help or assistance. Don’t keep needling me on what I can’t divulge to you. You’ll know soon enough.”
A ribbon of shame flowed through Layne. This was the man Matt Talbot trying to reason with her, his voice trembling with conviction and concern. His hand was dry and warm and strong around her own. She chewed on her lower lip, feeling guilty. “I only wanted to say, before you kept interrupting me, that you were awfully emotional. And that isn’t like a Company man.”
Matt turned her hand over, studying her long, slender fingers. “And I don’t spy for a living, Layne. I told you that before. This is a second job. One that I’m rarely called on to perform. If I had wanted to join the Company on a full-time basis, I’d have done it years ago. But flying is my life.”
A small smile fled across her lips. “Your mistress?”
Matt managed a slight, strained laugh. “Yeah, I suppose you could call it that. I have the Air Force for a mother-in-law and my aircraft as a mistress.”
Layne was acutely aware of his thumb tracing lazy circles in the palm of her hand, sending delightful tingles sizzling up her arm. Reluctantly she disengaged from his provocative touch, fighting a powerful desire to remain ensconced within his care. “My dad used to say he had the best of all worlds combined—a mother-in-law that understood his love of flying, a mistress who constantly challenged him and a wife who loved him, faults and all.”
“Yeah, I can identify with that,” Matt agreed huskily. “
What did your wife think of your test-piloting career?” Immediately Layne chastised herself; she was getting personal again. But the gnawing ache of wanting to know more about Matt simply dissolved those walls she had always hidden behind.
Matt began to uncoil and relaxed in the recliner, keeping his blue gaze steadily on her. “Jenny worried a lot. I even took her down to the operations building at Edwards Air Force Base and showed her the preparation behind a flight.” He shrugged. “It didn’t seem to allay her fears, but only increased them because she wondered if more errors couldn’t be built into a test on any given flight.”
Layne smiled. “That’s interesting, because my dad did the same thing for my mom and me.”
“And?”
“We both quit worrying a great deal about Dad’s flights.” Her brows drew into a pained position. “But a bird killed him anyway.”
“What happened? Do you want to talk about it?”
Layne rallied beneath his roughened tone. “He was testing the fuel distribution pumps in both wing tanks on a prototype. I guess too much fuel was pumped into one wing when a valve stuck in the open position and there was no instrument to warn him of what had happened. The weight caused the plane to go into a dive, and Dad couldn’t pull it out in time. He ejected at the last moment but the chute was shredded by the speed of the descent.” Her voice lowered. “They told us later that he didn’t feel a thing.” Layne shuddered, reliving that October day.
“He wouldn’t have—believe me, kitten.”
She raised her head, lost in the blue of his eyes. “How long have you been testing?”
“Four years.” “
I suppose you love it?”
Matt nodded. “Yes.”
“I think you like living dangerously.”
“But I don’t see it as dangerous, Layne. Safety is the key phrase.”
“And the rest is luck—or fate.”
“There’s that unaccounted-for ten percent that can go for or against you.”
She rested her chin on her clasped hands, a faraway look in her eyes. “That’s odd, Dad always said the same thing.”
“Look at it this way, Layne. Fate brought us together. I feel like the luckiest man in the world getting introduced to you. Sometimes fate twists in the right direction.”
“You’d better hope it doesn’t turn its back on us, Matt Talbot.” “And you’re blushing, Layne Hamilton.”
She fretted, then rose. “I’m having a tough time dealing with your honesty, Major.”
He grinned. “Better get used to it. I’m out to prove to you that even though I work for the Company, there can be such a thing as candor in an agent.”
“What’s the game plan once we land in Hong Kong, Matt?” she asked, changing the subject.
“I’ll take you to the hotel and then I’ll meet with British SI and the Company people.”
“To be briefed?”
He nodded. “All contingents will be there.” “
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