Page 7 of Keeping Zita

Thankfully, the two had safely evaded the rebels and shown back up across the border…with a four-legged companion they’d picked up along the way.

Then everyone on the team was horrified when, just a few weeks later, Mandy was severely injured because of her association with the orphanage and school down in Guyana, where she’d volunteered.

But she was doing great now, and Buck was getting back to his old self.

Obi-Wan was thrilled for his copilot. Buck deserved to have a woman like Mandy at his side. Someone loyal, strong, and independent. Someone who could handle her man heading off on top-secret missions for days or weeks at a time.

It was a bonus that she and Laryn, the team’s head mechanic, got along so well. And nice to see Laryn opening up to another woman, since she spent most of her time around men.

Speaking of Laryn…when they walked into the hangar, for once the mechanic wasn’t instantly fixated on her boyfriend, Casper. Instead, Obi-Wan could practically feel her gaze on him as they walked over to the three choppers waiting for them.

“So?” she asked with a lift of an eyebrow. “How was it? Are you making sure those Hollywood idiots get their shit right with the choppers?”

Obi-Wan grinned. “Today wasn’t a day where they were filming with the birds. That’ll come later.”

Laryn harrumphed. “Well, be sure they don’t use any AH-64 Apaches.”

“Of course. I’ve already made that very clear.”

“Good. So…meet any girls on set?”

Obi-Wan blinked in surprise. That was the last question he expected from Laryn.

She didn’t give him a chance to answer before exclaiming, “You’re blushing! You did! Who is she? Was it Carmen? She seems likes a bitch from the interviews I’ve seen her do on TV. Please don’t tell me you have a crush on her.”

Obi-Wan immediately set her straight. “No. Although I did meet her. And several other women. Why, you need another friend?” He relied on the good-natured ribbing he was used to with his teammates, trying to deflect.

“I have all the friends I need right here,” Laryn returned without hesitation. She shook a wicked-looking wrench that could easily take someone down with one crack to the head, as well as a huge screwdriver.

Buck laughed from next to him. “I wouldn’t mess with her, for sure.”

“Easy, Rambo,” Obi-Wan joked, holding up his hands and taking a step back.

Laryn grinned and slid the tools of her trade back into the toolbelt she frequently wore around her waist. “It’s just that you and the others don’t get out enough. You go from here to Anchor Point and back home. It’s unlikely that you’re gonna meet someone to spend the rest of your lives with at the bar.”

“Who says we want anything other than a casual date?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Well, no one. But I want all of you to be as happy as me and Tate.”

“You guys are a statistical anomaly,” he said. “Perfect for each other.”

“Mandy and I managed to fall in love even under unusual circumstances,” Buck piped up.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. “Not everyone is like you guys. We can’t all meet the loves of our lives under extreme stress.”

“Right, which is why I’m asking about women on the set. There have to be a ton of them around. Makeup artists, camera operators, production people, extras, designers. You should do what you can to meet some of them. Talk to them. You never know what could happen.”

Obi-Wan’s mind immediately went to Zita. There was no doubt he was attracted to her, but her life was so different from his. She was part of the Hollywood scene. She knew all the actors and actresses, and even the director and his assistants. Her life was in California, when she wasn’t on the road working on a movie set. Hell, she probably traveled more than he did. There was no way a relationship between a military guy and a set medic would work out.

He shrugged and said, simply to appease Laryn, “I’ll see what I can do.”

The mechanic narrowed her eyes at him. “I hate when people patronize me. Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear.”

Obi-Wan mentally sighed. It’d already been so long since he’d been with a woman, his dick had forgotten what it felt like to be inside anything other than his fist.

Buck slapped him on the back and said, “Come on, we’ve got flight checks to do. And I have a woman to get home to.”

Now Laryn grinned.