Page 2 of Keeping Laryn
“Well, yeah. You never do what anyone tells you to do. I think if someone told you to run out of a burning house, you’d runintoit instead, just to be contrary.”
“I’m not that bad,” Laryn protested.
In response, he simply lifted an eyebrow.
Chuck was pretty young at twenty-four, but he was an excellent mechanic, and Laryn enjoyed working with him. Though, right now, his reaction made her press her lips together.
She couldn’t help the way she was. Her dad had taught her to be strong, tough, independent. He never took any excuses from her. Even when she was in elementary school, he’d had her at the track and under the hoods of cars. Homework was put on the back burner. Boys weredefinitelyoff the table when she got older. But she’d gladly spent every minute she could with her dad. When he’d unexpectedly died when she was nineteen and at her first duty station in the Army, she’d been devastated.
So yeah…she was her father’s daughter, and she didn’t like anyone telling her what to do. And if someone dared tell her shecouldn’tdo something? Wasn’t strong enough, smart enough, tall enough…she did whatever it took to prove them wrong.
And now she was the most sought-after helicopter mechanic in the country. Even internationally. She’d even gotten several very lucrative offers in the last couple of years to work overseas for other countries’ governments, but she’d turned them all down.
Because of a stupid crush.
Tate would be fine without her. Probably wouldn’t even realize she’d left. And yet, she couldn’t make herself go. That weakness was ridiculous.
Shaking off the thoughts that threatened to send her into a self-deprecating downward spiral, Laryn fisted the wrench she’d been using when she’d scraped another layer of skin off her knuckles and shoved it into one of the deep pockets along her thigh before standing. The interior of the chopper was tall enough that she could walk to the opening without having to stoop. Chuck stood back, knowing better than to offer his hand to help her out, and she nimbly hopped to the ground.
“Are you really going home?” he asked.
“Yes. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon,” Laryn told him, making a split-second decision.
His eyes widened. “You’re taking the rest of todayandmost of tomorrow off?”
“Yup. I’ve been working my ass off. I need a break. And you’re right, I also need sleep. Lots of it.” Since Laryn was a contractor, her hours weren’t as rigid as those of the military guys she worked with. And since she was the boss, she had more leeway to come and go as she pleased. But it wasn’t as if she took unfair advantage of that. She was usually the first to arrive and the last to leave. Many nights she’d still been working at one or two in the morning. She hated leaving things unfinished, and when she thought about what could happen if she got lazy on the job—namely, pilots getting hurt because of something she’d done or not done—it made her physically nauseous.
But Chuck was right, she’d worked her ass off to get this chopper up to speed, and it was as ready as it was going to be. She had no doubt that Tate and Pyro wouldn’t find anything wrong when they took it up to test it out.
“Wow, okay. Enjoy your time off,” Chuck told her, sounding sincere.
“Don’t fuck with my machine,” Laryn warned, narrowing her eyes. “I mean it. Keep everyone away from her.”
“I will,” he reassured her. “We all know how you are with your choppers. We wouldn’t dare touch so much as a bolt without your say-so.”
Laryn internally winced. There she went, being overcontrolling again. It was a good thing she worked with all men; women wouldn’t be able to take her brash and demanding attitude. She had to admit that she’d gotten worse over the years while trying to fit in, be one of the guys.
Now, for the first time in a long time, she didn’twantto be a guy. She wished she had some girlfriends she could call up for a girls’ night. Wine. Relaxing. Watching ridiculous reality TV and eating junk food. Instead, all she had was her empty apartment, coworkers who were half-scared of her and way too young for her to hang out with, and a man she pined for who didn’t know she existed, except when he had a question about his precious chopper.
Not for the first time, she had the thought that she needed to get out of the rut she was in. Maybe sheshouldconsider taking one of the offers she’d received and move away from Norfolk. Go to Turkey to work for the Gendarmerie Special Operations Unit. They had a couple of MH-60s and had been desperately trying to recruit Laryn to come work for them. Tate Davis and his fellow Night Stalkers wouldn’t even know she was gone. She was just another mechanic. Someone else could maintain their helicopters.
Of course, it wasn’t that easy, considering what she did now was top secret and the US government wouldn’t just shrug and let her go work for another country. There would be nondisclosure agreements to sign and tons of other legal hoops to jump through.
But she was being ridiculous. She wasn’t leaving. No matter how much money was dangled over her head to try to woo heraway from her current position. Not as long as Tate Davis was flying her choppers. The thought of leaving his safety to someone else was…unfathomable.
Laryn nodded at Chuck and headed for the hangar door, bracing herself for the heat. It was the end of August and the weather was still hot and muggy here on the Virginia coast. Soon the cooler air would move in, and Laryn couldn’t wait.
She was so out of it with hunger and exhaustion, and with all the thoughts swirling in her head about her future and her pathetic social life, that she almost ran smack dab into someone entering the hangar.
“Whoa!” the deep voice said. His hands landed on her shoulders, keeping her from falling back on her ass.
Looking up, she saw it was the one man in the world she both desperately wanted to see, and the last man she wanted to be face-to-face with at that moment.
Tate.
“Where ya going? I thought you lived here at the hangar,” he joked.
But Laryn wasn’t in the mood. Even if he wasn’t exactly wrong. “Home. I’ve been here all day and I’m fried. I’m assuming you’re here to check my work. If you find anything off, let Chuck know. He’ll pass along your complaints when I get back tomorrow afternoon.”
