CHAPTER THREE
"Alright," said Brix. "Let's get the home team to start checking those cameras."
"The home team is here," smiled AJ and Hiro. "We thought you could use our help, so we hitched a ride with Autumn and the new pilot, Clark."
"Clark? Like Clark Kent?" smirked Alistair.
"No," said the sweet, throaty, sexy voice. "Like Clark Allison Grimes."
Alistair stared at the woman, his throat suddenly dry. His heart was beating so fast he was certain that everyone could hear it and see it. He just stared at the woman. She had long blonde hair, straight and cut bluntly at her waist. She gripped an elastic at her wrist and twisted it around her hair, forming a perfect ponytail. It only served for him to see the green of her eyes.
"Oh, shit," he whispered. His friends all stared at him, smirking at their friend's reaction. "Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."
"You didn't," she smiled. "I've been called Clark Kent before. Even Clark Griswold. Just Clark is fine. And you are?" She held out her long, slender hand, and he took note of the pretty light blue nail polish.
"Alistair. Alistair Thomas Fitch."
"Ah, you're one of the them," she smiled.
"Them?"
"Part of the originals. You're related to Ms. Ruby, right?" she grinned. He started to say something, but she just waved him off, laughing. "I'm joking, Alistair. Your parents, Patrick and Carsen, were some of the first people to welcome me to the team this week. Savannah, she's been amazing teaching me about all the incredible capabilities of the birds."
"Right," he nodded, still taken aback by the beautiful woman. "Well, welcome to the team. I'm sure you'll be a great asset to all of us."
"I'll do my best," she said, flashing her big smile. "We'll take everyone home and then be ready to come back and pick all of you up as well. It was nice meeting you, Alistair. I'll see you around."
He couldn't help himself. His eyes followed her perfectly round ass as it swayed side to side when she walked away. Her narrow waist was nipped at the sides by the expertly fitted jeans and the sexy-as-shit tank top forming over her full breasts.
Suddenly, someone slapped the back of his head.
"Hey! What was that for?" he frowned, looking at Zulu.
"Don't fuck up the new girl," he said. "We need her skills, and she's young and stupid enough to fall for your charm. Do not screw with her."
"I wasn't going to screw with her," he said, frowning. "I just think she's fucking hot as shit." Brix just laughed, shaking his head.
"Come on, let's load up the girls."
"What? She is. She's fucking hot as shit."
That was a few months ago while they were in London. And here he was, still unable to get her out of his mind. He'd waited. Painfully. Agonizingly. Waited.
While waiting to return from D.C., he was thrilled to realize that Clark would be their pilot again.
"Now's your time, brother," smiled Brix. He looked at his friend and nodded. As he started to move forward, Brix and Major held the others back. "Give him a minute."
"Hi there," she smiled, looking up at him. "You guys have had quite an interesting few days."
"Yeah. It's been – strange."
"Strange can be hard," she said quietly. "Are you okay?"
"I am. Thank you for asking. Are you alright? Are you settling in okay?" he asked.
"I think I am. It's a lot all at once. The place is huge, and I've gotten lost a dozen times," she laughed. "In the air, I'm good. On the ground, I'm a lost goose."
"Well, lost geese are my specialty," he smiled. "Would you like to have dinner with me when we get back? It can be at the cafeteria or anywhere. I'd just like to get to know you."
She swallowed hard, staring up at him, then nodded.
"I think I'd like the cafeteria if that's okay. The food is so great there."
"I couldn't agree more. I just need to drop my gear when we get back and shower. Six-thirty okay?"
"I'll be waiting on my front porch." They stood, just smiling at one another for a few moments when Major finally cleared his throat.
"Hey, uh, can we go home now?" Alistair laughed, shaking his head.
"Yeah. Let's go home."
Alistair had never showered and changed so fast in all his life. All he could think about was getting to the petite blonde with the big green eyes. There was something so different, so unique about her, and yet he couldn't put his finger on it. He didn't want to.
"Hi," she said, smiling as he approached her cottage.
"Hi," he grinned. "You look beautiful. I like the dress."
"Well, it is my first date in about six years, so I thought it was dress-worthy," she grinned.
"Six years? Damn. How do I rate?" He took her hand, leading her down the steps and toward the path. He felt her tug to the path on the left and chuckled. "That will take you to the kennels."
"See. Lost goose. You rate because I wanted to make a good impression. I teased you before, but I really like your family. Your great-grandmother has been amazing with me. I'm not much of a cook, fair warning," she smirked, "but she and Mama Irene have been helping me with a few things."
"Well, the good news is that no one has to cook around here unless they want to. We have enough amazing chefs and cooks. There's enough of a difference and variety of styles to be fat and happy forever." He pointed to the small white markers along the path. "If you get lost, just look for the numbered markers. They'll point toward your grouping of cottages."
"Damn. I wish I'd known that three nights ago," she laughed.
"Tell me about you. Are your parents still living?" he asked.
"Oh, yes. Jovan and Mabel are still alive."
"Jovan? Mabel?" he grinned.
"And now you know why they gave me such an awful name. Revenge," she smiled. "I'm just kidding. They wanted me to be strong."
"And you are. And for the record, I like Jovan and Mabel. They're unique. Besides, Alistair isn't exactly in the top twenty-five for babies' names this year. My parents have unusual names, or at least my mom. Even great-grandma has an old-fashioned name. I think it's cool."
Clark smiled up at him, her dazzling white teeth blinding him. She was so pretty he could hardly catch his breath.
"You're very tall," she said quietly.
"In this group, I don't think I'm tall at all. I'm average at six-feet-two. You're just very small," he smiled.
"I know. Five-feet-one and barely a hundred pounds. I had to fight to get them to let me learn to fly."
"You're a helluva pilot," he said, placing his hand on her back and guiding her inside the cafeteria. She sucked in a breath, and he looked down at her. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, umm, yes. It's just, well, I felt your fingers on my back, and they…"
"Did I scare you?" he frowned.
"No. No, not at all. It's just that, well, they felt nice. I haven't dated anyone in a very long time, so I haven't had a man touch me like that. It was great."
Alistair smiled at her and continued to press his hand on her back, guiding her to their seats. Over dinner, they talked about everything from the military to football, fashion and food, and even about children.
"I'm kind of surprised you're not already married with a few kids," she said softly.
"Why?"
"Why?" she said with a confused expression. "Because you're like a freaking Roman warrior, Alistair. You're tall, strong, well-built, handsome, smart, and one of the sweetest men I've ever known. I can't believe someone hasn't married you and started spewing out babies."
"First of all," he laughed, "no one is spewing babies around here. But thank you for the compliment. I could say the same about you, Clark. You're the total package. Brains, beauty, courage. I'm attracted to it all."
"Then maybe we could have a second date," she grinned.
"Oh, I think that's a definite yes."
They were turning off the lights in the cafeteria when they realized how late it was. Alistair walked her back to her cottage, opening her door for her and giving her a sweet goodnight kiss.
"Tomorrow?" he smiled.
"I think that's a given," she laughed. "We do live in the same community. But it wouldn't matter if you lived in Dallas, Alistair. I would want to see you tomorrow."
"That's a damn good thing, Clark." He kissed her again, waving as she went inside and locked her door. He practically skipped all the way to his cottage.
"Hot damn."