Designed for Love (5 page)

A small electrical shock went through my
body when he squeezed my hand. But, it felt like it belonged. I imagined his
hand over other parts of my body and shivered at the thought. What was going on
inside of me? I didn't like these feelings he evoked in me. Yet, I wanted to
experience more. Wanted to feel his fingers run through my hair. Wanted to feel
his hand roam over my body. Heat crept to my face. What was this man doing to
me? What kind of hold did he have on me? Thank God, once we got to Florida I could tell him
goodbye and forget about him.

Not that he'd be easy to forget. But
forget I would. He didn't fit into my plans for the future, and I knew if I
continued to see him he'd turn my life upside down.

Nope, once we landed I'd go off my own
way and never see him again. I only hoped he didn't suggest a dinner or
something. I didn't know if I was strong enough to refuse. Part of me wanted to
spend time with him. Wanted to get to know him and that was better left undone.
Somehow, I'd have the strength to say no. Hadn't I resisted men up to now?

Sure, but not a man like Bill. He was
everything I'd want in a husband, if I was looking for a husband. But I wasn't.
Not right now anyway. Maybe someday farther down the road. Way farther.

I leaned back and tried to relax. Aunt
Sophie managed a career and raised kids, something in my inner mind whispered.
Why can't you?

Sure, Aunt Sophie managed her career
quite well, but she was married to a gem. Uncle Matt liked staying home and
playing house husband. Besides, his large inheritance allowed him to stay home
and pursue a freelance writing career as well as care for their children.

He successfully wrote and sold articles
to magazines and newspapers. They had an agreement. It didn't matter if she
worked long hours, as lawyers were prone to do. Uncle Matt had everything under
control. Aunt Sophie didn't have to clean the house or make dinner. If one of
the kids got sick, she knew they were well cared for. Theirs was an unusual
marriage.

Bill wasn't the type to stay home, clean
the house and raise the kids while I was out with clients until all hours.
Hell, I didn't even know if he'd help with the housework.

Good grief, what was the matter with me
thinking about Bill and marriage. He hadn't even asked for a date. If he did,
would I accept?

I knew there could be only one answer– I
had to refuse. I couldn't take the chance of becoming involved with him. It'd
be more than a casual affair. Nope, if I agreed to see Bill again, it'd turn
into a serious relationship. I'd been disciplined up to now, I'd just have to
stand firm. Besides, his career was as demanding as mine. We both worked
strange hours.

Darn, I wished I thought to take my book
out of my bag before I let Bill stow it? I supposed I could ask him to get it,
but I really didn't want to bother him. Better I feigned sleep. At least he
wouldn't want to carry on a conversation. He had ignored the fact that I was
reading at the airport, he'd probably ignore it now too. At least while I had
my eyes closed, he didn't speak to me.

Unfortunately, the flight attendant chose
that moment to ask if I wanted something. I tried to ignore her, but Bill
touched my arm.

"Wendy, would you like coffee or
juice?"

"Huh?" I opened my eyes.
"Oh, yes, thanks." I sat up and pulled my tray down. Great, now what?
My arm still felt warm where he touched it. I needed to get far away from him.
The farther the better. Maybe I should have taken the next flight. At least he
didn't insist on talking.

I glanced at him out of the corner of her
eye and caught my breath. He was openly staring at me. And that look on his
face, made me weak in the knees. Good thing I didn't have to stand. I'd seen
desire before but, good Lord, this was beyond any I'd ever seen. Pure lust
that's what it was. Pure unadulterated lust. Shivers ran up my spine. How the
hell was I going to sit next to him for the next hour and a half?

I finished my coffee and wound my napkin
into a tight ball. Maybe I could hide out in the bathroom. Yeah, right. Spend
an hour in the bathroom that would work. Where was my brain? Nothing to do, but
try to ignore him. I closed my eyes again, wishing I could really fall asleep.

* * *

Bill couldn't help but notice Wendy
feigning sleep. Poor girl was terrified when they took off. At least she hadn't
pulled away when he put his hand over hers and squeezed it, but he wondered if
she even felt it. Her grip on the arm rest didn't loosen any. Once they were in
the air, she seemed to relax a little even though her hand still trembled under
his, and he took his away. No point pushing it. Besides, he didn't want to
embarrass her. Was the trembling due to her fear of flying or his touch? He'd
like to think it was from him.

Obviously, she didn't want to talk. Okay,
he could deal with that. When the flight attendant came to ask if they wanted
something, her breathing changed, but she still pretended to sleep. He couldn't
help it, he had to touch her, and that gave him the perfect excuse.

Bill couldn't take his eyes from her. He
swore she was the most beautiful, most sexy woman he'd ever met. Okay, maybe
she wasn't the most beautiful, but something about her drew him. He wanted her.
Hell, he wanted her the moment he set eyes on her, which probably accounted for
the fact he fell over when she slowed down. He'd been following her ever since
he first saw her. He couldn't believe his luck at being on the same flight.
Kismet? An omen? He wasn't sure.

All he knew, somehow he had to get to
know her better. He had a feeling she'd refuse if he asked her out when they
got to Florida.
But maybe, just maybe, if he suggested they have lunch on the way to their
perspective hotels, she'd agree. He wondered where she was staying. He reclined
his seat and closed his eyes. May as well relax. She wasn't going to talk to
him, that much was obvious.

* * *

I opened my eyes for a glimpse of Bill.
Thank goodness he leaned back and closed his eyes. I didn't think I could
pretend to sleep all the way to Florida.
I watched the flight attendant collect the trash from the passengers. It never
ceased to amaze me how little time they had. I remembered my desire to become a
flight attendant when I was a little girl. Something about the uniform
fascinated me. It always seemed like such a glamorous career, flying off to
exotic place, seeing the world. From what I'd observed in my small amount of
flying, I was glad I changed my mind. Nothing about this looked glamorous.

Nope, definitely not for me. Too much
responsibility and not enough room for advancement. Interior design offered a
much more lucrative career and the opportunity to own my own business some day.

I sneaked another peek at Bill. Still
dozing. I wanted to get up and stretch a bit, but was afraid of waking him.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and stared at me. Shoot, now he knew I was awake.

"Nice nap?" he asked.

"Actually, it was," I lied.
Little did he know I hadn't been asleep, and I wasn't about to tell him
otherwise. I looked at my watch. Only a half hour and we'd be landing. I
guessed I could handle him for half an hour. Then we'd go our separate ways,
and I wouldn't have to worry about him.

"Good. You look better."

He lowered his hand on top of mine, but
moved it quickly away, almost as if he touched me accidentally. He closed his
eyes again.

A shimmer of disappointment went through
me and a slight feeling of relief. What was the matter with me? I really didn't
want to talk to him, so why this empty feeling inside? It wasn't like he meant
anything to me. Heck, I couldn't even consider him a friend. Didn't want to. Something
inside me flared to a burning heat. No, I didn't want him as a friend. I wanted
more than that. Much more.

Before I knew it the Captain announced
our landing. "Fort Myers
is sunny and 82 degrees."

Sounded like heaven after the cold we
just left. Too bad we had to haul our winter coats to the airport. Another
thing I hated about flying.

My stomach lurched as the plane began its
decent. I gripped the armrests, closed my eyes and swallowed hard. Damn, this
part was worse than any other.

Finally the plane's wheels touched the
ground. Nice landing, even if I had to say so myself. No bouncing, thank God.
Smooth. I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and looked at
Bill.

"You okay?" He ran his finger
along the edge of my hand.

"I'm fine." Damn it, the
burning that went through my body wasn't from the landing. I pulled my hand
away. Almost too quickly, but I didn't like the sensation he caused. Didn't
like the way he stroked my hand with his finger. I tried to stand, but my legs
collapsed from under me. I had to get a grip. What was the matter with me?
Okay, so he did something to me that I hadn't experienced before. That didn't
mean I had to act like a silly teenager. Right now I wanted to get off the
plane and as far away from Bill Johnson as possible.

"So is someone meeting you?"

I shrugged. "My boss was supposed to
meet my flight yesterday. Since I haven't been able to get a hold of him today,
he has no way of knowing I'm even here." I stood and my legs felt less
wobbly.

Bill stood and reached in the overhead
compartment for our bags. He set my carry-on down and extended the handle for
me. "So how about a bite to eat or a cup of coffee?"

I stood looking at him for a minute. The
smart thing to do would be to bid him goodbye and take off. Something inside me
didn't want to let him go.

"Sure, why not?" Why didn't I
just leave, find a cab and check into a hotel? Why prolong this? I had no idea
what the answer was. All I knew was I didn't want to part company just yet.
Besides, I was starving. Neither of us had eaten breakfast. I turned and walked
toward the exit.

* * *

Bill let her go in front of him. The view
from behind was almost as good as the front. For a minute he thought she was
going to refuse the offer of lunch. The look of indecision that flashed through
her eyes and the way she stiffened when he put his hand over hers surprised
him.

Fickle women. One minute they act like
they can't get enough of you, the next like they can't wait to get away from
you. Okay, so she didn't look like she couldn't get enough of him, but after
last night he thought they'd at least formed a friendship. Now, today, she
pulls the cold, touch me not act.

Chapter Eight

"Okay, let's check out my car at the
rental office and we'll find some place to eat," Bill said.

I stopped for a minute, let him go in
front of me and followed a half a step behind. What was I doing? This wasn't a
good idea, but how could I get out of it now? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Bill stopped and waited for me.
"Sure hope they have the car I reserved."

"Did you call and tell them about
the delay?" Why couldn't I think of something to get out of this? And why
hadn't I thought to reserve my own car? That's it! "You know, I didn't
think to reserve a car, maybe I should see about renting one now."

"If you can get one. I'll wait and
if you do, we'll meet someplace. If not I'll drop you wherever you want after
lunch."

Didn't think he'd let me out of it that
easy. Shoot. I walked up to the desk ahead of him. "I'd like to rent a
car."

"Okay, you don't have one
reserved?" The young man behind the counter asked.

"Uh, no, I don't. Is that a
problem?"

"No, not a problem. It'll just take
a little longer. Name?" He held his fingers above the computer keyboard.

After I finished giving the man my information,
he checked my driver's license and punched a lot of stuff into the computer. He
handed me a set of keys and told me where to find the car. I moved away from
the counter to make room for Bill.

"Look I'm just going to check into
my hotel. I'll catch you later." Yeah, like that was going to happen. No
way was I even going to let him know where I was staying. Before he had a
chance to answer, I hurried away.

Shoot, I needed to go clothes shopping
too. I pulled my phone out of my bag and tried Nick again.

"Hello." Nick's deep voice came
over the line.

"Nick, it's me, Wendy. I just
landed."

"Why didn't you let me know what
time your flight got in? I'd have been there to pick you up. Wait there. I'll
be there as soon as possible. Which gate?"

"No need. I rented a car. I did call
you. Your phone was turned off." I looked back to make sure Bill wasn't
following me. Darn it, he heard where my car was. Since his was reserved, he
wouldn't take as long as I did. I didn't want to run into him again.

"My phone? You know I never turn it
off. Maybe you dialed wrong."

"Yeah, maybe I did." Not in
this lifetime, his number was keyed into my phone. "Look I'm going to
check into a hotel, and then I need to go shopping for clothes. My luggage is
still in Cleveland."