box of oats from the cupboard for a double batch of chocolate-chip-oat-meal cookies.
Some women cleaned house when they were upset. Callie baked.
“Do you mind if I come in?” Hunter asked, returning her to the present.
“I’m sorry. Please come in.” She stepped back for him to enter her small cottage. “I was just baking some—oh no! My cookies!” Remembering the peanut butter cookies she’d put into the oven just before hearing him pound on the door, she made a beeline for the kitchen with him hot on her heels.
“Damn! When you make cookies, you don’t fool around, do you?” he said, looking around.
Taking the baking sheet from the oven, she placed it on the top of the stove, then glanced at the table and countertops. Plates of cookies covered every available surface.
Shaking her head at the sight, she nibbled on her lower lip. She must have been more upset over her mother’s phone call than she’d realized.
“Would you like some milk and cookies?” She grinned. “I have plenty.”
“No kidding.” His deep chuckle caused a wave of goose bumps to sweep over her skin. “What are you going to do with all of them?”
“They won’t last long around George and Corey.”
She opened a cabinet to get something to store the cookies in, but the feel of Hunter’s broad chest pressed to her side as he stepped forward to reach for several of the plastic containers on the top shelf sent a charge of excitement skipping over every nerve in her body. When he handed them to her, then stepped back, she had trouble drawing her next breath.
Unnerved, her hand trembled as she took the containers from him. “Th-thank you.”
He gave her a short nod, then moved farther away. “I think I will take you up on that offer of some milk and cookies.”
Pouring them each a glass of milk, she set one at the far end of the table and started to sit down at the opposite end. Hunter was immediately behind her, holding the chair, and his close proximity unsettled her so much that she almost turned over her glass.
What in blazes was wrong with her? She not only felt as jumpy as a frightened rabbit, she’d suddenly turned into a major klutz.
When he sat down across from her, he studied the plates of cookies between them. “What do you suggest I start with first?”
“I like the oatmeal cookies, but that’s probably because I use chocolate chips instead of raisins,” she said, reaching for one of the tasty treats.
He nodded as he took a cookie from one of the plates. “I’m kind of partial to peanut butter myself.” Taking a bite, his eyes widened. “Corey and George weren’t exaggerating—these are some of the best cookies I’ve ever tasted.”
As they munched on the cookies, Callie wondered what it was he thought they needed to discuss. For the life of her she couldn’t think of anything so important that he’d pay her a visit on her day off.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked, hoping the sooner he stated the purpose for his visit, the sooner he’d leave. She desperately needed to regain her composure.
Taking a deep breath, he set his empty glass on the table, then caught her gaze with his. “I’m concerned that your job might be a little too much for a woman in your condition.”
She laughed. “Contrary to what you might think, pregnancy is not a disability.”
“I understand that,” he said, nodding. “But at times I’m sure it’s extremely tiring.”
“I’m not going to pretend that it isn’t.” She rose to place their glasses in the dishwasher, then started stacking cookies in the containers for freezing. “But there are also times when we’ll go for a day or two without an emergency call and I’m exhausted from sheer boredom. Besides, my obstetrician doesn’t have a problem with me working as a flight nurse, so if you’re worried that it’s too strenuous for me, don’t. Corey and George are both very conscientious and won’t let me do any heavy lifting. And when we’re not out on calls, I make sure to take regular naps.”
“Yes, but there’s other things to be considered, such as turbulence or pilot error,” he said as he handed her plates full of cookies to be stored in the plasticware.
“I trust George. He’s a good pilot.”
“I’m not saying he isn’t.”
She snapped the lid shut on the box, then started filling another one. “What are you saying?”
He rubbed the back of his neck as if to relieve tension. “Aren’t you worried about having to make a rough landing or a possible crash?”
“Not really.” She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why he was so overly concerned. Every pilot she’d ever known considered flying the safest mode of transportation. “In the event that something like that happens, I’m in no greater danger because I’m pregnant than I would be if I wasn’t.”
“But—”
“I see no reason why you’re so worried about it, but if you think it’s that important, why don’t you review the employment records and put me on the crew with the best pilot?”
To her surprise, he placed his large hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. But instead of arguing his point further, he stared at her for several long seconds before he muttered a curse and lowered his head to capture her lips with his.
As his mouth moved over hers in a gentle caress, Callie’s pulse raced and her insides began to hum. The last thing she’d expected for him to do was kiss her. But instead of pushing him away as she should have, she reached out and placed her hands on his biceps to steady herself. The feel of his rock-hard muscles flexing beneath her palms sent a shiver of excitement up her spine and caused her knees to tremble.
If she had any sense, she’d put a stop to the kiss right now and demand that he leave. But his firm, warm lips were making her feel things that she’d only read about in women’s magazines and romance novels, and she didn’t want the delicious sensations to end.
When he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him to deepen the kiss, the feel of his superior strength surrounding her sent tiny little sparks skipping over every nerve in her body. Opening for him, she felt her heart skip several beats when he slipped his tongue inside to tease and explore her with a tenderness that made forming a coherent thought all but impossible.
Placing his hand at the small of her back, he urged her forward, but the feel of her round little tummy pressed to his stomach must have brought him back to reality. He suddenly went completely still, then, releasing her, he carefully set her away from him and took a couple of steps back.
“That shouldn’t…have happened.” He ran an agitated hand through his thick dark brown hair. “I think I should probably leave.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Embarrassed and more than a little confused by her uncharacteristic behavior, Callie began packing more cookies into the plastic containers. Why hadn’t she stopped him instead of clinging to him as if she were desperate for a man’s attention?
Hunter O’Banyon might be tall, dark and movie-star handsome, but she was no more interested in him than she was in any other man. But, dear heaven above, could he ever kiss.
Her cheeks feeling as if they were on fire from her sudden wayward thought, she shoved a container of cookies into his hands. “Take these back to the hangar for Mary Lou and the on-duty crew.”
“Callie…I—”
If he didn’t leave soon, she’d be up all night baking. “It’s getting late and I’m sure you need to get back.” She walked into the living room and opened the front door. “Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate your