It was good to know that Cumulus could be depended upon; Mike realized he might have missed the corner in the gloom.Mark was waiting in back of the ha...ger, sitting on the seat of his pickup truck, when the dogs raced up the runway at a good trot. They came to a stop in front of the hanger in response to Mike's "Whoa"; while he set the brakes, Mark got out of the pickup truck to help with staking the dogs back out at their doghouses."You know," Mark said conversationally "It's more work than it. She couldn't believe she'd said that. Shock held her immobile for a few seconds as Randy continued by her.Then he stopped, as if he was frozen too. Her eyes saw him turning toward her and she realized that she couldn't move her eyes away, as she would normally do.She found herself looking at his face. She'd done that a hundred times over the last six months they'd worked next to each other, but this was like seeing him for the first time. She realized his eyes were blue, something she'd never. “I didn’t tell them we know each other. They’ll think it’s weird. We should just call it a night.”Hope had forgotten how tall he was and, standing so close to him under the protective cover of the awning, she noticed his broad shoulders and narrow waist. I’ll bet he still rows, she thought. What a narcissist. “C’mon, Hope, just have one drink with me. We haven’t seen each other since Callahan’s wedding,” he pleaded. “Are you seriously gonna snub me again?”“Look, grow up. It’s late.”“Why are you. At least, I don’t think I was. I meant what I said when I told you how deeply I love you. I guess you’re thrilled you didn’t marry me now.” He tried and failed to keep the bitterness out of his voice.He saw the second slap coming, and braced himself for it, rather than dodge or block. If this was what she needed to recover and move on, then he would endure. What he didn’t see coming was the way her lips pressed against his before she pulled back. Tears filled her eyes as she grabbed both his.