Love on Landing (6 page)

The paper bag in Tali's lap crinkled, bringing his attention back to her. Tali reach into the bag and pulled out two take-out containers of food and a couple of knives and forks. She handed him one set and a container and then opened her own. He followed her lead.

Inside the container was a crepe folded into a triangular packet with its filling spilling out the top. His mouth watered as he cut a bite from the delicacy. Warm creamy berries and nutty chocolate filled his mouth. He sighed and leaned back against the bench, stretching his legs out in front of him. This was the life.

"Agreed." Tali mirrored his posture on the bench as she ate. He hadn't spoken, yet she'd understood his gesture as clearly as if he had said his thoughts out loud. He wasn't sure how to respond to the connection they obviously shared, but he liked it.

He couldn't help but watch her. She'd been nothing but pleasant all day—a stark contrast from their first meeting in the plane while they were over the Atlantic. Today was turning out much better than he'd originally thought it would. Maybe he'd been wrong about Tali after all.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," he said. "I shouldn't have called you those names. I wasn't being fair to you."

"Thanks." She smiled at him, and took a sip of her drink. "But you were at least halfway fair. I am spoiled, but I do try my best not to act like a brat. You happened to catch me on a really bad day and I kind of took my frustration out on you. So I'm sorry, too."

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened yesterday that made it so bad?"

She set her food down beside her on the bench and took a long sip of her mocha. He watched little lines appear on her forehead as he waited for her to respond.

"Sorry. It's none of my business. I shouldn't have asked." He took another bite of crepe, trying to fill the silence with sounds of eating.

He didn't like to see this new expression on her face. He didn't want her to have to talk about whatever had happened that caused her such obvious pain.

"No it's okay. I need to talk about what happened. I need to deal with everything." She sucked in a deep breath. "I came on this trip alone because I needed to get away from the Meadow for a while."

The Meadow was an elite, gated neighborhood in upstate New York where Tali had lived her whole life. Exactly the kind of place a blue-collar pilot like Gavin would never be welcomed. No, outsiders were never encouraged to become part of the community. Well, maybe someone like Donald Trump would find the welcoming committee on his front doorstep, but no one else ever would.

"What happened?" What could cause her so much pain she would run away all by herself to a foreign country last minute? He'd only been given a few hours' notice before their flight. Just long enough to secure their clearance and submit paperwork for the flight.

"My boyfriend broke up with me."

"Is that all?" He chuckled a little despite his concern for her. A little break up with the boyfriend-du-jour hardly seemed worth this kind of reaction.

"And then I saw him making out with a close friend a couple of hours later."

"Ouch." Okay, maybe that was a little more painful than he'd originally thought. "Sorry to hear that. Are you sure they were really making out and it wasn't some misunderstanding?"

Tali looked down at her coffee, staring at it so long he wondered if she'd heard his last question. "It wasn't a misunderstanding." She shook her head. "Nope. On the flight, right before I found you at the controls and we—spoke—I went online and found out he's now engaged to my
former
friend."

"So definitely no misunderstanding." He shook his head. The tears from the day before finally made sense—she'd lost not only a boyfriend, but also a friend. That was rough for anyone. And he'd been a total jerk to her.

Good one, jackass.

"Nope. Not unless 'engaged' suddenly has a new meaning I'm not aware of."

He sighed. "I'm sorry. Now I really wish I hadn't been such a jerk to you yesterday."

"Really, it's okay. I shouldn't have been a—let's call it even and start over, okay?" She peeked up at him, her eyes clearly asking to move on and leave their brief past in the past where it belonged. How could he deny her one little courtesy after learning what she'd just been through?

He nodded. "Sounds good."

Starting over did sound good. The more time he spent around her, the more he wanted to get to know her. Maybe she wasn't exactly the person he thought she was at first glance. Maybe there was more to this girl than he realized.

"Are you done with your manly crepe and mocha yet? 'Cause I still need to hit Louis Vuitton and find a kickass pair of boots before we call it a day. Oh and I need to stop at this little boutique to pick up some clothes for my little cousins. They look so adorable in matching outfits." She stood and threw her empty containers in the trash. "I can't remember the last time my credit card had this much fun in one day."

He sighed. She really was something else. Maybe he was wrong about being wrong about her. Maybe she really was a spoiled brat. Fun to be around and beautiful, but still spoiled.

"What?" she asked, her lip-gloss brush swiping back and forth across her lower lip. The bright cherry color stained her lips, making them shine in the afternoon sunlight.

Does she taste like cherry, too?

He shook his head, trying to dislodge the thoughts suddenly taking up residence in his mind—images of his tongue stroking a path across her lips, plunging into her mouth, tasting her. He rubbed the napkin across his mouth, wiping away the last traces of chocolate. God, he wished that napkin were her skin. Surely her skin would be soft and silky and warm against his mouth. Much better than the scratchy paper napkin.

"What?" she asked again louder, the impatience clear in her tone. "Why are you staring at me? And what was that huge sigh about?"

"Nothing." He forced his unwanted thoughts of Tali to the back of his mind. He would deal with them later, when he had time to figure out exactly what they meant. Later, when he didn't have Tali looking at him with those slightly pouty, sexy lips. "I didn't think we had so much more shopping left to do. I guess your credit card never gets tired, huh?"

"You're not going to start with the whole spoiled thing again are you? Because if you are, I'm going to have to kick your butt with the new boots I plan on buying."

He laughed despite his best effort not to. "No, I'm not going to call you spoiled even though you clearly are. You're perfectly entitled to spend your money any way you see fit."

"Good, then let's get going. Fabulous boots aren't going to buy themselves."

Chapter Five

"Oh, look at these," Tali said pulling Gavin into the shop where she'd spotted the most amazing jeans in a window display. Jeans that screamed to be worn by her tomorrow—make that today.

"What now?" Gavin followed her into the store, the weariness more evident in his voice with every passing credit card swipe.

"These." She held up the jeans to show him her prize. Surely he would agree they were worth the—two hundred thirty-five Euros. Really, three hundred dollars American wasn't much for denim this soft and a cut this flattering. If her usual shopping girlfriends where here, they would absolutely agree.

"They're jeans. Can't you buy jeans back in the States when you get home?"

"Not
these
jeans." She walked into a nearby change room and slipped quickly into the jeans. The soft material hugged her in all the right places as she did a squat in front of the mirror.
Not too tight. I don't even need to break these in.

She opened the change room door and did a little twirl for Gavin.

"How's my cargo looking?" she teased, looking over her shoulder as she wiggled her butt for him. She planned to buy them regardless of what he thought. Still, it was fun to see his initial reaction when she first showed him something new.

"Just as good as it did in your other jeans."

She clucked her tongue at him. What did he know? Her butt looked completely amazing in these new jeans—not nearly as plain and ordinary as before. As she twirled, she caught a glimpse of a stunning blue corset top. It would look unbelievable with these jeans and her new boots.

Tali stopped twirling and skimmed through the corsets until she found the right size. "One more thing."

Gavin groaned behind her as she closed the dressing room door again. "It's always one more thing. You know we've been shopping for hours. Haven't I been a good boy and earned the privilege of dinner yet?"

"Want some grapes and stinky cheese with your whine? Just let me try this on and then we'll go. I promise. This will be the last thing I try on."

"I've heard that a few times already today. I'm not sure I believe you."

Tali pulled off her top and bra and slipped the corset up around her torso. The top was even more stunning than she thought it would be. She quickly adjusted her breasts into the rounded cups and held the edges together behind her back. Now she just needed to tie the laces running along her spine. Impossible.

"Gavin, can I get your help in here for a minute?"

She heard a loud groan and the chair in the waiting room squeaked as he stood. Her door clicked open and Gavin peeked inside the tiny room. His tired eyes instantly lit up at the sight of her reflection in the mirror. Exactly the kind of reaction she hoped an outfit like this would stir in someone. Especially someone as hot as Gavin.

"Can you lace up the back for me? It's a bit tricky to reach."

"Um—sure," he said quietly, taking the edges of the material from her hands. His gaze shifted to her back and she was suddenly aware of the lack of clothing between her skin and his fingers.

Apparently he was aware of her naked flesh too.

His large fingers fumbled with the laces almost letting them slip. She quickly held the top tight against her stomach so it wouldn't fall to the ground. Not that a situation like that would be completely unwelcome with a guy like Gavin, but she'd prefer not to have it happen in a changing room if possible. Her hotel room? Well, that was different.

Why was she so attracted to him?

'Cause he's hot. And fights back. And hot.

"Sorry," he mumbled, taking the laces and pulling them tight across her shoulder blades. "Is that too tight?"

"No, it's fine."

His fingers stopped moving halfway down her back and his gaze found hers in the mirror. The heat radiating out of his expression was enough to make her feel flushed. She'd asked him to help her get the top on, but now she wished he would tear the damn thing off.

She swallowed the lump in her throat unable to shake the feeling he might be thinking the same thing. Tali turned her head to look at Gavin without the aid of the mirror. "Is everything okay? Did the laces get stuck?"

"Everything's fine," he said softly, only breaking his gaze with hers long enough to shift it from her reflection to look directly in her eyes.

She hadn't realized how close he stood behind her until now—his mouth only inches from hers. With the tiniest effort, she could wrap her hand around the back of his neck and bring his tempting mouth to hers. Oh God, she wanted to get a little sample of his mouth.

"I'll just finish tying this," he said, finally looking away.

He focused on her back again and she let out the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. "That should do it." He rubbed his hands along the smooth material, resting them gently on her hips.

The urge to lean back into him so he could wrap those hands across her stomach was overwhelming. Something looked so right about their reflection in the mirror. Almost as if she were staring at a framed photo as they stood there together. An unexpected ache flared inside her chest. She wanted more than anything to be with someone—to have a future with someone, a real future, not one that would get taken away from her again.

Roger would have a picture with Samantha in the paper soon and it would probably look like this. The thought made her feel a little sick to her stomach.

Tali closed her eyes and willed Roger from her mind. She was with Gavin—at least as a friend—and she wasn't going to let anyone ruin her time with him. Not even Roger and annoying Samantha.

"What do you think?" she asked Gavin's reflection.

He smiled. "You look amazing. And you should for—" He glanced at the price tag dangling from the bottom hem of the corset and coughed. "How can this possibly cost so much?"

"It's a steal. Look at the craftsmanship."

"This cost more than my hotel room. You realize that, right?"

Tali rolled her eyes. "Of course it does. It's a designer piece." Really? Had this man never shopped before?

Tali pulled the tags carefully off of the jeans and corset top and slipped into her boots. She stuffed the clothes she had been wearing into one of their many shopping bags.

"What are you doing?" Gavin asked, motioning at the tags in Tali's hand. "You're going to pay for those, aren't you?"

"Absolutely. I just figured we had to work pretty hard to get me into this corset, I may as well stay in it for a little while." Tali stopped at a display of watches on her way to the checkout counter. "You should get this." She held up a gorgeous silver watch that would look fantastic on Gavin. She could already imagine him wearing the timepiece while flying at thirty thousand feet.

He glanced at the price tag. Why did he always look at the price first?

"I can't afford that."

She clucked her tongue. "Sure you can. You just need to put it on credit and then pay it off over a couple of months. This watch is totally worth a few extra interest payments."

Gavin took the watch from her hand, his fingers gently brushing against her palm. A rush of sparks danced across her skin, awakening nerve endings that had lain dormant for a long time. The sensation excited her.

"You're something else, Tali." He shook his head and put the watch back on the display and walked away.

"Something else in a good way, right?" She called after him but he walked out the front door of the boutique without answering her.
What the hell is his problem?
It's only a watch. What's the big deal?