“I’ll be with you, so you don’t have to worry about not being strong or agile enough.” He grabbed her hand and towed her to the start line. “And while we’re competing I’ll convince you to have dinner with me.”
Quinn didn’t like being towed about by men, although if she was honest she hadn’t minded Luke doing it.
“I don’t want to.”
“Of course you do,” he scoffed. “I told you we’ll win. I’m strong and fast. Besides, I need to record this. My friends will never believe it.”
She could punch him; that would get him to stop. Or maybe mess up his hair. There seemed to be a lot of product in there.
“I don’t like people telling me what to do. Please let me go, Sam.” He ignored her.
“Hey there, Captain Harper.” Joe was at the start line when they reached it, with his wife Bailey.
“How did you get the nickname Captain Harper?” Sam asked.
“It’s not a nickname.”
Sam, who had been checking out the competition, turned to look at her. “What?”
“I am a captain in the air force.”
“You’re shitting me?” He looked stunned.
“Why does Quinn being a captain in the air force shock you?” Miss Marla said. She was partnering Mr. Goldhirsh. They both looked ridiculously fit, dressed in exercise leggings and thick sweaters. Mr. Goldhirsh wore shorts over his.
If Quinn was being honest, she really didn’t feel up to pumpkin rolling. After the day she’d had, she felt like a wrung-out dishrag. She should have stayed home.
“She’s a fighter pilot. We’re very proud of her,” Miss Sarah said. She was partnering some young man Quinn didn’t know.
“You’re a fighter pilot?” Sam looked even more shocked.
“Twenty percent of fighter pilots in the air force are women. You got a problem with that?” Piper asked.
How she’d heard, Quinn wasn’t sure, but she had. Looking along the line, she found Luke with the woman from the juice store down by the rec center. She wore one of those furry headbands that covered her ears, her long legs in tight black jeans, and she had a denim jacket over a black sweater. Luke looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here. His eyes were doing a sweep of the people around him and reached her. Seconds later, he was standing in front of her.
“What the hell are you doing here with that face?”
“I could hardly come without it.”
He looked like he wanted to yell at her for that smart-ass reply.
“You look tired and bruised. You should go home.” He glared at Sam, then leaned in to say in her ear, “He’s a loser.”
“I’m not marrying him, Luke, just rolling pumpkins.”
She thought he was going to say something else; instead he turned and walked back to his partner. Quinn exhaled slowly. What the hell was his problem? He looked angry with her and she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“How is it possible that you are a fighter pilot?” Sam turned back to look at her after discussing her with Piper. He shook his head as if he needed to dislodge something.
To be fair, Quinn was used to this kind of reaction, but the “how was it possible,” part of Sam’s shock pissed her off. “Why do you find that so hard to accept?”
His eyes ran over her. “You don’t look like a fighter pilot,” he said, which was pretty much the dumbest thing yet to come out of his mouth.
“So what do fighter pilots look like?” Maggie said.
“Wait, I know,” Piper said. “They have dicks.”
Sam realized he was on the receiving end of several pissed-off female looks. “I don’t know, I was just surprised is all. No one told me.”