Page 13 of One Kind Hand

Right. Cody had asked him a question.

“Two thumbs up from me. This chopper should be able to handle anything in that script.”

“You mean the pilot can handle anything in that script, right?” Charlie narrowed her eyes at Austin. “A chopper is just a bunch of metal without its pilot.”

“Of course. My apologies.” Austin’s cheeks heated. His cheeks never heated. Not even when he had to do something with a love interest in one of his movies. “This chopper and its pilot can handle anything in that script.”

“Awesome,” Cody said. “Let’s make sure all the paperwork is in order and then, Charlie, are you free for lunch?”

She peeked at Austin and he gave her a little nod because shit, he wanted her to be free for lunch. “Sure. Sounds great.”

“Can you do that corkscrew move again before we land?” Janice asked.

“Absolutely.”

Janice clapped and Cody laughed, but Austin kept his gaze on Charlie as she worked the controls and sent them into another twist. Good thing they hadn’t had lunch before this little test run.

“I think we’re all going to have so much fun working together on this project,” Cody said.

“Agreed!” Janice clapped again.

I’m already having fun. Except when a body of water sprawled out to their right. Suddenly, Austin’s hand clamped even harder on his seat and his breathing rate increased as a trickle of sweat rolled down between his shoulder blades. He seriously didn’t want to have a panic attack now. Not with Cool Cucumber Charlie right beside him. She didn’t need to see him completely unravel.

When he was about to totally lose it, Charlie veered away from the water and took them safely over the trees. The airfield came into view below and she guided the chopper to a gentle landing.

Austin had a few seconds to compose himself as he removed the headphones and unbuckled his seatbelt. He hopped down and breathed a sigh of relief when his legs supported him.

“You okay, man?” Cody asked quietly while Janice chittered on with Charlie about how cool those flight tricks were.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I thought for a minute—”

“She was going to fly over the water.” Cody gave a short nod. “Nah, I told her not to do that, but she doesn’t know which one of us has the fear.” He jostled Austin by the shoulder. “Don’t worry. Your image is still preserved.”

“Thanks, man.”

“All part of the job.” Cody clapped him on the back. “She’s pretty hot, right?” He angled his chin at Charlie as Janice led her into the building they’d been in earlier today.

“Dude, do not make a play for her.”

“What? No. Of course not. I’m not done canoodling with Melanie. You let me keep her after all.” Cody jogged to catch the door of the building before it closed.

And what would happen when Cody was done canoodling with Melanie? “We should keep things professional with anyone hired on the film, like we always do.” Why did that sentence taste awful? It was a true statement though. Neither he nor Cody got involved with people Austin filmed movies with. It kept things from getting messy. This movie shouldn’t be any different.

But it already felt different on a level Austin couldn’t quite explain yet.

“You’re right. That clause has kept us out of trouble so far.” Cody gestured for Austin to pass into the building ahead of him. “Doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate the views though.”

Austin’s gaze landed on Charlie’s ass. It filled her cargoes beautifully and her long legs ending in those boots gave Austin visions of having Charlie tangled up with him in bed. Maybe with those boots still on.

Oh, yeah . . .

He shook his head and scraped a hand over his face. Focus. On the job. The script. The film.

Not on this sexy pilot who may have stepped right out of his fantasies. Fantasies he hadn’t even been aware he’d had until meeting Charlie.

She wasn’t like other women he often met. Charlie hadn’t gotten all rabid fan on him. She’d taken their meeting seriously as if she’d been conducting routine business. She’d been hired to fly her chopper and that was what she intended to do.

But was she a fan? Had she seen any of his movies? Or was this merely a job to her?