Fortune's Perfect Match

by ALLISON LEIGH,

  He took a step toward her before he even realized what he was doing and he sharply reined in the urge to kiss her. Not because he didn’t want to. He did.

  But the parking lot was busy with people coming and going. He didn’t particularly want to give Tanner’s other employees and the customers something like this to gossip about.

  “It’s a first for me, too,” he told her. He lifted the basket a few inches. “Had to borrow this from Mrs. Sheckley. It weighs more than it should just because of the brownies she included.”

  He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Emily’s expression softened even more. She suddenly stepped forward, nearly squashing the flowers between their bodies as she reached up to press her lips against his.

  The kiss was fleeting.

  Not long enough at all for him to turn it back on her, to deepen it and damn who might see.

  Then she was settling back on the heels of her strappy sandals and giving him that shy look all over again. “You make it very hard for me to resist you.”

  Something unfamiliar squeezed through his chest and he curled his fingers more tightly around the basket handle. “Likewise.”

  Her smile widened. She bent her head over the flowers, grazing the blooms against her cheek. “So, um, where are we going to fly to? Or do we just go,” she twirled her finger in the air, “around in circles?”

  “There’s a place about an hour away.” He touched her elbow, setting off toward the hangar. “Tanner turned me on to it after I’d soloed. It’s an old airfield that runs right next to a little creek.”

  “Sounds nice.”

  “Peaceful, anyway.” He’d spent a lot of time sitting on the banks of that creek after Anthony’s true paternity had been finally determined. But that wasn’t why he’d chosen the spot today.

  That was because of much simpler reasons. Close enough for a day trip. And pretty enough to share with Emily.

  He aimed for the office door. “You want me to find something to stick the flowers in?”

  “The stems are in water already. See?” She held up the bouquet. And sure enough, inside the cellophane wrapper, each stem was stuck in a clear little tube filled with liquid. He hadn’t even noticed. When she lowered the bouquet again, she held it close against her chest. As if she didn’t want to let loose of them.

  He felt that unfamiliar, squeezing sensation inside his chest again but kept his brain focused on the tasks at hand. He shifted course a little, away from the office. “Then we can head on out to the plane.” He shot her a quick look. “You nervous?”

  Was she nervous? Emily thought about it as she quickened her step, keeping up with Max as they rounded one side of the hangar. “Maybe a little,” she admitted. “Not because I don’t trust you or anything,” she added quickly. “Tanner says you’re a really safe pilot.”

  Max glanced at her. His blue eyes looked amused. “Checked with the boss, did you?”

  “No.” She couldn’t seem to stop touching the velvety-soft daisy petals. “But he and Jordana were over at the house this morning having an early breakfast with us. And I, um, happened to mention our plans.”

  She’d earned an arch look from Wendy as a result, too, who’d gone on to tell the others just how late it had been when Emily arrived home after her date with Max. She’d known exactly, because she’d been up with a restless MaryAnne.

  Emily had kicked Wendy beneath the table before she could also share just how disheveled she’d looked when Max had dropped her off.

  “You know. How you’re giving me some real-time experience with flying. Market research.” She was in danger of babbling and quickly shut her mouth.

  “Then what are you nervous about?”

  About spending more time with him?

  About his reaction if she were to tell him that she was only days away from learning whether or not she was pregnant, courtesy of an anonymous donor?

  “I’ve never been on such a small plane,” she said, instead. Which was certainly true.

  “The girl we’re taking up is steady as a rock. We’ve flown together a lot. But, if you hate it, say the word and I’ll turn around and land.”

  She was pretty sure she wasn’t going to hate it.

  Not when she’d be sitting next to him.

  Instead of going into the hangar, which she’d sort of expected, they crossed the tarmac some distance away, finally coming to a small white and green plane with a propeller on its nose, an overhead wing, and a large set of numbers painted on the side. Max went straight to one side of the plane, ducked slightly beneath the wing and pulled open the passenger-side door. He set the picnic basket and the same sort of flight bag that she’d seen Tanner use inside the plane, then turned back to her.

  He held out his hand toward her. “You ready?”

  He had a pair of aviator sunglasses tucked in his navy blue T-shirt and his brown hair was a little shaggy, falling over his forehead. His expression was clear, the smile on his lips slightly crooked. And she felt her heart skitter around inside her chest.

  She moistened her lips. Walked over to him, and put her hand in his. “I’m ready.”

  She just wasn’t entirely sure if she meant she was ready for the plane ride, or for him.

  Chapter Eight

  Emily had traveled by air countless times in her life. Commercial jetliners. Chartered, executive jets. But every time, it had been just a means to an end. A way of getting from here to there.

  Sitting on the worn leather seat next to Max as he piloted the small plane, she wasn’t sure if she was more fascinated by the Texas landscape below them, or by Max himself.

  He was so obviously in his element and it was sheer pleasure to watch him.

  Before they’d taken off, he’d walked around the plane, checking this, checking that. Then he’d done the same thing while inside the plane before sticking his head out the window and yelling “Clear!” After a moment, the propeller had spun a few times, slowly at first, then faster and faster until it was a blur in front of the plane. The takeoff itself had been wholly exhilarating. Emily had laughed right out loud when she’d felt the little craft escape the hold of the runway and whoosh up into the air.

  They’d been flying about an hour—an unexpectedly tranquil hour—when Max treated her to another rush. Barreling downward toward an impossibly narrow runway that was stuck out in the tall grass in what seemed the absolute middle of nowhere. She felt the pull of gravity as they smoothly landed, the press of motion against her as Max corralled the speeding plane down the runway and, in her opinion, masterfully slowed to a quiet, gentle stop well before they ran out of pavement.

  She exhaled. Pressed her palm against her thundering heart and looked around as Max taxied the plane away from the runway and onto the field between it and the trees. Aside from the runway—faded and sprouting grass among the cracks—there was only one small building, a truck that she assumed carried fuel and a windsock blowing from a tall post. On the other side of the runway, she could see glimpses of the creek, glimmering beyond a stand of trees.

  She didn’t know where they were. Didn’t particularly care. It felt like they were the only two people on earth right there, and she was simply enchanted.

  “So,” Max cut the plane’s engine and the propeller slowly stopped spinning, “what’d you think?”

  “I think it was fabulous.” She turned from the side window to look at him. She still held her daisies on her lap. “And I think you should be flying all the time.”

  His lips tilted. “Yeah, but this little hobby doesn’t pay the bills. And it creates a bunch of new ones.” He reached right over her and unlatched the door beside her, then straightened to push open his own. After unfastening his safety belt, he climbed out, grabbing a set of wheel chocks from the cargo area behind the seats as he went. “Sit tight. I’ll come around and help you out.”

  He climbed out and disappeared from view, reappearing a few moments later at her door. He pulled it open, and took her flowers in one hand
while he held her hand securely in his other until she’d climbed out. Once she was safely on the ground, he handed her the flowers again and reached back into the plane to retrieve the picnic basket.

  Then he tucked his hand under her elbow, ducked his head again to clear the wing and headed toward the trees. The long, soft grass tickled her feet through her strappy sandals and she couldn’t help swinging her foot through it as if she were kicking a ball.

  “Grass tickles,” she told Max when he shot her a glance over the tops of his sunglasses.

  His smile widened, obviously amused. “One of those simple pleasures of yours?”

  “Exactly.”

  He let go of her elbow, gesturing toward the trees. “Well, knock yourself out, baby. Kick away.”

  Knowing the endearment didn’t mean anything didn’t stop her from latching on to it, and she felt as if her face might split from the smile she couldn’t seem to tame. “Well, now I can’t,” she complained lightly. “Because I’ll feel silly.”

  “Too bad. I was getting a good image in my head of what you must have looked like as a little girl. Sort of hoping you’d start turning cartwheels or something.”

  She let out a soft laugh. “Even as a little girl, I couldn’t turn a cartwheel to save my life. I was a complete, bossy little geek.” She didn’t know what possessed her, but she stuck out her hands, planting them in the thick grass and threw her legs over in a wholly pathetic cartwheel. But her heart was light and she didn’t care if she looked ridiculous. Particularly when she straightened and he was smiling indulgently. “Still am a geek,” she said breathlessly.

  “Not bossy?”

  She grinned. “Not unless I’m in the office.”

  “Then that just leaves you being the prettiest geek I’ve ever met.”

  Her heart skittered around as if she’d just attempted another cartwheel. “You wouldn’t have thought so when I had braces to go with these glasses and was head of the debate team in junior high.”

  “Don’t underestimate the sexual appeal of a teenage girl in braces to a teenage boy,” he countered. They’d reached the trees and he grabbed her hand, his fingers threading through hers as he took the lead.

  Emily was glad to follow behind him. It gave her a chance to pull in a deep, soundless breath. And to admire the hind view of him.

  But they were soon beyond the thickest part of the trees as the area opened up again into a narrow, pretty meadow running directly beside the creek bed. The sun was bright and warm overhead, the grass smelled sweet and she was utterly charmed.

  Max set down the picnic basket and opened the lid to pull out a red-and-black plaid blanket, which he flipped open on the ground. He anchored one corner with the basket, and the other with Mrs. Sheckley’s bag of brownies. “You going to stand there, or come sit?”

  She kicked off her sandals, curling her bare toes into the cushiony grass. “For someone with no picnic experience,” she told him, “this looks sort of magazine perfect.”

  “Thank Mrs. Sheckley for that, too.” He sat down on the blanket. “She and Mr. Sheckley evidently went on a lot of picnics.” His teeth flashed in a quick grin. “She actually told me her oldest son and her youngest daughter were both conceived while picnicking.”

  Emily nearly choked. “On that blanket?”

  He chuckled. “Not this one. It was brand-new. Saw it come out of her closet, still wrapped.” He reached into the picnic basket and pulled out two bottles. One lemonade, one water. “Which one? Got plenty of both.”

  She stepped onto the soft blanket and sat down on her folded legs. She took the water and twisted it open. “Thanks.”

  He opened his lemonade and clinked the plastic bottle against hers. “Here’s to our first picnic.”

  Which only had her wondering if there’d be more than one. Afraid her thoughts would show on her face, she sipped the water and glanced over at the creek. “How many times have you been out here?”

  “Probably a dozen.” He stretched out his legs and leaned down on one bent arm. “Give or take.”

  Her fingertip slid beneath the edge of the paper label on the water bottle. “Ever bring anyone?”

  He was silent for a beat. “Another woman, you mean?”

  Her cheeks heated.

  His dimple flashed. “No other women,” he finally said. “Nobody else, period.”

  She set the flowers on the blanket beside her before twisting her legs from beneath her and hugged her knees to her chest. She wished he’d take off the sunglasses so she could see his eyes. “So you’d just fly out here, land and take off again right back to Red Rock?”

  “Sometimes. Most times I’d sit here on the ground and stare at the creek.”

  As lovely as the spot was, it seemed like a place meant to be shared. But then, maybe that was the closet-romantic she’d never known existed inside her that was talking. “Sounds lonely.”

  He slowly shook his head. “Couple times I felt like this place and that plane back there were the only things keeping me sane.”

  “Because of Anthony?” She held her breath the second the question escaped.

  He sipped his lemonade, taking a nerve-racking amount of time before responding. “I figured it was too much to expect you not to have heard about all that.”

  She started breathing again. Cautiously. “Wendy told me a little.” She shook her head once. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

  “Why?”

  She dashed her hair away from her cheek. “Because it’s your business. If you wanted to share it, you would.”

  “So if I don’t say another word about him, you’re okay with that?”

  Her lips parted, ready to agree. But the truth made her hesitate. “If you wanted to talk about him, I’d be happy to listen. But I’ll respect your right to privacy,” she finally said. “We certainly don’t have to exchange our deepest secrets for us to enjoy each other’s company.” In fact, she knew it was probably better if they didn’t. She didn’t want anything ruining this time with him yet and she could imagine how fast and far he’d run once she shared her motherhood intentions.

  He took another long sip of his lemonade. “You scare the hell out of me, you know that? Aside from my sister, you must be the most honest person I’ve ever encountered.”

  Her conscience pinched. “I don’t know about that. I just know that I, well…I like you, Max. That’s all.” She did like him. She liked the way she felt when she was with him.

  He pulled off his sunglasses and tossed them on the blanket. His eyes were narrowed against the sunlight as he looked at her, but she could still make out the clear, pale blue as his gaze captured hers. “That’s all?”

  Her heart surged straight up her throat. “You know that’s not all. But…but nothing’s changed since the other night. Tanner is still my brother-in-law. And judging by the way he and Jordana are joined at the hip, I don’t think that’s likely to change anytime this millennium.”

  Whatever she’d expected from Max, it wasn’t the smile he gave. “He is pretty gung ho over her and that baby she’s carrying.”

  She shifted again until she was sitting cross-legged. “I still can’t believe both of my little sisters are even married, much less starting families already.” She slid a single daisy out from the bunch. “I used to think Wendy was so wild. And Jordana—” She twirled the stem between her fingers. “Jordana was just the opposite. For a while she was terminally shy.”

  “And you were somewhere in between.”

  “Closer to Jordana’s shy end than Wendy’s confident one.”

  He gave a faint snort. “Please. You’re confident as hell.”

  “About work, yes. But anything else in life?” She made a face and shook her head. “Not so much. Advertising is a lot easier than personal relationships. But even when it comes to my career, I’ve only ever worked at FortuneSouth. Maybe I just got where I am there because of nepotism. My father’s the one that hired me, after all.”

  “He make a habi
t of hiring unqualified people?” Max didn’t wait for her to answer before he shook his head. “I’ve read up on FortuneSouth. Companies don’t get that successful if there are incompetent people running things.”

  She watched him from beneath her lashes. “You checked up on the company?”

  He suddenly rolled onto his stomach, bringing him within inches of her knees, and he plucked the flower stem out of her fingers. “I checked up on you.” He touched the daisy to her chin. “You’ve won advertising awards. I doubt they had anything to do with nepotism. But you didn’t tell Tanner to take a flying leap when he asked you to meet with me.”

  “Tanner’s family. Of course I wasn’t going to turn him down. And I was the one to butt my nose in anyway, when I mentioned that his current website could use some jazzing up.” She pressed her lips together. “I just didn’t expect what I found.”

  One of Max’s eyebrows went up when she hesitated.

  “You,” she finished simply. She spread her hands, palms up. “I don’t make a habit of throwing myself at anyone but I’ve done just that, more than once, with you. Even though I know you don’t want to go…you know…there.”

  “Yeah, I was really putting up a fight the other night when Mrs. Sheckley interrupted.” His voice dropped a notch, heavy with irony. “Because I didn’t want to go…you know…there.”

  She grimaced. “You see? Advertising, good. Personal relationships, bad.”

  “That makes two of us, then, when it comes to relationships. I’ve never had a single one that lasted.” He suddenly broke the head of the daisy off, leaving only a few inches of stem attached and reached up to tuck it behind her ear. “Come on.” He sat up and began removing his well-worn athletic shoes and socks. “It’s getting hot. You wanna wade in the creek?”

  “Is it okay to leave our things here?”

  “Sure,” he assured carelessly. “Nobody’s ever around.”

  “Not even over at that little building by the runway?”

  He shook his head. “There’s a guy who comes if you call him for assistance. Otherwise, we’re all alone.”