Free Forbidden Attraction [The Callens 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Melody Snow Monroe

over a minute before leveling out. She could now see for miles. Mountains sat in the distance and the valley was dotted with browns and greens.
    “Hold on. I’m taking this baby a bit closer to mother earth.”
    Her fists clenched as he dipped the nose and dove. While the plane wasn’t going straight down, she could see the ground in front of her. She must have whimpered, for he immediately leveled off.
    “You sure you’re okay?”
    “Yes.”
    He smiled. “For a virgin, you’re doing great.”
    Her mouth was half open to refute his charge, when she realized he was talking about her being a first-time passenger in a two-seater. The grin on his face implied he’d meant to trick her. All she could do was laugh.
    Having him in charge the whole time wasn’t in her nature. “Do another barrel roll.”
    His brows pinched. “You sure?”
    No. “Yes.”
    He looked at the instrument panel, probably to make sure they had enough room or something then flipped the plane over. The harness bit into her shoulders and her hair hung down. She stuck her hands in her jeans pocket and extracted her phone. “I want to take a picture.”
    “Hurry.”
    That didn’t help. She held the phone in front of her face and snapped the photo. Later, she’d look at the masterpiece. “Okay.”
    He righted the plane and the blood drained back to her racing heart. Now that they were level, all seemed right with the world. He did a few more maneuvers, but they seemed calm compared to being upside down or diving toward the earth.
    “How did you end up working on monster trucks?” Maybe this wasn’t the time to talk, but he couldn’t shrug and walk away.
    “School bored me. I really didn’t see the purpose. I worked with Chris Carlton, who was an engineer and a neighbor, all through middle school and high school. He was my university.”
    “You sound like he was a father figure, too.”
    “He was.”
    “You don’t regret your choices?” She wondered if he thought about going back to school.
    “No. I’m doing what I love and get paid well. When I got my pilot’s license, I had to put in a certain number of hours each month for training. That cost money, but I was successful. I consider myself well educated. I don’t have a piece of paper stating that I theoretically know how to do stuff.”
    “I see.”
    “I don’t think you do. Let me put into your terms. Suppose you go to med school and learn everything, but are never allowed to touch a scalpel. What you know is only from books. How good of a surgeon would you be?”
    “I’d be terrible, which is why they make us do years of residency.”
    “My point exactly. I skipped right to residency. I can do the work. In the end, that’s all that matters. Neither Bill Gates nor Richard Branson, head of Virgin Air, finished college. In Branson’s case, he dropped out of high school at age sixteen. Look what both men accomplished.”
    His tone bordered on defensive, but she couldn’t provide a counter example.
    Moments later, he announced he was landing. When the wheels touched down, she was almost disappointed the flight hadn’t lasted longer.
    They taxied back to the tie-down space. Jackson was there. She couldn’t wait for him to hold her. Though she had to admit that being with Taylor gave her a new perspective. To get a pilot’s license took a lot of training. The man did have ambition.
    When he landed, he popped open the canopy. Jackson hopped on top of the wing and held out his hand. “How did it go?”
    She genuinely had a fantastic time. “Great.”
    She unhooked her harness and let Jackson help her out of the plane. Her legs nearly crumpled.
    “Easy there.”
    How embarrassing was that? Jackson jumped to the ground and held open his arms. She dropped to her butt and let him guide her down. Taylor was right behind her. He tied down the plane and checked that he left the plane in as good a condition as he found it.
    Jackson wrapped an arm around her waist and led her back