief gave me a quick nod before moving on to the next assignment. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake that itchy feeling in my chest. Excitement? Fear? Anticipation? It was all of it rolled into one big ball of emotion that made it hard to sit still.

Fire season had officially started. I was ready—or at least I hoped I was.

Thirty minutes later, it felt like I had been plunged into a busy beehive. Everyone knew exactly what to do. I was sticking to Cheryl like we were attached with Velcro.

“Let’s do this,” she said. “Feeling good?”

I nodded. “Yep.”

“Alright, my life is in your hands, and I really like my life, so don’t kill me.”

I appreciated her levity in what felt like a very serious moment.

We climbed into the plane that had been pushed out of the hangar.

It was the first time I had been in the cockpit in almost a week.

I had been suffering actual withdrawals.

I was only a little disappointed I didn’t get to fly with Dalton sitting behind me. But he was going to be in his plane.

Cheryl talked to control and then directed me where to go, even though I could hear the directions. It was part of the process. I wasn’t going to pull any of the shit I had with Dalton. He made me want to rebel and fight back. But I understood these procedures were in place for a reason.

At the target area, smoke filled the air, thick and blinding. I found myself sitting up a little straighter, my hands gripping a little tighter.

Laser sat behind me in the spotter seat. Fear and excitement pulsed together inside me. I forced myself to slow my breathing. I knew the first fire would be a big deal. It would be one I never forgot.

“Hold us steady at this altitude,” Laser said, voice calm over the whine of the engine. “I need a clear view of the ridge below.”

I angled us into a gentle turn, trying to keep steady above the blaze but giving her the best vantage point I could. The air was thick with turbulence. The plane shuddered as if it were a leaf in an angry windstorm.

I knew it wasn’t possible, but I swore I could taste and smell the smoke.

It was in my head. We weren’t close enough and the plane was sealed.

Dalton had explained that low-altitude flyovers could lead to smoke infiltration.

He warned me about staying calm and getting to clean air before the smoke could do any damage or make me dizzy.

I focused on the instruments. Altitude. Airspeed. Vertical speed. Ridge proximity. Wind. I listened to Cheryl reporting the details of the fire. My job was to give her the best view possible. She needed every detail. Details mattered. Details saved lives.

“Visibility’s dropping,” I reported. “I’m losing sight of the far ridge.”

“I’ve got movement. Looks like flames jumping the ridge to the east. Can you get me a closer angle?”

My chest clenched, but I adjusted course.

We banked and dove, inched toward the ridge line while keeping speed steady and staying high enough to avoid getting lost in the billowing white smoke.

Below us, the fire leapt into a fresh wave.

The trees behind it flickered red then darkened black as they burned.

The forest looked alive. Like it was fighting and losing a war.

“Shit,” I muttered.

Laser snapped directions into the headset. “Drop a few hundred feet. Adjust. Slow us to ninety knots. Watch the updraft.”

My arms burned from holding the plane steady in the current. My face was slick with sweat. Every fiber of my body was alive. I realized I was a little afraid to drop in altitude. But I quickly dismissed the thought. I was here to do exactly what I was doing.

I swallowed down the fear and used it to focus. Cheryl asked me not to kill her. I would do my best.

The plane shuddered again. I tightened my grip on the controls, my knuckles whitening.

My heart was still racing, but it wasn’t just from the fire or the turbulence.

It was from the realization that I was exactly where I was meant to be.

For the first time in a long time, things felt like they were falling into place.

I glanced at the instruments, my eyes flicking between altitude and airspeed.

The fire below was a living, breathing monster, but I wasn’t afraid of it.

Not anymore. I had trained for this. I had fought hard to get the job.

I was doing something I loved with people who were starting to feel like family.

Cheryl’s voice was calm and steady as she relayed information to base. I adjusted our course slightly, keeping us steady despite the updrafts that threatened to throw us off balance. My instincts kicked in. Years of flying had prepared me for this.

As we banked around another plume of smoke, my thoughts drifted to Dalton.

He was on the ground waiting for us to finish our job so he could do his.

I could imagine him glaring at everyone, arms crossed and grilling Gabriel over and over about the drop doors.

Some people would see him as an asshole, but those of us that knew Dalton knew he was tough for a reason.

He wasn’t perfect. Far from it. But I could see the man he was before he lost his friend and got hurt.

Of course he would demand perfection when anything less could get people killed.

And of course he threw up protective walls around himself.

Getting close to people led to pain and heartache in this line of work.

But maybe things could be different for him. Maybe we could be together and give things a real shot. I wanted to believe I had made a difference in his life. He did tell me he had never taken anyone to his cabin. That had to mean I was special.

Or maybe that was just me thinking I was someone important.

“I think I see more smoke down at the foothills, but I can’t tell from up here,” Laser said, her voice cutting through my wandering thoughts. “Get us in close so we can see what we’re working with. If these flames are jumping around, we need to get the tankers in here.”

My stomach dropped. Getting in close meant dropping altitude, which meant more turbulence, more heat, and less room for error. But Laser was right. We needed eyes on the situation before it got out of control.

“Copy that,” I replied, pushing the stick forward and beginning our descent. The plane responded immediately. As we lost altitude, the smoke grew thicker, and the heat radiating from below seemed to seep through the belly of the plane.

I reminded myself it was all in my head. We were safe.

At eight hundred feet, the updrafts hit us like they were trying to throw us out of the sky. The plane bucked and rolled, and I had to fight to keep us level. My palms were slick with sweat inside my gloves, but I kept my grip firm on the controls.

“There,” Laser said, pointing toward the eastern slope. “See that gray plume? That’s not just smoke—that’s a new ignition point. The fire’s definitely jumping.”

I banked left to get a better angle, my heart hammering. The plane shuddered through another pocket of turbulent air. Below us, orange fingers of flame licked at the dry brush, spreading fast. The sight was both terrifying and mesmerizing.

Cheryl was already calling it in.

“Tankers inbound,” she said. “This is going to be a long day. I hope you’re properly caffeinated.”

“I’m plenty awake,” I said.

I was playing a huge part in something that really mattered. It was everything I had wanted. I didn’t get to fly fighter jets and protect our county with the military, but I did get to protect the country in a different way. My way.