and willing.
Sophie, for all her N.Y.C. chic, was definitely a lady in every sense of the term. It was part of what drew him to her, Riley knew. The lure of someone different, someone special.
She deserved better than a quickie in the sky, no matter how much fun it might be. To distract himself, he reached over and pulled some paper towels from the holder, dampened them and began to blot her shirt where the wine had stained.
He gritted his teeth, determined to ignore her full breasts and pointed nipples. Perfectly rounded breasts and hardened tips just made for a man to suckle and tease. He tried to focus instead on her flat belly, where the liquid had concentrated.
She grabbed his wrist, stopping him. “Seriously, Riley. What are you doing in here?”
He groaned. Good question. One he was still trying to sort through himself. No way would he admit he’d just followed her on impulse. “Since we’re going to be spending time together, I thought we could come to an understanding.”
She shifted in an obvious attempt to get more comfortable in the cramped space, but her thighs came in direct contact with his and the flame burned hotter. Her sweet sugary scent, more refined and classy than most women’s, sent his already heightened senses soaring.
Sophie drew in a startled breath, an admission that the awareness between them definitely wasn’t one-sided. Yet she sighed in clear annoyance.
“Just what did I do to piss you off so badly?” he asked.
“You were
She turned toward the mirror and he followed her stare so she was unable to look there without seeing his shocked expression. “That’s it?” he asked. “I arrived a few minutes late and you’re holding it against me?”
“It was rude! We agreed to meet before the flight. You left me wondering if you were even going to make it in time.” Her voice quivered and she glanced the opposite way, this time toward the safety of the empty wall. “I told you routine gives me comfort.” She spoke the last words softly.
A quiet admission of weakness, Riley thought.
Aw, hell. He hadn’t meant to alarm her. He’d forgotten how seriously Sophie took life. Even with the dim lighting in the restroom, he could see her cheeks had turned pink and she’d sucked her lower lip into her mouth, embarrassed at admitting her neuroses aloud.
“Hey,” he said, softly. “I said I’d be here.”
“And I was supposed to take your word for it? The minutes ticked by and boarding had begun-”
“Were the cabin doors closed?”
She shook her head.
“Well then, there was still plenty of time for me to arrive.”
“I don’t work that way. I don’t think that way. I plan ahead. And right now I need to find Spencer before my whole place of business falls apart. I have Cambias sniffing around and no sign of Spencer. He said he’d be in by nine on Monday and he wasn’t. You said you’d meet me at the gate,” she said, the implication clear.
He’d let her down. The thought didn’t sit well with him. Not a normal reaction for a man who did his own thing on his own schedule and answered to no one.
Most people accepted his behavior.
Sophie wasn’t most people.
She folded her arms across her chest, as if that would provide a barrier between him and her emotions. Between them.
As if.
He placed a hand beneath her chin and turned her face toward him. Her skin was softer than anything he’d touched before and his gut churned with the sudden desire to kiss her lips and see if that pink pout felt as seductive as it looked. If her mouth tasted like the sweet heaven he imagined.
He shook his head to redirect his thoughts. He and Sophie had a mutual goal. To find his father and smooth over the mess created by the media. Not to create another one at thirty thousand feet.
To that end, they needed each other. “Look, I’m just not used to answering to anyone except Lizzie.”
Sophie blinked, probably as startled by his semi-apology as he was.
“That’s what you call your daughter, Elizabeth?” she said.
He nodded, the old familiar pride welling inside him. Lizzie was Riley’s whole world and he’d do right by her in ways his biological parent had never done by him. He’d be there for her and she’d know her daddy loved her.
“Lizzie’s thirteen going on eighteen. She has attitude up the wazoo and some discipline problems at school, but she’s smart and special and gorgeous. And I’m going to have to buy a shotgun to keep the hormonal idiots away,” he said, awed as always by the young lady his daughter was becoming.
Sophie laughed, a light, airy, more relaxed sound than he’d heard from her since boarding.
“I take it you have some firsthand experience with being one of those hormonal idiots?” she asked.
“You know what they say. Boys’ll be boys.”
She inclined her head. “So what do you suggest we do to make this arrangement work?” she asked, turning the conversation back to them.
He leaned against the counter, thinking about what would help them get along for the duration of the trip. “How about we begin by understanding each other a little more? I’ll start. Atkins is my long-lost father and though I have my reasons for needing to talk to him, I doubt he’ll be happy to see me.” Riley offered the difficult admission as a peace offering.
A flash of understanding flickered in her eyes along with the steely resolve he’d seen before. “I respect your privacy, but you hired me to help you. Besides, before I can bring you to Spencer, I’m going to need to know those reasons. We’re like-”
“Family. I know.” When used along with Spencer Atkins, the word
He paused, wondering how much more detail to reveal now and decided the lavatory wasn’t the place for long-winded explanations. “I’ll fill you in. Just not here.”
She nodded. “Fair enough. I suppose you’re looking for an admission of my own? A quid pro quo toward understanding? Well, fine,” she said before he could reply. “I’m a pro at handling other people’s crises, but not when everything around me is falling apart. If Spencer doesn’t turn up soon, my entire life’s going to crash and burn.” She blinked once, then blinked again.
He thought she was fighting tears, but she covered it so well he couldn’t be certain. He admired that strength.
All Riley knew for sure was that for Sophie routine provided comfort and Atkins’s disappearance had thrown her carefully structured life into disarray.
They had that in common, he thought. He’d been thrown for a loop, too. His sudden inexplicable desire to take care of her threw him. For the first time, other than Lizzie, it wasn’t all about him, and those feelings for Sophie messed with his carefree philosophy on life, and made him very, very nervous.
Still, he couldn’t stop the words that came next. “I’ll try harder not to screw up your schedule,” he said, hoping he could handle answering to someone, even on a short-term basis.
“Thanks.” She offered a smile and something inside him lightened with the knowledge that he’d eased her burden.
“And I’ll try not to be such an uptight pain in the ass,” she said, taking him by surprise.
He hadn’t expected her to know herself so well or to admit as much to him. Drawn by need and a compulsion he couldn’t explain, Riley reached out and pulled at the binding holding her bun in place. She gasped in surprise as strands of honey-colored hair fell around her face in waves, softening her features, making her appear infinitely more touchable.
More human.
More kissable.
She moistened her lips and he sucked in a sharp breath. Right now he was definitely one of those hormonal idiots they’d just discussed. He leaned in so they were almost cheek to cheek and he inhaled her fragrant scent.
Together they generated enough heat in the small space to steam the mirror, set off the smoke alarm and send
