Turbulent Desires (Billionaire Aviators Book 2)

by Melody Anne

  “You didn’t think it was going to be something lame like dinner and a movie, did you?” he asked with his token twinkle.

  “Well . . . uh . . . sort of,” she admitted.

  “Ah, sugar, you’ll soon know that I’m anything but predictable.”

  When Maverick dropped her back off at the cottage with no more fanfare and Lindsey walked inside, she wondered why she was disappointed. It wasn’t until later that she realized that she was upset that he hadn’t even attempted to kiss her.

  It had been a date after all. Even if she had told him it wasn’t a date. It had been a date. And to tell the truth, it was the best date she could ever remember having been on.

  But she didn’t want Mav to kiss her again. She didn’t want any man to kiss her. It was ridiculous to even think such a thought.

  But as the rest of the day passed and she went to bed, all thoughts were on Maverick, and Lindsey knew she was in trouble. This man was getting beneath her skin. If she wasn’t careful, he was going to burrow too far to be removed.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  It seemed that every time Maverick turned around, something else was changing in his life. He didn’t even fully understand it. Yes, he was the one at the controls, but it was almost as if he wasn’t the one making the decisions.

  Earlier in the day, he’d found himself at his animal shelter. When it had come time for him to return Benji and Princess back to their kennels, instead he had told the staff he was taking them home.

  What was he doing? He’d explained all the reasons he couldn’t own an animal, much less two of them. Then, later in that same day as he’d sat in the cold confines of his family home—the home he’d been living in for the past few years when he was actually home—he’d looked around at the cathedral ceilings, antiques, untouchable furniture, empty rooms. Suddenly, he’d found himself searching his computer for new places to live.

  So that brought him to the end of another hectic day.

  He sat on the back deck of a for-sale house as he looked out over the water as the sun began going down. Princess was curled up in his lap, keeping him warm as she snoozed away, her sweet snores almost comforting. She calmed him in a way that was more appealing than just about anything else in his life.

  As if she knew he was thinking about her, she looked up with her sad eyes, begging him not to leave her. Benji barked from about twenty feet away as he ran after a squirrel that quickly climbed a tree before turning around and yakking at the dog, protesting at the intruder for being on its property.

  “What do you think, Mr. Armstrong?”

  For a moment, Mav had forgotten the woman was even there. The water was lulling him into peaceful oblivion as the breeze blew through the many trees scattered on the property.

  “I’ll take it. Tell escrow I want to close by next Friday. I’ll pay full asking price.” What was he doing? He didn’t want a new house—not really—so why was he telling this woman he was buying it?

  “I’m not sure we can close that soon,” she stuttered. He’d obviously flustered her.

  “I’m not financing. It will be paid for out of pocket. We can close that quickly,” he informed her. Money talked.

  “Oh, well, I didn’t . . . uh . . . didn’t realize. Of course. I’ll call the seller’s Realtor right away.”

  The woman went inside as he leaned back in the lawn chair. The owners had moved out of the country and the home came furnished. It was one of the biggest perks about the house. Sure, he’d have to get rid of some of the stuff, and certainly he was bringing his own bed over, but other than that, he didn’t have to do a hell of a lot to move in.

  He didn’t want his family furniture because his nephew couldn’t climb all over it without the threat of getting injured. He wanted a home, not a mausoleum. Mav wasn’t even sure if he knew who he was anymore. So much was changing.

  Mav was even finding himself thinking about a future, about having a wife and kids of his own. That thought sent a shudder through him. No. There was no way that was going to happen. This was just a temporary lapse in his sanity.

  He’d vowed not to marry—not ever—after that reading of his father’s will. No one would dictate his life, especially not his deceased father. Yes, he’d loved the man, but that didn’t mean he was the man’s puppet. Of course, at the moment, he was being daddy’s good little boy.

  And Mav couldn’t forget the fact that he loved women . . . multiple women. He didn’t want to settle down with just one. He was simply trying to help out Lins, that was all. Once she was back to herself and well on the road to happiness, he’d have no problem stepping back and letting her live her life the way she’d been doing before the attack.

  With that all settled in his mind, he felt much better. He even managed to smile as Princess wiggled to get down off his lap and tentatively stepped off the cement patio and out into the grass to see what Benji was up to.

  The two of them jumped at the tree as a second squirrel came out to investigate what the barking was all about. Both squirrels continued yelling at the dogs. It was highly entertaining.

  “I spoke to the other Realtor. Let’s draw up the papers for a formal offer and we should have an answer by this evening if not by tomorrow for sure,” the Realtor said, shattering his peacefulness.

  Still, Mav signed what he needed to, a small piece of himself hating to leave the place he was already considering his home. Lindsey was really messing with his head. He could already see that.

  But when there was a mission to accomplish, an Air Force pilot didn’t give up just because he got scared. Hell, for that matter, Mav wouldn’t admit he was scared even if he did happen to feel that unfamiliar emotion.

  Getting the dogs and himself in his truck, he decided it was a good time for a beer and some brotherly talking. Calling Cooper, he headed in that direction. There wasn’t any part of him that was hoping to run into Lindsey.

  This wasn’t one of their nights together, so he wasn’t seeking her out. He felt much better telling himself that. Now, he just needed to believe it.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Lindsey was startled out of the story she was reading when she heard a dog barking at her front door. What in the world? Shaking her head, she tried to find her place on the page when the bark sounded again.

  That couldn’t be right. She must be imagining things. Maybe it was because she hadn’t stopped thinking about Princess since the day before when she’d left her at the shelter. It was unbelievable how much she missed the little mutt.

  Never before had Lindsey owned a dog, so why would she miss one she’d only spent a few hours with? It didn’t make sense, and Lindsey was tired of things not making sense. She wanted her life back, and imaginary dog noises weren’t helping to make her feel any saner.

  Still, she found herself setting the book down, getting up, and going to the front door. That’s when she heard scratching. Her heart racing, she cracked the door open, leaving the chain in place.

  When a set of chocolate eyes gazed at her through the opening, her heart hammered as she held in a sob. It was Princess. She’d know those sad eyes anywhere. But how had she gotten there?

  Shutting the door, she heard a whimper. But she moved fast undoing the chain and opened the door again. The little dog rushed inside and scratched at her leg, demanding to know where Lindsey had been.

  “How did you get here, Princess?” she asked as she dropped to the floor and the little furball climbed into her lap and stretched out, gently licking Lindsey’s chin.

  A few minutes passed and Benji ran in through the open door and barked up at her as if to say hi. Not far behind them was Maverick.

  “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to bug you tonight. We’re having a barbecue at my brother’s and Princess must have smelled you or something because she was playing in the yard and then all of a sudden she just took off,” he said as he leaned against the wall.

  “Do you practice that pose?” she asked before she was able to stop herself
.

  His brows furrowed as he looked at her. “What?”

  “You love to lean on things in just that way with your arms crossed and your lips tilted up just the slightest bit, and your eyes . . . your eyes all glinty and stuff,” she rushed out.

  That glint she’d been talking about took on a whole new sparkle as his lips turned up into a mega-wattage smile that had her breathing shallowly in an instant.

  “You sure notice a lot about me for a woman who isn’t interested,” he practically purred.

  “I’m not interested, I’m just . . . well, I’m just . . . uh . . . observant,” she spluttered.

  “You can observe me anytime you want to, sugar,” he told her.

  “I see you have two extras over for dinner,” she said, deciding she would never win with him in a verbal exchange, especially one that included flirty little sentences.

  “Yeah, I seem to have gained some pets,” he said with that beautiful grin.

  “You’re keeping Princess.” Her heart almost sank as she clutched the dog tighter. If he kept her that meant she was gone—unavailable. And for some reason that was something she couldn’t even think about without getting upset.

  “Nope, she’s not mine,” he said.

  Now Lindsey was confused. The dog was clearly there, curled up in her lap, enjoying the attention she was currently getting.

  “Oh, you’re taking them back tonight?” That option didn’t seem appealing either.

  “Try again.”

  “Do you love to play games?” she asked, exasperated.

  “Well, as a matter of fact, I do,” he said, his eyes darkening as he gazed down at her. She had no doubt the games he was thinking of were most certainly triple X.

  “Go away, Mav. I’m busy,” she said on a frustrated sigh.

  “Stormy told me if I was coming all the way down here to save her the trip and drag your butt back to the house. Her words, not mine,” he said with a laugh. “She wants you to join us for dinner,” he added.

  “I don’t want to eat with you,” she told him, sounding like a petulant child.

  “Tough. She told me to get you there by any means necessary. Oh, please, please resist,” he said with a waggle of his brows.

  Dang. She was actually tempted to resist just to see what he would do. That was another sobering thought around this man. She never thought she would be comfortable flirting again, let alone with an alpha man with way too much sexuality for a woman to deal with oozing from his pores.

  “Fine. I’ll come, but not because I’m afraid of you or anything, but because I was planning on going to see Stormy and the baby anyway,” she said as she cradled Princess close to her chest and stood up. The dog barely moved.

  “So really, what are you doing with the dogs?” she asked as they began walking the long expanse of lawn up to the main house.

  She let Princess down, who sniffed at the grass, staying close to Lindsey’s side.

  “She’s yours.”

  Lindsey waited, but he didn’t add to that. “I told you I can’t take a dog right now,” she reminded him.

  “Doesn’t look like you have much of a choice. She’s bonded to you. We don’t really pick dogs. They pick us. Haven’t you ever noticed that no matter how many people in a house, a dog will bond to one particular person the most? Well, that’s what we look for at the shelter, for that bond. I haven’t seen a bond as quick or as strong as the one between you and Princess.”

  As if she knew they were talking about her, Princess barked up at them before running in a circle around their feet. Then she finally ventured a little farther away as they neared the house. But Lindsey noticed that the little dog turned and sought her out every few seconds.

  “I hadn’t really thought about that before,” she said.

  “You should. I love animals. I try not to get too attached because then I don’t want to let any of them go, but they all deserve good homes. Sometimes you just can’t help but bond. The animal chooses you, and then you would be cruel not to want its love.”

  “Are you saying I’m terrible if I don’t take this dog?” she gasped.

  “Nope. Not at all. I’m just saying that she will spend her nights crying in her kennel if you don’t.” He didn’t even pause as he said this.

  “That’s awful, Maverick Armstrong!”

  “I know,” he said with a smile. “Is it working?”

  “The guilt? Yes!” she hissed.

  “Good. You two were meant to be together. And don’t worry, I brought some toys, a dog bed, and food.”

  And that was the end of that. She knew it was stupid to take on the responsibility of an animal at this point in her life, but like he’d said, the dog had chosen her and she didn’t want to let her go now.

  Besides that, it was actually pretty empowering that, for the first time in over a year, Lindsey was the one doing the rescuing instead of being rescued. There was this precious little dog who had been neglected and abused who loved and trusted Lindsey. She couldn’t turn her back on the animal.

  It looked like she was becoming a pet owner. And it was the happiest she’d felt in a very long time.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Oh my goodness, Lins, I’d have never taken you for a dog person, but I absolutely already love Princess even after just visiting with her for a few minutes,” Stormy said as Lindsey and Maverick climbed up on her deck.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it first, Stormy. I wasn’t planning on getting a dog at all. It’s just that Mav took me there to walk them and then . . . wait.” She stopped and looked at her best friend. “How did you know I decided to keep her?”

  Stormy just smiled. “Mav told me the two of you had bonded and needed each other.”

  “Mav doesn’t make decisions for me,” Lindsey said as she glared first at Stormy and then at Mav.

  “Of course not, sugar,” Mav said, infuriating her all the more.

  “You’re impossible,” she snapped. He had made the decision for her the moment he’d brought the dog to her.

  “I’ve been told that a lot,” he said as he grabbed a beer and sat down in a lounge chair, kicking back.

  In her past life, as she saw it, she would have never let him get away with behavior like that. It made her feel a whole lot better about the situation because she did want the dog even if she hadn’t known how badly she did until Princess had shown up at her front door.

  It didn’t take long for Benji to wear himself out. Then he came flying up on the deck and jumped on the end of the lounge chair, quickly curling up and falling asleep at Mav’s feet as if the two of them had always been together.

  It was really difficult to stay irritated with a man when he had such a shaggy mutt by his side, or in this case, at his feet. The picture was too dang adorable.

  She decided to ignore Mav and his overbearing ways as Cooper joined his brother and the two started talking airplanes. It seemed easier that way. She focused on Stormy instead.

  “Where’s baby Aaron?” Lindsey asked.

  “The little tiger is all worn out. I fed him and he crashed hard,” Stormy said.

  “Oh.” Lindsey was disappointed. Holding the baby always soothed her nerves, and with Maverick around, her nerves were at an all-time high.

  The four of them had a nice barbecue, then sat by the fire for what must have been hours before Lindsey found herself all alone with Maverick. Cooper and Stormy had disappeared on her.

  Traitors!

  “Sit with me.”

  It wasn’t a question, it was a command, and though she wanted to resist him, she couldn’t seem to do it. Lindsey found herself pulled into his arms as the fire crackled in front of them.

  “Why do you like to push me so much?” she finally asked him. Her guard seemed to be dropping.

  “Honestly, I can’t explain it,” Mav said as he poked the fire with a stick.

  “I don’t want to do the fund-raiser,” she said.

  He was quiet for seve
ral moments. “If you truly don’t want to do it, then I will stop bugging you, but I think you’d do great,” he said. He wasn’t looking directly at her, which made it somehow easier to communicate.

  “Why do you think I could do it? I haven’t ever done something like that before,” she pointed out.

  “Because you know what it’s like to go through a traumatic experience, which means you can empathize with the cause,” he said.

  She thought about his words for a moment, and it made her flash back to that awful night in the hospital. She’d spoken to counselors and they all told her she was suffering from PTSD. She didn’t necessarily believe that.

  “It’s not the same,” she said.

  “What’s not the same?” He turned to look at her then, and she was captured by his expression. There was just so much understanding in his eyes. It was almost too much.

  “The soldiers go through so much more than what I went through,” she told him.

  “Don’t do that, Lins. Don’t downplay your own pain,” he told her.

  “I just don’t see how I can help anyone when I can’t even help myself,” she admitted in a rare moment of vulnerability.

  He paused as he looked at her, as if he could see straight into her soul. It was very unnerving. She wanted to take back the words. But he wasn’t going to give her a chance to do that.

  “You know you can talk to me, Lindsey. It really does help.”

  “I can’t . . . can’t talk about it,” she told him. Even thinking about it hurt. She didn’t want to pull away from him, but she didn’t want to talk about the attack either.

  “I’m not going to make you talk. I just want to let you know that I’m here for you if you need me. I had a bad experience while in the military, and I went through some serious crap after until I finally trusted someone with my story. Letting it out helped me more than anything else did.”

  Lindsey pulled back so she could get a good look at his expression. He’d told her he understood what she was going through, but she hadn’t realized he’d been speaking from personal experience.