Books

Excerpt: You're All I Ever Want for Christmas

Chapter One

Sun, sand and margaritas...that was Lauren Wright’s plan, her Christmas gift to herself.  Instead, three days before Christmas, she’d gotten this—Chicago O’Hare airport during the worst weather delays of the year.

Lauren glanced around the gate area, her home away from home the past two hours.  Her gaze settled briefly on a man, one worthy of the second, third and tenth looks she’d given him.  Mid-forties, she guessed, like her.  Rugged, in a lumberjack sort of way.  He wore jeans, a forest-green shirt and an aged brown leather jacket.  Add to that his wavy chestnut hair, olive skin, and eyes so blue she could see the brilliant color from twenty feet away, and he was one tempting package.

But what also caught her attention was his patience—and the way he’d smiled at a couple of kids playing tag and teasing each other.  Plus, in these days of laptop computers and cell phones seemingly permanently attached to bodies, he stood out for not being obsessively connected, just making an occasional cell phone call, probably checking in with someone.

“May I have your attention in the boarding area, please?” came a voice over the public address system.  “Flight 1529 to Phoenix is now ready for boarding.”

“The flight gods are with you,” Lauren said to the woman seated next to her, who stood to gather her belongings.

“I may kiss the tarmac.”  The woman hefted her carryon bag.  “Good luck on yours.”

“Thanks.  I think maybe it’s going to be a long day.”

No sooner had the woman left than someone took her seat.  A man.  The man.

“I have a proposition for you,” he said.

His eyes sparkled.  His teeth flashed white.  He smelled good.  Really good.  Like pine trees after a rainstorm.

Then his words registered.  “A proposition?”

“I’ll buy you a cup of coffee, if you’ll save me this seat.”

She felt her face heat up a little, her imagination having spun other much more interesting propositions.  “I’d be happy to.”

“Great, thanks.  I’m Joe, by the way.”

“Lauren.”

“What would you like?”

You.  Whoa.  Where had that come from?

“What’s your pleasure?” he asked as she remained silent.

“Pleasure?”

“Plain coffee?  Designer?”

“Um.  A decaf mocha would be good.  No whipped cream.”

“You got it.”

He dropped his bag onto the chair and walked away, giving her the opportunity to really look at him—tall, sturdy, outdoorsy.  Great butt.

Great everything.

And no wedding ring.

She pulled out a compact to check her hair and makeup, tucked her newly highlighted, shoulder-length hair behind her ears then added a fresh coat of Pomegranate Passion lipstick.

As good as it gets, she decided, returning her compact to her purse and eying his carryon, a sturdy, brown canvas bag, stuffed to the gills.  Probably hadn’t checked a suitcase, traveling light enough for just the one bag.  Men could manage that better than women, especially women headed on vacation, who would need clothing and shoe options to survive the week.

“May I have your attention in the boarding area, please?  Flight 265 to Salt Lake City has been delayed until 1:45.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she tracked Joe’s return.  She wished she’d kept her book out so that she could look occupied, but she’d given up on it an hour ago, since there was plenty to hold her attention in the overcrowded terminal, especially the man walking toward her, a mini-fantasy come to life.

He passed her the coffee then took a seat. 

“Thanks,” she said, lifting it in a quick toast.

“My pleasure.”  He took out his cell phone and pushed one button, someone on his speed dial.  “Hey.  How’s it going?... Nope.  It’s been delayed again.  One-forty-five, they’re saying now....I know, honey.  Me, too.”

Honey.  So.  Not wearing a wedding ring, but taken.  The nice ones usually were.

“Call me whenever you want....I wish I was there, too.  Love you.”  He put away his phone then leaned back and took a sip.

“You must be headed to Salt Lake City,” Lauren said.  “I just heard the announcement.”

“Yeah.  Denver’s weather sure screwed up the whole country, didn’t it?”  He nodded toward a kid who’d tossed his gear on the floor and crashed, falling asleep instantly and soundly.  “So, what do you think his story is?”

“His story?”

“Where’s he headed, do you suppose?  Home from college for Christmas?  Some happy mom waiting at the airport for him.”

She considered the young man, envying his ability to tune out the world and sleep in public.  “A freshman.”  She cocked her head, considering.  “Maybe not seeing his mom, yet.  Maybe he’s joining his father first to go skiing over Christmas, so now he’s headed to Aspen to hook up with Dad and his new wife.  Then he’ll go home to spend the rest of his break with his mother—as much as a kid that age stays home,” she added, smiling, remembering her first Christmas home as a freshman. She felt Joe’s steady and sympathetic gaze on her, as if he knew it wasn’t a story she was making up.  “Just a guess,” she added.

“First Christmas without your son?” Joe asked.

She nodded then sipped her mocha rather than add anything that might show how hurt she’d been by her son’s choice.  Jeremy could’ve gone skiing at New Year’s instead, but he hadn’t.  Instead he’d chosen to leave her alone on Christmas—the worst day of the year. 

Which was why she’d planned a getaway herself.

“Pretty ticked off at your ex for stealing him away?” Joe asked.

Had he been there and done that?  “How’d you guess?”

He touched her hand for a second, the one holding—squeezing—the coffee cup.  “I’m surprised you didn’t pop the lid off.”

Lauren went utterly still at the electrifying contact.  The simple touch had zapped her clear down to her toes.  Her eyes met his.  She’d thought he’d sat beside her only so that he wouldn’t lose a seat permanently, but maybe he’d been checking her out, too?  Maybe even from a distance he—

“May I have your attention in the boarding area, please?  We regret to inform you that Flight 326 to Dallas-Fort Worth has been canceled.  Please check with the customer service desk for assistance in making a new reservation.” Grumbling rippled through the area.  Cell phones came out of pockets and purses.  People gathered their possessions and moved away, other travelers immediately taking their places with grateful sighs at finding seats.

“That’s an announcement I think we’ll be hearing a lot,” Joe said.  “Where are you headed?”

“Nassau via Fort Lauderdale.  My flight’s still a go at this point, but there’s an hour left.  Who knows what’ll happen by then.”

“Nassau?  I wouldn’t mind stretching out beside a pool, catching some rays.”

“I left thirty-degree weather in Cedar Rapids this morning,” she said, trying to dispel the image of him in swim trunks, a futile effort.  She bet he looked spectacular. “I’d settle for anything above fifty.”

“Same here, except I started in Portland, Maine.”

“Really?  My son goes to school at Bowdoin.”  The college was only a short drive from Portland.  “He’s a biochem major and is on the Ultimate Frisbee team.” 

“You get to Portland often?”

“I haven’t been allowed yet.”

He grinned, which gave him extra appeal. A good sense of humor was high on her list of qualities she liked in a man.  She thought she’d placed sex appeal a lot lower—until Joe had come within range, changing her mind, making her realize there really was such a thing as lust at first sight.  She’d just never experienced it before.

He’s taken, she reminded herself.  Taken.  Stop looking at him that way.  

She decided she needed a break from him, needed to let her hormones settle down. “I think I’ll go check on my flight,” she said, standing.  “Can I leave my suitcase here?”

“Of course.  Lauren?”

“What?”

“I’m harmless.”