He shot her a smile. ‘You’re right,’ he said as he took the plan from her hand, brushing his fingers against hers. ‘Space is the ultimate goal.’ He headed towards the door and spun back round just before he left. ‘As for the plan...’ he waved it at her ‘... I’ll let you know.’
He laughed as her chin dropped but didn’t wait for her response. He had other plans for that.
CHAPTER SIX
IT WAS THE most chilled she’d felt in a week. Things had settled down a bit. Austin Mitchell wasn’t there every time she turned around. Her stomach had stopped doing flip-flops and had reduced itself to a steady buzz.
Her senses had stopped being in a state of overdrive. The skin on her fingers had finally stopped tingling and she’d stopped licking her lips whenever he was around.
The rest of the team had finally finished with the quips. Because there wasn’t anything to quip about. Really.
She didn’t lie in her bed at night and think about Austin Mitchell. He didn’t cross her mind at all on the drive to work in the morning. And now, her favourite part of the evening, sitting on her porch on her rocker drinking a glass of wine, he definitely didn’t feature on her radar.
She rested her feet up on the white railing and looked out onto the fields beyond. The old farmhouse was her dream come true; she might not own all the land around it, but at least she had the pleasure of the view of rolling fields.
She rested her head back and sipped her wine. There was a tiny speck in the distance. She watched carefully. The farmer and his workers were rarely around at this time of night—and if they were, they were usually in some kind of tractor.
She kept her eyes on the figure. It wasn’t as if there were anything else to do. Her book was lying on the deck and she wasn’t a big fan of TV.
She took another sip of her wine. It was definitely a guy and he was running at some pace. She frowned. This was a good way off the beaten track. Who on earth would be running out here?
Her heart rate quickened a little. The runner was definitely heading in this direction. She wasn’t exactly dressed for guests. As soon as she got home from work the power suits were back on their hangers and she pulled on whatever she could find. Today’s wardrobe was an old pale pink T-shirt and even older skimpy pink shorts. Perfect for being home alone. Not so perfect for giving some lost runner directions.
She pulled her feet down from the railing and leaned forward. Her eyes narrowed. Something about this runner was looking vaguely familiar. If he had a T-shirt it had disappeared. All she could see was the defined muscles on his chest and sculpted legs. Something prickled down her spine.
No way. No way.
But yes. The short dark hair and tall frame were definitely familiar. The biceps were even more familiar. She picked up her wine glass again and took a quick slug. What on earth was he doing out here?
A tiny part of her brain tried to be rational. Maybe he was just out for a run and he’d got lost? This could all be some crazy kind of fate-ridden coincidence.
Her body was flushed with heat. But she couldn’t make a single bit of sense of her thoughts. Was she angry? Curious? Or secretly delighted?
He was getting closer. She could see the confident expression on his face. The smile was already there. Oh, this was definitely planned. Austin Mitchell didn’t get lost.
She took a deep breath and stood up, trying her best to act cool, leaning on the railing and holding her wine glass in her hands as he slowed down.
His whole body was glistening with sweat in the early evening sun. He pulled his T-shirt from its hiding place at the back of his shorts and wiped his face. His breathing was laboured. He hadn’t sneakily parked his car somewhere—from what she knew of Lieutenant Commander Mitchell he’d probably run from the actual base.
She gave him a cool smile. ‘You seem to be lost, Lieutenant Commander Mitchell.’
He looked around at her clapboard house. Was he searching for a husband? Kids? No. He would have done his homework before he showed up at her door. He probably was secure in the knowledge that no one had quite met up to her exacting standards so far.
He was still breathing heavily. The cheeky grin was firmly in place. ‘So it seems. Nice place you got here.’
Darn it. That rich drawl sent a wave of shivery delight down her spine. ‘I like it,’ she answered simply, doing her best to look cool even though every tiny hair on her skin was currently standing on end.
He placed his hands on his hips and just kept staring at her. She was feeling a little self-conscious. The T-shirt was old enough to be a size too small, pulled tight across her breasts. The shorts? Could probably do with her tugging them back down. But she refused to be intimidated by him—even though he was standing in front of her with his perfectly sculpted chest resembling some kind of Greek god. She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to remember why she’d told him he had to lose some muscle.
‘I didn’t tell you where I live.’
His comeback was just as quick. ‘I didn’t ask.’
Now, she couldn’t help but start to smile. It seemed to be infectious whenever this guy was around. The cheek just radiated from him a mile high. On occasion she could be annoyed by it. But out of the WSSA environment things were a little different. She wasn’t assessing him right now. She wasn’t instructing him—not yet, anyway.
Her eyes swept the landscape. There wasn’t another person around for miles. It was part of the reason she stayed here. It meant that the possibilities were endless.
She bent over, picked up her wine and topped up her glass, laughing as she did so. She could practically feel his eyes searing into her backside. ‘So, it’s pure misfortune that you’ve just happened to run miles into the countryside and land at my door?’
He gave her the kind of smile that could make any WSSA rocket take off on its own. ‘Maybe it’s coincidence?’
She raised her eyebrows and held up her glass towards him. ‘Do you want me to estimate the probability stats for you of running randomly from the base—in any direction—for any distance and landing at my door?’
He took a step forward and leaned against her railing. ‘I guess it’s just lucky I found you, then. Call it a homing beacon.’
She couldn’t hide the shiver down her spine. The flirting was getting out of hand. But not one single part of her wanted to stop it. His scent drifted over in the evening air. Sweat, testosterone, remnants of antiperspirant. All just aromas of him. It was almost hypnotic. And it absolutely was having a direct effect on her senses. The air between them was pheromone city.
This would be on her terms. Her choice. And as long as he understood that, things would be fine.
She leaned down over the railing towards him. There was something kind of nice about being above the guy who normally towered over you. ‘So, Austin, what did you plan to do when you got here?’
He glanced around him. It was obvious he was making sure there was no one else around. No one to disturb them. The anticipation of what might come next made her tingle all over.
He tugged at his shorts. ‘I was thinking I could take a shower.’
She threw back her head and laughed at the bare-faced cheek of him. ‘I’m sure you have an excellent shower at home, Lieutenant Commander Mitchell. You didn’t need to run all this way to use mine.’ She turned to walk away but he was too quick. He jumped up on the outside of her railing and grabbed her arm.
‘So, it’s back to Lieutenant Commander Mitchell, is it? A few seconds ago I was Austin.’
Her heart started thudding against her chest. She didn’t have time to look down at where his hand was on her skin. Her whole body was to
o busy reacting to his touch. A little war had started somewhere in her stomach and she had no idea who was currently winning.
She couldn’t look at his hand because his face was only inches from hers. Now, they were straight on. She wasn’t looking up at him. She was looking straight at him. Straight into his eyes. Just as he was looking at hers.
Up close and personal was so different. Up close and personal away from the base was even more different. There was no one watching. No one to comment. No one to say anything. Just him. And her.
He was smiling again with those film-star straight white teeth. She could see a few tiny wrinkles around his eyes and some cute freckles across the bridge of his nose. All the parts of his skin she could see were lightly tanned. The palm of her hand itched to reach out and touch his chest. To feel his muscles under her hands. A tiny trickle of sweat slid down from his forehead.
He was still smiling at her. Waiting. As if he knew what would happen next. As if he was letting her give the sign of what would come next.
It was unconscious. She couldn’t help it. But her tongue slid across her lips. His eyes darted to her lips and she held her breath.
‘Maybe it could be Austin again,’ she whispered.
He leaned forward. ‘Maybe it could.’ He gave her his trademark sexy smile. The one guaranteed to have a hundred teenage girls swooning when he became an astronaut. There was no doubt. Not a second’s hesitation as his lips captured hers. His hand caught the back of her head, tangling through her soft hair and anchoring her in position. Not that she’d want to be anywhere else.
Her hands slid across his shoulders. She could feel his muscles quivering under her touch, and the sheen on his skin, still slightly damp. She inhaled deeply and all she could smell was...him.
He was like a drug. There was nothing sensitive and sweet about this kiss. Austin Mitchell knew how to kiss a girl.
His lips were all over hers. His teeth brushing against them, his tongue probing into her mouth. Teasing. Tantalising. Making her think illicit thoughts.