He could have got out of the pool anywhere. But no. Austin Mitchell, complete with flight suit and dorky tennis shoes, swam directly underneath her and pulled himself out right under her nose. Water streamed from him, running off the bright blue flight suit and pooling next to her shoes.
She should have chosen her footwear more carefully. This was one of her favourite pairs.
‘How’d I do?’ That drawl again. Right up close and personal. What was it about that voice? She’d worked with lots of guys from all over the States and a whole host of international guests. Some women loved Italian accents, some Irish. A few women around here had definite preferences for the Russian accent. One of her colleagues was in a long-distance relationship with a cosmonaut. She’d lived in California as a child where accents weren’t as noticeable. But Austin’s Texas drawl seemed to send a zing around her whole body, connecting with each tiny nerve and catapulting it into overtime.
She licked her lips and kept her voice steady. ‘I think you were pretty average.’
He raised one eyebrow. That darn smirk. It was almost as if he saved it for her especially because he knew it would make her crazy. ‘Average? I’m average?’
Oh, good. She’d hit a nerve. She liked that. Mr Top Gun was probably too used to being the best at everything. She’d hate it if he lost his competitive edge.
She waved her hand as she tried to keep the teasing tone from her voice. But it was so hard. ‘We all have different talents, Lieutenant Commander Mitchell. Maybe we’ve yet to discover yours.’
She walked away, still keeping her eyes on the rest of the candidates in the pool. She couldn’t leave until they were all officially finished. Now she was happy she’d worn her favourite heels. She could almost feel his eyes fixated on her swinging hips as she crossed over towards one of the other instructors.
Having a bad experience in the past hadn’t made her immune to flirtations or charms. She enjoyed them. She enjoyed meeting men who were happy to see her as an equal partner instead of a conquest. The twinkle in Austin’s eyes gave her more than a little buzz.
Blair looked up from his monitor. ‘You two are going to drive each other crazy,’ he said quietly. ‘This is going to be fun to watch.’
She straightened her back. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
Blair stared at her. ‘Ever thought about applying for the programme yourself? Fancy some time up in space?’ He shook his head as he turned the monitor towards her. ‘You and him in a confined space for three to six months.’ He laughed and blew into his fingertips. ‘Boom!’
She leaned forward to look at the results that had been shared from Bill’s tablet. ‘There’s absolutely nothing in it. He’s just a new guy trying his luck. They’re all overconfident to start with. He’ll settle down.’ Too bad she didn’t believe a single word she’d just said. ‘As for space—no way. I’m keeping my feet fixed firmly to the ground. They don’t sell Girl Scout cookies in space.’
Blair shook his head again. ‘If you say so, Corrine. I’m not the expert in chemistry. I’m just the payload specialist. But when you two are in the same room...’ His voice tailed off.
‘What?’ She couldn’t help the edge in her voice. It was bad enough trying to ignore the buzz in her body whenever he was around. The last thing she wanted was for anyone else to notice it too.
Blair gave her a huge grin. ‘Let’s just say it’s best not to have combustible materials in space.’ He pointed to the stats. ‘And it looks like this guy isn’t going to be flunking out.’
She sighed and folded her arms across her chest. Austin had aced it. Not only that—his was the fastest time of any candidate ever. Great. Once he knew that, he’d be even more unbearable. Blair gave a little shrug. ‘My guess is he’s in it for the long haul.’
She looked over at the pool. The rest of the candidates were just emerging from the water—their ten minutes of treading water over. Her stomach flip-flopped. They were right at the start of the process. How many of them would actually make it into space?
‘They’re all in it for the long haul,’ she said quietly. She reached over and pressed a hand on Blair’s shoulder. ‘I’ll see you later. The benefits of being a doctor mean I’ve got special permission to see Frank.’
‘Tell him I’ll visit tomorrow.’
She nodded. ‘I will.’ She had one last glance across the pool. All the candidates were now stripping out of their flight suits. She hated the fact that her eyes were drawn to one body.
She could tell even from here he was still mad. His jaw was set and he was barely making eye contact with the rest of his colleagues. For all his bravado it seemed that Austin Mitchell ran a little deeper than she’d first suspected. It didn’t matter that he and Michael had finished first out of his group of candidates. He’d no idea how previous candidates might have performed and it was obviously playing on his mind.
She couldn’t prevent a small smile from playing around her mouth. Finally, she knew which buttons to press with Austin Mitchell.
Useful information. Very useful.
* * *
Frank looked a hundred times better than he had the last time she’d seen him.
His room was filled with yellow flowers and the sun was streaming through the blinds. She nodded at the flowers. ‘I thought they were banned from hospitals now.’
He winked at her. ‘I have a private room. And a wonderful physician who says there’re no problems with my chest.’ He shifted on the bed. ‘Even though it feels as though someone’s been using me as a punchbag.’
She winced as she sat down next to his bed. ‘Sorry, Frank. Needs must.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘I would much rather you’d been the one doing the mouth-to-mouth instead of Bates.’
She laughed. ‘I think he would probably have preferred that too. But have you seen the build of that guy? If I’d let him do CPR he probably would have broken all your ribs.’
Frank leaned over and squeezed her hand. ‘Thank you, honey. I won’t ever be able to repay you.’
She shook her head as her heart swelled. ‘You already have—you’re still here. You don’t know how grateful I am for that.’
He leaned back against his pillows. ‘Guess I’ll need to thank Lieutenant Commander Mitchell to
o.’
She shook her head. ‘Don’t. It’ll only go to his head.’
Frank looked at her carefully. ‘Still smarting that he asked you to dance?’
‘Of course not.’
But Frank wasn’t convinced. He waggled his finger at her. ‘I like that. It takes guts.’ He paused for a second. ‘Anyway, last woman I asked to dance married me.’ He gave a little smile. ‘She refused the first time too.’
Corrine sat back a little. She’d heard a lot about Frank’s wife and daughter but she’d never heard this. ‘Mary refused to dance with you?’
He nodded and held out his hands. ‘Apparently I was too flashy for her. Too confident. She couldn’t see that my knees were knocking under my trousers or that I was about to be sick on the floor.’
Corrine couldn’t stop grinning. When she’d first met Frank he’d been newly widowed. He’d talked about Mary all the time and showed her lots of pictures. They’d always seemed like a match made in heaven. It was kind of fascinating to know that she’d originally turned him down.
‘If she said no, how did you manage to persuade her?’
Frank smiled and his gaze drifted off. ‘Persistence. And lots of it.’ He took a few seconds then looked back at her again. ‘Austin Mitchell reminds me of myself. I was exactly the same. Focused. Confident. Smart. Thought I could rule the world. It took a good woman to show me different.’
Corrine shifted uncomfortably in her chair. He was giving her that look again. The one that said he had things all mapped out for her.
She tried to keep things light. ‘The candidates in this rotation are excellent. I just hope they all make it to the end of the training.’ She reached into her bag and pulled out a plastic container. ‘Here. I brought you something.’
Frank put his hand on his chest. ‘Oh, no. Tell me you didn’t bake.’
She laughed. Her colleagues had learned quickly that baking wasn’t her best skill—even though she liked to try. She peeled the lid off the box. ‘Of course I did. Low fat apple, sultana and cinnamon muffins. I thought they might cheer you up.’