The Hot Pilots by T. E. Cruise Page A

the Air Force.”
    “What?” She looked shocked. “When did this happen?”
    “A while ago,” he admitted.
    “I see,” she said evenly.
    “I know I should have told you sooner—”
    “Yes, I think you
should
have …” She was acting calmly, but Steve knew that she was struggling to choke back her anger.
    “I didn’t want to upset you …”
    “May I ask why you’ve made this decision?”
    This was going to be the killer
, Steve thought. He longed to tell her why he was staying in, but he couldn’t. She knew him better than anybody; she of all
     people would understand why it was so important for him to successfully complete this assignment; what personal vindication
     it would bring him—
    But he couldn’t tell her: not her, not anyone. The spy plane project was ultra top secret.
    “You seem to be at a loss for words,” Linda said bitterly. “Tell me this much, at least: Has the Air Force reassigned you?”
    Steve thought about his cover. “No … I’ll still be with OPI.”
    “Uh-huh.” Linda nodded. “So, what you’re telling me is that your situation is exactly the same, but that for some mysterious
     reason you’ve changed your mind and decided to remain in the Air Force, here in Washington. Only you couldn’t find the decency
     to tell me. All this while you’ve been lying to me, stringing me along with false hope …” She smiled thinly. “Now that I think
     about it, I guess it isn’t such a mystery, after all …”
    “What do you mean?”
    “It’s obvious, Steve! You’ve decided to stay in because of me! It’s your way of keeping me at arm’s length! It’s all as clear
     as day to me! You realized that once you were in Los Angeles we’d be seeing much more of each other, and that obviously frightened
     the hell out of you, so you decided to stay three thousand miles away from me to avoid having to make a commitment!”
    “Linda, that’s just not true!” Steve insisted.
    “It isn’t? What
other
reason—besides avoiding me—
could
you
have
for remaining here in Washington doing what you yourself have admitted is a dead-end assignment?”
    Jesus Christ
, Steve thought.
I’m totally framed. Only the truth will convince her, but I can’t tell her about the spy plane
…”I know how it looks, but you’re wrong. Believe me, you are—”
    “Then prove it!”
    “Okay! I will!” he said desperately. “Why don’t
you
move
here
?”
    “Huh?”
    “You move to Washington. Then we could be together.” He took a deep breath. “And then, eventually, I guess we could be … married
     …”
    Her anger momentarily lessened, but then her flashing blue eyes regained their frost. “You sonofabitch,” she hissed.
    “Me?” he blurted, surprised and confused by her reaction.
    “You think you’re
so smart
! You
know
I can’t move here! I’ve worked hard for years to become a senior news correspondent in L.A.”
    “You could work for a newspaper here,” Steve said.
    “Oh, sure!” she snapped. “Just that easy, huh, buster? It so happens that jobs for women journalists at my level are few and
     far between, and don’t pretend that you didn’t know that!”
    “I never thought about it,” he admitted truthfully.
    “Right! You didn’t think!” She jumped off the bed and began pulling clothes out of her suitcase lying on the carpet in the
     corner of the room.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Getting dressed and going to my hotel.”
    “Aw, come on …” He tried to think of a way to delay her, to give him time to sweet-talk her out of her anger. “Don’t you even
     want to take a shower first?”
    “Oh, I’ll shower, all right! At the hotel!”
    “Linda, don’t be this way! I
meant
it about you living in Washington. I’m sorry I forgot about your job. I was just trying to—”
    “I
know
what you’re trying to do.” She was pulling on loose-fitting dungarees and a dark brown cashmere turtleneck. She’d been wearing
     that outfit, and her mink