Stranded

***

Copyright © 2014

Tattoos and Leather: Stranded by Jaymie Holland

All rights reserved. No part of this e-Book may be
reproduced in whole or in part, scanned, photocopied, recorded,
distributed in any printed or electronic form, or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever, or by any information storage and retrieval
system now known or hereafter invented, without express written
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,
and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons
living or dead is entirely coincidental.

E-book conversion by Bella Media Management.

Published by Pink Zebra Publishing at Smashwords.

Cover by P & N Graphics.

ISBN: 978-1-939778-77-2

***

Erika DuBois gripped her briefcase and the
handle of her carry-on as she looked through the floor-to-ceiling
airport windows at the blustery New York November day. With weather
at a high of forty-eight degrees she should be flying somewhere
warm. Unfortunately that wasn’t in the cards for her. She was
headed straight for thirty-five degree weather.

If she secured Colorado Outdoor Gear as a
client, it would be worth it, freezing temps and all. One of the
owners, Paige Kennedy, had seemed very interested in working with
Erika’s law firm, Cooper, Allen, and DuBois. COG needed legal
support and Erika wanted to be the one to provide it.

At least it was a quick turnaround trip.
Thanksgiving was in two days and she had a date with her cat, a
turkey and stuffing TV dinner, and her big screen TV. Diva, her
British Shorthair, would be enjoying Fancy Feast with some catnip
to roll around in later.

Erika swallowed down the envy that crept into
her chest when she let her gaze settle on families around her.
Children, parents, grandparents—it all served to remind her what
she was missing.

To look at her, people wouldn’t suspect that
Erika wanted a family of her own someday. She was just thought of
as the woman with the brass ovaries and no one would ever guess
that a side of her longed to be a wife and mother and have a
traditional home life. Not a white picket fence exactly, but a
loving family.

It had been two years since she’d last spoken
to her father. Her mom had tried to patch things up between Erika
and the General, but she’d more than had it with her dictator of a
father. She certainly hadn’t received the kind of upbringing that
she wanted to give a family of her own.

Seat numbers were announced, jerking Erika’s
attention back to the present. She checked her ticket and saw that
her seat number was in the group that had been called. Time to
board and get this trip over with. She started toward the door,
pulling her luggage behind her.

When she walked onto the plane, an attendant
who Erika recognized as Angel Cartwright promptly greeted her.
Erika had known that Angel was a flight attendant, so she shouldn’t
have been surprised to see her. Erika had met Angel not long ago at
a birthday party her law partners had thrown for their girlfriend,
Tracie.

“Erika.” Angel gave a smile. “How are
you?”

“I’m doing well, thank you.” Erika touched a
hand to her hair, which was smoothed back into a chignon. “It’s a
pleasant surprise to see you again, Angel.” Erika glanced over her
shoulder at the people boarding behind her. “I’ll let you get back
to work.”

Angel gave a nod and a little wave before she
smiled at the next person and said, “Welcome aboard.”

Erika made her way to her seat and blew out
her breath when she saw a very large and muscular man in the middle
seat. He was flipping through a magazine, head down. Not only was
she going to be in a cramped seat, but she was going to be doubly
cramped sitting next to a man the size of this one.

An older lady sat on the opposite side of the
big man, but she was so petite that the man’s size didn’t seem to
concern her.

Erika sighed and started to put her carry-on
in the overhead compartment. The big man got up. “Let me get that
for you.”

“Thanks.” She let him take it, wondering why
he looked so familiar.

After her luggage was put away, the man
seated himself in the center again, and she took her own seat.

She slid her briefcase under the seat in
front of her, and then she tucked her designer leather purse beside
it. She leaned back in her seat and tried to get comfortable, which
wasn’t easy with the narrow seats and big man in the center who
took up all of the armrest. This flight to Colorado Springs from La
Guardia didn’t have a first class section so she’d had to sit in
coach.

Out of the corner of her eye she looked at
the hulking man beside her. He was built like a football player.
And yes, he looked very familiar.

Then it dawned on her who he was and she
turned to look at him. He was Brody Howser, a safety for the Denver
Broncos. Brody had been key in the Broncos’ quarterback Peyton
Manning’s win over his brother, Eli Manning, who was a quarterback
for the New York Giants.

Brody glanced at Erika and she realized she
was staring at him. Instead of feeling embarrassed, she held out
her hand. “I’m Erika. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Brody.”

He gave a slow grin and took her hand. His
was huge and warm. “Broncos fan?” he asked as he released her.

She shook her head “Lifetime Giants fan.” Her
lips curved even though she tried not to show a smile. “That was
some win over New York the last time our teams met. Not sure I can
forgive you.” She narrowed her eyes, giving him a mock-serious
look. “But on Thanksgiving we’re going to get even and kick your
butts.”

His grin broadened and they spent most of the
flight talking football and the upcoming game between the Broncos
and the Giants and how the season was going so far.

Football was one of her secret vices. When
she wasn’t working, she liked to pull on a Giants jersey, sit down
with a bowl of air-popped popcorn, yell at the TV every time the
refs made a bad call, and cheer her team on when they made a good
play.

She liked that she had parts of her that no
one was aware of. They were secrets she held tight to her chest and
didn’t want to share with anyone. But it felt safe talking with
Brody about her favorite sport. Who was he going to tell?

The football player was so damned good
looking and personable that if he weren’t married, she would have
loved to jump his bones.

She mentally smiled to herself. She knew that
almost everyone in her life, especially men, considered her to be
an Ice Queen and she let them. It helped her reputation as a
ball-busting corporate attorney who couldn’t be touched when it
came to winning cases for her clients. She never crossed lines,
never mixed business with pleasure.

Brody asked her about her career and she told
him, but she brushed over it and asked him about his new baby.
Erika had recently seen an article about the player, his gorgeous
wife, and their infant son.

In Erika’s case, relationships were
non-existent. Her career had been exceedingly important to her
since she graduated from Harvard, and she was an unapologetic
workaholic. However, that meant she had no real life outside of
work.

After digging out a photo of his son from his
wallet, Brody pressed Erika for more personal information. “Come
on,” he said. “You have to do more than your job as an
attorney.”

Erika shrugged. “A third degree black belt in
taekwondo is about as exciting as I get.”

“Third degree, huh?” Brody asked, clearly
intrigued. “So you can probably knock me on my ass.”

A grin tried to tease her lips. “You never
know.”

Brody laughed then covered a yawn with his
big hand. He shook his head and gave Erika an apologetic look.
“Long night.”

“You take a nap.” Erika reached for her
purse. “I have a book I’m in the middle of, so I’ll let you get
some rest.”

He eased his seat back, crossed his arms over
his chest as if trying to make himself smaller to give Erika and
the elderly woman more room. He closed his eyes and Erika thought
he must have fallen asleep right away. No doubt he was such a
seasoned traveler that it was easy for him to sleep on flights.

Erika pulled her e-reader out of her purse
and sat back to consume the latest David Baldacci thriller in a
series with an assassin hero. She wasn’t sure why, but her favorite
thrillers were about assassins who were the good guys, especially
those where women were among the best in their field. Maybe that
was what Erika was in her own career: a trained assassin who could
take out her enemies with one perfect shot.

She smiled to herself and slipped into the
story becoming completely engrossed in the novel. It seemed as if
no time had passed at all when Angel’s voice came over the
speakers. She told passengers to turn off their electronic devices
and prepare for landing.

Like everyone else, Erika obeyed and tucked
her e-reader into her purse. She pulled an airline magazine out of
the seat pocket in front of her and flipped through the pages.
Gads. Boring as hell. She’d forgotten to bring something to read
that wasn’t electronic.

Brody remained asleep until the plane pulled
up to the municipal terminal and it was time to debark. Once again
he insisted on helping her with her luggage by getting it down, and
she thanked him when he handed it to her.

After they made it into the terminal, Brody
gave her a one armed brotherly hug. Erika tensed, not used to hugs,
especially from people she didn’t know well.

As he released her, she said, “I’d say good
luck in the game Thursday, but I’m rooting for my boys.”

“Maybe we’ll convert you to a Broncos fan.”
He gave her a wicked grin. “You’d look great in orange.”

“Never.” She shook her head. “You wouldn’t
catch me dead in a Broncos jersey.”

“Never say never.” He winked and headed
toward baggage claim.

Thinking of having a brother like Brody made
her smile. He’d probably have been an overbearing and very
protective one.

Through the terminal windows, she saw rain
falling from dark clouds and splattering the glass. She retrieved
her hooded trench coat from the outer pocket of her bag. She’d
packed light for the short trip and hadn’t needed to check any
baggage. She slipped on the coat and then a pair of leather gloves
before heading through the terminal and straight toward the doors
that let out into the cold and rainy Colorado day.

***

When the sliding glass doors opened, Erika
was hit with a blast of icy air that smelled of the rain, clean and
fresh, clear of pollution.

She looked out into the downpour. It would be
evening soon and she was to go out to dinner with the CEO. Erika
squinted through the rain and looked for a woman who matched the
image of Paige Kennedy, the pretty, dark-haired CEO on Colorado
Outdoor Gear’s website. Paige had said she’d pick Erika up
personally.

A man approached Erika, his eyes fixed on
her, a slight curve to the corner of his mouth. Shivers ran through
her at the intensity in his eyes—he looked at her in an almost
sensual, intimate way.

His hair was wet, as was his jacket, and had
clearly just come out of the rain. She met his gaze head on, trying
not to show the reaction she’d just had.

With the dark scruff on his face and the
devil-may-care look in his green eyes, he shouldn’t have appealed
to Erika, who preferred her men refined, but she was immediately
intrigued. He was taller than her five-nine by about six inches and
he had a slow, easy walk. He wore well-worn hiking boots, and his
jacket was open just enough to show that he had on a red crew-neck
sweater beneath. He filled out a pair of faded Levis quite nicely
and was as sexy as any model for an outdoor magazine ad that she’d
seen. Definitely not a pretty boy—he was one hundred percent rugged
American male.

He was the polar opposite of Erika, who wore
tailored slacks and a black cashmere turtleneck beneath her long
tailored coat. Her hair was smooth and neat, her makeup artfully
applied, and her designer shoes sensible for snow and ice yet,
stylish just the same.

“Ms. DuBois?” His voice was warm and a light
of amusement was in his gaze.

What could this man possibly be amused
about?

“Yes, I am.” She straightened her spine and
kept a cool expression on her face that likely matched the
weather.

“You were expecting Paige and you got me
instead.” He grinned and held out his gloved hand. “Dawson Kennedy.
I’m Paige’s cousin.”