Free Full Disclosure (Homefront: The Sheridans Book 2) by Kate Aster

parents always had automatic
transmissions when I was growing up, so I never had a chance to learn.”
    “I’ll teach you,” The offer slips from my
mouth before I can imagine the tragic sound of my Mercedes getting its transmission
ground up.
    “No way. I get a buzz when I hit 70 in my
old Toyota on the freeway. I think I’d pass out if I sat behind the wheel of
your car.”
    As she takes a sip of her water, another
table catches my eye.
    “What about that couple over there, Kim? I’m
thinking they’re on a blind date.”
    “Nah. They met online.”
    “How can you tell?”
    “Everyone meets online in this area. It’s
the only way to find single people. Plus, they’re looking at their menus for
too long. Right now, they’re trying to remember stuff they read on each other’s
profiles so that they can have something to say.”
    “Interesting. Do you do the online dating
thing?”
    “Me? God, no. I don’t date at all.
Babysitters are expensive,” she adds flippantly. “But I hear all this through
my friend Cass.”
    “Princess Buckeye.”
    “The one and only. I live vicariously
through her.” Her playful eyes glimmer in the fake candlelight of Bergin’s. “How
about that couple over there?”
    I glance their way. “Easy. He just picked
her up at the bar.”
    “How can you tell?”
    “Her body movements. She looks nervous.
Like she hadn’t quite intended to end up having dinner with this guy.”
    “Like Allie and Logan did when they met.”
    “Is that what happened?” Women share
everything, I’ve come to discover.
    “Logan didn’t tell you that?”
    “No.” I have to suppress a smile at the
thought of Logan giving me a play-by-play of his dates. When hell freezes
over. “We don’t exactly share that sort of thing.”
    Cocking her head slightly, she says, “But
you seem pretty close to him.”
    “I’d say I’m close with both my brothers.
But it’s a complicated relationship.”
    “Because you’re the CEO of the family
company.”
    My eyes settle on her face as I try to
come up with a way to simplify the relationships among my brothers. But one
evades me. “I guess that’s it,” I say instead.
    “Did you always want to run JLS?”
    “Definitely not,” I answer with a laugh,
surprising myself by telling her the truth.
    Her eyes widen. Obviously she’s read
every JLS annual report that talks about my supposed innate desire to continue
the family heritage for a third generation.
    “Really? I’m stunned. What did you want
to do?”
    I sigh. “I wanted to be a MEDEVAC pilot
in the Army. But that stays between you and me.”
    Her mouth hangs open for a moment. I
think she’s the only person outside of my family and maybe my old high school
girlfriend who knows this now. The idea of that would usually unnerve me,
especially since she’s an employee. But for some reason, it just doesn’t bother
me with Kim.
    “Your secret’s safe with me. But why a MEDEVAC
pilot?”
    “I listened to all the same war stories
that Logan did when I was growing up. Our grandpa served in the Korean War. He
was only in for six years, but he always stressed the importance of serving,
how it changed him, made him into the man he was. So when I was in high school,
I got an internship through this governor’s program they had at Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base. Best summer of my life.”
    “But you didn’t want to join the Air
Force?”
    “I would have, but the Army has more
helicopters. I figured I’d go with the better bet. My grandpa told us a story
once about how they were pinned down and one of his buddies was shot up pretty
bad. There was an Army MEDEVAC pilot who risked everything to get them out. I
wanted to be that guy, to pull someone out of danger at a time when there’s no
hope.” Which might be why I love the idea of flying patients to hospitals now
in my Cessna, I ponder, curious that it’s only now I’ve realized this.
    “You’re an adrenaline junkie like