Whatever you want to call it, it turned
Interior Designer, Wendy Seidel’s world upside down. From a chance meeting at
the airport to Florida and back to Ohio, she can’t believe the strange
circumstances that throw us together, after I
literally knocked her off her feet at the airport.
Hi, I’m Bill Johnson, and I thought I’d take a minute to talk
about Wendy.
I’ll never forget my first meeting with Wendy. Yes, I
literally knocked her off her feet in the airport, accidentally on purpose. Oh,
I didn’t mean to knock her over, that was an accident. I just meant to bump
into her. But she darned near stopped and wham, I blasted into her.
From the minute I saw her, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of
her. That red hair and those green eyes mesmerized me. I never went in much for
red heads, too hot-tempered. But this chick hypnotized me or something.
So, there we were both hurrying to catch our plane and bam,
I knocked her over. Talk about a temper. Phew, let me tell you, she could
freeze a glass of water with that look and cut you to the quick with a few
words.
Okay, I have to admit, getting knocked down would have put
me in bad temper too, but gees, I did apologize. Not that it mattered, she was
off and running lickety split. Yep, hell-bent on her mission. So much for meeting her.
But…as luck would have it, there she was sitting at my
departing gate. Well, heck, how could I resist talking to her? Not that she was
much for talking. Had her nose stuck in a book and wasn’t about to take it out.
At least not until I kept up my end of the conversation, which she wasn’t
responding. I think I was annoying her more than anything.
Before I knew it, they made an announcement that or flight
had been cancelled. So much for spending three hours trying to get to know her.
At least that was my plan. I was going to con the person sitting next to her
out of their seat. Instead, I had to make arrangements to stay in a hotel. Hey,
maybe I’d get lucky and she’d do the same.
If you want to know what happened, you’ll have to read
Designed for Love available at
Amazon
Excerpt:
“What the hell?” My carry-on bag slid across the floor and slammed into the
wall. My feet slipped out from under me, I landed flat on my back, and someone
fell on top of me, pinning me to the floor. The breath knocked out of me, I lay
still a moment.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I finally caught my breath and
pushed him off. “Everyone’s always in such a big hurry.”
“Why’d you slow down? You darned near stopped in front of me.” He stood up,
brushed himself off and held out his hand to help me up. “Sorry.”
I knocked his hand away, got to my knees and stood. I didn’t need his help.
Not his or anyone else’s for that matter. What I needed was to find my bag and
get on to my gate.
“Look, I’m sorry. It was entirely my fault. I shouldn’t have been in such a
hurry.” He held his hand out to me again, but I ignored it. “Here, let me get
that for you.” He hurried to pick up my bag, but I grabbed it first.
“Look, Mister, I have a plane to catch, so excuse me if I don’t have time to
chat.” I straightened up my bag, grabbed the handle and started toward my gate.
Good looking in a rustic sort of way, I had to admit. Probably worked outdoors
or at least spent a lot of time outside. Not that it made any difference. I
didn’t have time for him. Or any man for that matter. I had a career to build,
and men didn’t figure into it.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like men. I did. Even dated occasionally. Eventually
I’d like to have a relationship, even get married. But relationships and
marriage took time, not a priority right now. My career came first. Something
about him, though.
I couldn’t resist looking back. Great. He stood watching me with a silly
smirk on his face. Nice eyes, soft gray. I loved gray eyes. Maybe because my
grandfather had gray eyes. He lifted his hand and waved at me. Heat burned my
face, and I hurried off in the direction of the gate, looking at the signs
above. Only at Gate 2. Not even close. Of course my gate was at the farthest
end of the airport. Thankfully, there was plenty of time to get there.
I avoided a heavyset man, hell bent on his mission. I hated this time of
year. Everyone was in such a big hurry.
To make matters worse, my butt hurt but I resisted rubbing it. Didn’t need
to look like any more of an idiot. Ah, Gate 11, finally. Now I could sit down
and relax, since there was still forty-five minutes before my flight. I took a
book out of the side pocket of my carry-on and settled back to wait. Not that I
could concentrate, anger at my boss raged inside me. Who in their right mind
set up a meeting with a client right before New Years? And in Florida, no less.
Obviously, Nick didn’t care that I had plans for New Year’s Eve.
So I was getting out of Ohio, big deal. Sure, my friends thought I was
lucky, especially with the predicted snowstorm. Didn’t make any difference to
me, I liked snow.
I glanced out a window. Already it was coming down pretty heavy, and there
was still a good half hour before my flight.
Damn it, I hated flying. I could have sent the samples just as easy. What
was so important they required me to personally bring them? I thought we’d
settled everything before the client left. Why the sudden change? They could
have at least waited until after the holidays.
Nick, my boss, promised I’d be home by New Year’s Eve. Yeah right. I knew
how these things went. First this problem, than that one. I’d be lucky to be
home in time for my nephew’s birthday on the sixth. Nick better not have any
funny ideas. This was strictly business. I’d heard about his reputation with
women. So far he hadn’t shown an interest in me, and I certainly didn’t have a
problem with that. Good-looking though Nick was, nothing about him attracted
me. Definitely not my type. Not that I had a type.
“Looks like we’re on the same flight,” a masculine voice said.
I looked up and almost groaned out loud. This couldn’t be happening. What
were the chances we’d be on the same flight? I tried to ignore him, but
something drew my eyes to his.
“Bill Johnson.” He extended his hand toward me. “I really am sorry about
knocking you down.”
I shrugged and shook his hand. “No problem.” A quiver started deep in my
stomach when he held my hand a bit longer than necessary. Rough, calloused
hands. Does hard work. Maybe construction. I pulled my hand away and turned my
attention back to my book. I hated talking to people at airports. Lord, please
tell me he doesn’t have the seat next to me. I couldn’t be that unlucky, could
I?
Of course I could.
Taking a peek at the ticket sticking out of his coat pocket, I groaned. Seat
16A. No way, what were the chances? I hoped he’d take the hint and leave me
alone.
“Are you staying in Fort Myers?” He sat down next to me.
Figured, no such luck. I nodded. Maybe if I didn’t contribute to the
conversation, he’d go away. I kept my eyes on my book but couldn’t concentrate.
I had the irresistible urge to look at him, but ignored it. What was it about
him?
“Visiting or business?”
I looked up from my book. He just wasn’t going to quit. “Business, no time
for pleasure.” Maybe that would shut him up.
He smiled. “Everyone has time for pleasure. All work and no play...” He let
the rest of the saying hang.
I put the book in front of my face. “I guess I’m a dull boy then.” Why
didn’t he just let me read in peace. I couldn’t be much ruder. Some people just
couldn’t take a hint.
Bill laughed. A big hearty laugh that caused people to stare. I wanted to
crawl under my seat. “What’s so funny?”
“Honey, you look like anything but a boy.” His gaze took me in from top to
bottom and came to rest on my breasts.
Okay, I’m well endowed and wished I had left my jacket on. Not that there
was much to see through my bulky sweater, but enough. Heat rushed to my face
again. Crap, why did I blush so easily? My face was probably as red as my hair.
“Okay, so I don’t look like a boy. Just finishing the saying. And DON’T call me
honey!” I put the book in front of my face, turned away from him, and tried to
read. Lord, spare me friendly people. Especially men.
The last thing I needed was a man trying to pick me up. I wished he’d just
go away. I could call airport security, but didn’t want to cause a scene. He’d
done enough of that.
“Since you won’t tell me your name, I don’t know what else to call you.”
“Don’t call me anything.” I slammed my book shut, stood, and walked to the
window. What more did I have to do to let him know I wasn’t interested? I
stared out the window. Things didn’t look good outside.
“Full blown blizzard.” Bill’s deep voice came from behind.
I felt his breath on my neck and shivered from the warmth of it. Or was it
from his nearness? Whatever it was, I didn’t like it. I looked at my watch.
Still almost a half hour before take off. So far they hadn’t cancelled the
flight.
As if my thoughts magically conjured it up, a voice came over the PA system.
“We regret to inform you that all flights to and from Cleveland Hopkins Airport
have been cancelled until further notice. New flights can be rebooked as soon
as we resume our schedule. Sorry for the inconvenience. Airport shuttles are
standing by to take you to a hotel. If you can’t get a room, you’re welcome to
stay at the airport. Concession stands and restaurants will remain open for
your convenience.
Great, just great. What more could go wrong? At least I could go home. If I
could get a cab, that is. With the way it looked outside, I had a feeling most
of the roads were closed, too.
I moved away from Bill and took my cell phone from my purse, got the number
for the cab company from information, and punched it in. Crap, a recording. “No
cabs due to weather.” Terrific. I punched in information for the number of the
Sheraton Hotel. Hopefully, they still had a room. Spending the night sleeping
in an airport wouldn’t improve my mood.
“Sheraton Hotel, how can I help you,” a female answered.
“Yes, I’d like a room for the night.” Please don’t tell me they’re all booked,
I prayed. I didn’t care what kind of room as long as it had a bed.
“Yes, I have one room left. Two double beds. One hundred and fifty dollars.”
I let out a low whistle. A bit more than I cared to spend, but no matter.
“I’ll take it.” I read my credit card number, grabbed my bag and raced to the
exit while I spoke. Now to find an airport shuttle. Talk about luck, a shuttle
parked just outside. I pulled the door open, and someone bumped into me.
“We have to stop meeting like this.”
I turned and looked into familiar soft, gray eyes. “Are you following me?”
This was beginning to feel creepy. What was with this guy?
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Bill let out a low chuckle. “We can share a ride
if you don’t mind. Give the driver a break.”
He followed me into the car. “Sheraton Hotel and...” He looked at me. “Where
to?”
What were the odds he’d be going to the same hotel? This was getting scary.
“Sheraton.”
“No kidding. Hey, maybe we can get together for a drink or something.”
Like I couldn’t guess what the or something was. I shook my head. Jerk. What
made him think I’d even want to have a drink with him? “No thanks, I have work
to do.” I looked out the window. How the driver managed to see where he was
going was beyond me. All I could see was white. Thick, white, blowing snow.
This was by far the worst snow storm I remembered. I just hoped it let up by
morning like the weatherman promised.
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