Layover Read online

  It was harmless enough, she told herself. She was bored, needed a way to pass the time. He was online, so was she. It was only an e-mail, not a marriage proposal.

  The line had gotten much shorter, and she slipped her phone into her bag and took her place in it, mostly so she wouldn’t torture herself by constantly checking to see if he’d replied. The woman behind the desk looked tired and ready to break. Her fingers tapped the keys, her brow furrowed, and when she looked up, Julia could see her visibly bracing herself.

  “I’m sorry, but the Philadelphia airport is still closed to all incoming and outgoing flights. We had another flight scheduled for 8:00 p.m. tonight, but it’s booked solid. You could take a seat on standby, but…” The woman drew in a deep breath. “Well, honestly, I doubt that flight’s going to get out, either. It’s a mess out there.”

  “Yes, I know. That’s okay.” Julia’s smile seemed to surprise the woman and relieve her at the same time. “What about tomorrow?”

  The woman’s fingers flew again. “I can get you on a three-thirty flight, if that’s all right, assuming of course the weather allows it. And we’ll be able to give you a voucher for a room tonight at the Hilton right here at the airport.”

  “And my luggage?”

  More tapping, then a pause. “You won’t have to recheck it. It will go on to Philadelphia as planned.”

  Uh-huh. Julia didn’t quite believe that would go off without a hitch, but she had everything she needed with her, anyway. There was no point in getting upset by any of this. Besides, she’d get a free night in a business-grade hotel, and though she really would rather have made it home to her own bed and sheets and shower, she wasn’t going to make this woman’s life any harder by being a bitch about it.

  “That’s fine.”

  “Really?” The woman’s entire body relaxed as her fingers tapped again. “Just let me get all this information entered.”

  “No problem. Take your time.”

  The woman looked over Julia’s shoulder at the rest of the line, and hurried anyway. She printed out new boarding passes as well as the voucher for the hotel, and gave Julia all the instructions.

  “Thanks,” Julia told her.

  “Thank you” the woman said sincerely. “For being so understanding.”

  Julia shrugged. “Stuff happens. It’s not your fault.”

  With one thing and another, it was almost an hour before she made it from the airport to the hotel, checked in and made it up to her room. She tossed her overnight bag on the bed and unzipped her computer case to pull out her computer. Her phone was great and kept her connected to the world, but for advanced Web surfing Julia preferred the big screen and mouse on her laptop. She opened the lid and powered up, not thinking twice about paying the fee to log on to the hotel’s wireless Internet. She had to be here overnight, she didn’t watch much television and Internet access was more than a luxury, it was a necessity.

  Her e-mail pinged softly with two pieces of junk mail, a couple of forwarded surveys and photos from her sister…and a notification from Connex about a message from Graham.

  Her heart thumped as she dug out her wireless mouse and waited for it to connect to the computer. She relished the anticipation as she clicked the link in the message that took her to the login page at Connex. She positioned the cursor over the message, but didn’t click it right away. His answer would probably be as innocuous as her message had been. She checked the time received, noting it was only moments after she’d sent her message. He’d replied fast, but that didn’t mean anything other than he’d happened to be online.

  S—That’s what you get for living in a place that gets cold instead of here. Still love snow now? G

  She laughed out loud at that even as her heart thumped. Graham was a stereotypical Texan, proud as all get-out of his home state. During the week they’d spent together in Houston they’d traded quips about who had the better state, but she knew she’d never been able to convince him a Keystone could ever be better than a Longhorn. He was still online, according to the blinking notice beneath his user picture, which accompanied his message.

  She opened up her instant message program and saw his name. She typed. No snow. All ice.

  His reply came a moment later. You’re not on your way home yet?

  No. They put me up in the Hilton here at the airport. Can’t get a flight out until three-thirty tomorrow.

  Nothing. Graham’s name went gray. He’d gone offline, she thought, but in the next moment another response came through.

  I can be there in an hour.

  Her heart bungee-jumped and her breath hitched. Her fingers hovered over the keys and she took her hands away to fold them in her lap. She watched the screen, the blinking cursor, the garish, irritating ads surrounding her inbox and her list of messenger friends. He was on the other side of that box, their computers like some sort of Alice in Wonderland pair of looking glasses. The question was, what was on the other side?

  It would be simple enough to say, later, when she’d gone back home and there was no threat of her being able to take him up on the offer, that she’d logged off. That the hotel Internet had been wonky and cut out on her. It would have been easy enough to lie.

  Instead, she told the truth.

  I’ll be ready.

  When her answer appeared in the text message box, Graham let out a low whoop he covered up by coughing into his fist. Not that there was anyone around to hear him, and not that Julia could see his response. He could do nothing to hold back the grin, though, so broad it crinkled his eyes at the corners. He sat back in the chair and spun it slowly in a circle once before getting back to the keyboard.

  Fuck looking too eager. He wasn’t going to play those games. If she thought the speed of his reply meant he was interested in her, she’d be right. And Graham wasn’t going to let this chance pass him by. Not like he had a year ago, or all the months since.

  I’ll meet you in the lobby. He gave her his cell number.

  Hers came through a moment later, and Graham stared at it with another grin so big it almost hurt his cheeks. Now he could call her. All he needed was an excuse.

  Graham pushed away from the computer again. He’d told her an hour. It would take him forty minutes to get to the airport, unless he hit mad traffic. Which meant he had twenty minutes to shower, shave and change.

  Graham looked down at his raggedy sweatpants and ran a hand through his hair until it stood on end. He’d better hurry. He brushed his teeth as he ran the shower, but it was barely hot when he jumped in it. No time to luxuriate in hot water. The clock was ticking.

  He took his time with the shave, though. With his skin still prickled from the cold water, it was going to be hard not to cut himself. He managed, then smoothed aftershave over his face. Ten minutes gone, shit. He was going to be late.

  Clothes were an issue. Graham stared at the shirts, one in each hand, he’d grabbed from the closet. Dress up or down? He went with up, not caring that she might notice he’d made an effort. Hell. He wanted her to notice.

  Dressed, he grabbed his wallet, keys and jacket and took the steps two at a time. He was already backing out of his driveway as he buckled his seat belt. He dialed a minute later, eyes scanning the traffic as he listened to the sound of ringing and waited with his heart in his throat for Julia to answer.

  “Hello?” Her voice was the same, pitched low and without the subtle slow drawl infused in the voices of women around here.

  He’d only known her for five days, but he’d never forgotten her voice. It had been the first thing he’d known about her, before her face. Even before her name. He’d been blind and waiting for someone’s words to lead him, and the next thing he knew, her voice had been telling him where to go. Graham had heard plenty of East Coast women speak. Most of them sounded clipped and harsh to him. Hurried and just this side of snappish. Not Julia. Words didn’t shoot from her lips like bullets. They fell from her mouth like drops of honey. She was a woman who meant what she