Page 25 of One Little Kiss

My heart nearly explodes, remembering his words. Well, Mr. Montgomery, you’re my new favorite memory, too!

After making sure I have all my belongings, I casually stride back toward Colton and beam with pride at the heat that registers in his eyes. His nostrils flare, and I add a little bounce to my step. He’s leaning back in his seat with both arms spread wide across the back row of chairs. He appears relaxed, but I see his jaw tick and I bat my eyelashes at him. I have a feeling Colton is an eternal flirt, and for once, I welcome it.

He’s out of his seat before I reach him, pulling me to his side. “I didn’t know you were changing.”

“Is that a problem, Mr. Montgomery?”

He flinches, and I wonder if calling him Mr. Montgomery reminds him of his father. I’m about to apologize when we’re interrupted again.

“All set. We’ll make an announcement when you board,” his friend, Joanna, announces.

“Thank you, Joanna. I let Tilly know to expect your call. I’m glad you decided to take me up on my offer.” His smile and demeanor are genuine, relaxed, honest.

“Well, after Googling you, I think I’d be a fool not to. My family is over the moon that I’ll be home more often.” She smiles at him like he’s responsible for everything shiny and happy.

“That’s wonderful,” he replies warmly. “I’m happy I could help.” Watching this interaction, I think she might be right.

“You’re a good man, Colton. It will be an honor to work for you.”

Colton leans in and gives the small, older woman a hug. She simply beams at him, and I wonder if he has this effect on everyone or just women. “Well, Tilly is my brother’s sister-in-law. She’ll have no problem giving you the low-down on how we run things. She tends to do things her own way.” He chuckles. “We’ll all be happy to have you on our team.”

“Thank you. I should get back to work. It’s my last day, after all.”

He nods and his smile causes a reaction deep in my core I’m not accustomed to. “We’ll see you on board?”

“Absolutely,” she replies, pulling away and giving me a grateful smile. “He’s a keeper.”

I have no reply for that, but Colton laughs.

Leaning in, he whispers, “I paid her to say that.” We stand side by side, watching her walk back to the gate.

“Somehow, I doubt that. She had a little hero worship on her face.”

“It’s nothing. A passenger was giving her a hard time on my last flight. I offered her a job with my family’s company. I had overheard her mention she wanted to slow down, and it just happened we had a position open up recently. It’s no big deal.”

I turn my body to get a good look at him. “Seems like a big deal to me. You must do pretty well for yourself if you can just go around offering jobs to strangers. That was a really nice thing you did, Colton.”

He shrugs off my compliment, and his nickname bothers me. Pan? Obviously, the people in his life are not paying attention to the things that matter. Colton just might be more Robin Hood than Peter Pan, and that knowledge makes me like him much more than I should.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get some coffee.”

“You call me baby a lot,” I mutter more to myself than to him, but because he’s so in tune with me, he heard it.

He stops short and turns to look at me. “Do I?” he asks with a tilt of his head. It reminds me of a puppy who just heard the word treat.

“You do.” I raise an eyebrow, so curious to see how he’ll respond to being called out. I’m not prepared for him to step into my personal space and tuck a wayward curl behind my ear, though.

“Is that a problem, sweetheart?”

“Baby? Sweetheart? You’re very demonstrative.”

His gaze narrows in on my lips, and my body heats from within remembering what he did to my lips a few hours ago. One little kiss sent my body, mind, and soul reeling into an orbit I didn’t recognize as my own. I’m finding it hard to make eye contact, but it’s impossible to tear my gaze away from this man. He has a hold on me that should be frightening, but all I want is for him to set my world on fire again and again.

Colton drops his face closer to mine and his voice to just above a whisper. “I am. I was. And I always will be, Winnie. Get used to it.”

“Get used to it?” I croak. “Our time’s almost up.”

He straightens, and I see the smirk appear on his handsome, chiseled face. “We’ll see, baby. We’ll see. Coffee. Now. Are you hungry?”