Pilot Error Read Online Free Page A

turned to walk away. As she left, she heard Tim speak up. "So, Luke. Fish, do you? I can take you on a fishing trip that'll knock your socks off..."
    Micki reached the front door of The Sandpiper with Dirk trailing two steps behind. Opening it to a deluge of rain, she stopped. A flash of lightning, followed closely by thunder, made her throw an uneasy glance at the overcast sky. Tomorrow's gamble for sunshine was one thing, but right now she had to dig up the courage to ride home in that storm. It wasn't the thunder that bothered her, but the lightning; a childhood fear born the night it struck the tree outside her bedroom window and set it ablaze.
    "Well," Dirk said knowingly, looking over her shoulder, "we could always load your bike into the back of my truck and I could drive you home."
    Startled, she almost flinched when his hands rose to caress her upper arms.
    His breath was warm on her ear as he continued. "Then maybe I could... stay a while?"
    Micki turned, which neatly removed his hands, and gave him a cocky smile. "Hey, it's just a little rain." Her flippancy faded when she saw the genuine disquiet in his eyes, and she softened her tone. "Thanks, but I think I'd rather be alone tonight. You know?"
    Dirk nodded reluctantly. "Okay, but I'll be dropping by your hangar in the morning." He grinned suddenly. "Because I want to see the look on that guy's face when he finds out you're 'Mickey.' It'll be priceless."
    "I'll tell you what's priceless, Dirk." Her eyes strayed past his shoulder to catch a glint of gold off the stranger's watch. "Did you cop an eyeful of that Rolex?"
    "It's a fake," Dirk said easily.
    Turning up the collar on her jacket, Micki shot him a curious frown. What on earth had prompted him to say that?
    He shrugged in response. "I mean, it's probably all show. You know the type."
    She donned her helmet and flipped up the visor as she buckled the chin strap. "Yeah well, after I've given Romeo the deluxe tour, we'll see who's all show." Pulling on her gloves, she turned to assess the storm.
    Dirk chuckled lightly. "Micki, you're a demon in disguise."
    Having counted all the way to ten without seeing any more flashes, Micki steeled herself for a quick run to her bike before her nerve deserted her. Flipping down her visor, she touched Dirk's arm in farewell and darted out into the rain.
    "That's why I still love you," Dirk muttered as he watched her go.
    Micki, running for her bike, didn't hear him over the drum of the rain.
    ***
    The ride to her trailer took less than ten minutes, and after parking her bike, Micki was chased to her front door by a very loud clap of thunder. Inside, in an attempt to focus elsewhere and defeat her phobia, she knelt to greet the dog that came to meet her.
    "Hi, Fizz," she said fondly, ruffling the ears of the two-year-old border collie. Fizz had come to live with her after Dirk had found him as a pup, shivering, flea-bitten, and starving, in a ditch just off the airport. He was her best friend and constant companion; he even rode pillion on her bike, thanks to a special 'seat' the guys had constructed. "Did you miss me, boy?"
    At the lick she got in response, she smiled. "Right answer, or it would've been out on the street with you."
    Not buying it, the black and white dog thumped its tail on the floor, gazing at her soulfully. Giving the scruffy neck a final tussle, Micki went methodically around the singlewide trailer, pulling all the blinds to shut out the storm.
    That accomplished, she turned the volume on the television up loud enough to mask the thunder, and sat to comb out her braid. A pair of comfortable cotton knit shorts, and a large man's t-shirt served as pajamas, Micki Jacinto style. The first time Dirk had seen them, he'd come around the next day bearing gifts of the sexy negligee sort, which she had politely but firmly refused. Micki just didn't go in for all that frilly 'girlie girl' stuff. If she couldn't out fly, out fight, or out drink a man in an honest