Beach Reads Boxed Set

by Marie Force

  “Have at it.” Cole choked back a wave of nausea at the thought of cake. He shifted carefully and sucked in a sharp, deep breath to absorb the waves of pain in his head, face, and shoulder. He’d had concussions before but never one this bad.

  “Jeez, you really look like crap,” Tucker said when he returned with the cake. “Probably just as well that Brenda won’t see you like this. It would break her heart.”

  “Very funny.”

  “So she really offered to come up?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And you said no? Did you tell her I’d be happy to have her?”

  “Your name was never mentioned.”

  “I bet you were lousy at sharing in the sandbox, too.” Tucker stuffed a big chunk of cake into his face. “You must’ve taken a hell of a hit if you don’t want any of your ladies around. I bet Heather would come running.”

  “She’s dating Chuck. They’re happy.” At least Cole hoped so. He’d flown Heather to cancer treatments at Sloan-Kettering in New York for a year before she went into remission and immediately professed her undying love for him. Realizing she was hearing wedding bells, Cole—who was deathly afraid of the sound of ringing bells—had quickly extricated himself by fixing her up with his friend.

  “That may be so, but she still goes all moony when you’re around.” Tucker batted his eyelashes at Cole.

  “You’re just jealous.”

  “You’re goddamned right I am. I don’t know how you do it, man. Even before your Superman act, your picture should’ve been next to the words ‘chick magnet’ in the dictionary. But now we mere mortals can only look on with envy.”

  In his right mind, Cole would’ve had a witty retort ready to shut Tucker up, but Cole with a headache the size of the Grand Canyon chose not to engage. “Is it time for more pain pills yet?”

  Tucker consulted his watch. “Another hour.”

  Cole moaned.

  “This is why I suggested a sponge bath to get your mind off your troubles.”

  “Are you offering?”

  Tucker almost spit chocolate cake all over Cole’s new leather sofa.

  “Hell no! But if you’re truly feeling desperate, I bet I could get Nutty Natasha over here in less than five minutes.”

  Cole didn’t care about the pain when he sat right up and looked Tucker in the eye. “Don’t you even think about it!” A surge of nausea took his breath away, and for a brief, heart-stopping moment, Cole thought he might throw up.

  Tucker howled with laughter. “Relax, man. I’m just joshing ya.”

  “That is so not funny. I really hope Debby didn’t copy her on the email.”

  “If she had, Nutty Natasha would’ve been here by now.”

  “No doubt.” Cole grimaced at the thought of it. “I still haven’t forgiven you guys for fixing me up with that whack job.”

  “You can’t blame us. We had no idea she was certifiable.”

  “I can so blame you.” Cole didn’t even like to think about what he’d been through with that woman. It’d been almost enough to swear him off women forever.

  Almost.

  “So you’re not going to let any of them come nurse you back to health? What about Diana in Phoenix? I bet she gives good sponge.”

  Cole couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Don’t make me laugh,” he said wincing.

  “Don’t make me beg. I’ve been having naughty-nurse fantasies ever since you got smacked around.”

  “I did not get ‘smacked around,’ and p.s., you need to get your own girlfriend.”

  “You think I’m not trying? I mean, I ask you… what woman wouldn’t want a piece of this?”

  “I can’t imagine.”

  “If you aren’t having naughty-nurse fantasies of your own, I’m worried that you suffered permanent brain damage.”

  “No permanent damage. Don’t worry. I’m just not in the mood.”

  Tucker stared at Cole as if he’d lost his mind. “You? Not in the mood for women? Since when?”

  Since he’d met a woman named Olivia—and all the others had faded into the background in an instant. Cole couldn’t stop thinking about her waterfall of silky dark hair, her soft brown eyes, lovely smile, and the odd sensation that had zipped through him when she touched him.

  “Earth to Cole.” Tucker waved his hand back and forth in front of Cole’s face. “What has you a million miles away?”

  Unlike in the past, Cole had no desire to tell his friend about the woman he’d met. Tucker would assume she was just a flavor of the month and make a joke that would irritate Cole.

  All he knew about Olivia was her first name and where she worked, but he wanted to know more. He wanted to rush back to Reagan and find out everything he could about her. That alone was so far out of character it should’ve scared him half to death. Instead, it filled him with excitement and anticipation.

  “I’m dreaming of pain pills. Are you sure it’s another hour?”

  “You’re down to fifty-two minutes.”

  “Fabulous,” Cole groaned.

  Chapter Three

  “Good afternoon once again from the cockpit. This is First Officer Cole Langston along with Captain Jake Garrison.” Cole paused to accept the applause he’d received on every flight since returning to work after “the incident.” As Jake snickered at the outpouring from the cabin, Cole continued the announcement.

  “We’ve begun our final approach for an on-time arrival at Reagan National Airport where it’s sixty degrees with high, scattered clouds and an easterly wind blowing at ten knots. We know you have many choices in air travel, and we thank you for flying with Capital Airlines. We should have you at the gate in fifteen minutes. Flight attendants, please prepare the cabin for arrival.”

  Ten minutes later, Cole eased the Airbus A320 onto the runway and deployed the thrusters to slow the airplane. Having more than a hundred people along for the ride ramped up the anxiety, and any commercial pilot who claimed not to feel a hint of relief at delivering them safely was a damned liar. In the past, when it was just him and a plane, he’d been too busy being cocky to be anxious. Now the anxiety was part of the routine.

  “Nice job,” Jake said when they arrived at the gate. At fifty-two, Jake was a seasoned pilot Cole had flown with many times. Unlike some of the other Capital captains, Jake was generous about allowing his first officers to handle takeoffs and landings. “Looks like that concussion didn’t have any lasting effects.”

  Cole grimaced. He had been the target of serious ribbing from the other pilots after his TKO two weeks earlier. Just when the uproar was finally dying down from the blizzard incident, along came Big Dude and a fist to the face.

  “Fit as a fiddle,” Cole said lightly. In truth, his shoulder was still bothering him. After two hours in the cockpit, he was ready to stretch it out before his next flight. He was ready for something else, too, but he’d spent all day trying not to get his hopes up in case he couldn’t find her.

  Thankfully, Jake was also generous about taking the shift with the deplaning passengers, knowing that if Cole went out there, they’d never get the plane cleared in time for the next flight. Since he’d returned to work, Cole had received hundreds of phone numbers folded into airplane cocktail napkins. Some of the other captains liked to send Cole out to greet his public just so they could bust his balls afterward.

  “I’m going to take a walk,” Cole said to Jake when they’d completed their post-flight paperwork.

  “Go ahead. We’ve got forty minutes to kill.”

  “I’ll be back.”

  “Don’t get knocked out.”

  “Screw you.”

  Jake’s laughter followed Cole out of the plane as he walked quickly up the Jetway into the crowded terminal. He had thought about this—about her—for two long weeks and couldn’t wait another minute to return to the scene of the crime.

  Keeping his head down in the hope that he wouldn’t be recognized, he wove his way through a stream of people who seemed intent on k
eeping him from his destination. An airport transport vehicle beeped its way down the concourse and would have plowed into him if he hadn’t leapt to the side when he did.

  “Jesus,” he muttered. “What is it with this place? Do I have a target painted on me or something?”

  He looked up to find a young mother staring at him while holding her baby protectively, as if to keep the child safe from the crazy pilot who talked to himself. Then she let out a squeal when she suddenly recognized him.

  “Oh! It’s you!”

  Cole offered her a sheepish grin as well as a brief “hello,” and kept walking. The newsstand was halfway down the concourse, and as he approached, he was surprised to feel a surge of adrenaline and nerves similar to those he experienced at touchdown.

  From outside the store, he saw that the Redskins’ display had been returned to its position like nothing had ever happened. Cole absently reached for the shoulder that had connected with the display case and found it still tender to the touch. He took a deep breath and stepped inside. Unlike the last time, there was no line, and the woman working behind the counter was under no duress. She also wasn’t Olivia.

  The intense disappointment surprised him. What did I expect? That she’d be exactly where I saw her two weeks ago? Well, yeah…

  “Um, excuse me.”

  “May I help you?” The clerk was tiny, of Indian descent, and spoke with a charming accent.

  “I’m looking for someone who works here. Her name is Olivia.”

  “I don’t know an Olivia. I’m sorry.”

  “But she was here…” He swept a hand through his hair and looked around the store as if he hoped to find her hiding behind one of the displays. “Two weeks ago. Right here. You’re sure?”

  Nodding, she studied him. “Someone important?”

  He shook his head, thanked her, and turned to leave the store. His stride lost its purpose as he wandered into the main terminal, thinking he might find her at one of the other newsstands. He checked two more but didn’t ask for her at either, figuring he would try again the next time he was at Reagan.

  Dejected and more disappointed than he’d been in a long time, he started back to the security line. A crowd in one of the waiting areas caught his attention. Since he still had half an hour, he decided to check it out. Over the shoulder of the man in front of him, Cole watched a young woman’s hand fly over a sketch pad, perfectly capturing the mischievous expressions of the two boys posing for her.

  “Wow, she’s so good,” a woman whispered reverently.

  The artist’s long, dark hair was held back in a high ponytail, and something about the curve of her neck was familiar. Cole skirted the edge of the crowd to get a better view.

  She looked up at her subjects and made eye contact with Cole. Her mouth formed an O.

  His heart tripped with excitement. She was even more strikingly beautiful than he remembered.

  “Can we see it yet?” one of the boys asked.

  Clearly thrown off by Cole’s reappearance, Olivia pulled her eyes off him and returned her attention to the children.

  “Almost done,” she said. She didn’t look at Cole again as she put the finishing touches on the drawing and tore the page out of her pad.

  “You totally captured them,” the boys’ astounded mother said. “You have to let me give you something for this.”

  “No need. It was my pleasure.”

  “You’re very talented.”

  Olivia shrugged modestly. “They’re cute kids. Thanks for letting me draw them.”

  “Thank you.”

  The crowd dispersed, and Cole sat next to her.

  “You’re an artist,” he said, and then felt like a fool for stating the obvious.

  “I dabble.”

  “That was a whole lot more than a dabble.”

  “It’s a hobby.”

  “I looked for you at the store, but the woman who was working didn’t know you.”

  Olivia’s cheeks flooded with color, which he found utterly charming. “I was filling in there, the day we met. I usually work at that one.” She gestured to the store behind them.

  “Ah, no wonder they didn’t know you.”

  “It’s a big company. So how are you?”

  “I’m good. All recovered and back in the air as of today.”

  “Did you get my note?”

  “What note?”

  She sighed. “I wondered if it would ever get to you. The day after, I tried to find out how you were, but your airline wouldn’t tell me anything and there wasn’t much in the paper. So I gave them a note thanking you for what you did and asked them to get it to you.”

  Cole fought to hide his disappointment. He would’ve liked to have gotten that note. He would’ve liked that very much.

  “Sorry, I didn’t get it. I refused all requests for interviews this time. Restarting the media firestorm wasn’t on my to-do list.”

  She flashed a small smile that was not quite the dazzling event he remembered from the store, but it stirred him nonetheless.

  “What did it say?”

  “Um, just thank you for what you did, and I hoped you were feeling okay.”

  “I got an unexpected two-week vacation out of it.”

  “Something tells me you didn’t enjoy that as much as most people would.”

  “I love to fly. Being grounded never sits well with me.”

  She shook her head with dismay. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why?” he asked, smiling. “You didn’t punch me.” She blushed again, and Cole couldn’t take his eyes off her. “Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”

  She consulted her watch. “I have twenty minutes until I have to be back.”

  “So do I.” He stood and held out a hand to help her up. “Shall we?”

  He’d come back. Just like Jenny had said he would, and he’d come looking for her! This time, she felt the jolt just by glancing up to find him watching her. Walking to the coffee shop, Olivia stole glances at him and discovered he was even more gorgeous than she remembered. What is it about a man in uniform?

  “You look a lot better than you did the last time I saw you,” she said. The black eye was all but gone, except for a fading yellow bruise on his cheek.

  “I imagine I do. It’s been a long two weeks, that’s for sure. I almost went stir crazy.”

  “Are you one of those people who don’t know what to do with a vacation?” she asked as they helped themselves to coffee from the urns on the counter.

  He loaded his with cream and sugar and paid for both. “Oh, I know what to do with a vacation—when I have time to plan one and when I’m allowed to do more than sit on my ass recovering from a concussion.” Leaning in close to her, he added, “I’ve got to tell you, though, I love Dr. Phil. I’d never seen his show before.”

  She laughed at the goofy face he made and followed him to a table in the food court. “So what happened at the hospital that day? I’ve wondered how it went.”

  “I had a CT scan that showed a concussion, which I could’ve told them, and X-rays of my shoulder, which was just badly bruised. They kept me overnight for observation. The whole thing was a royal pain, especially that woman from the airline. Even though she kept the media away, she drove me totally nuts.”

  “What about the cops? Did you hear any more from them?”

  “They called to say the guy had pleaded no contest to felony assault. Because it was his first offense, they gave him two years’ probation.”

  Olivia clucked with disapproval. “They should’ve thrown him in jail. He could’ve killed you.”

  “I didn’t want to deal with testifying at a trial and all that, so I’m fine with it.” He took a long sip of his coffee and studied her.

  Her face heated under his intense scrutiny. “What?” she finally asked.

  “You’re very beautiful, but I’m sure you hear that all the time.”

  Caught off guard by the compliment, she rolled her eyes. “Sure. Every day.”

&n
bsp; “You don’t believe me.”

  Glancing up at him, she found his bright blue eyes trained on her.

  He reached across the table for her hand. There it was again. The jolt. What was that?

  “I’m not feeding you a line, Olivia. I mean it. I thought of you… when I was sitting on my butt at home. I was looking forward to seeing you today, and when I couldn’t find you, I was really bummed.”

  “Oh. You were?”

  “Uh-huh.” He checked his watch. “Damn. I have to be back in five minutes, and so do you.” With what seemed to be great reluctance, he released her hand. “I’d like to see you again.”

  Surprised, she stared at him. “You would?”

  His deep, rich laugh warmed her from head to toe. “When I came to that day and saw you there…” He shrugged. “I want to see you again. Is that possible?”

  “I guess. Sure.”

  Cocking an amused eyebrow at her, he said, “You guess. Hmm. Okay.” He stood and tugged a pen out of his breast pocket. “I’ll leave it up to you.” Reaching for her hand, he wrote his phone number on her palm. “If you decide you can bear to see me again, give me a call.”

  By the time he’d pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, released it, and begun to walk away, Olivia had forgotten how to breathe.

  He suddenly spun around. “Hey,” he called to her. “What’s your last name?”

  Olivia untied her tongue to say, “Robison.”

  “Call me, Olivia Robison.” He smiled, waved, and was sucked up by the crowd moving down the concourse.

  “Was he talking to you?” a woman at the next table asked Olivia.

  “Huh?”

  “That was Cole Langston, right? Captain Incredible?”

  Olivia wondered if he hated the nickname the grateful passengers had given him. “Uh-huh.”

  “Was he talking to you?”

  Still trying to process what had just transpired, Olivia said, “Um, yes. He was.”

  “Well, I don’t know about you, but if a guy that hot and famous said that to me, I’d already be on the phone.”

  She grabbed her bag and walked away before Olivia could reply.

  Chapter Four