Forget Me Not (Love in the Fleet) (3 page)

Chapter 3

Another vanload of daisies had just arrived at the clinic.

“You mean there’s more?” Daisy muttered to Lillian under her breath.

“Where do you want these flowers, ma’am?” asked the driver.

Four vases of daisies were already crammed into the waiting room, with two more behind the counter. “Here, I’ll take them into the back. Thanks.” Lillian accepted yet another bouquet of flowers. She turned to her boss, “I think somebody is trying to tell you something, Doctor Daisy.”

“Oh, I get it,” piped up the delivery woman. “You’re Daisy and all these daisies are for you. I gotta tell you, he was so funny when he called to order them.”

“Wait. You talked to him?” Daisy asked. “I mean, so many different trucks have come by today, but they didn’t know who ordered all the flowers.”

“Yeah, I subbed the order out to them after a lieutenant over at the Navy base called this morning. The gentleman was perfectly clear. He wanted a hundred daisies delivered here. When I asked him, ‘A hundred?’ he said, ‘Yeah, and I want the card to say ‘You’re one in a million.’ Then he kind of paused and started to say, ‘You couldn’t, by any chance…?’ and I thought he was going to ask for a million. Anyway I called all over town and all we could come up with on short notice was ninety-two so there may still be more coming. Geez, honey, he must really love you.”

“I don’t even know him. I only met him yesterday and tried to blow him off.”

“Guess it didn’t work. Wish I had that kind of problem. Well, he sounded nice on the phone. Not creepy, you know, like a stalker.”

“He’s not a stalker. Just persistent.”

“Like I said, you could have worse problems than a charming man sending you flowers.”

“Oh, trust me. He’s charming all right. Anyway, thanks for handling it. I’m sorry for all the inconvenience. Lillian will take care of a tip.”

“No inconvenience. I can use the business and it’s always fun watching love bloom.”

“Watching love bloom? Oh, my God,” Daisy muttered under her breath as she headed back to an examining room. Daisies were filling up her office because Lieutenant Crawford thought she was one in a million.

She hadn’t asked for this. Had she led him on? No, she’d gone out of her way to let him know she was not interested. The last thing Daisy Schneider needed was a man in her life. Well, she needed Jack, but that wasn’t going to happen. She certainly didn’t need Brian Crawford. What a pompous, self-centered, egotistical—and very hot—jerk.

And she’d give him compassionate too. After all, he had
rescued the cat. And the look on his face when she’d mentioned the possibility of aborting kittens? Like a young boy with his first pet. His eyes had radiated genuine concern.

Daisy felt that while she might not like everything about Brian Crawford, he was one of those what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of guys. An open book. No secrets with that one. But a hundred daisies? Come on.

“Cat Scratch Four-Seven-Five, Mayport Tower, you are cleared to land Runway Two-Four at Taxiway Charlie.”

“Mayport Tower, Cat Scratch Four-Seven-Five, copy. Cleared Two-Four, Charlie.” Careful to keep his personal mutterings within the confines of the aircraft’s intercommunications system, Sky crooned sweet nothings to the love of his life, his MH-60R Seahawk helicopter. “That’s my Little Girl. Come on, darlin’. Nice and easy. Come to Papa.”

He adjusted the cyclic stick between his knees and guided his multi-million dollar girl to touch down first her tail dual-wheel, then her front single wheels onto the tarmac at Naval Station Mayport.

“Yeah, that’s the way I like it, sweetheart!” Turning to his co-pilot, he added, “Oh, man. That was good for me. Was it good for you?”

Sky didn’t have to look at Mikey to know he was rolling his eyes, but laughing nonetheless. “God, I swear you talk to this helo like it’s a woman.”

“Are you kidding?” Sky flipped the automatic vibration control switch, tuned the radio to ground frequency, and taxied forward to clear the active runway. “Women are way more complicated.”

“Cat Scratch Four-Seven-Five, you are cleared to taxi to your line.”

“Ground, Four-Seven-Five, taxi to my line,” Sky responded to the call. Then turning to Mike, he added, “Unlock her tail, Studs, so she can shake her booty.”

Michael
Dudley
Nikolopoulos prepared the helicopter for taxiing. “If you talk to the bird like this, I’d love to be a fly on the wall when you’re with a chick.”

“Oh, son, you should be so lucky to get training from the Skylark, king of the skies and the bedroom. Many ask, but few are chosen. You mind your P’s and Q’s however, and I might just take you under my wing. And
maybe you can live up to your call sign,
Studley
.”

“Oh, spare me, master
.
I think that I can figure it out for myself.”

With a slight raising and lowering of the collective lever, Sky controlled the rolling speed and guided the eleven-ton Seahawk to its parking spot, careful to allow plenty of rotor clearance between the other parked helicopters.

“Lock her tail, Studs.”

Mike locked the tail, shut down the engines, applied the rotor break, and signaled the plane captain for the chocks to anchor the aircraft.

Sky nodded his head approvingly as he unbuckled his harness. The kid was doing all right. He might just have the makings. “I’m glad you’ve got the girl thing figured out, Mikey, because I’m already booked for tonight. Got a date with a sweet young thing.”

“That stray cat? Did you ever find it a home?”

“Yeah, my apartment. But it’s okay, because the sweet young thing I refer to is the good doctor the Senior Chief sent me to yesterday. Major
babe. She could cure anything that ails you. I’m going to swing by right now and check her out—I mean, check out how my little girl is doing.”

Mike removed his helmet. “So you’re going to keep the cat?”

“Oh, yeah, buddy. She’s my ticket in the door. To veterinary heaven.”

They continued to laugh as they climbed out of the helo, slung their flight packs across their shoulders, and headed into squadron headquarters.

Until he walked into the clinic that afternoon, Sky hadn’t considered how much space ninety-two daisies and their accompanying vases would take up. It was like a funeral parlor on steroids.

“Good afternoon, ladies. I see the flowers arrived.” He nodded to each of them. “Lillian. Dr. Schneider.” Dr. Daisy stiffened when she saw him. Not that it deterred him in the least. “Just stopped by to see how my girl’s doing.”

“Your girl?” She indicated the flowers. “I certainly hope you’re not referring to me.”

“Naw. I came by to see Daisy Mae. She had surgery, right? Wait. I hope you didn’t think all these daisies were for you.” He tried to contain his smile but failed.

“I don’t know what to think, Lieutenant Crawford, but I can tell you this. If the flowers are a ploy to get me to go out with you, you could have spent your money more wisely by making a donation to our feline rescue program. As for Daisy Mae, I spayed her this afternoon and she’s resting comfortably. She can go home tomorrow. Would you like to see her?”

“Absolutely. Remember, we’re joined at the hip, Daisy Mae and me.”

Dr. Schneider walked him back to the recovery room where he found the cat asleep. Kneeling down, he opened the cage so he could pet her head as he murmured sweet nothings to her. “Aw, that’s my little girl. Sky’s here, baby. I’m gonna take you home
tomorrow. You rest now, sugar.” He turned to Daisy. “Has she eaten?”

“No, she’ll be fine until morning. The anesthesia is still wearing off. And we gave her plenty of fluids.”

“Have you eaten?”

“What?”

“How about dinner? Let me take you somewhere nice. We could talk. You know, get to know each other a little better.”

“I don’t want to get to know you a little better, Lieutenant.”

“Okay, but you gotta eat. And you could tell me everything there is to know about cat care, since I have no freaking clue.”

“The Internet can tell you all you need to know.”

Sky pooled all energy into his best why-fight-it-you-know-you-want-to go-out-with-me look. “But I’m a kinesthetic learner. I have to touch and feel and hold things in order to understand them. And I need my info straight from the top. Best in the field. This cat is very important to me.”

“She couldn’t be that important. She didn’t even have a name yesterday.”

“And now she has the most beautiful name in the world.
Daisy
Mae.”

Dr. Untouchable shook her head and glanced down at his hand petting the cat. “Is that regulation? Wearing the sleeves of your flight suit rolled up like that?”

His eyes pierced hers and he flashed her a slow, cockeyed smile. “I’m hot.”

Daisy looked away and fiddled with the cage door to close it. “I remember my husband saying he wasn’t allowed to roll his sleeves.”

The smile died on Sky’s face. “You’re married?”

“No. Not anymore.”

What had she said yesterday?
I don’t date military men, especially pilots.
“And he wore a flight suit?”

“Yes. Marines.”

“That’s why you thought I was a captain yesterday.”

“Yes. Sorry about that. I never really understood how a captain in one branch of the service was different in another.”

Sky started to ask what kind of aircraft he flew, but what he really wanted to know was what kind of an idiot would let go of a woman like this. “So what kind—”

“Look, I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Daisy clicked the cage door shut and turned to leave. Then she blindsided him by adding, “Listen, if you want to get some dinner, that’s fine.” Her mouth curved into a teasing smile.
“But I name the place.”

Sky’s heart rate kicked up a notch. “You got it, Doc. Your wish is my command, but I have to change first. I’m not really supposed to run around town in a flight suit.”

“Oh, no. You can wear it.” There was pure sex in her smile now. “Actually, it’s better if you do.”

Whoa, was she talking about her place? No way. Not the Ice Queen. But Sky could dream, right? Even though he had a feeling she’d be thinking about the jarhead Marine pilot the entire time they were… Well, it wasn’t like he’d never had sex while fantasizing about someone else. Didn’t matter. He had a date with Dr. Untouchable.

Score one for the Skylark.

Daisy walked ahead of him down the hallway. “I need to get my dogs. Would you gather up some of the vases, please? The flowers will come in handy where we’re headed.” She turned and gave him a knowing smile. “Thanks for locking up, Lillian. Lieutenant Crawford and I are leaving now. To get some dinner.”

Sky caught Daisy and Lillian winking at each other. Man, he was going to have to roll his sleeves up a little higher because it was getting mighty warm in here. Things were definitely heating up. And with any luck, he wasn’t going to be wearing his flight suit too much longer tonight.

He helped her load the flowers and her dogs into the Jeep. Daisy climbed into the driver’s seat, her mouth curved into a slow and naughty smile. “Just follow me. Okay?”

Sky sidled up to her open window and leaned in. “I’d follow you to the ends of the earth, but where are we going?”

Daisy’s finger tapped him on the nose twice, causing electricity to shoot through his body. “Trust me.” She smiled coyly and put her car in reverse.

What was going on here? Yesterday she was the Ice Queen personified and today she was smiling, touching him, and inviting him home? The fact that they weren’t riding together was a good thing because now that he was hopelessly aroused, he might be able to settle down before they arrived, depending on how far away she lived. But he wasn’t going to ask any more questions. Not after finding out she’d been married. He’d figured that “crashed and burned” comment yesterday meant some guy had broken her heart.

What kind of a fool had walked away from Daisy Schneider?

Regardless, it appeared SkyS was headed to veterinary paradise much sooner than expected. Maybe if he kept his mouth shut, he’d get there that much quicker. This was going to be easier than he’d anticipated and quite honestly, he found himself a little disappointed. The thrill of the hunt was half the fun. He’d looked forward to breaking her down a little more each day. Until she begged him to take her. But was he going to complain? Hell, no. So he obeyed her direct order.

Follow me.

Sky pulled up his favorite “I Am So Gonna Get Laid Tonight” playlist, envisioned her naked in a room full of daisies, and grinned all the way to—

Wait a second. Why was Daisy turning in to Portside Manor?

She lived in a nursing home?

Chapter 4

“Welcome to Portside Manor.” Daisy laughed at the look on Lieutenant Crawford’s face, too priceless for words. What had he thought? That she was going to take him home with her?

He leaned out his window and bit back a smile. “Something you want to tell me, Daisy?”

“Oh, did I forget to mention I volunteer here on Wednesday evenings? Come on, girls.” She opened the back door and her two Labs jumped out. “The residents love Belle and Godiva. Many of them had to leave their pets behind when they moved here.”

Daisy assumed Brian Crawford was usually the purveyor of practical jokes. She’d been curious to see how he reacted when the joke was on him, and was impressed that he was a sport. “I’m sorry, did you have something else in mind?”

He covered his laughter with a cough. “No.”

“Don’t worry. They’ll feed us too. See, we get to go out to dinner together and it won’t cost you a thing. I’ll even buy you a drink for being such a good sport. Grab some flowers. We’re just in time for Assisted Living happy hour.”

“There really is such a thing?” he asked.

“These folks love their cocktails. And I love sharing my dogs with them. By the way, most of the residents are retired military officers and their wives. They’re going to love seeing you in uniform.”

“Whatever you say, ma’am.” He was still shaking his head, but laughing nonetheless.

She tapped the aviator call sign patch on his flight suit. “I can’t wait to see the big, bad
Skylark
doing community service. Doesn’t it give you a warm feeling helping the world, Lieutenant Crawford?” She was having way too much fun with this. It felt good to
laugh again. She hadn’t done much of it in the past three years. And none in the past two.

Now it was his turn to tap his name patch. “You can call me Sky if you want to. All my friends do.”

Daisy pulled out two more vases. “Who said we were friends?” She smiled to soften it, but she did not want to encourage this man.

“Ouch.” He took the vases from her and tucked them under his arm.

“How ’bout I call you Brian, since it’s your name?”

“Works for me, honey. Just call me. Anytime.” He helped her unload the flowers, then followed her and the dogs inside. 

As soon as they entered the lobby, hands reached out to them. Mixed in with the usual “Dr. Daisy” and “The dogs are here,” she also heard “Daisy brought a friend” and “Over here, son.”

As she greeted her favorite dog lovers, Daisy noticed it didn’t take long for Brian to make himself at home with the men, many of them retired Naval officers who were falling over themselves to buy him drinks. They reached for him and called out to him, thrilled to have a real live young Naval officer visiting for the evening.

When Daisy took her girls around to visit the ladies, she observed Brian on bended knee placing himself at eye level with Captain Cornelius in his wheelchair. When they finished talking, the captain thanked the young pilot for his service. Daisy choked up when she heard him respond, “And thank you for yours too, sir.” Brian stood and shook his hand.

Who would have thought Brian Crawford—obviously a self-absorbed player—could be polite, considerate, and respectful? No way, shape, or form had she figured him for a gentleman.

And what could she have been thinking, calling him a captain yesterday? Daisy knew most of the men at Portside were retired Navy captains. It
was
big stuff, like a colonel in the other services. But when she’d seen the bars on Brian’s flight suit yesterday, all she could think of were the bars on Jack’s flight suit. And Jack had been a captain in the Marine Corps. Why couldn’t the services get together on this rank stuff? It was all very confusing. How could a lieutenant in one service be a captain in another?

Daisy decided it was time to introduce Brian to Navy Captain George Duncan, who had been a helicopter pilot too.

Leading Godiva, she took Brian’s arm, and guided them to her favorite resident. “Come with me a second. I’d like you to meet a friend of mine.”

“I’ll follow you anywhere, Doc.”

There was that smile again. Did he know how un-sexy that space between his two front teeth was? Yet, for one split second she imagined exploring it with her tongue and…

What was wrong with her?

Daisy pulled up two chairs to Captain Duncan’s table. “Good evening, George. Godiva is here to visit with you. And I brought someone with me too.”

The retired aviator reached out to stroke the dog. “Hello, Daisy. Always a pleasure to have you here. Is your friend, by any chance, a handsome, young Navy pilot?”

“He is.”

Whoa, Daisy thought he was handsome? Sky offered his hand to the gentleman and introduced himself, “Sky Crawford, sir.”

The gentleman looked up and stuck out his hand for shaking. “George Duncan. Pleased to meet you.”

“Here you go, George.” Daisy guided his hand to Sky’s.

“Sorry, son, I’m blind. No fun growing old. But, it’s always a pleasure to visit with you youngsters. We love it when Dr. Daisy comes by to light this place up and share her dogs with us.” He stroked the black dog’s head. “I listen pretty well these days. Did I overhear you say you fly out of Mayport?”

Sky sat down. “Yes sir, I’m a Romeo pilot.”

Daisy huffed out a breath in disbelief. “Oh, my God, if that isn’t the truth.”

“No, Doc,” Sky tried to explain. “You don’t understand. Romeo is the name of the helo I fly. The MH-60R. The ‘R’ stands for Romeo.”

“I’m sure it does.” Her mouth slipped into a grin beyond her control.

“No, really. Romeo is the word for ‘R’ in the military alphabet. So that makes me a
Romeo
pilot.”