Not surprisingly, the airport was crowded with travelers as many people arrived much earlier than usual because of the threat of snowy weather. Of course, if the icy precipitation started to fall, being hours ahead of time would not matter. Paige Matheson was just the opposite. She'd barely made it on time, the interview for her magazine article having lasted longer than anticipated. Still, she made it onto the plane and her first-class seat just moments before the door was closed.
Paige tried not to give the handsome man in the window seat next to her more than a casual glance as she settled into her aisle seat.
"I was wondering if you were going to make it," the man asked as if he knew her.
"I had an interview and it ran long," Paige explained, not really knowing why.
"Job interview?"
Some people on planes just liked to talk. Paige was hoping to sleep. "I'm a magazine writer. Interview was for an article."
He nodded his understanding. "What magazine?"
"Contemporary Woman."
"A woman's magazine," he noted in a tone that hinted at condescension.
"You don't like woman's magazines?"
He shrugged. "It just seems some of the articles are too . . . fabricated."
"And you know this because you read them all the time and do your own research," Paige shot back.
"Uh, well, no, but . . ."
"But until you do, don't be so quick to judge." She reached into her bag for her neck pillow and pulled out last month's issue of her magazine. "You can start with this." She tossed the publication into his lap, turned away from him and curled up. She was asleep in seconds.
He did peruse through it if only to cover his stupid blunder at criticizing what she did. He eyed her closely while she slept. Curled up as she was her, her short dress rose on her legs to reveal an alluring amount of thigh. He followed her curves up to her rounded hips and even rounder breasts. The top of her dress did not expose much, but did hint at nice-sized tits.
A jolt from turbulence caused her to suddenly awaken and she caught him staring at her. But before she could say anything, another jerk had her falling against him. Instinctively, he caught her, but she quickly pushed herself away. Once again, before any words could be spoken, the pilot interrupted with an announcement.
"Ladies and gentleman, the winter storm has flared up much quicker than expected and all flights in the area are being grounded. Please remain seated with seatbelts fastened as we will be descending quickly."
"Oh,
no!"
Paige exclaimed.
"It'll be okay," the man said reassuringly. "These pilots know what they're doing."
"Oh, no, it's not that. I'm supposed to meet my fiancé's family tonight."
"Your fiancé?" That took the air out of his balloon, not that he expected anything from her.
"Yes." She caught his grimace. "What?"
"Oh, nothing."
"No, no, come on. You have something against marriage, too?"
He shrugged. "Just not sure you ever really find the right person. Just not sure you only ever want one person."
"Well, that's cynical. Everyone has a soul mate. That's what true love and marriage are all about."
"It's just that I had a fiancé once." With another grimace, he added, "Let's just say it didn't work out."
"Oh, sorry."
But before they could discuss it further, there was much more turbulence as they began the landing process, so they remained quiet for the remainder of the flight. Then, once on the ground with everyone's nerves frayed, but with all breathing a sigh of relief, there was a mad rush to exit the plane following instructions from the flight attendant for all passengers to visit an airline service counter for further instructions.
Paige used the walk to call Jack Summers, her fiancé, to advise him of the delay. He was not too happy about it, but there was nothing either of them could do about it, so he told her to just get there as soon as she could.
While still on the phone, Paige got in line behind her seat mate and the older couple. As they waited their turn, when she finished the phone call, her seat mate said, "By the way, I'm Damon."
She smiled. "Paige."
"These are Francine and Max," Damon said, introducing the couple. The pair turned and nodded.
The couple's expressions suggested to Paige that they were annoyed obviously by the travel delay, but the writer thought their looks revealed more, like they were not happily married. For the moment, she gave it no further consideration.
The travelers were advised that all flights were cancelled for the night and were given vouchers for hotel rooms. The four walked together to catch the courtesy van that would take them to the hotel. As they stood close to one another in the tiny covered bus stop to stay out of the driving snow, Francine lifted her arm and snapped some selfies of them.
"No one will ever believe this without proof," she said.
"Yeah," Paige agreed.
The hotel lobby was a madhouse with dozens of stranded travelers clamoring for accommodations. The couple, Damon and Paige were fortunate enough to secure the last three rooms.
As luck would have it, Paige's and Damon's rooms were right next to one another. And when she entered hers, she discovered that there was a connecting door to his, which was slightly ajar. As she went to close it, she saw Damon inspecting his.
"Well, isn't this cozy?" he commented.
Once again noting that he was very handsome, Paige merely smiled. "What were the odds?" However, when she shut her door, it would not remain closed. "Well, isn't this just par for the course?"
"What do you mean?"
With a heavy sigh, she explained, "Travel delays, weather, having to stay in a hotel and now
this
."
"Could be worse. At least you got a room. Some people didn't."
"True enough. Guess I'll have to prop a chair against it."
But Damon's would not catch either. "Guess I'll have to do the same. I'll call the desk, see if they can send someone to fix it."
"Thanks. That would be nice."
A few minutes later, Damon tapped on Paige's connecting door. When she opened hers, he advised, "The hotel is swamped because of the weather and the deluge of guests. They said they'd get to our doors, but they didn't know when."
"Great. I guess next the chair will break!"
Damon chuckled at her frustration.
Realizing what she'd said, Paige giggled also.
It was a moment for them.
"Hey, I'm going to go down to the restaurant to grab some dinner," he told her. "Would you care to join me?"
Glancing at her watch and noting the late afternoon hour, she said, "Why not? Nothing else to do."
They beat the crowd and were able to get a table. Damon ordered a beer and Paige a glass of white wine.
"So, you know where I was headed," she pointed out. "Where are you off to?"
"My brother's wedding."
Paige sensed the distaste. "Still hurting about your fiancé?"
"Want to know why?"
"If you don't mind talking about it."
His face became sad. "It's her wedding too."
Paige's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "She's marrying your
brother?"
Damon simply nodded. After a few sips of his beer, he explained, "I was offered a job away from home. It was too good to pass up. The plan was after I got settled, she would join me, but it took longer than I expected and when I went back home, she and my brother had already hooked up and, well, that was it."
