Page 1

ELLIOT

SIX MONTHS AGO

“ F or fuck’s sake, is this really necessary?”

The voice startles me out of my thoughts as I grab my carry-on bag off the x-ray belt and shoulder my briefcase, tucking my phone into the outside pocket.

It’s low and a little raspy, bringing to mind a dimly lit room and a big bed and sheets tangled around naked limbs.

Or it would, if the voice wasn’t dripping with irritation and barely concealed disdain.

The owner of the voice is standing at a low table, her back to me, one hand on her hip and her foot tapping on the polished concrete floor.

With her other hand, she shoves a waterfall of dark hair back behind her shoulder and then rests her hand on the metal table.

Her fingers twitch, as if she’s considering grabbing the suitcase lying open in front of her and making a run for it.

“Ma’am, I’m going to need you to be patient and let me do my job.” The gray-haired TSA agent gives her a stern look and proceeds to sift through the suitcase’s contents with his gloved hands.

“Patient?” she scoffs. “Sir, I’ve been patient all day today.

I was patient while I waited in a forty-minute security line because somehow the day I travel is the day there are no PreCheck lanes open.

I was patient when I had to take off my shoes and take my electronics out of my bags, even though having PreCheck means I pay for the privilege of having to do neither of those things.

And I was patient when I had to go through the metal detector ten times because I guess that guy over there forgot how to work it even though it’s literally his job.

” She waves the hand on her hip in the general direction of the metal detector.

“And I was patient when you subjected me to what basically amounts to a strip search simply because I forgot I had a water bottle in my bag. But right now, you have your hands on my good underwear, and for the first time since I stepped into this nightmare of an airport ninety minutes ago, I find myself fresh out of patience.”

I’m unable to stop the laugh that falls from my throat at this girl’s sass, and at the TSA agent staring at her slack-jawed, clearly unused to being talked back to.

The girl whirls around, leveling me with a glare.

But it’s not the glare that stops me in my tracks and has my heart thudding against my ribs.

It’s her.

Beautiful isn’t a strong enough word for what she is.

Stunning. Ethereal. Breathtaking. Exquisite.

I suddenly wish I had done my PhD in English instead of computer science just so I would know more words so I could find the right one to describe her.

Her brown hair flows down her back in waves and her black leggings skim every curvy inch of her perfect legs.

Her pink sweater makes her face glow under the bright airport lights.

I’m far enough away from her that I shouldn’t know that her brown eyes are flecked with green and gold or that she smells like sunshine in the spring—and yet, I do.

It’s heart reaching out to heart.

Soul recognizing soul.

I don’t know her but it’s like I know her.

My analytical mind doesn’t believe in stuff like this. And yet.

My brain is a runaway train, and I don’t even know her name.

“Can I help you?” Her voice rips me out of my head and back into consciousness.

“Huh?” I ask, barely resisting the urge to shake my head to try and reorder my thoughts into something less than obsession with a complete stranger.

“Can. I. Help. You.” she enunciates, staring at me like I have completely lost my mind, which, I mean, maybe.

“You laughed and now you’re staring at me in a way makes me wonder if I should tell this grumpy TSA agent right here with his hands full of my underwear that I’m about to be kidnapped or something. ”

I blink, shifting my briefcase from one shoulder to the other because I suddenly have no idea what to do with my hands. My brain is clearly melting down because what I want to do is touch her but even in my addled state, I know that’s extreme creeper territory. This time I do shake my head.

“I’m so sorry,” I mumble. “It’s not you, I was just thinking about something. Work. Yeah, work. I was thinking about work, and I got distracted. So. Anyway. I’ll go now. Sorry. Good luck with your underwear.”

The mystery woman shakes her head and laughs at my rambling, turning back to the TSA agent and her open suitcase.

I stare at her back for a few seconds, her laugh playing in my head like a song on repeat, and then make the most counterintuitive move of my life, heading out of the security area and away from the girl who stopped my heart and forced the breath from my lungs.

The last thing I hear as I walk away is her voice saying, “Okay boss man, have you fondled my underwear enough, or do we need to keep going?”

I laugh despite myself and head towards my gate, my thoughts fixed on my mystery girl the whole way there.

I scan my boarding pass, barely even acknowledging the gate agent working the flight.

My head is on a swivel, eyes roving the dense airport crowd for dark hair and a pink sweater, ears perked for a raspy voice.

With a crowd of people behind me waiting to board the full flight, I have no choice but to make my way down the jetway with the odd feeling that I’m leaving something behind.

My phone dings with a text just as I’m settling into my first-class seat.

Noah

[picture of Killer with tail wagging and giant blue crystal in her mouth]

Noah

Cece was here.

I chuckle because I’ve been expecting a picture like this from my younger brother. My grandma Cece keeps my dog when I travel and playing fetch with a crystal is on brand for her.

“Is that a dildo in the dog’s mouth?”

Holy. Shit .

My head snaps up at the raspy voice, and my gaze immediately locks with a pair of gorgeous brown eyes, flecked with green and gold just like I imagined.

I don’t think I know what spring sunshine smells like, but somehow I know that’s exactly the scent that wafts over me as the mystery woman from security shifts, plopping her tote bag on the seat next to me and reaching down to lift her carry-on bag.

“Let me.” I’m on my feet in seconds, stepping out into the aisle in front of her and lifting the bag easily into the overhead compartment.

Turning to slide back into the row, I’m suddenly standing face to face with her.

My heart knocks and electricity crackles in the space between us.

I feel dizzy and a little lightheaded, as if my attraction to this beautiful stranger has sucked all the air out of the plane.

I have no idea what the fuck is happening right now.

I slide back into the row, sitting down heavily in the window seat.

Be cool, Elliot.

Be so, so cool.

“So, in addition to being a maybe weirdo who stares at women in airport security, you’re also a seat thief?”

I glance up, and she’s looking at me with a smirk. My cock stirs at her tone because apparently this morning I can’t control any part of myself. I also have a serious thing for smart, sassy women, and I get the sense this woman has both in spades. “Seat thief?”

She puts her hand on her popped hip, studying me. I’m not ashamed to say that my gaze immediately falls to her left hand, ridiculously relieved to find it ringless.

“I’m in the window seat. 3A, see?” She takes a step into the row to let the people behind her pass down the aisle and then waves her phone in front of my face with her boarding pass up on the screen.

Fuck yes. We’re seat buddies. What an excellent morning. Now it’s my turn to smirk at her. “What will you give me for it?”

She narrows her eyes. “You want me to give you something in exchange for the seat that’s already mine?”

I shrug. “I mean, I guess it could be yours, but I’m sitting here, so I’d argue that right at this moment, this window seat is mine.”

“That’s flawed logic. One call to the flight attendant over there and she’ll bounce your ass right out of that seat and back into your own.”

I smile because bantering with her is the most fun I’ve had in months. Maybe ever. “You could call the flight attendant, but you won’t.”

“And why is that?”

“Because that’s the easy way out, and something tells me you’re not an easy way out kind of girl.

” There’s a flash in her eyes that makes me sure I pegged her exactly right, and I feel a glow of victory.

“So, it looks to me like you’ve got two options, mystery girl.

You can either give me what I want, or you can cool your heels right here in this aisle seat all the way to Boston. ”

She blows out a breath that I think is supposed to sound frustrated, but the amusement shining in her eyes gives her away. “So, what is it you want me to give you to buy the seat that is legally mine?”

“Legally, huh? You a lawyer?”

She scrunches up her nose, which makes her look fucking adorable. “God, no. How boring.”

“Got that right. My youngest brother is a lawyer. When he talks about work, I want to lay down and take a nap.” It doesn’t escape me that she doesn’t tell me what she does do, but there’s a long flight ahead of us.

Beautiful mystery girl and I have some learning about each other to do.

“Seat thief, it’s not like I’m not interested in your family history, but my legs are getting tired standing here, and I would really like to know what you want me to give you to take back my rightful seat on this airplane.”

“Your name.”

She cocks her head to the side and looks at me. “My name?”

“I mean, I live for a nickname so maybe I’ll call you mystery girl anyway, but I’d also really like to know your name.”

She smiles, and it lights up her whole face. “Amelia.”

“Amelia.” I say slowly, liking the way her name feels coming out of my mouth. “Got a last name?”

Shutters fall over her eyes and disappear so quickly that if I wasn’t intently fixated on her, I would have missed it. “No last names.”

“None at all?”