“Where you going?”
“Bathroom.” I surged to my feet and stumbled over him.
Fortunately, Maddox didn’t say a word as I fled down the aisle. This early in the morning, most people were napping. The few who were awake, glanced my way, wondering over my pale face and stumbling footsteps. My emotions were in turmoil, and my mental wall collapsed, allowing a flood of thoughts to burst into my head. I sucked in a sharp breath, pressing my fingers to my temples.
God, I hate flying.
Wonder if Jim will meet me at the airport.
Have to get that report done by…
So many thoughts, so many useless, pathetic thoughts from those around me. I wanted to scream for them all to shut the hell up. I wanted to tell them that their problems were nothing compared to mine. I needed to think, needed to understand…
I slammed into a curvy body smelling of flowers. Mentally cursing, I stumbled back a step. “Sorry,” I muttered, intending to go around the woman.
“No worries.”
The familiar voice gave me pause. I jerked my head upright and met the blue gaze of the blonde from the airport bathroom…from the market…from somewhere.
“Hey.” She stepped closer, narrowing her eyes. “I know you.”
I glanced back, for some reason needing to see Maddox. I could just make out his dark hair at the front of the plane. “Yeah, we met at the airport.”
Her face lit up. “Oh, wow! You’re with that really cute guy.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
She giggled, actually giggled. “Can you do me a huge favor?”
“Umm, okay.” She hadn’t seemed this bubbly when we’d first met. Who the heck was she? She obviously hadn’t visited the island for her honeymoon. Some moron on spring vacation?
She lifted her hand and held out a folded note. “Can you give this to the guy you’re sitting with?
He’s just gorgeous.”
Dear God, she wasn’t serious, was she?
She lifted a perfectly plucked brow. “You’re not, like, dating, are you?”
I flushed, annoyed, angered, although why I wasn’t sure. “No.” But my suspicions wouldn’t leave. Something was off, my very instincts screamed at me to run, which would be hard to do on a plane. Ever so slightly, I reached out with my mind, focusing only on her.
I hope she gives him the note. He’s so cute.
That’s what she was thinking? My instincts sucked. She was about as dangerous as Cinderella. Disgusted, I snatched the note from her fingers and started back, ignoring the woman’s words of thanks.
“Here.” I tossed the note at Maddox as I climbed over him to get to my seat.
He caught it, looking quizzically at me.
“It’s from your girlfriend,” I sneered.
“Okay.” He unfolded the note.
As I slumped into my seat, I admit I glanced at the love letter, too curious not to know what Cinderella had to say. Probably something along the lines of, Do you like me? Check yes or no.
Maddox curled his fingers, the note demolished in his fist, but not before I had gotten a look at the message.
Thinking of you, the note said.
Nothing too dramatic, so why did Maddox look ready to kill the next person who walked by? He held up the wad of paper. “Where the hell did you get this?”
Startled by his harsh tone, I answered immediately. “A girl. Twenty. Twenty-one. I saw her just now. She asked me to give it to you.”
He was oddly still, the only sign of his anger, a pulse ticking on the side of his jaw. “What’d she look like?”
I shrugged. “She’s pretty. Really pretty. Blonde, thin.”
“Enough.” He jerked his head forward, the paper falling to the ground. He clutched the armrests so tight, I thought he might break them free from the seat. Apparently Maddox didn’t like pretty girls flirting with him.
What the heck was going on?
The intercom crackled overhead, interrupting my musings. “This is the captain speaking. We will be making an emergency landing in St. Petersburg, Florida. We ask that all passengers return to their seats and secure their belts.”
Maddox rested his head back against the seat and sighed. “Surprise, Surprise.”
