Now she had a mere three weeks to get ten thousand dollars to Wendell.
Or lose her salon.
That made her throat tighten. She tried her best to ignore the gut-clenching thoughts tumbling in her head as she stepped into a security line that seemed to be moving as slowly as the Vegas economy. One step every two minutes. At this rate, she’d likely miss her flight.
She scoured the crowd for the man who’d confronted her in the post office parking lot the day before. She didn’t know if she would see him again. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he’d tracked her down through the post office box. If she really didn’t want her father finding her, then she should have devised a more anonymous method of contact.
She should have known this whole blackmail thing was a stupid idea. Blackmailing a man who took pleasure in crushing anyone who got in his way—who did that? She knew the answer. Only someone who was desperate. And now look where it had landed her. She’d set something into motion. Could she handle what was about to happen?
A woman tapped her on the shoulder, pulling her from her thoughts, and pointed toward the moving line.
Finally, Kate made it through the checkpoint, reassembled everything in her purse and carry-on, and headed for the gate. The ticket was in her hand. It was one-way, and that made her nervous.
“Kate.”
Her name sounded like a caress on his lips. She turned to face the man who’d shadowed her dreams the night before. He looked calm, as though he’d actually slept. The bags under her eyes sagged lower. “I’d say hello, but you never introduced yourself.”
His lips twitched. “Enrique Mendez, but everyone calls me Rick.”
He offered his hand. She ignored it. “Do you work for Justus, or just stalk random women at post offices for fun?”
Amusement flashed in his dark eyes before his face went blank. “Not necessarily.”
The man was totally vague, but at least she knew his name. “Are you local or are you from Texas?”
His eyes scanned the crowded airport. He took her elbow and started walking toward the gate. “I’m from Texas. I’m flying back with you.”
Kate tugged her arm from his grasp. “I can walk by myself.”
He didn’t react. Simply kept moving toward Gate D-13. She followed, but put space in between them. She studied him from behind as he moved purposefully toward the Delta Air Lines desk. He wore his dark hair clipped close, military-style and had on a black Nike athletic jacket, jeans and hiking boots. The boots didn’t fit the look, but she imagined he didn’t care. They were probably comfortable. Rick was one of those guys.
He stood in line behind two other people. She didn’t bother. She already had a seat on the plane. Instead, she plopped into one of the bucket seats next to a dapper Asian guy reading on a Kindle, parked her stuffed-to-the-max suitcase next to her and watched Rick.
The man who’d made her so uneasy at the post office smiled at the attendant. The dour-looking older lady was forty pounds overweight with a horrible dye job, but she melted like a Popsicle in July at Rick’s coaxing.
She wondered what he was trying to get from her. She also wondered why she hadn’t been treated to such a smile.
The woman nodded, fluttered her lashes a little and took his boarding pass. She studied the screen before her, tapped a few buttons on the keyboard, and looked up with a triumphant smile. She pulled something from a machine beside the computer and handed it to Rick.
The ass had obviously been upgraded.
The woman grabbed the intercom and asked all passengers seated in business class to please begin boarding.
Rick didn’t even glance Kate’s way as he stepped into the line.
Great.
By the time Kate had stowed her carry-on, popped a Xanax and sank into her seat, she decided she didn’t like Rick Mendez one bit. He was chatting with an attractive flight attendant, his legs stretched out in front of him, while Kate had the sharp elbows of the guy to her left to look forward to. Not good.
She blew away the pieces of hair hanging in her eyes and settled into the not-so-comfortable seat. She had forgotten her iPod, so she’d spent her last bit of cash on a book at Walgreens. She hoped the legal thriller could take her mind off the jitteriness she felt at sitting inside the metal bird of death. If that didn’t do the trick, the medication would likely kick in to soften takeoff.
She didn’t like to fly. She did it when she had to, but only when it was absolutely necessary. Given a chance, she’d have elected to put the top down on her VW convertible, flood the car with her new Pink album and set out for Texas. Nothing better than the wind in her hair, but it was the end of January and she didn’t think icicles forming on her nose would be a good look.
She took another peek at business class, but the flight attendant jerked the partition closed, throwing a knowing look at the people sitting in coach. Kate sighed.
Yeah, yeah, sister. We all want to be in there.
“’Scuse me,” Sharp Elbows said as he nearly pierced one of her lungs.
“No problem,” she muttered, shifting aside and praying no one would take the seat to her right.
Her prayers went unanswered when a granny toddled toward her, counting off the seat numbers. Sure enough, she was 23E. The woman wore a floating caftan, had poofy hair and carried a purse so big it threatened to topple her forward onto Pokey Elbows’s lap as she passed him. She grinned at Kate, showing her silver-framed partial and yellowed teeth smudged with fuchsia lipstick. No doubt she had jeweled sunshades and a brag book of grandchildren lurking in her purse.
“Honey, I’m over there next to you.”
Kate lifted herself so the woman could slide into her seat. The ginormous purse smacked her on the thigh.
“Sorry, honey. I’ll get settled…right…here.” The elderly lady huffed and puffed as she adjusted her seat and tucked tissues in the pouch in front of her.
Kate really hated Rick Mendez. He was getting free liquor. While she was tucked in tight between Lemony Snicket and Mrs. Roper. Kate yawned. The Xanax was kicking in, leaving her feeling sleepy and foggy. She only used the medication for flights. Okay, and when she couldn’t stop the merciless anxiety that sometimes swamped her and kept her pacing the floors at all hours of the night. Jeremy had forced her into getting some when she’d let it slip that she suffered from periodic anxiety.
Jeremy.
He wasn’t so bad, even if he
had
risked her future without asking. She still loved her flamboyantly gay friend. Besides, she was as unsinkable as Molly Brown. She wasn’t going to throw their friendship away over his moment of insanity. After her ill-fated blackjack game, she’d phoned him, listened as he threw himself a pity party, then told him her plan.
Part of the blame fell on her. She’d gotten lax in double-checking the books. Lord knew her accountant had harped on it enough. But she’d never thought Jeremy would endanger their business or friendship. Never. Which went to prove what she’d known all along. She had to rely on herself. No one else. “Ma’am?”
A smartly dressed flight attendant with a fake smile and a platinum bob jarred Kate from her musings.
“Huh? I mean, what?”
“You can follow me. I’ve cleared you for business class.”
Kate couldn’t stop the smile that sprang to her lips, the first one she’d hatched in weeks. Hell, yeah. “Absolutely.”
She turned the smile on her former seatmates. “Well, I’m outta here.”
“I don’t blame you, honey. I wish I’d had the time to show you pictures of my Pomeranians. You know I show them all over the country. Little Boy Blue just won the Hanover.”
Kate nodded at the prattling granny. “Sorry I didn’t get to see them. Have a good flight.”
Then Kate followed the lithe attendant toward the Holy Grail of the plane. If the plane went down, at least she would die in first class.
It was small consolation.
But it was consolation.
He eyed her.
Xanax?
“Should you be taking that?”
She raised her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. “I only take it when I feel anxious.”
“You want a drink?”
“It’s nine o’clock in the morning.” Her voice sounded sleepy, reminding him of rumpled bedsheets and lazy morning sex. Not good. This was Justus’s daughter. No sense in fantasizing about her.
“I meant a Coke or something.”
Kate laughed. It was a smoky laugh. He felt himself grow semierect. Shit. What was wrong with him?
“Now I know you’re from Texas. You called a soda a
Coke
.”
He blinked at her. She was an odd one. Or maybe the medication was making her loopy. And talkative. He could have sworn she hated his guts.
She fell silent and fumbled for her lap belt. Rooting around, her hand bumped his thigh, which only served to heighten the flash of desire he felt for her. He reached down and grabbed the belt before she could slip her hand beneath his ass and pull it out.
“Sorry,” he commented, reaching over and snapping the belt into the end she held against her stomach. He got a whiff of her perfume as he pulled away. Something expensive. And sexy. It made him want to dip his head closer and smell her hair or the silkiness of her collarbone where the perfume had no doubt been applied.
“Thanks,” she muttered before opening a book.
He spent several minutes studying her out of the corner of his eye as she read. She’d shown up in tight jeans and an even tighter yellow shirt that wrapped her torso and cupped her small breasts. Yesterday, her hair had been spiky, tinted blue. Today, it was a mass of raven curls, making her look younger and softer. Dangly earrings brushed her shoulders. Her legs, encased in brown high-heeled boots, were crossed at her ankles.
Finally the engines roared to life, causing the huge 737 to thrum with power. He glanced at Kate’s book. The cover showcased shadowy figures behind a blood splattered dagger. Horror? Thriller? He couldn’t decide, but he’d never seen anyone so engrossed in a book. She hadn’t moved.
Then he looked at her face.
Her eyes were closed. Not reading. Her nostrils flared lightly as she took calm measured breaths. Her knuckles weren’t white from the suspense in the book.
He pried her fingers from the book, closing it and tossing it toward her crinkled-looking bag. Her eyes flew open.
“What are you—”
“Shh,” he said, wrapping one of her cold hands in his. Her small hand felt delicate. It also seemed clammy. He threaded his fingers through hers and gave her hand a squeeze.
She opened her mouth to speak but closed it when he gave her a nod.
“Thanks,” she whispered as the plane began its taxi down the long expanse of runway.
Rick thought about winding an arm about her, but that would be stepping over a boundary he shouldn’t cross. He shouldn’t care about this woman who’d stooped to blackmail her own father. He shouldn’t enjoy the feel of her hand in his so much.
But he did.
Even as his rational mind threw up a roadblock, he squeezed her hand again as the wheels left the ground. She glanced at him.
Her blue eyes were twin pools of vulnerability.
“No problem,” he said.
She pressed her lips together and nodded.
The plane hit a pocket of air and tilted ever so slightly. Kate took deep breaths as they climbed higher and higher. He rubbed small circles on her wrist with his thumb, offering what little comfort he could, but enjoying the hell out of her tender skin.
They hit one final air pocket before leveling out. Kate let loose her breath. “Okay. Okay. We made it.”
“Yep, we made it.” He released her hand.
Kate looked at him. “No problem.”
But he couldn’t respond because he knew there was a problem. And her name was Kate. And she was Justus’s daughter. And she had Ryan’s eyes. And she stirred some tucked away feeling of protection.
It didn’t help that she wore tight-ass jeans and lowcut sexy shirts. That she pranced around in teetering heels, smelling of spicy earthiness. That she knew how to handle a man.
He had to resist her, so he didn’t say a word. Because he knew.
Big problem.