Dear Cupid (2 page)

His mind conjured up a few dozen possibilities.

With a final, knowing smile, she turned and walked away, her hips swaying to a seductive beat. He stared after her, determined to give her a salute of approval the moment she glanced back over her shoulder. But she never looked back. Even as she took her seat between two other waiting passengers, she kept her gaze averted.

He frowned, thinking it odd that such an accomplished flirt would leave it at that. Then he remembered the flutter of her hand, the heightened color of her skin. Either she’d been equally affected by their game, or she wasn’t as bold as she pretended to be.

Before he could decide, the ticket agent gave first-class passengers permission to board. He started to reach for his duffel bag, but stopped when a white rectangle on the floor caught his eye. One of the business cards that had spilled from her purse still lay at his feet.

He picked up the card, hoping to learn her name, but the mug shot printed on the front proved a disappointment. The attractive blond woman who smiled back at him was not the woman he’d just met. Returning the card, however, would give him the perfect excuse to speak to her again. Better yet, the phone number was for the Lake Travis area, just west of Austin, where he now lived. So, the mystery woman either lived near him, or knew someone who did.

His mind searched for the best way to return the card as he swung the duffel bag over his shoulder and headed for the ramp.

~ ~ ~

Kate pressed a palm to her stomach to still the jitters. She couldn’t believe she’d dumped her purse on the man’s feet like that. Not that she’d had much choice since merely dropping the purse hadn’t fazed him. Oh, but once she’d gained his attention ... Heavens, he had gorgeous eyes, and a slow sexy smile that made her insides flutter just thinking about it.

She averted her gaze to give her nerves time to settle, but from the corner of her eye, she saw the man disappear down the ramp. What was
he
doing boarding with first class? One of the main reasons she’d picked him was because he seemed so unassuming. She certainly hadn’t pegged him as a man with money. Not that she had anything against money. She adored all the wonderful things it could buy. Unfortunately, wealthy, status-conscious men tended to put themselves and their work before family, which put them on her bad list—along with a lot of other men.

She frowned at that last thought, realizing that maybe Gwen was right. Maybe she had become too cynical to serve as the Dear Abby for the lovelorn on the Internet.

Memories from the meeting that morning rushed back over her.
Oh, God
. She slumped forward and buried her face in her hands. How could she possibly save her job as the expert on  romance when she’d completely lost her faith in love? And what would she do if she couldn’t save it? She had no other job experience. All she had were a stack of bills to pay and a seven-year-old son to feed.

“Are you quite all right, dear?” the elderly woman seated beside her asked.

“Hmm?” She lifted her head. “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.”

“Are you sure?” the woman persisted in motherly concern. “You look a bit flushed.”

Kate felt her color go a shade brighter. “Really, I’m fine.” More than fine, actually. Her body positively tingled with aftershocks of attraction for the man in the Hawaiian shirt.

Well, if nothing else, at least she’d remembered how it felt to flirt. And that’s all the exchange had been. A passing flirtation. No need for embarrassment—even if she had let the exchange become entirely too blatant. She cringed upon remembering the phallic way she’d described her lipstick.

She was a mother, for goodness’ sake. She had no business flirting with a stranger in an airport. She shuddered to think of the impression she must have given him. Her only comfort came from knowing she’d never have to see him again. At least not after she landed in Austin. In the meantime, she had to get on the plane. With him seated in first class, that meant she’d have to walk right by him. She moaned again, and buried her face in her hands.

~ ~ ~

Mike studied the business-card in his hand as he waited for the woman in red to board. On the back, he’d discovered a handwritten note.

Kate,

Good luck in L.A. See you when you get back.

Linda.

The name on the front of the card was Linda Davis, so Kate had to be the woman carrying the card. Kate. A smile tugged at his lips. The name suited her. Kate with the saucy red hair and sweet green eyes.

Just then she appeared through the hatch and his stomach clenched. Never in his life had he felt such an instant kick of attraction to a woman. No, it was more than attraction. It was ... a connection.

He quickly slipped the card into the breast pocket of his shirt, deciding to wait until the plane was in flight to return it. That way he could go back into the coach area and talk to her rather than simply hand it to her as she passed. Still, he wanted to catch her attention so he could once again feel the jolt that came from her smile. Only, she kept her gaze fixed firmly ahead as she walked by him.

Frowning, he turned in his seat and watched her move down the aisle, all the while willing her to look back. Instead, she took a seat halfway back, never once glancing his way. The longer he watched her, the more confused he became by her inconsistencies. Her stylish suit said Professional Businesswoman, but her tousled curls defied convention. As if sensing his gaze, she shifted nervously, not at all the confident woman who had flirted with him in the gate area. Could his instincts have been wrong about her? Maybe fate hadn’t dropped a potential wife in his lap.

Just as his doubts began to rise, she turned to the young mother who sat across from her and her whole face softened with a smile at the sight of the child in the woman’s arms.

There it was, the jolt from her smile that told him she was the answer to why he’d never married. Procrastination had nothing to do with it. He’d simply been waiting for her.

A
falling sensation jolted Kate awake. She grabbed the armrest just as the plane’s drop ended with a jarring bounce. Her heart lodged in her throat as she glanced around and saw several other passengers do the same. Beyond the windows, a streak of lightning sliced across a black sky.

When had night fallen? she wondered, looking at her watch. She barely remembered stopping in Albuquerque, and here they’d almost reached Dallas.

Her eyes went to the curtain that cut off her view to first class.
Is he still there?
The thought that the man might have left the plane at one of their stops should have filled her with relief in view of her embarrassing behavior. Oddly, though, regret stirred inside her at the prospect of never seeing him again. How strange to feel such a keen sense of loss for someone she didn’t know. Or perhaps it wasn’t. She knew all about the expectations, hopes, and dreams that filled one’s mind upon meeting someone new. She just hadn’t experienced them personally in more years than she cared to consider.

Overhead, the Fasten Seat Belt sign dinged and the flight attendants made their way down the aisle collecting cups and asking passengers to return their seats to the upright position.

“Oh, dear,” the mother across from her whispered. “Do you think there’s a problem?”

“I’m sure everything’s fine.” Kate smiled, hoping she looked more confident than she felt.

The plane took another hard bounce just as the captain’s voice came over the intercom. He sounded surprisingly cheerful in contrast to the rising tension among the passengers. “Sorry about the bumpy ride, folks. Looks like we’re in for a bit of turbulence as we make our final descent into DFW, compliments of that little thunderstorm you’ll notice if you look out the windows to your left.”

Kate glanced to her left as a blade of lightning cut through the storm clouds to the north. A stab of fear echoed in her stomach. Living in Texas all her life, she’d grown accustomed to thunderstorms—but watching one approach while twenty thousand feet in the air was a whole different matter.

“Now, before anyone gets alarmed,” the captain continued, “the tower assures us we’ll arrive at the airport well ahead of the storm. Unfortunately, we’ll be the last plane to do so for a spell. All other flights have been canceled until further notice.”

The murmurs of the passengers increased, nearly making Kate miss the rest of the captain’s words.

“If the Metroplex was not your final destination, please go to the main ticket counter after you deplane to reschedule your connecting flight. On behalf of the airline, the crew and I would like to apologize for the delay in your travel and wish you a pleasant stay in Dallas.”

Pleasant stay in Dallas!
Kate gaped at the intercom. She couldn’t stay in Dallas. She had a son who expected her home. And she’d promised Linda and Jim, the friends who were keeping him, that she’d only be gone one night.

All right, no need to panic, she told herself. As soon as they landed, she’d call Linda and let her know she’d be a day late. Which would put her another day behind in answering Dear Cupid e-mail. As if she weren’t under enough pressure, the whole situation was going from bad to worse. In fact, it was terrible!

~ ~ ~

It was perfect. Absolutely perfect! Mike suppressed the urge to laugh as the plane descended toward the runway. Here he’d been racking his brain throughout the flight for a way to approach the woman in red—no, Kate, he reminded himself, her name had to be Kate—and now he had the perfect opportunity handed to him.

After the way she’d snubbed him while boarding, he’d nixed his first plan to go back into coach and simply introduce himself. No matter how he played that scene in his head, he never got a sense of rightness in his gut that told him “this will work.” Instead, he pictured himself standing in the aisle like some idiot staring down at her with nothing to say. Or worse, blurting out something stupid like “Will you marry me?” God, what he wouldn’t give for a good scriptwriter. Not that shyness had ever been a problem with him. He normally felt easy around women. With her, however, he felt as tongue-tied as a teenager with his first crush.

If he went back into the coach section, he’d blow it. He knew that the same way he knew when a special effect would or wouldn’t work. He just
knew
. Just like he knew the woman in red was “it.” His future wife. The mother of his unborn children. Or child, he amended. He was getting started a bit late in life to have more than one child. Well, two maybe, he decided as the plane touched down. Two would be good.

His second plan had been to wait until they landed in Austin, then strike up a conversation as they walked toward the baggage claim. He’d even worked part of it out in his mind. First, he’d hand her the card, then he’d mention the phone number and ask if she lived at the lake. From there, he’d figured he could wing it.

To be stranded together in Dallas, though, now that was far better than anything he could have arranged.

As the plane rolled to a stop, several passengers leapt to their feet. Overhead compartments popped open as people grabbed for briefcases and overnight bags.

“I need to call my wife,” the businessman in the window seat beside him said, frantically pulling out his mobile phone. “If I don’t get in tonight, she’ll think the plane crashed, with me on it. You know how women are.”

Mike snorted at the thought of any man claiming to know “how women are.” He’d grown up with three younger sisters, and he still didn’t have a clue. Tuning the man out, he reached for his duffel bag. He had to come up with a new plan before Kate came through the curtain.

“Do you suppose they’ll put us up for the night?” the businessman asked, phone to his ear, apparently not getting an answer. “Not at some fleabag, though, I hope.”

Ignoring him, Mike craned his neck as the curtain opened, but with all the people filling the aisle, he couldn’t see her. To his frustration, the flow of bodies carried him off the plane. He’d have stopped on the ramp to wait for her but the businessman, who’d been a total stranger mere moments before, seemed to have attached himself to Mike in that odd way people do in a crisis. He needed to shake the guy, and quickly. When they reached the gate area, he stepped to the right and turned to watch the departing passengers.

“What’s wrong?” the man asked.

“Nothing, I, um ...” Mike’s mind raced. “Forgot something. On the plane.”

“Oh?” The businessman glanced down at the duffel bag in Mike’s hand.

“My sunglasses,” Mike improvised. “Why don’t you go on to the ticket counter, before they run out of decent hotel rooms?”

“Oh. Right” The man hurried off down the concourse.

Mike breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to the stream of departing passengers. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of orange hair heading in the other direction. He rose up to see over the crowd just as the throng of humanity swallowed up a shapely figure in a red suit.