Page 6 of One Kind Hand

Austin scanned the rest of the list and there wasn’t another female pilot entry.

“This one.” He highlighted it and handed the tablet back to Cody.

“That was fast.” Cody read the entry, his mouth puckering in and out. “Any particular reason?”

Austin shrugged. “A gut feeling.”

Chapter Two

Charlie took a sip of her beer as she flipped through the channels on her big screen. That New Hampshire rescue two days ago had been a tricky one and she hadn’t been sure she’d get the victim to the hospital in time. Fortunately, her trusty bird hadn’t disappointed and Charlie had delivered the victim—one with a pretty mangled leg after a hiking slip—to waiting doctors who would hopefully be able to fix him up.

The following two days after the rescue had found Charlie and her chopper flying some executives to New York and assisting on a search and rescue in Rhode Island. She’d taken today to catch up on things like grocery shopping and cleaning her house. She’d hung out with Isabel a little, but her bestie was super busy with the addition to Pine River Cottages and Charlie didn’t want to hold up the progress.

“Let’s hang this weekend,” Isabel had said when Charlie had gotten up to leave. Papers littered Isabel’s desk and she had a pencil and a pen stuffed into her bun.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Maybe we can watch a little Austin Rayhill and summon an invite for your chopper to be in his movie.” Isabel had wiggled her fingers as if using sorcery.

“Or we can simply admire his backside and enjoy all the fun that’s always been.”

“But imagine enjoying his backside with no screen between the two of you.” Isabel cupped her hands as if squeezing man butt. “Like, c’mon!”

Charlie would be a big fat liar if she said she hadn’t daydreamed a little scenario where her chopper did get chosen and she met Austin in person on the set of the movie. They would discover they both had a love of Italian food and she’d take him to Albero’s where her buddy Chef Jorden would lull them into a marinara-infused haze. Then Charlie would graciously offer Austin dessert.

At her place.

In her bed.

Charlie had cleared her throat and looked at Isabel. “They probably picked someone else by now.”

“You don’t know that,” Isabel had said. “I think the online form said the entry deadline was yesterday.”

It had, but Charlie had been trying to not get her hopes up. Because that would mean getting selected was important to her. And it definitely wasn’t important to her.

Not at all.

She took another swig of her beer and contemplated running out to Cups Café to grab one of their spinach pies for dinner. That would mean putting on real pants and shoes, probably a bra, and that all sounded like too much work now that she was comfy in her skull-themed pajama pants and Birch Peak Adventures sweatshirt. She had recently gone grocery shopping too so she could make something, but that would involve . . . you know . . . making something. Heading to the hall closet, she grabbed a bag of popcorn instead, deeming that a suitable dinner choice to accompany her beer. Good thing she didn’t have other mouths to feed.

After ripping the popcorn bag open, she grabbed a handful and started snacking as she zoomed through the on-screen TV guide again. For a Friday night, a whole lot of nothing was on.

That’s because most people go out on a Friday night. They had plans with friends and loved ones. Charlie’s best friend was all wrapped up in her fiancé—as she should be. No one could fault Isabel and Jackson for making up for lost time. Her other friends were neatly paired off as well and while any one of the duos would gladly invite Charlie to hang out, she wasn’t in the mood.

She glanced around her living room. Maybe it was time to get a dog. She’d shied away from getting any pets because she had to be ready to fly off at a moment’s notice, but she was almost always home a few hours later. Nothing a dog couldn’t handle. And she could always drop the dog off at Pine River Cottages to play with Isabel’s dog, Blaze. Perhaps she’d hit up Violet who volunteered at Maplehaven Animal Shelter and see if any pups were a good fit for a tomboyish helicopter pilot who didn’t have a nurturing bone in her body.

As luck would have it, a dog training show came up in the guide so Charlie selected it and settled deeper into the couch cushions with her beer and popcorn. When the show ended fifteen minutes later, she went back to scrolling and the title Eagle Force caught her eye.

An Austin Rayhill movie.

She’d just watched one of his movies the other night. Surely watching two in one week was pathetic.

She clicked on Eagle Force.

Austin filled the screen and Charlie moaned at the patch of abs that showed through the monstrous tear in his shirt. A tear he’d earned in a kickass knife fight with a thug. Blood marked his exposed skin, but Charlie still found him sexy as fuck. A little blood didn’t bother her. She’d seen enough of it while on rescues.

“This is the end of the line for you,” Austin said, his abs bunching as he lifted his leg and landed a kick to the thug’s jaw. A man who could get his leg up that high had to be capable of all sorts of tricks in the bedroom.

Charlie set her beer on the coffee table before she accidentally doused herself with it. She picked some popcorn off her sweatshirt and made a neat pile of the droppings next to the beer bottle.