Page 4 of Mine This Time

Chapter Four

Mari

“Dammit!” I muttered to myself as I glanced down to see that one of the wheels on my small suitcase had cracked. No wonder it wasn’t rolling smoothly.

“Mari,” a voice said. A voice I instantly recognized. What was it about Nash Reynolds? Just the sound of his gravelly drawl sent butterflies spinning in my belly.

The hot Louisiana sun beat down on me. The humid air was so heavy it felt as if it was sticking to my skin.

Lifting my head, I unconsciously smoothed my hand over my hair.

It was pulled back into a messy ponytail.

The state of my hair was representative of how I felt about my life. I couldn’t seem to keep anything tidy.

Straightening, I turned and pasted a smile on my face. “Hello, Nash.”

With the sun glinting on his bronze hair, Nash inclined his head slightly. “Hello, Mari. How are you?”

I curled my hand more tightly around my suitcase handle and hoped I could fake my way through this.

Because the truth was, I was not well, not one bit.

Unbeknownst to me until yesterday morning, Brett had also run up all my credit cards to the limit.

Hannah Grantham had been gracious enough to insist that I needn’t worry about the bill.

Whether it was because she could tell I was on the verge of tears or not, I fully intended to find a way to take care of it as soon as I could.

I was mortified and utterly horrified at the situation in which I found myself.

In fact, I was so embarrassed that I’d considered calling my brother and his wife, Harlow, for help.

But alas, they were out of the country traveling this week.

Max, of course, would help with anything I needed, but I didn’t want to stoop to that.

I would get myself out of this situation on my own one way or another.

With my polite smile stuck on my face, I lied through my teeth in reply. “I’m well, and yourself?”

Nash began to say something, but in the bustle of people on the sidewalk outside the airport, someone bumped into me and sent me colliding into him.

I looked up to find his eyes on me. His body was all hard planes.

He had one arm wrapped around my waist, steadying me as my hand fell against his chest.

My heartbeat went wild, thudding furiously inside the cage of my ribs. My breath became short as heat spun like fire through my veins.

“I’m just fine,” he said, not missing a beat in the conversation.

This was the point when I should’ve moved away. But I found myself frozen, savoring the feel of his strength and wanting to surrender to it and stop trying so hard to do this all on my own.

“Where are you headed?” Nash asked as he stepped back.

It said something about the state of my body that I experienced a flash of yearning at the loss of his warm strength pressed against me even if it was only by accident. I met his gaze, ignoring the hum of my racing pulse rippling outward through my body. “I’m flying back to San Francisco,” I said.

Nash looked at me quietly for several long beats before nodding. “Okay then. You know where to reach me if you decide you want some help chasing down Brett.”

“I do. I appreciate your offer. I’ll think about it.”

“Please do.” Just two words, but the way he said them in that slow drawl that slid over me like sweet molasses sent my belly spinning and made my breath catch in my throat.

“Thank you again for lunch the other day,” I rasped.

Dear God. This man was literally taking my breath away.

“You’re most welcome, Mari. Give your brother my best.”

I managed a tight smile. I forced my feet to move because I couldn’t let myself get caught in the quicksand of Nash’s melting hot eyes. They made my body go a little crazy.

Without another word, I hurried past him, ignoring the rhythmic thump of the broken wheel on my suitcase.

Nash couldn’t know it, but the sound of that wheel only added to the layers of embarrassment I was experiencing.

I felt flustered inside and out and was beyond mortified at my circumstances.

I was just praying that Brett hadn’t discovered the one credit card I’d never touched and kept as a backup.

At least I had a return ticket home. The sooner this stupid “getaway” ended, the better.

“Excuse me?” I asked, trying to quell the sinking feeling in my stomach.

The contrast of the humid Louisiana heat to the cold air conditioning inside the airport only served to amp up how unsettled I felt.

My encounter with Nash had gotten me hot and bothered.

I’d already been hot and sticky, and then I came in here to the blast of icy air, and my sweat dried on my skin almost instantly.

Now, my hands were shaking, and my fingertips were tingling from the cold. The woman clicked a key on her keyboard before looking up at me. “Your return ticket was refunded to the purchaser,” she said.

I opened my mouth to reply but snapped it shut.

I was afraid I might scream. I fumbled for my purse and yanked out my wallet.

Looking up, I passed over my credit card.

“I just need a ticket back to San Francisco. I’m hoping I can make my originally scheduled flight.

” I was kind of amazed I managed to speak, but I pulled it off without screaming.

“Let me see what I can do.” The woman swiped my card through and handed it back across the counter as she kept her eyes on her computer screen. When she looked back up, I knew the news wasn’t good.

“The credit card was denied,” she said carefully, keeping her tone low enough that the people around us couldn’t hear. Her chocolate brown eyes met mine, and her smile was warm as she looked across the desk at me. “Go right ahead and swear, darling. You look like you’ve had a rough day.”

Tears stung hot at the backs of my eyes. I didn’t realize one had escaped until she handed me a tissue, passing it across the counter without a word. I dabbed at my eyes, focusing on her name tag. “Thank you, Caroline.”

“You’re most welcome. I’m guessing you didn’t know your credit card was maxed out.”

I straightened my shoulders and shook my head with the ghost of a bitter smile twisting my lips. “Most definitely not. It was my fucking asshole of an ex-boyfriend.”

“Well, I suppose the upside is he’s your past, not your future,” Caroline said.

“Oh, he’s the past, all right. I guess I should get out of the line. I’m sorry for taking extra time,” I muttered, managing a shaky breath.

“You’re just fine. We can stand here and talk until you calm down. The world is not going to end if people need to wait a few minutes. There are two other lines,” Caroline said matter-of-factly.

“Thank you,” I whispered, sniffling after I took a deeper breath. This time I got enough air into my lungs to soothe my jangled nerves.

I carefully blew my nose. Without me asking, Caroline passed over another tissue and lifted a small wastebasket from under the counter.

I tossed in the used tissue and straightened my shoulders in between several slow breaths.

She tucked the wastebasket back under the counter and tapped her keyboard as if she was doing something.

I knew she was simply giving me a few minutes to pull it together.

I resisted the urge to apologize again. Her small kindness was a balm to my rattled state.

“New Orleans is a nice place,” Caroline said softly. “There could be worse places to be stuck. Get your bearings and figure out what you need to do. I don’t know you well, but you seem like a nice woman. Any man that would do this to you is an idiot.”

“Most definitely,” I replied.

Caroline tapped a few keys on her keyboard, giving me another moment. This brief interaction helped me brace myself.

“Thank you. I needed this,” I finally said.

“Just make sure to take care of yourself,” she said as I turned away.

I balled the soft tissue in one hand as I wheeled my broken suitcase behind me.

It occurred to me that Caroline, a complete stranger, was the second person in the last few days to refer to Brett as an idiot.

He sure as hell was. I supposed the only upside to this fiasco was at least now I knew he wasn’t worth my time.

I wished I’d had a clear picture of who he was before I hopped on a plane to New Orleans.

It had been three months since we’d even been intimate, and we’d managed only a few dates in that time.

I was confused as to why he even wanted me to come on this trip.

I wondered if he thought somehow my connection to Max would’ve perhaps smoothed some introductions for him.

Whatever. The second my thoughts turned to my brother, I realized he was probably my only parachute out of this situation—unless I intended to stay in New Orleans.

The only other alternative I could consider was applying for yet another credit card online and running up a bill to find somewhere to stay.

Between blowing up all of my credit cards, Brett had also screwed me over on my lease in San Francisco.

He’d known I was moving in two weeks and had contacted the landlord to tell her I’d changed my mind because we were moving in together.

He’d finagled to get the deposit refunded to him.

The only reason he’d pulled that off was because months ago, he’d given me the name of his contact at the building, so he knew precisely who to call and bullshit.

In the last few days of frantic phone calls since Brett had disappeared, I’d spoken to the property manager.

She’d been horrified to learn Brett didn’t have any claim to my deposit.

That didn’t change the fact that my money was still gone.

I knew I had the option of taking legal action, but nothing would happen fast enough to help me now.

No matter what, I had to make a quick decision. Of course, I didn’t need to do something impulsive, especially involving money.

With my polite face firmly in place, I stepped back out into the sweltering heat and promptly collided with someone. “Oh! I’m so sorry,” I said as my eyes swung up.

Before my gaze even made it to his face, I knew I had run straight into Nash Reynolds. What was it with me encountering him when my pride was so shredded? To be fair, the first time I met him, I’d sought him out.

Nash’s eyes swept over my face. “What brings you back out of the airport, Mari?” he asked, his tone measured.

Considering that he already knew the outlines of what an idiot Brett was, I figured I might as well not bother being polite. “Apparently, Brett got us refundable tickets. He canceled mine to get the refund,” I explained, my tone sharp.

Nash’s eyes held mine, and I silently sighed. “Clearly, I wasn’t aware of just what an ass he was. To give me a little credit, we haven’t had sex in three months.”

The moment that detail slipped out, I wanted to stuff the words back in my mouth. I had the worst habit of blurting things out when I was flustered.

Nash arched a brow. “Well, thank you for the information.”

I laughed bitterly. “You’re most welcome.”

“How can I help?” he asked, his tone solemn.