This thing with Mari felt riskier than anything I’d done in my life. Perhaps it was because I’d never felt vulnerable like this. I wasn’t one of those men who swore off romance. Rather, I simply had other priorities. And yet, just now my main priority was to see Mari. I was about to fly across the country to chase after a girl, and I didn’t even know if she wanted me.
If I knew one thing, though, it was that dwelling never solved anything. With a hard mental shake, I stood from my chair abruptly and strode out of my office to stop beside Lydia’s desk in the waiting area. She glanced up from her computer.
“I need a flight to Seattle. ASAP. I’d like to land by—” My eyes swung up to the clock. “—three p.m. Seattle time.”
“What’s in Seattle, and why so specific?” Lydia asked.
“I’m going to try to be there when Mari’s flight lands from Alaska on her way to San Francisco. She’s changing planes in Seattle and has a three-hour layover.”
A wide smile split across Lydia’s normally sober face. “I will find you a flight. Give me five minutes.”
Chapter 26
Mari
I adjusted the strap of my carry-on bag on my shoulder and silently cursed the fact that I’d forgotten to get a new suitcase in Alaska. That broken wheel still thumped along, jolting my wrist with every rotation as I made my way through the busy Seattle airport.
I was jostled by people, first on one side and then the other. I thanked God I had plenty of time on this layover. Airports could be a unique kind of hell. I did love people watching, but I was too tired for it today.
“Mari.”
I heard my name through the low din of voices humming in the airport. The shortened version of my name was very common, so I didn’t think anything of it initially. Why would I presume someone was looking for me, after all? I kept walking, although I felt the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I didn’t know why, but I sensed Nash. Stopping, I glanced around, right when I heard my name yet again. A family passed me on the left, and my view opened up.
My heartbeat took off like a rocket the second my eyes landed on Nash. He was standing in a small alcove where the various terminals met in a massive intersection of sorts. Although Nash and I were surrounded by hundreds of people, all of them intent on whatever their next destination was, it felt as if we were all alone. He pushed away from the wall where he’d been leaning. I stood stock-still in the center of the walkway until someone else bumped me.
“Jesus, lady. Get out of the way, or move,” a voice said.
Whoever spoke was gone so fast I never saw them. I walked toward Nash as he approached me. My suitcase thumped and thumped behind me. Oh God, he looked absolutely delicious. His hair was mussed as if he’d run a hand through it a few too many times.
He stopped in front of me, his eyes running swiftly over my face. I stared at him numbly, trying to scramble my thoughts into something sensible. “What are you doing here?” I finally asked.
“I’m here to see you.”
“You are?”
Nash’s lips kicked up into a smile, and I suddenly felt giddy. Emotion rushed through me and left me tingling all over.
“I missed you,” he said simply.
“You did?”
Nash nodded slowly as he reached for my suitcase and slid his other hand through my elbow. “Come on, let’s get out of the way.”
So startled to see him, I simply followed along. We stopped beside the windows. Planes were taking off, landing, and rolling slowly along the runways. We were surrounded by a cacophony of people—all in a hurry—as well as the rhythmic, mechanical sounds of a busy airport.
All of that faded into the distance as I looked up at Nash. I had to physically resist the urge to literally fall into his arms.
“Yeah, I did,” he said.
For a second, I forgot my question, but then I remembered it. “You missed me?”
A fizzy sense of joy was buzzing in my veins just hearing Nash’s voice and seeing him. My breath shortened as my heart flipped in my chest and my pulse skyrocketed.
“That’s what I said. We, uh, left things kind of unfinished.”
As I continued staring dumbly at him, I thought I saw a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. My heart gave a little kick, almost as if to galvanize me. “I missed you too.” Butterflies lifted and spun in my belly. That was hard to say, almost scary. I glanced around us. “How did you know I was here?”
“Harlow told me you’d be landing here around now.”
I started to laugh, and then alarm struck. “Oh my God, what does Max know?”
Nash shrugged. “He knows I came to find you and that you mean something to me. That’s all I told him. I don’t know what else he knows because I don’t know what you told Harlow. I didn’t dare ask her what she told him. In fact, after I heard her give him a little hell for trying to interrupt when she was talking to me, I decided it was best not to argue with her.”
I threw my head back with a laugh. “Oh yeah, you don’t want to mess with Harlow. She’s a hotshot firefighter, and she’s a total badass.”
“I gathered,” Nash said dryly.
Nash’s hand slowly released its grip on my elbow. As my hand began to fall, he caught it in his, his grip warm and sure. When his gaze held mine, I felt warm from the inside out, almost as if the sun was cast upon my heart.
“I didn’t expect you, Mari. Like I told you before, you weren’t someone casual to me. Work has been my life for years, and I haven’t had, or made, time to consider romance. The best part about you leaving was it helped clarify something for me.”
Oh God, I’d missed his voice—that raspy southern drawl that set my heart aflutter and heat suffusing me. How could nothing more than the sound of his voice be so naughty? I didn’t know, but it totally worked for me.
“I don’t know what love is, but I think you might be it for me,” he added.
I stared at him, trying to wrap my brain around his words while my heart kicked at my ribs as if trying to clue me into the moment. Suddenly, I burst into tears and flung myself into his arms. Hanging onto his shoulders as I wound my arms around his neck, I breathed in the scent of him—crisp with a hint of the ocean.
Nash held me tight—because he was that kind of man. His hold was warm and strong. After a moment, I shimmied down and lifted my face to his as he brushed a few loose locks of hair out of my eyes.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he murmured, looking startled and befuddled.
I dragged my sleeve across my nose as I sniffled. “Those were happy tears. I can’t say I know what love is because I’ve had the worst luck with men, but I think you might be it for me as well.”
Nash’s eyes crinkled at the corners with his smile as it unfurled slowly before he kissed me. In a matter of seconds, our tongues were tangling, and I was pressing up against him.
“Get a room!” a voice called out.
Nash and I broke apart breathlessly. We stared at each other before laughter bubbled up from my chest as he chuckled softly.
Nash reached for my suitcase again, which I’d all but forgotten. “Let’s go.”