What She Wants

by Jenna Byrnes

  He grinned. “A girl who knows her own mind. How cool. She got that trait from her beautiful mom.”

  “You think?” Denise laughed. “Watch out, we can be a little stubborn at times, too.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose. “Wouldn’t have you any other way. And I can’t wait to meet your kids—when you think the time is right, I mean. I don’t want to rush anything.”

  “Except the sex,” she teased. “That was mutual, of course.”

  “Oh yeah. And that ship has sailed. There’ll definitely be lots more sex, rushed and not rushed. It’s the relationship part we’ll need to work on. I want to learn everything that makes you tick, Denise Crawford.” He kissed her temple.

  Denise’s heart melted. She’d come to the reunion this weekend looking for a quick hook-up, but was leaving with something better—more wonderful—than she ever could have expected. Handsome, sexy, Tyler, who wants a relationship with me. “How did I get so lucky?” She beamed at him.

  “I think I’m the lucky one.” He cupped her chin.

  She sighed and snuggled into him. “I can’t imagine any place I’d rather be than right here in your arms.”

  “Me, either, so let’s not try.” He held her tightly, and they kissed.

  Change of Plans

  Chapter One

  Kelsie Stanton stared at the flight schedule screen, not believing her eyes. Flight 232 to Chicago, delayed. Flight 1924 to San Antonio, delayed. Most importantly, flight 1746 to St. Petersburg, Florida, delayed. It was snowing, but she didn’t realize the weather was bad enough to cause all the delays. Not one flight appeared to be leaving on time.

  She approached the ticket counter, where a dozen other people fired questions at the clerk. “When will the Chicago flight be leaving? We were supposed to be boarding by now.” An angry-looking man pounded his fist on the counter.

  “Do you know how long before they’ll give clearance?” Someone else asked, and the clerk raised her hands with a shrug.

  “Please, everyone.” The uniformed woman tried to gain control. “The snow isn’t letting up, and several more inches are expected. We haven’t been told when flights will be taking off again. Unless the weather cooperates, it might not be tonight.”

  “Not tonight!” Several frustrated people echoed her words.

  Kelsie moved away from the crowd. She doubted the clerk could give her any information. She’d just have to sit down and wait the storm out. Pulling her rolling carry-on behind her and clutching a backpack, which held her purse and other valuables, she found a seat near a television tuned to the weather.

  “It’s the third crippling blizzard Denver has seen this season,” the announcer stated. “With seven inches on the ground and another foot anticipated, the airport, having already closed twice in the month of December, may be looking at another shutdown.”

  “Oh for Pete’s sake!” Kelsie pulled her cellular phone from her bag and dialed home. “Hey Mom,” she said when she heard the pick-up. “Have you seen the weather?”

  “Kelsie, thank goodness! Where are you? There’s a blizzard out there. They’ve closed Interstate seventy west of Russell.”

  “I’m at the airport in Denver, Mom. It looks like I may be here for a while. My flight’s delayed, with no indication when it’ll be leaving.”

  “At least you’re safe. I was worried you might still be on the road.”

  “Nope, I made it. It wasn’t snowing that hard when I left Kansas. It got worse the farther west I drove. I still didn’t think it was bad enough to ground planes.”

  “They know what they’re doing. I’d rather have you safe, then flying in this mess.”

  She chuckled. “You’d rather have me home than going to Florida for spring break, admit it.”

  “I didn’t mind you going,” her mother said hesitantly, but Kelsie knew it was a lie. Since her father died ten years ago, her mother had been extremely over-protective. It got worse right before she went off to college at Kansas State University. The school was only two hours from home, but it was located in a city much bigger than the rural town she grew up in. Her mother tended to be paranoid. She said she knew what kind of things happened in big cities, to which Kelsie could only chuckle. Everything that could happen to her in a bigger city had already happened to her in McPherson.

  “Look, Mom,” she said into the phone. “I’m going to sit here and watch the weather. I’ll keep my phone on, and let you know when something changes.”

  “Okay honey,” her mother replied nervously. “You should call your cousin Cheryl and let her know you’ve been delayed. She was planning to meet your plane.”

  “Yes, I will. Thanks Mom. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “I love you, Kels. Be safe.”

  “I will. Don’t worry. Bye, Mom.” She disconnected the call and shoved the phone back into her bag. Her cousin wasn’t expecting her for hours. If she waited to call, she might have news.

  A loud group of about eight guys passed in front of her, depositing their carry-on bags in the empty seats next to hers. “Go find out what’s going on!” One of them slurred to another, and Kelsie rolled her eyes. Great. Drunken college guys. She really hoped they weren’t on her plane, headed to Florida and the same spring break destination she’d booked. They were rowdy and obnoxious, and she could smell booze on them.

  “Hey beautiful!” One of the noisy group, a greasy-haired beanpole of a guy, dropped into the seat next to hers. “Do you believe in love at first sight, or do I need to walk by again?”

  She looked at him with disbelief. “Does that line ever work?”

  He grinned. “I guess not this time. Hi, I’m Dave. What’s your name?”

  “Not Interested. Susie Not Interested.”

  “Hi Susie!” He turned to one of his nearby cohorts. “Jeff, this is Susie Not Interested.”

  “You moron!” Jeff hooted. “Not interested! Get it?” He cackled and the rest of his group laughed raucously.

  Dave had a strange look on his face as he repeated her name to himself, and then muttered “D’oh!”

  A man appeared from out of nowhere. He lifted Dave by one arm and scooted him towards his group. “Off you go, Dave. That’s a good boy.” He dropped into the now-vacant seat. “I’m guessing it isn’t Susie, either.” His gaze met hers.

  She smiled nervously. “No, it’s not. Thanks.” Her instincts told her to gather her things and move to another row, but there was something intriguing about her new seatmate. His dark hair was buzzed into a short military-cut style, but his three-day beard growth didn’t say Army. It said something more like bad boy, and Kelsie couldn’t resist a good bad boy.

  His brown eyes twinkled as he looked at her expectantly.

  For some reason she murmured, “Kelsie. My name is Kelsie.”

  He smiled, and it lit his face up in the most charming way. “Pleased to meet you, Kelsie. So, are you headed somewhere for spring break?”

  “How did you know?”

  Shrugging, he replied, “Most of us are.” With a nod toward the noisy group, he added, “We’re from KU, headed to Padre Island. We flew in from Kansas City, and are apparently stuck here.”

  “You’re from KU?” she repeated. Kansas University was only an hour and a half away from her school, and outsiders often confused the two. “I go to K-State.”

  “Really?” His eyebrows rose, expressing interest. “I’m sorry to hear that. We kicked your ass in basketball.”

  “Aw, we’re getting better. I’d say wait until football season, but you guys are getting better at that game. Plus, I seem to recall you kicking our ass then, too.”

  He chuckled, his gaze giving her the once over. “Oh well. Sports aren’t everything. K-State just might have some redeeming qualities after all.”

  Kelsie felt her cheeks burn, and hurried to change the subject. “So you guys are headed to Padre?” She was relieved they wouldn’t be on the same plane.

  He extended his legs, his feet crossed at the ankles
. His tight jeans accentuated his long, muscular legs. She had thought she was relieved they weren’t going the same place, now she wasn’t sure. “Yeah,” he muttered. “If they let us board. Those dumbasses started drinking on the first plane. The flight attendants were happy to be rid of us. If they don’t settle down, we might not be allowed on the next flight.”

  Kelsie glanced up at the TV, still tuned into the weather. “You might not be boarding, anyway. If the snow keeps up, we may get stuck here.”

  As he watched her, his mouth curled into a slow smile. “I can think of worse things.”

  She was flustered by his searing gaze. “Sure, you’re here with a bunch of friends. I’m all alone and don’t know anyone—” What a stupid thing to say! Her mother would have a fit. She needed to put some distance between herself and this group of drunken men. Staying put suddenly seemed like a very bad idea.

  He opened his mouth to speak, when an announcement came from overhead. “May I have your attention, please? Ladies and Gentlemen, we’re sorry to report that the storm has been upgraded to a blizzard. As of now, Denver International Airport is closed, with no flights arriving or departing this evening. Please see the clerk at the closest ticket counter about hotel reservations. The airport will be shuttling guests back and forth to nearby hotels, but it’s unlikely there’ll be space for everyone. Priority will be given to families with children and senior citizens.”

  Kelsie’s jaw dropped open, and she looked at her companion. He shook his head with disgust, glancing at his group. “I wonder if we qualify as a family with children? You and I could be the parents, and the rest of those Bozos could be our kids.”

  She gulped and shook her head quickly. There was no way she’d go anywhere with that group, especially a hotel. “Um, no thanks. I’ll just hang out here until the weather clears.”

  He stared at her, obviously surprised. “Why would you want to sleep in an airport? You can’t really sleep, you have to watch your stuff all the time. They might give you a blanket, but these seats won’t be comfortable.”

  She settled her backpack on her lap and looked at him evenly. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Kelsie—” he protested, but she cut him off.

  “I’m not going anywhere with a bunch of drunken men I don’t know,” she said through tightly gritted teeth.

  His eyes sparked understanding and he chuckled. “Oh Jesus! I’m sorry. You’re right! Here I was, thinking about taking care of you, and you don’t know me from Adam. My name’s Tom—” he hesitated, then added, “Smith. Tom Smith.”

  Nodding, she said, “I’m happy to meet you, Tom. I’m not going anywhere with you, but it’s nice to meet another Kansan.”

  He put a finger to his lips and grinned. “Shh. I’m from Oklahoma.” He nodded to his friends. “They hate Sooners worse than they hate Wildcats.”

  “Everyone hates Sooners,” she agreed, referring to the Oklahoma mascot. “But how can you hate Willie the Wildcat?” K-State had a friendly looking cat mascot.

  He made a face, waved her off and stood. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” Tom took a step and turned to look at her. “Will you wait here?”

  “Sure,” Kelsie agreed, not sure what he was up to. There was no way she’d go to a hotel with him and his friends, no matter how nice he seemed. Or cute. He was very cute.

  Tom disappeared in the crowd, and she wondered what to do. She needed to call Cheryl in Florida for one thing, then her mother. Thank goodness for cell phones. She could stay in constant communication with them if she felt nervous.

  The group of guys seemed to have worked out hotel arrangements. They gathered their things and headed out, but there was no sign of Tom. He probably left, she decided, with a touch of disappointment. She’d made it clear she wasn’t leaving with him. Maybe there was a girl somewhere around here who would.

  She needed to use the bathroom. Standing, she looked for the one nearest.

  “Hey!” Tom reappeared, a backpack slung over one shoulder. He carried two small pillows and two airline blankets. “Where are you going?”

  Kelsie was surprised to see him. She was astonished to see how tall he was standing up. She was no shrimp at five-ten. He must be at least six-foot-one. “Oh, hey. Your friends left, I thought you went with them.”

  He set the pillows and blankets down in the seat next to her. “They wrangled a hotel room. Two beds for ten guys. I said thanks, but no thanks. I thought I could stay here with you. As soon as the airport reopens, I can call them.”

  She crossed her arms and looked at him suspiciously. “Why would you want to do that? At least in a hotel room you wouldn’t have to hang on to your stuff so tight.”

  He shrugged. “I told you, ten guys in one room are more than I want to deal with. Besides, if we’re together, we can watch each other’s backs…and backpacks. Maybe we can sleep in shifts or something.”

  She stared at him, amazed. “I can’t believe you’d do that.”

  Tom shrugged again. “You’re alone, and I had more company than I needed. It seemed the perfect compromise.”

  “Okay,” she agreed with some reluctance. “Right now, I need to use the bathroom. Then, I could use a bite to eat.”

  “Want me to hang on to your stuff?” He held his hands out.

  “No thanks.” She clutched her backpack to her chest. She liked the guy, but wasn’t nuts. All her money, ID, and everything was in the one bag. She looked down at the rolling carry-on. It contained clothes—a couple killer bikinis, for sure, but nothing of much value to anyone else. She rolled it over to him. “You can watch this one, I guess.”

  He grinned. “Okay. I promise I won’t go through your unmentionables. Ladies restroom is back that way.”

  Kelsie grinned and nodded. She found the bathroom, phoning her mother while waiting in line for a stall. After peeing, she hauled her loaded bag out to the sink and washed her hands. Glancing in the mirror, she tugged off her winter cap and fluffed her long, curly hair. It was no use, she was stuck with hat hair, unless she wanted to wet it to tame the curls. The line behind her didn’t make that idea seem feasible, so she sprayed on some perfume from her bag and called it good.

  She stepped away to an available full-length mirror, and inspected her appearance. Unzipping her bulky coat, Kelsie yanked off her long red scarf and shoved it in her backpack. It was warm enough in the airport, and the red knit didn’t do much for her style. She looked okay otherwise, she thought. Her blue sweater was form fitting, as were her jeans. Fluffing her bangs one last time, she left the ladies room, took a minute to phone her cousin, and then went back out to Tom.

  He was exactly where she left him, one hand on his backpack and another on her suitcase handle. “Hey.” He smiled at her.

  “Hi. I’m starved, how about you?”

  “I could eat.” He nodded toward a small restaurant, just down from their gate. “What do you think?”

  Kelsie shrugged. “Why not?” She took the handle of her rolling suitcase from him, and he grabbed their airline-issued pillows and blankets. They walked to the restaurant in silence. An empty table in the corner caught her eye. They tucked their belongings under the table, then settled into chairs.

  A waitress offered them small paper menus, and Kelsie looked hers over quickly. “I’ll have the chicken sandwich, fries and iced tea, please.”

  Tom handed his menu to the waitress, nodding. “Make that two.”

  “Be right back.” The woman shuffled off.

  Kelsie offered him another smile, and he grinned. Fiddling with a packet of sugar from the table, he began, “So, what are you studying at K-State?”

  “Marketing. I’m a junior. How about you?”

  “Junior in Business. What are you going to do with a Marketing degree?”

  “I’m sure some company will hire me to straighten their sales department out. It’s supposedly a pretty hot field right now. You’re in Business? Where do you see that taking you?”

  The waitress brought t
heir drinks and they paused for a moment, then Tom answered, “I have no idea. Business is the next best thing to ‘undeclared’. I’ll eventually figure something out.” He grinned impishly, and she had to laugh.

  “What do your folks think of that?” she inquired, stirring the straw in her drink.

  A strange look crossed his face before he responded. “They don’t care. They met working in a paper factory, and my dad still works there. They just wanted me to go to college.”

  “Why KU?” She looked into his eyes, interested at what made him tick.

  “You’re full of questions,” he teased.

  Kelsie shrugged. “We’re stuck here together. I just thought…” she let her words trail off. Maybe she was being too nosy.

  “Nah, it’s okay. I chose Kansas because I wanted to get as far away from the paper factory as I could. I felt like I was suffocating in Oklahoma, and needed a little breathing room.”

  She nodded. “I understand that. My father died awhile back, and mom’s been pretty clingy since then. I love her a lot, but sometimes I need my space, too.”

  “Any brothers or sisters?”

  “One sister, two years younger. She goes to the junior college close to home, so she can stay with mom.”

  “Isn’t that admirable of her,” he remarked wryly. “Leaving the guilt to you.”

  “No kidding,” she laughed.

  “Well, I understand that. My brother, also two years younger, works at the paper factory. He and my father go for beers together after work. I’m sort of the odd man out.”

  “Don’t they see that you want more? You’re trying to better yourself. Oh—” Kelsie stopped as realization dawned on her. Of course, Tom’s father wouldn’t appreciate his wanting to be better. It would be like a slap to the older man.

  Tom smiled at her, sadly. “Yeah, you guessed it. What they don’t see is, I want to live in a bigger town. I love the pace of big cities. Denver, Kansas City…I don’t know where, but I’m going to settle down in a city.”