Chapter One
Leanne slid her laptop back into her carry-on case and her feet back into her shoes. She hated flying. At least, she hated flying commercial. The whole security thing drove her nuts. She slung her purse strap over her shoulder and pushed her case in front of her glancing up at the board as she went.
Once she’d confirmed that the gate on her boarding pass was still the one being displayed, she scanned the stores. Another thing that she hated about flying was that she couldn’t bring her water through security. She needed to get a new bottle and … She stopped dead, frozen in her tracks.
It couldn’t be.
She drew in a shaky breath.
It was.
That was Ryan standing in line for coffee. Her hand shook as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and allowed herself to drink in the sight of him. He was still gorgeous. He looked older, but it suited him. He’d always been a big guy—tall and built. He looked even more solid, if that were possible. His shoulders were broad, his waist narrow, though not so narrow as it used to be.
Her heart raced. He was still the most attractive man she’d ever known. How could he still have this effect on her? She realized she was frozen to the spot and gave herself a little shake. She had to move. She gave him one last glance before she started heading for her gate. She could get water farther down the concourse—or on the plane if she had to wait until then. There was no way she was going to risk going within a hundred yards of him if she could help it.
She froze again when he turned to look in her direction. Her heart leaped into her mouth. She wanted to look away, but he caught her gaze and held it with his deep blue eyes. She might not be able to make out the color of them at this distance, but she could never unsee that blue; it was etched too deeply into her heart.
He didn’t smile. She wouldn’t expect him to. He just stared into her eyes, as though he could see right into her soul. The busy concourse around her faded away. They were the only two people on earth. Neither of them moved—not until the woman standing behind him touched his arm and said something to him with a smile. He frowned, still holding Leanne’s gaze for a long moment before he dragged his eyes away to turn and smile back at the woman.
All the air rushed out of Leanne’s lungs and she hurried away. Damn him. Damn him all the way to hell and back. Her heels tapped out a staccato rhythm as she put as much distance between them as she could as quickly as she could. She wasn’t going to wonder who the woman was. What did it matter? It didn’t. It didn’t matter a bit. Ryan was the past. The long gone, dim and distant past. She didn’t need to waste another thought on him.
~ ~ ~
Ryan tried to focus on the woman behind him in line.
She was still smiling. “Are you waiting?”
He glanced back at Leanne. No matter what lies he told himself, he’d wait for her until hell froze over—but there was no point. Then he came to his senses. The woman wasn’t asking about Leanne. She was talking about the big gap in the line in front of him that had lengthened while he’d been staring at the only woman he’d ever loved.
He shook his head and gestured for her to go ahead of him. The guy behind her made a move to follow, but Ryan frowned, and he stood back. He’d let the woman pass since he’d held her up, but he still needed coffee. Hell, right now, he needed something much stronger, but coffee would have to do.
Once he had it, he made his way toward his gate. He should erase all thoughts of Leanne from his mind. He’d done it for years—repeatedly, since she always found her way back inside his head. But today, he didn’t want to. There was always the chance of running into her when he was back in San Francisco, or at least he liked to believe there was—if he cared to admit it, the truth was that he hoped there was. Her long blonde hair and big blue eyes had haunted his mind and his dreams for years, but most of the time there was zero chance of seeing her in the flesh. Whenever he came here, he tormented himself with the possibility of running into her, lying awake at night reliving the memories they’d made here.
He’d seen her a couple years back—not here, but at Dan’s wedding. He blew out a sigh and picked up his pace. That had almost killed him. In the weeks leading up to that weekend in Vegas, he’d played out every conceivable scenario in his mind, imagining all the ways it might go. At least, he thought he’d examined all the possibilities. He hadn’t expected the way it played out, though. He’d expected anger, animosity. He’d thought she might ignore him, freeze him out, but no, it’d been so much worse than that. She’d been indifferent. He let out a short laugh.
Anyone who knew her would forgive him for not expecting that. Indifferent was not a word anyone would associate with Leanne. She wasn’t indifferent about anything. She was a passionate woman in every sense. She loved hard and she hated even harder. He should know—he’d been on the receiving end of the entire spectrum of her passions, from love to hate, heaven to hell and back again. More than once.
He reached the gate and looked around. Hopefully, the flight wouldn’t be too full. He took a seat opposite the big window looking out onto the tarmac and sipped his coffee. Most people believe that the opposite of love is hate. Ryan knew better. His relationship with Leanne had taught him just how fine the line between love and hate really was. They weren’t opposites; they were two sides of the same coin. That weekend in Vegas for Dan’s wedding, Leanne had taught him that the true opposite of love was indifference, and it had almost killed him.
~ ~ ~
Leanne emerged from the ladies’ room and checked her watch. They should be boarding any minute. She pulled her phone out and dialed Dan’s number.
“Hi, Lee. Is everything okay?”
“Yep. Great. I should be boarding in a minute. I wanted to check with you about the rental car.”
“What about it?” Dan sounded edgy, which wasn’t like him. He must be busy.
“You said you’d send me the confirmation and you haven’t. It’s fine if you forgot to book me one. I’ll let Karen know to get one arranged while I’m in the air.”
“No! There’s no need. It’ll be fine.”
“Okay. Will you email me the confirmation, then? I don’t even know which company you booked.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks. Is everything okay?”
“All’s well here. Is everything okay with you?”
She pursed her lips. If anyone understood how much seeing Ryan had shaken her, Dan would. But telling him would only drag it out. She needed to forget about it, forget him. She forced herself to smile, knowing that Dan would hear it in her voice. “I’m fine. I’m disappointed in you though, Danny. You could have sent the jet for me. Flying commercial is a pain in the ass.”
She expected him to laugh and tell her to get over herself. Instead, he sounded wary. “I’m sorry, Lee. I …”
She laughed. “Come on, Dan. I’m messing with you. I’m not that much of a diva.”
He chuckled.
“Hey! I’m not. I just like to play one sometimes.”