Cosmic Rendezvous

Shelly gritted her teeth. Normally, she didn’t have trouble getting her peers to respect her authority. But Linc had already set a tone of disrespect, and it was only natural that his team would follow suit.

Before Shelly could figure out the best way to handle Randy’s remark, Dusty Chambers spoke up. “Give me a break, guys. You wouldn’t say things like that if Colonel Murphy was in the room, so don’t start mouthing off now. Let’s show Shelly how professional we are in the air force.”

“Thank you, Dusty,” Shelly said gratefully.

Dusty gave her a wide smile in return. And, judging by the sudden scowl on Linc’s face, he didn’t appreciate his rival coming to her rescue. She knew all about the tension between them, and a sudden burst of wisdom had told her that she could use it to her advantage.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Apparently, Dusty subscribed to that same philosophy. During the twenty-minute break between the briefing and the walk to the hangar where the flight simulations would take place, he fell into step beside her.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” he said.

Shelly stopped in the corridor and turned to face him. He was handsome, with spiky blond hair and a lined, weathered face from spending a lot of time outdoors. “Sure. What’s on your mind, Dusty?”

“I’m just curious. Did you really try to get Lightning pulled off the mission?”

Shelly sighed. “He blew that out of proportion. It’s not that I tried to get him pulled from the mission so much as I inquired if there were other astronauts that would have been a better fit.”

Dusty laughed out loud. “He must have loved that.”

She shrugged. “It seems Colonel Murphy is really sold on Linc as the best man for the job. Even though I don’t agree, I have to respect his judgment.”

“I gotta tell you, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who thinks Lightning is all hype.”

“If that’s what you think, why do you call him Lightning? I refuse to indulge his ego.”

Dusty scoffed. “It’s mocking when I say it. Sure, he had a moment. I can’t take away the fact that he pulled a heroic stunt, but there’s more to being an astronaut than one moment. He’s getting a whole career’s mileage from one good mission. Most astronauts put in years of hard work and never get one newspaper article or magazine cover. But does that make them lesser astronauts?”

Shelly nodded in agreement. “You won’t get any argument from me.”

“Good. It’s nice to know we’re on the same page,” Dusty said.

Shelly turned to look after him as he walked away. Just what had he meant by that?

The airplane hangar had been equipped with an exact replica of Draco and all its parts. A series of training exercises had been scheduled, with first the Alpha and then the Beta team running through each maneuver.

Right away the Alpha and Beta teams took on the roles of rival sports teams, talking trash and bragging about which one would outperform the other.

Colonel Murphy was in attendance to supervise the exercises, and Shelly expected him to intervene. Instead, he told her that the military encouraged healthy competition because it would push each team to perform at its best.

While Shelly found herself secretly rooting for the Beta team, it was the Alpha team, and Linc specifically, that performed better. Dusty and Linc were clearly well-matched, but Linc was just a bit more of a risk taker, which allowed him to clock better times.

As a result, Linc was almost impossible to stomach during their lunch break. Colonel Murphy encouraged them all to eat together in the cafeteria to establish team unity.

But Shelly didn’t see that happening at all. There was so much back and forth between the two teams, she didn’t understand how they’d make it through the rest of the week.

Hoping to give her ears a rest so she could finish her turkey sandwich in peace, she poked Quincy in the ribs. “Change the subject. I can’t take any more of this.”

Quincy was a short, stocky guy with sandy-red hair and freckles. He looked at least ten years younger than his thirty-two years. He was one of the engineers who had moved out to Houston with her from D.C. Of all the engineers on her team, she was closest to him.

“Hey, Lightning, I heard you had a date with a girl from Make Me a Supermodel. How did it go?” said Quincy.

Shelly cringed. He would pick that topic. This was going to be a long day.

“It was great,” Linc said, then dug into his bowl of chili.

Shelly studied Linc’s reaction and wondered why he was reluctant to talk about his date. He’d certainly proven that he wasn’t the modest type, and this was the perfect audience to listen to him brag.

“Don’t tell me there’s trouble in paradise,” Shelly said before she could stop herself.

Linc glared at her. “There’s no trouble. Anisa is a great girl.”

“I know. I met her,” replied Shelly. “We had a great conversation about stain remover and hair salons. What do you two talk about?”

“If they’re doing a lot of talking, Lightning’s doing something wrong,” Randy joked.

Shelly rolled her eyes. “What was I thinking? A space jock like you doesn’t want to date girls capable of stimulating conversation. All you’re after is…stimulation. Nothing more than arm candy.”

Linc shrugged. “What can I say? I’ve got a sweet tooth.”

“Wait a minute,” Mitch said. “How come Shelly has met your girl? You’ve never let any of us meet your dates.”

“That’s because he’s never dated one girl long enough,” Randy said, laughing. “It’s been what? Three weeks already? She’s only got another week or so before he moves on.”

Linc scoffed. “What are you talking about? It’s not like I schedule them or anything.”

“Oh, you don’t? Then it just works out that way,” Randy said.

Linc squirmed a bit. “That’s not true.”

“Oh, then you’re serious about this one?” Vince asked.

Linc ducked his head, with a sheepish grin on his face. “Can’t get serious. Anisa is moving to Milan to model for Dolce&Gabbana on a long-term basis.”

“Oh, yeah? When does she leave?” Randy asked.

Linc shrugged. “Next week.”

“I rest my case,” said Randy.

Shelly pursed her lips. It figured that he was the “love them and leave them” type. So far he wasn’t failing to live up to her low opinion of him.

“You guys haven’t considered the fact that the girls may be running away from him. After all, not many women appreciate a guy who’s lightning fast,” Shelly quipped. She heard Quincy gasp beside her.

Linc glared at her. “I’ve never had any complaints.”

Shelly laughed. “Women don’t usually bother with complaining. They just get the hell out.”

Everyone at the table laughed, and Linc was visibly angry. But after a deep breath, his face relaxed. “That’s okay. You all can laugh if you want to. I know jealousy when I hear it. I’m secure with my manhood. My reflexes are lightning fast when I fly. Enough said.”

Shelly just shook her head, taking a bite of her turkey sandwich. While her mouth was full, and she couldn’t retort, Linc leveled his gaze on her.

“I’m noticing that you have a keen interest in my private life,” he said. “I saw you perk up when you heard there’s going to be an opening in my date book. But I have to be frank with you. I just don’t think it would be professional of me to encourage your crush.”

Shelly’s startled intake of breath was followed by a wad of turkey, which flew past her tongue and lodged solidly in her throat. Her eyes went wide, immediately starting to water as she choked. Coughing and wheezing, she pounded on her chest, trying to swallow the meat.

She couldn’t hear anything but the panicked pounding of her heart as she gasped for breath. Suddenly, she was pulled to her feet, and two powerful arms encircled her. Two quick presses below her ribs and the wad of turkey flew onto the table before them.

Tears were streaming down her face, blurring her vision. All she heard were voices gasping and asking if she was all right.

The strong arms holding her upright finally released her, and she reached up to wipe her eyes. Turning to face her rescuer, she coughed out the words, “Thanks…so much.”

Lincoln Ripley’s face came into view. “Are you sure you’re all right?” He helped her to the cafeteria bench, facing away from the anxious onlookers. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have been teasing you.”

Shelly swallowed hard, taking in the fact that her worst enemy had just become her savior.

Loud enough for everyone to hear, she said, “Fine. I take it back. You’ll never hear me complain about you being lightning fast ever again.”

Chapter 3

Shelly kept a low profile for the remainder of the training session that day. Now Linc wasn’t just a national hero; he was her personal hero. And that left her in an awkward position, given all the tension between them.

Plus, any reminder of spitting her turkey sandwich across the lunch table made her physically cringe.

Despite her personal humiliation, the incident had broken the tension between the Alpha and Beta teams. After her little quip about Lightning’s reflexes, everyone at the table had shared a round of laughter.

During the afternoon training exercises, the air of competition dissipated, and the teams were rooting each other on rather than trading gibes.

Colonel Murphy certainly noted the change in atmosphere and credited it to his idea that socializing during lunch equals team bonding. He’d been right. But not for the reasons he’d expected. Lucky for Shelly’s pride, no one told the colonel about the real event that had helped the team to bond.

Although the day ended without further incident, Shelly was exhausted when she finally got home that evening.

The brand-new single-level, two-bedroom house she’d bought was the brightest spot in her move to Houston. Spacious beyond her needs, it was her refuge, decorated in warm creams and tans, with accents of rich auburn and chocolate brown. Back home, all she’d been able to afford in the city was a cute but small condo.

Her living room and kitchen were completely set up, with new furniture, appliances and a few pictures to remind her of her family. But many of her personal things, like her dressy clothes and knickknacks, remained in boxes.

Shelly was just deciding between a frozen dinner or a call to Pizza Shack when her phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hey, Shelly. What’s new in the world of space?” her sister Cheryl asked. Shelly’s so-so mood immediately lightened at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Absolutely nothing. Unless you count my near-death experience,” she said, with deliberate melodrama.

“Excuse me?”

Shelly recounted her choking incident, leaving out as many of the preceding events as possible. “Finally, someone performed the Heimlich maneuver on me, and I could breathe again.”

She heard her sister gasp. “Whew! Are you okay?”

“I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”

“You sound cranky about it, though. Who saved you?”

Heat crept up Shelly’s neck. “No one special.”

Cheryl snorted. “I know that tone. It must have been someone you don’t like.”

“Don’t like? Why would you say that? I get along with most people,” she said, stalling.

Cheryl’s tone was firm. “Stop beating around the bush, and answer the question.”

Shelly hated that her older sister knew her so well. But it was also what she missed most about her. It was lonely in Houston on her own.

“Fine.” Shelly relented, knowing Cheryl would get to the truth eventually. “Lincoln Ripley saved me.”

“Am I supposed to know who that is?”

“He’s the astronaut who was featured on the cover of People magazine almost two years ago. It was the issue on America’s most eligible bachelors, and the caption read Mr. Right Stuff, remember? You had every woman in your beauty salon drooling over him.”

“Oh my God.” Cheryl’s voice became breathy. “You know him? He’s so hot. And he’s the one who saved you? You lucky girl!”

“Not really.” Shelly sighed into the phone. “We don’t get along.”

“How can you not get along with a hottie like that?”

Sheepish, Shelly studied her nails. “Maybe the fact that I tried to get him kicked off the mission has something to do with it.”

Cheryl was speechless for a moment. “Why on earth would you do a thing like that?”

Shelly tried to explain her run-ins with Linc over the past several days. But as she told her side of the story, she realized she wasn’t coming off well.

“Wow,” Cheryl said. “You’re lucky he was willing to save you. His life would be so much easier if he’d let you choke.”

“Traitor,” Shelly grumbled. “I can’t explain it. He just brings out the worst in me—with his smug grin and those wicked eyes, implying he can have anything he wants. He doesn’t show up for meetings, and when he does, everything’s a game or a joke. If I were in his position, I would appreciate—”

“That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”

Shelly frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Have you ever heard yourself talk about going into space? You sound like a commercial for vacations among the stars.”

Shelly didn’t know what her sister was driving at, but just thinking about going into space made her giddy. “It’s a sacred experience, Cheryl. Weightlessness, floating without wings. Can you imagine seeing our planet Earth with your own eyes? Space travel is something only an elite few get to share.”

“There you go again.”

“Okay, but what does that have to do with Lincoln Ripley?”

“You resent the fact that he’s got everything you want. He’s floated without wings and viewed the earth with his naked eyes.”

Shelly curled her lip, immediately dismissing that idea. “I’ve met dozens of astronauts. Are you trying to tell me I resent all of them?”

“No, just Lincoln Ripley. He’s the only one you’ve charged with taking this ‘sacred experience’ for granted.”

Shelly blinked. She opened her mouth but couldn’t find anything to say.

“Look, I know how much it hurts to miss out on the astronaut program again,” Cheryl continued. “But there’s always next time. I know you won’t give up. But your dream to go into space shouldn’t have anything to do with Lincoln.”

“I don’t think I’ve—”

“From what you’ve said, he’s a hero. You can’t fake that. Maybe you just think that he doesn’t appreciate what he has. But you probably haven’t taken the time to get to know him. You have a habit of forming snap judgments about people, then refusing to see them any other way.”

Shelly chewed her lip. Cheryl’s words were hitting too close to home. “I guess I can be opinionated.”

“It’s not your fault. You got that from Mom.”

Shelly winced. She and Sylvia London were a lot alike. So much so, they’d spent the better part of Shelly’s teen years not getting along.

When Shelly moved out of the house after college, things finally started turning around. Her mother loosened her controlling grip on her life and began to treat her as an adult. The two of them agreed to start over. As time passed, they continued to grow closer.

“Speaking of Mom,” Cheryl continued, “have you heard from her lately?”

“You know Sylvia. Her BlackBerry has become a permanent extension of her hand. Every few days I get e-mails or text messages from her. I can’t remember the last time I actually heard her voice.”

Their mother was a congresswoman in Washington, D.C. She had been divorced from their father for almost twenty years and had remarried six years ago.

“And that’s exactly why I don’t have e-mail,” Cheryl said. “If she wants to say something to me, she has to do it over the phone. The same goes for you. Who knows if I’d ever hear from my baby sister if you didn’t have to dial direct.”

“You know I’d call. Unlike Mom, I actually value the human contact. Especially now that I’m by myself out here.”

“I promise, once the kids are out of school, I’ll hop on a plane and fly out to see you. But promise me that you’ll make friends with this Lincoln Ripley, because I’m dying to meet him.”

Shelly rolled her eyes. “I’ll see what I can do. We’ve spent so much time butting heads, I don’t know if we can manage anything else.”

“Nonsense. You’re an attractive woman. All you have to do is turn on the charm. An eligible bachelor like him won’t be able to resist.”

“Uh, that’s unlikely.” Looking over her baggy cargo pants and oversize shirt, Shelly raised a self-conscious hand to her tightly bound hair. “I’ve kinda let myself go.”

“Let yourself go?” Cheryl sounded outraged. “What does that mean?”

“The humidity has been hell on my hair, and I haven’t had time to be fashion-forward. I’m sure Linc would describe me as…frumpy.”

Cheryl made a tsking sound. “I knew you’d be lost without me to do your hair every two weeks. Can’t you find a good salon to hook you up?”

“That’s easier said than done. All the places I’ve tried so far have been disasters.”

“Get a recommendation. Find someone whose hair looks great and ask for the name of her stylist.”

“I tried that. Do you remember Anisa from Make Me a Supermodel? I ran into Linc on a date with her, and she gave me the name of her salon. The place costs more than my mortgage payment.”

“What else are you spending your money on? You said yourself that you haven’t been doing anything but working. Splurge and get that hair back in shape. Next time you can try someplace cheaper.”

“I can’t believe the queen of frugal is instructing me to spend hundreds of dollars on hair care.”

“Hey, hair care is my business, and I hate the thought of you walking around in front of hot astronauts looking like you belong in a homeless shelter. Buy some new clothes, too. A little makeover will make you feel better.”

Shelly hung up with her sister, feeling invigorated. She didn’t want to admit to herself that she cared what Linc thought about her. It was much easier to spend all her time resenting his cockiness. But after her sister’s serious dose of straight talk, Shelly had to consider letting go of her grudge.

Was it possible that most of her hostile feelings toward him stemmed from her own career frustrations?

Ever since she’d been a child, she’d wanted to be an astronaut, and she’d done everything she could think of to make herself attractive to NASA. She’d attended Space Camp at sixteen, received her pilot’s license at twenty-one and earned her master’s in aerospace engineering by twenty-five. She’d even completed survival training with the marines after graduate school.

Yet, despite all her hard work, she’d been turned down three times in a row. That still didn’t mean she was ready to give up. She would do whatever she could to get backdoor training for a space flight.

When she’d accepted the position training astronauts on Draco, she’d known she had some bargaining power. Even though military restrictions prevented her from hitching a ride into space, she’d negotiated the right to train on all the equipment and simulators for the mission.

When NASA received her next application, it would be her strongest effort. But it would also be her last. If she was rejected again, Shelly would have to face facts. Maybe she wasn’t meant to become an astronaut.

Linc stepped out of the shower, rubbing his tired muscles. What had possessed him to make a date after the first day of training?

Initially, he’d wanted to spend as much time as possible with Anisa before she left for Milan. But over the past few days, his interest in her had begun to fade.

Walking into the bedroom, Linc eyed his pillows with longing. It had been a much more stressful day than he’d anticipated. Watching his nemesis choke on her food because he’d been teasing her had rattled him.

Thankfully, he’d been able to help her, but that didn’t ease his guilty conscience. Hadn’t he resolved to be more sensitive toward her? It had just been so difficult when she was challenging him at every turn.

On the other hand, it had forced him to raise his game. He stayed on his toes around her, and he was starting to look forward to their verbal sparring.

It had been a long time since he’d come across a woman who wasn’t interested in dating him—one that might actually share some of his interests.

Linc thought about that for a moment. Why wasn’t she interested in dating him? He was one of the most eligible bachelors in America. People magazine had said so.

Shaking his head to clear it, Linc reminded himself that Shelly wasn’t his type, anyway. Models, actresses, women who spent time and money on their looks—they were his type.

Shelly’s face came to mind. She didn’t spend a lot of time on her hair; she wore glasses and had no makeup at all. But she had smooth cocoa skin that was clear and creamy, and wide, full lips that were plump for kissing, and her dark brown eyes were a pretty almond shape.

The doorbell rang, and Linc found he was still sitting on the corner of his bed, in his bath towel. Throwing on jeans and a T-shirt, he rushed to let Anisa in.

He pulled open the door, and Anisa crossed the threshold, reeking of that cloying French perfume she loved. “Just look how you’re dressed. I thought you were taking me out.”

Linc gave her a regretful smile. “Work did me in. Do you mind if we stay in?”

“Staying in is a great idea, sugar,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek.

Linc winced as her lip gloss left a sticky mark on his skin. He studied her face, her false eyelashes, layers of purple and green eye shadow, and shiny lips, and suddenly it all seemed like too much. He had no idea about the woman beneath those layers of makeup.

Trying to keep up his spirits, he led his date into the living room. “The problem is that we don’t have any food in the house. Do you mind if we order pizza or something?”

“Pizza?” she said, curling her lip in derision. “Why don’t we get my favorite French restaurant in the city to cater dinner?”

Linc gritted his teeth. He just wasn’t in the mood for all that fuss. He also wasn’t in the mood for rich food, an expensive bill, and the huge amount of time it would take to get a delivery to his ranch from downtown Houston.

Anisa seemed to read the look on his face. “You don’t like that idea, do you?”

He gave her a sheepish nod. “I’m afraid it might be more hassle than I’m up for tonight. If you don’t want pizza, how about Chinese or Mexican food?”

Her lip curled again. “How about I call some girlfriends and hit that French restaurant downtown, and you crawl into bed and get some rest?”

Linc’s first heartfelt smile of the night broke out. “I think that may be for the best. I’m absolutely exhausted.”

“I’ll take a rain check,” Anisa said as she headed for the door.

Linc nodded, kissing her on the cheek, even though they both knew that check would never be cashed.

Shelly noticed a significant change in her relationship with Linc over the course of the week. After her conversation with her sister, Shelly couldn’t help feeling a bit embarrassed and ashamed of herself. On top of that, now that she’d opened her mind to seeing him without bias, she was starting to admire him.

Yes, she could now be counted among his silent groupies. Worse still, she’d started appreciating his confident but graceful strut, and the way his flight suit conformed to his leanly muscled body. She’d even caught herself studying his chiseled profile when no one was looking.

As a result of this confounding development, she avoided Linc as much as she could. She laid out the training parameters and supervised the overall exercises, but when one-on-one contact was required, she used members of her engineering team as go-betweens.

Linc made her life easy by following suit. The problem was that their mutual avoidance of each other hadn’t gone unnoticed.

He sat at the back of the room when she was running briefings, he no longer publicly gibed her, and they sat at opposite ends of the table at lunch. By the end of the week, everyone seemed to have noticed the change.