Page 27 of Falling for the Playboy Pilot

DALTON

T he second I got the call, I was in the cockpit and speeding down the runway.

I had been itching to get up there. I had been listening to the comms, and fuck me, my heart had been in my throat.

I knew Janna was a capable pilot. But there were always incidents.

I didn’t know how I would handle her getting hurt.

The weight of the full load pressed down on the plane as I climbed toward the coordinates.

Ten-thousand pounds of fire retardant was like a pregnant belly, making every adjustment feel sluggish and deliberate.

I’d done this dance a thousand times but today felt different.

Today, Janna was up there spotting for me.

“Air Attack to Tanker Seven.” Laser’s voice crackled through my headset, steady as always. “We’ve got eyes on the primary fire. Dropping smoke now to mark your target.”

I watched as their plane banked low over the ridge.

“Smoke deployed,” Laser said through the comms.

The marker smoke drifted in the wind, showing me exactly where the drop needed to go to most effectively slow the spreading inferno.

“Copy that, Air Attack. I see your smoke.” I adjusted my approach angle, lining up for the drop. “Looks like she’s moving east fast. What’s the wind situation down there?”

“Gusty and unpredictable,” Laser replied. “We’re seeing fifteen to twenty knots with sudden shifts. The fire’s creating its own weather system.”

Shit. Variable winds meant I’d have to trust my instincts more than my instruments. I pushed the stick forward, beginning my descent toward the drop zone. The plane groaned under the weight of the retardant, but she held steady.

I pushed the throttle until the S-2 groaned, reacted, then held steady as I lined up my approach.

At the right moment, I slammed the drop release.

It was perfect. I had to admit I was relieved the doors opened.

If they hadn’t, I was pretty sure I would have thrown Gilbert and Tyson into my damn propellors.

“Let’s reload,” I said. “That monster wants to keep eating.”

I was banking away from the drop zone when Laser’s voice crackled through the radio again.

“Tanker Seven, we’re getting hammered by thermals up here. These updrafts are stronger than we anticipated.” I didn’t even have to wonder how serious it was. I could tell by her voice. Laser was the calmest, coolest woman I knew, and she was rattled. Rather, her pilot was rattled. Janna.

Before I could respond, Janna’s voice cut through the static. “I’ve got it under control.” But I could hear the slight tremor, the way her words came out just a fraction too fast. She was fighting the plane.

I had watched her fly. Watched her handle the simulator. She was just as cool as Laser most of the time. Maybe it was because I knew Janna intimately, but I heard something in her tone. And I had a feeling Laser sensed it as well. It was the only reason she said something.

Which meant we had an issue.

My chest tightened. I’d been in enough rough air to know when a pilot was in trouble, even when they were trying to convince themselves they weren’t.

“Air Attack, what’s your altitude?” I asked, pulling my plane into a climbing turn to get a visual on them.

“Eight hundred feet and holding,” Janna replied, but her voice was strained. “Just some bumpy air. Nothing I can’t handle.”

Bullshit. I spotted their plane through the smoke, bucking like a bronco as she tried to control things. The thermals were vicious at that altitude—columns of superheated air rising from the flames that could throw an aircraft around like a toy.

“Janna.” I kept my voice steady, authoritative. “You need to climb. Get out of those thermals.”

“Negative,” she shot back, and I could picture her jaw set in that stubborn line. “Laser needs eyes on the eastern flank. We’re staying put.”

I turned the plane around, scrapping the plan to go back for another load. I watched her. She wasn’t in real danger—as long as she didn’t panic.

“Stay sharp,” I said into mic. “On your six.”

“Dalton?” Her voice cracked.

“Listen to me,” I said, taking on an authoritative tone. It was tempting to call her Princess or Baby but that was not what she needed right then. “You’ve been drilled for this. Don’t fight it—rise above it. Climb a thousand feet. Get yourself above the heaviest thermal columns.”

“It’s… it’s hard.”

“Do it.”

I watched as she followed my instructions. It wasn’t long before she stabilized the plane and pulled away from the fire.

Laser’s voice came through clear and calm after that. Things were back under control, just the way I liked it.

I radioed back to base that I was on my way in to be reloaded for another pass. She didn’t need me anymore. I wasn’t surprised she almost panicked. It was her first full run. Everyone thought they were completely cool with things until it happened.

I would talk to her later. For now, there was work to be done. It was a steady parade of aircraft spotting and dropping retardant.

It took a couple of hours, but all three fires were contained. The crews on the ground would go into mop-up mode.

By the time I landed, I was starving and looking forward to eating a late lunch. I talked to Gabriel, high-fiving him. “Thanks for taking care of those doors,” I said.

“Told you I’d get it handled,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah. Tell Tyson I said thanks too.”

I talked to a couple of the crew. Everyone was in good spirits. I liked it when we had a good run. I turned to walk out of the hangar intent on finding Janna and food.

“Laser back yet?” I asked.

I purposely didn’t ask about Janna. I knew what a rumor mill the place could be. The last thing either of us needed was bullshit gossip. People talking about us would detract from what the real goal was—fighting fires.

Chief was waiting just outside the building when I stepped out. He looked around and then jerked his head, indicating I should follow him.

“Good job,” he said.

“Thanks. Yeah, today went well.”

I could tell there was something else on his mind.

I waited for him to spit it out. I hoped he wasn’t going to say he was going to fire Janna or ground her.

I was prepared to defend her, but I had to be careful about how I did it.

Chief would lecture me about fraternizing and all the other bullshit.

“What’s up?” I asked.

Chief studied me for a moment. “What happened back there? Why did you deviate from the plan?”

It wasn’t what I expected. “Laser and Janna were having trouble. I thought I’d lend a hand.”

“Trouble?” Chief’s eyebrows rose. “That’s not what I heard on the radio. Sounded like routine thermal activity to me.”

I shrugged, trying to keep it casual. “Those updrafts were nasty. Figured it was better to have eyes on the situation.”

Chief crossed his arms, and I could see him weighing my words while watching my face. The old man had been doing this long enough to know when someone was dancing around the truth. “You scrapped a reload run to babysit another crew?”

“I made a judgment call.” I met his gaze steadily. “Safety first, right? That’s what you always tell us.”

Something in his eyes told me he didn’t believe me. “That’s not like you, Dalton. You’re usually the one giving this lecture to other pilots about sticking to the plan. Hell, you’ve chewed out half the crew at one point or another for going off script.”

He was right, and we both knew it. I was the guy who followed protocol to the letter, who expected everyone else to do the same. The guy who’d rather eat glass than deviate from a mission plan without damn good reason.

“So what’s going on?” Chief pressed.

I ran a hand through my hair, suddenly feeling like I was back in grade school getting called to the principal’s office. “It’s Janna,” I admitted, the words coming out rougher than I intended.

Chief nodded slowly, like he’d been expecting that answer. “Your trainee.”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “She’s my responsibility, right? I’m supposed to look out for her, make sure she adjusts to the job.”

The old man studied me and I could see the wheels turning behind those sharp eyes. We both knew she wasn’t technically my trainee. She was hired and had proven to be capable. He knew it. I knew it. But how much did he know or suspect.

Chief hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “Uh-huh. And that’s all this is? Just looking out for your trainee?”

“That’s what I said.” But even as the words left my mouth, I knew how unconvincing they sounded. Hell, I wasn’t even convincing myself. “Janna was scrambling. I couldn’t?—”

Chief cut me off. “That’s not who you are. Wanna try again?”

I noticed a couple of people watching. I wasn’t going to start drama. Damn, I hated the high school bullshit. “Shit hit the fan. She started losing control. I went to help her. Period. End of story.”

“Procedures exist for a reason. You know that. Shit gets messy fast. You broke flight plan. You could have put all of us in danger.”

“Yes.” I didn’t argue. “I judged it to be an acceptable risk. To help someone who needed it in the moment.”

Chief nodded. “You did look out for the team. It was her first full shift, and it was a tough one. She handled it well.”

“Yeah, she did,” I said with a nod. “Flying through fire is a hell of a lot different than flying through rain or snow. But she’s got a feel for it now.”

“Alright, good. Let’s not make this a habit, Herc. Broken rules can save someone one day and kill someone another. Next time, if you need to change the game plan, run it by me. Then I can coordinate with everyone. Got it?”

“Understood,” I said.

He was right. Changes happened but the right move was to call it in and work it out with everyone. Not take matters into my own hands. I knew better. How many other people picked up on the fact I acted out of character?

Did everyone know Janna and I hooked up?

Shit. Hookups happened all the time during the season.

Laser and Wild Bill had a thing and that had turned out horribly.

People talked about me enough. Usually, it was about the fact I was an asshole.

I was fine with that. I didn’t want them talking about my sex life.

I heard a plane coming in and turned. It was Janna and Laser. The plane touched down, bounced, and then glided across the tarmac. And holy shit, I actually felt relief. Like I could take a full breath again.

I didn’t like the idea of Janna being in danger. I knew exactly why I had forgotten the rules. If something happened to her, I would never survive.

I stood there watching as the plane taxied toward the hangar, my heart still hammering harder than I wanted to admit. When it finally came to a stop, I found myself holding my breath until I saw the cockpit door open.

Janna climbed out first. She’d been rattled up there, more than she’d let on over the radio. But she was acting cool.

Pickle was the first to reach her, clapping her on the shoulder with a grin. “Hell of a first run, rookie. You handled those thermals like a pro.”

She managed a smile, nodding.

Gilbert joined them. “Not bad for a newbie,” he said, and I could hear the genuine respect in his voice. “That was some choppy air up there.”

More of the crew gathered around, offering congratulations and war stories about their own first runs. I watched her face light up at the praise, saw how she stood a little straighter with each compliment. This was what she’d wanted, to prove herself, to be accepted as part of the team.

Then her eyes found mine.

Instead of the gratitude I expected, instead of relief or even exhaustion, I saw something else entirely. Fire. Not the kind we’d been fighting all day, but something hotter, more dangerous. Her jaw tightened, and even from twenty feet away, I could tell she was pissed as hell.