Page 52 of Plane Passion

“There’s a nick in the wing. It isn’t safe to fly.”

Just as she was ready to throttle the mechanic, the distant roar of an engine reached her. Running out to the airstrip, she saw a Curtiss R-4 making its descent. Was it him, or was it the plane from Chicago?

As it made its landing, Millie still wasn’t sure.

A man climbed out of the cockpit and yanked off his cap and goggles. She’d recognize that face anywhere.

“Ernie,” she yelled, forgetting herself and running to him.

“Oh, thank God you’re safe,” he answered. “I turned back to look for you when I lost you.”

They were about to embrace when they both realized they couldn’t. Not in front of an audience.

“You stupid man. You could have got yourself killed.” She wanted to kiss him senseless, wrap her legs around him, and peel off his clothes. Instead, she whacked him on the shoulder.

“Ow! Is this the thanks I get for trying to save your life?”

“It’s the thanks you get for being an idiot and putting yourself in danger. I was just fine, as you can see.”

He grabbed her arm and looked her in the eye. “I couldn’t lose you, Millie. Not like that.”

The anguish and fear reflected in his eyes mirrored her own desperation as she waited for his plane to land. God, she wanted to kiss him.

“You think I wasn’t losing my mind worrying you were dead, you stupid oaf? How dare you scare me like that!”

He was so close. So very close. If she just reached out…

“I need a word with Miss Aldrich in private,” Ernie said, his voice gruff. “Is there anywhere we can go?”

One of the gawking mechanics volunteered, “No one’s in that tool shed over there.”

Dragging Millie by the elbow, Ernie stomped off to the shed. It was small and cramped and there was more than one spider on the walls, but it had a dim bulb and a door that closed. Ernie yanked on the chain of the light with unnecessary vigor and slammed the door behind him.

The second they were alone, they crashed into each other, lips and tongue meeting in a punishing kiss, arms grasping as if they would never let go. Millie bit Ernie’s lip, and he only kissed her deeper. His knee thrust between her legs, and she rolled against him. Her need was blinding, all consuming. She would have let him take her up against the wall, wanted him to as he walked her backward until her back hit wood. His punishing kisses didn’t stop, and she gave as good as she got until he suddenly pulled back.

“You’re spending tonight with me.” He wasn’t asking.

She wasn’t arguing.

Damn it all, this was supposed to be over when they left Bellefonte. But every fiber of her body ached for him. She couldn’t stay away, and she knew it.

“You stupid, stupid man! Why did you have to be so gallant and idiotic?”

“You think I was gallant?”

“Stop it,” she said, beating her fists ineffectively against his shoulders. “You could have died. I thought you were crushed to bits against some mountain. Do you have any idea how terrified I was?”

“Yes, I know exactly how terrified you were. Do you think I didn’t have those same pictures running through my head as I searched for you? You should have stayed behind me Millie,” he said, his voice getting louder with each word.

“Do you think I didn’t try?” she yelled in his face. “Do you think I wasn’t terrified up there in the clouds where I couldn’t see a thing as the sound of your airplane drifted farther and farther away? But I kept my nerve. I did what you told me and followed my compass, and here I am. Unlike you, I didn’t purposefully put myself in danger!”

Ernie was breathing hard, and his eyes were one fire. His jaw clenched. Was that a tear dripping down his cheek? She reached up without thinking to brush it away.

“I can’t lose you, Millie,” he said in a low, dangerous voice, as he seized the hand on his cheek hard then let it go. “I’ll see you at the hotel.” He turned abruptly and left the shed.

She stomped out after him, grabbing her bag. A taxi took her to the modest hotel near the airport, frequented by aviators, and she arrived shortly after Ernie, who was chatting with Will Hopson in the lobby when she arrived.

As she was about to step up to the front desk, Ernie stopped her. “I need to tell you something about tomorrow’s flight,” he said loudly, pulling her aside. “Room 123,” he murmured just loud enough for her to hear.