Page 3

CHAPTER 3

ALANIS

Chance lifts the basket, and I reach for the handles, my hands covering his. They’re so warm, and a slight chill bolts up my spine and arms, making my fingers tingle. Luckily, I’ll warm up later with the sun, when it gets up to the upper sixties for a perfect North Carolina spring day.

I tell myself the weather is the only reason for such a reaction.

“I can fold them.”

“But folding is the best part,” he protests, still holding on.

Now I know he’s lying. Folding laundry is the worst part. Absolute worst. It’s the part where we have to do something. Otherwise, it’s a machine doing all the work.

At his 6’1” height, I can look up at him while he keeps his head down to watch me. My stomach flips at how close we are, and I want to shut my eyes and take in his scent.

He smells clean, like soap and mountain air. I want to roll myself up in him.

The fortune cookie comes to mind, and with our proximity and in such an unusual place, I wonder if it’ll come true.

Could it be a kiss in the kitchen?

With Chance of all people?

But what would Matty think?

Ever since my dad died, he’s upped his role as my protector. Even if I don’t need one, Matty won’t hear anything of it. I’ve listened to him scare away a few guys before. The guys from his team made it abundantly clear that they were sworn away from me, and they’re not going to go against their teammate and buddy like that. It’s some bro code that I swear dates back to the Medieval times. Plus, they know Matty can kick their ass. He’s repeatedly proven that he can hold his own in a brawl. His irritability is the worst thing about him. Everything else is pretty great, but that… that’s something he needs to examine with a therapist. But as much as we suggest it, he pushes back. Someday he’s going to have to face the demons.

I sigh. There’s no way Chance would go for me even if he weren’t warned away from me. I highly doubt that Matty did that, though. We were kids the first time we met, so they never had to have that discussion. Matty probably thinks I see Chance like a brother. But my eyes see so much more.

Glancing up from folding a towel, I find Chance staring at me, and ever so slowly, he leans down, moving in closer. Never once wavering eye contact with him. Nips of adrenaline fuel my blood, and I move in.

The air around us heats up, and tension coils in my body. My lips tingle in anticipation— a kiss. I so want this kiss. I need this kiss. I can’t stop this kiss…

“Alanis, we probably… need… to…” Change whispers, his breath brushing my lips, but our gazes never leave each other.

“Hey! I need a damn towel.”

Jumping, I spin around. My brother stands in the kitchen with only a hand towel covering his crotch. My body’s tension drops instantly as a cold shower of embarrassment douses me.

What the hell was I thinking? Chance and Matty are besties. Bro-code. They’ve been that way for as long as I can remember. I’m just the annoying little sister.

Heat flushes my cheeks as I replay what he was saying before we were interrupted. Oh god, Chance was probably trying to get me to move out of the way to get the towel to Matty. I inwardly melt to the floor.

As fast as I can, I dart from the room and head toward the hall. My feet a flash as I pass by my brother.

Matty’s voice echoes behind me. “What was that all about?” he asks Chance.

“We were deciding who had to get your pasty ass a towel. Seriously dude, get some sun.”

I laugh as I go into my room. Before closing the door, Chance appears in the hallway, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed. His stare burns into me but I can’t look away. I want to get burned.

I shiver at his intense gaze, and he smirks. He’s sexy as sin and as cocky as the devil himself.

Licking my bottom lip and quietly closing the door, I think maybe it’s time to take a chance… on Chance.

CHANCE

The sun has done its job and warmed everything up today. Lounging on one of the deck chairs, I drink a beer, watching as spring brings the town to life. The mountain is green for miles and the birds are returning to dive bomb unexpecting worms from last night’s shower.

I could’ve headed to the bed and breakfast that I’m staying at down the street while Matty stepped out for a team meeting. But the place was empty. I’ve visited the same B&B enough times that the owners are okay with me crashing without them being there and I can come and go with a code on the door.

And if I’m gonna be honest with myself, I want some time with Alanis. That is, if she ever comes out of her bedroom.

I take another heavy swig. I try not to think about her alone in her bedroom. Laying on the bed like some goddess, her hair in a red sunburst out of her head, her curves creating a road to ride on.

The slider door opens, and her perfume proceeds her. She steps out and sits in the chair next to me. We both gaze out over the yard, watching the flowers she must have planted because I don’t see Matty taking the time. They’re blooming brightly and softening everything up. It makes the place homier, giving a more feminine touch.

Her soft hand slides over mine as she grabs my beer out of my hand and takes a long swig.

I lick my lips, wishing her lips were up against mine and not the damn beer bottle.

Clearing my throat, I say, “What happens if you have to retrieve —repossess— an airplane?”

Handing my beer back, she shrugs and falls back into her chair. “There are other pilots along with me. We do what we have to.”

Sounds dangerous to me.

“How exactly did you decide on that career?”

She has that off-gaze thing she does when she’s thinking. I don’t mind because it gives me a chance to soak her in. Her sitting this close to me is causing my jeans to tighten and my palms to itch.

Just to touch her.

Just to hold her.

Just to never let her go.

“All I wanted to do was fly airplanes, but when I tried to go commercial, the pressure of having three hundred lives in my hands. Well, it was too much for me. I don’t care if something ends up happening to the plane if an emergency occurs. It’s just me up there, but the idea of having all those people —children and elderly— depending on me to get them out of whatever situation we find ourselves in, it was just too much for me to handle. So I became a repo woman.”

I pass her my beer, and she takes another swig, handing it back.

“So, do you dress up in all black and sneak your way into cockpits under cover of darkness?”

I ask the question jokingly, but that’s exactly how I picture it. Afterall, it’s not something that people discuss too often. But I have seen the social media videos of repos of cars in the broad daylight, too.

Tipping her head towards me, she smiles. “No, I’m not a ninja.” She pauses, and I wait for her to answer. She seems hesitant to tell me. “I…” she swallows, “I flirt and use my womanly wiles to get my way into cockpits and then, oops, accidentally start the plane or helicopter, and then away I go.”

I hold some beer in my mouth before I try to swallow. At that point, I’d either be choking or spitting it out.

Finally swallowing, I hold her gaze. “Have you ever been in danger?” Worry prickles up inside my mind at the thought of her getting hurt or worse.

Nonchalantly, she relaxes back in her chair, shaking her head. “Nah, most people realize what’s really happening and that they’re caught, so they give up. Lots of them give me the bird, but I’m okay with it. After all, they should’ve paid their bills and it’s not my fault they didn’t. A hundred-thousand-dollar plane — or more — is not food or shelter. They’ll live.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“Great, now you’re gonna tell me I shouldn’t do it, like Matty.”

“Nope. You’re a grown woman. You can handle yourself. I’m sure you take every precaution.”

That beautiful smile graces her lips once again, and she loosens up. “I do, we’re trained, and I even take extra classes to make sure, if need be, I can handle myself. But so far, I’ve never needed it.”

We stay quiet for a moment, then she sighs. “I think I’m an adrenaline junkie, like Matty. Dad instilled it in us with his living life large. My knees were always too bad for sports, so I do this. I honor him in this way.”

“You skydived when you were….”

“Tandem, and I was four.”

“Four years old?” I whistle. My brain says that’s too young but look at her now. She has a fearlessness about her that’s highly intriguing.

“Matty was three.” She grumbles, and I hold back a laugh. “And then I did it again at twelve, alone. It’s supposed to be eighteen, but Dad convinced them to let me go, and away I went. He could sell snow to Eskimos, that man. It was the most amazing experience.”

The sparkle in her eye tells me she’s reliving the moments. She looks up into the sky with an awed expression. Excitement and thrill-seeking are a part of her. It’s part of what makes her so enticing.

I’m just so… boring.

“I don’t have that daredevil side in me.” Admitting it feels like I’m not living up to some standard she needs in her life.

Alanis drops her head and eyes me. “You do other things that I’d never do. You go in front of a camera. You ask the questions that everyone wants to know. You make up shit on the fly.”

I burst out laughing. “A lot of it is just that… bullshit. Sometimes I can’t remember the question I most recently asked.”

“You could’ve fooled me.”

She speaks so quietly that I can’t help but stare at her lips. They’re so pink and plump that I ache to nibble on them. To find out how they taste. I’d bet a year’s salary it would be like tasting the nectar of the Gods.

I lift my arm over the back of her seat and lean in.

“So you might not know it, but I’m single. And you? Are you dating someone, Alanis?”

She licks her bottom lip, and I bite back a moan.

“Smooth.” She pushes into my shoulder, and those electric jolts fire into me again.

“Hey, a guy’s gotta know. I certainly wouldn’t want to ask you out on a date if you’re seeing someone. Matty obviously wouldn’t mention it. Even though I have a feeling, I’d still take my chance if you were with somebody. It’d be more of a platonic outing, even though it’d kill me inside.”

Her eyes dilate, and she takes in a sharp inhale. “I’m not.”

I flip my fingers into her hair and play with the silky strands.

“Great. Then we’re going out tonight to the German restaurant up the mountain. I’ll pick you up at six.”

Before she can say okay, my phone shrills interrupting a very tempting moment.

Sighing, I lean back and look at it. Shit. “Sorry, gotta take this. Be right back.”