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“Don’t tell me there’s trouble in paradise,” Shelly said before she could stop herself.
Linc glared at her. “There’s no trouble. Anisa is a great girl.”
“I know. I met her,” replied Shelly. “We had a great conversation about stain remover and hair salons. What do you two talk about?”
“If they’re doing a lot of talking, Lightning’s doing something wrong,” Randy joked.
Shelly rolled her eyes. “What was I thinking? A space jock like you doesn’t want to date girls capable of stimulating conversation. All you’re after is…stimulation. Nothing more than arm candy.”
Linc shrugged. “What can I say? I’ve got a sweet tooth.”
“Wait a minute,” Mitch said. “How come Shelly has met your girl? You’ve never let any of us meet your dates.”
“That’s because he’s never dated one girl long enough,” Randy said, laughing. “It’s been what? Three weeks already? She’s only got another week or so before he moves on.”
Linc scoffed. “What are you talking about? It’s not like I schedule them or anything.”
“Oh, you don’t? Then it just works out that way,” Randy said.
Linc squirmed a bit. “That’s not true.”
“Oh, then you’re serious about this one?” Vince asked.
Linc ducked his head, with a sheepish grin on his face. “Can’t get serious. Anisa is moving to Milan to model for Dolce&Gabbana on a long-term basis.”
“Oh, yeah? When does she leave?” Randy asked.
Linc shrugged. “Next week.”
“I rest my case,” said Randy.
Shelly pursed her lips. It figured that he was the “love them and leave them” type. So far he wasn’t failing to live up to her low opinion of him.
“You guys haven’t considered the fact that the girls may be running away from him. After all, not many women appreciate a guy who’s lightning fast,” Shelly quipped. She heard Quincy gasp beside her.
Linc glared at her. “I’ve never had any complaints.”
Shelly laughed. “Women don’t usually bother with complaining. They just get the hell out.”
Everyone at the table laughed, and Linc was visibly angry. But after a deep breath, his face relaxed. “That’s okay. You all can laugh if you want to. I know jealousy when I hear it. I’m secure with my manhood. My reflexes are lightning fast when I fly. Enough said.”
Shelly just shook her head, taking a bite of her turkey sandwich. While her mouth was full, and she couldn’t retort, Linc leveled his gaze on her.
“I’m noticing that you have a keen interest in my private life,” he said. “I saw you perk up when you heard there’s going to be an opening in my date book. But I have to be frank with you. I just don’t think it would be professional of me to encourage your crush.”
Shelly’s startled intake of breath was followed by a wad of turkey, which flew past her tongue and lodged solidly in her throat. Her eyes went wide, immediately starting to water as she choked. Coughing and wheezing, she pounded on her chest, trying to swallow the meat.
She couldn’t hear anything but the panicked pounding of her heart as she gasped for breath. Suddenly, she was pulled to her feet, and two powerful arms encircled her. Two quick presses below her ribs and the wad of turkey flew onto the table before them.
Tears were streaming down her face, blurring her vision. All she heard were voices gasping and asking if she was all right.
The strong arms holding her upright finally released her, and she reached up to wipe her eyes. Turning to face her rescuer, she coughed out the words, “Thanks…so much.”
Lincoln Ripley’s face came into view. “Are you sure you’re all right?” He helped her to the cafeteria bench, facing away from the anxious onlookers. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have been teasing you.”
Shelly swallowed hard, taking in the fact that her worst enemy had just become her savior.
Loud enough for everyone to hear, she said, “Fine. I take it back. You’ll never hear me complain about you being lightning fast ever again.”
Chapter 3
Shelly kept a low profile for the remainder of the training session that day. Now Linc wasn’t just a national hero; he was her personal hero. And that left her in an awkward position, given all the tension between them.
Plus, any reminder of spitting her turkey sandwich across the lunch table made her physically cringe.
Despite her personal humiliation, the incident had broken the tension between the Alpha and Beta teams. After her little quip about Lightning’s reflexes, everyone at the table had shared a round of laughter.
During the afternoon training exercises, the air of competition dissipated, and the teams were rooting each other on rather than trading gibes.
Colonel Murphy certainly noted the change in atmosphere and credited it to his idea that socializing during lunch equals team bonding. He’d been right. But not for the reasons he’d expected. Lucky for Shelly’s pride, no one told the colonel about the real event that had helped the team to bond.
Although the day ended without further incident, Shelly was exhausted when she finally got home that evening.
The brand-new single-level, two-bedroom house she’d bought was the brightest spot in her move to Houston. Spacious beyond her needs, it was her refuge, decorated in warm creams and tans, with accents of rich auburn and chocolate brown. Back home, all she’d been able to afford in the city was a cute but small condo.
Her living room and kitchen were completely set up, with new furniture, appliances and a few pictures to remind her of her family. But many of her personal things, like her dressy clothes and knickknacks, remained in boxes.
Shelly was just deciding between a frozen dinner or a call to Pizza Shack when her phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hey, Shelly. What’s new in the world of space?” her sister Cheryl asked. Shelly’s so-so mood immediately lightened at the sound of a familiar voice.
“Absolutely nothing. Unless you count my near-death experience,” she said, with deliberate melodrama.
“Excuse me?”
Shelly recounted her choking incident, leaving out as many of the preceding events as possible. “Finally, someone performed the Heimlich maneuver on me, and I could breathe again.”
She heard her sister gasp. “Whew! Are you okay?”
“I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”
“You sound cranky about it, though. Who saved you?”
Heat crept up Shelly’s neck. “No one special.”
Cheryl snorted. “I know that tone. It must have been someone you don’t like.”
“Don’t like? Why would you say that? I get along with most people,” she said, stalling.
Cheryl’s tone was firm. “Stop beating around the bush, and answer the question.”
Shelly hated that her older sister knew her so well. But it was also what she missed most about her. It was lonely in Houston on her own.
“Fine.” Shelly relented, knowing Cheryl would get to the truth eventually. “Lincoln Ripley saved me.”
“Am I supposed to know who that is?”
“He’s the astronaut who was featured on the cover of People magazine almost two years ago. It was the issue on America’s most eligible bachelors, and the caption read Mr. Right Stuff, remember? You had every woman in your beauty salon drooling over him.”
“Oh my God.” Cheryl’s voice became breathy. “You know him? He’s so hot. And he’s the one who saved you? You lucky girl!”
“Not really.” Shelly sighed into the phone. “We don’t get along.”
“How can you not get along with a hottie like that?”
Sheepish, Shelly studied her nails. “Maybe the fact that I tried to get him kicked off the mission has something to do with it.”
Cheryl was speechless for a moment. “Why on earth would you do a thing like that?”
Shelly tried to explain her run-ins with Linc over the past several days. But as she told her side of the story, she realized she wasn’t coming off well.
“Wow,” Cheryl said. “You’re lucky he was willing to save you. His life would be so much easier if he’d let you choke.”
“Traitor,” Shelly grumbled. “I can’t explain it. He just brings out the worst in me—with his smug grin and those wicked eyes, implying he can have anything he wants. He doesn’t show up for meetings, and when he does, everything’s a game or a joke. If I were in his position, I would appreciate—”
“That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”
Shelly frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Have you ever heard yourself talk about going into space? You sound like a commercial for vacations among the stars.”
Shelly didn’t know what her sister was driving at, but just thinking about going into space made her giddy. “It’s a sacred experience, Cheryl. Weightlessness, floating without wings. Can you imagine seeing our planet Earth with your own eyes? Space travel is something only an elite few get to share.”
“There you go again.”
“Okay, but what does that have to do with Lincoln Ripley?”
“You resent the fact that he’s got everything you want. He’s floated without wings and viewed the earth with his naked eyes.”
Shelly curled her lip, immediately dismissing that idea. “I’ve met dozens of astronauts. Are you trying to tell me I resent all of them?”
“No, just Lincoln Ripley. He’s the only one you’ve charged with taking this ‘sacred experience’ for granted.”
Shelly blinked. She opened her mouth but couldn’t find anything to say.
“Look, I know how much it hurts to miss out on the astronaut program again,” Cheryl continued. “But there’s always next time. I know you won’t give up. But your dream to go into space shouldn’t have anything to do with Lincoln.”
“I don’t think I’ve—”
“From what you’ve said, he’s a hero. You can’t fake that. Maybe you just think that he doesn’t appreciate what he has. But you probably haven’t taken the time to get to know him. You have a habit of forming snap judgments about people, then refusing to see them any other way.”
Shelly chewed her lip. Cheryl’s words were hitting too close to home. “I guess I can be opinionated.”
“It’s not your fault. You got that from Mom.”
Shelly winced. She and Sylvia London were a lot alike. So much so, they’d spent the better part of Shelly’s teen years not getting along.
When Shelly moved out of the house after college, things finally started turning around. Her mother loosened her controlling grip on her life and began to treat her as an adult. The two of them agreed to start over. As time passed, they continued to grow closer.
“Speaking of Mom,” Cheryl continued, “have you heard from her lately?”
“You know Sylvia. Her BlackBerry has become a permanent extension of her hand. Every few days I get e-mails or text messages from her. I can’t remember the last time I actually heard her voice.”
Their mother was a congresswoman in Washington, D.C. She had been divorced from their father for almost twenty years and had remarried six years ago.
“And that’s exactly why I don’t have e-mail,” Cheryl said. “If she wants to say something to me, she has to do it over the phone. The same goes for you. Who knows if I’d ever hear from my baby sister if you didn’t have to dial direct.”
“You know I’d call. Unlike Mom, I actually value the human contact. Especially now that I’m by myself out here.”
“I promise, once the kids are out of school, I’ll hop on a plane and fly out to see you. But promise me that you’ll make friends with this Lincoln Ripley, because I’m dying to meet him.”
Shelly rolled her eyes. “I’ll see what I can do. We’ve spent so much time butting heads, I don’t know if we can manage anything else.”
“Nonsense. You’re an attractive woman. All you have to do is turn on the charm. An eligible bachelor like him won’t be able to resist.”
“Uh, that’s unlikely.” Looking over her baggy cargo pants and oversize shirt, Shelly raised a self-conscious hand to her tightly bound hair. “I’ve kinda let myself go.”
“Let yourself go?” Cheryl sounded outraged. “What does that mean?”
“The humidity has been hell on my hair, and I haven’t had time to be fashion-forward. I’m sure Linc would describe me as…frumpy.”
Cheryl made a tsking sound. “I knew you’d be lost without me to do your hair every two weeks. Can’t you find a good salon to hook you up?”
“That’s easier said than done. All the places I’ve tried so far have been disasters.”
“Get a recommendation. Find someone whose hair looks great and ask for the name of her stylist.”
“I tried that. Do you remember Anisa from Make Me a Supermodel? I ran into Linc on a date with her, and she gave me the name of her salon. The place costs more than my mortgage payment.”
“What else are you spending your money on? You said yourself that you haven’t been doing anything but working. Splurge and get that hair back in shape. Next time you can try someplace cheaper.”
“I can’t believe the queen of frugal is instructing me to spend hundreds of dollars on hair care.”
“Hey, hair care is my business, and I hate the thought of you walking around in front of hot astronauts looking like you belong in a homeless shelter. Buy some new clothes, too. A little makeover will make you feel better.”
Shelly hung up with her sister, feeling invigorated. She didn’t want to admit to herself that she cared what Linc thought about her. It was much easier to spend all her time resenting his cockiness. But after her sister’s serious dose of straight talk, Shelly had to consider letting go of her grudge.
Was it possible that most of her hostile feelings toward him stemmed from her own career frustrations?
