by Rachel Lyndhurst; Carmen Falcone; Ros Clarke; Annie Seaton; Christine Bell
“I’ll believe it when you e-mail me a photo.” Alex had laughed.
Now Tom grinned to himself as he typed “get a tattoo” and then deleted it and typed “get an earring.” That would send a message to everyone who thought he was a bore. Staid old Tom with an earring and long hair?
Stuff it, he’d do it. After all, who knew him on the island? He grinned as he imagined a whole new persona for himself, focused on having a good time. He looked forward to sending a photo to his brothers. Ten minutes later, a definitive list of ten things he intended to achieve in Italy filled his screen.
“Can I make a suggestion?” A quiet voice close to his ear startled him. He looked across and was taken aback to see that his seat neighbor was awake and reading the list on his screen.
“And that would be?”
“Sounds like you’re planning a great trip,” she said with one eyebrow raised and her head to the side. “Jet Ski…ride a bike, and—”
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to read over someone’s shoulder?”
A wide grin spread across her face and she nodded. “Yes, but you were so focused on your typing, I was curious. Sounds like a good holiday,” she said without a hint of apology.
“Yes, I do plan on having a good holiday,” he finally said. “Anyway, what was your suggestion?” It would be too rude to totally ignore her. He’d already done that once and heard her smart-mouthed comment.
“Depends on what sort of motorbike you’re going to ride. The Italian Grand Prix is on in Mugello next month. I’ve heard it’s worth seeing if you love your motorbikes, but if you want tickets, you’ll need to book them well in advance.”
Tom stared at her. “No, I’m not into motorbikes. I’m going to get myself a push-bike.”
“Wow, you are going to do some thrill-seeking.” She put her hand over her mouth to cover a giggle. “And here was I thinking you were a bit of a right balloon.”
“A balloon?”
Her face was full of mirth and she held his gaze as her lips twitched. What the hell was she on about? Just his luck to sit next to someone who was two bricks short of a load.
“Sorry, I keep forgetting I’m not in Scotland. A balloon…” She tipped her head to the side and he read the mirth in her expression. “Ah…it’s someone who thinks they are pretty damn good. After all, I did catch you checking out me wee arse.” When he looked at her blankly, she leaned forward and pointed behind her. Her bare leg pressed against his thigh as she leaned over close to him and twisted in the seat.
“My butt!”
“Oh.” He wasn’t quite sure if she was complaining or teasing him, and for a fleeting moment he was tempted to make a smart reply about her butt. But her Scottish burr made it impossible to read her tone, and he didn’t want to offend her. He moved away from the warmth of her leg, which was still connecting with his. She straightened and settled back in her seat. Her chin was propped in her hand on the arm rest between them as she continued to read the list over his shoulder.
“What were you going to add to my list?”
“I don’t know you, so I hope you won’t be offended.” She unclipped her belt, flipped back the arm of the seat, and slid across to the middle seat so she could get a better look at his screen.
“You have my interest,” he said waiting as the warmth of her bare shoulder pressed into his shirt. She concentrated for a moment, and he watched as her gaze flicked down his typed list before she placed her hand over her mouth and covered a giggle. “I’m sorry.” She snorted and then burst out laughing. “I can’t believe you’ve written a list. I don’t think I’ve ever written one in my life. So my suggestion would be to stop writing lists and start doing some of it!”
Tom leaned over and typed #11… stop making lists. He looked over at the woman sitting next to him, who was watching him closely. Her deep brown eyes were fringed by thick dark lashes and her expression still brimmed with mirth. The shadows around her eyes had faded a little after her nap. They had been in the air for four hours and she’d slept soundly the whole time.
“I hope I haven’t insulted you. I’m pretty good at doing that, or so my family tells me,” she said. “They say I should learn to think before I open my mouth.”
Tom snapped his laptop shut and leaned forward to put it in the laptop carry bag. He bumped his head on the back of the seat in front of him and had to bend sideways to retrieve the bag.
Christ, they made these seats for dwarves, not for six-foot-plus-tall men.
He turned his attention back to the woman when the laptop was safely stowed.
“No. No offense taken. Not at all. Maybe, as you suggest, I do need to lighten up a bit.” He looked back at her. “After all…it’s on the list.”
“Well, I’m the person to do it. And you have the pleasure of my company for another sixteen hours unless you are only going to Singapore?”
“No, I’m going all the way through to Rome.” He surprised himself by sharing information with a chance-met stranger. She loosened his tongue with her constant questions, and he’d quite enjoyed her banter about his list-making. “I’m going to Italy mainly for business.”
“So, let’s try again,” she said with a smile and held out her hand. “I’m Brianna.”
“Tomas.” He took her hand and held it a little longer than he normally would have, as unexpected warmth shot up his arm.
“So are you a businessman or holidaying?” Brianna pulled her hand out of his and reached over and touched his narrow navy-blue tie. “The suit and the computer. I had you picked for a business traveler when I saw you in the coffee shop. In fact, I’m surprised to see you slumming it back here in economy. You looked like you should be up front in business, not in cattle class.”
“Waste of money. Why pay thousands of dollars extra for a seat to get to the same destination for a glass or two of champagne.”
“Ah. I bet you work in finance.”
Another woman on the make. That’s the last thing he needed next to him for eighteen hours. It was time to pull back and stop acting like the “right balloon” she had pegged him as. He gave her a noncommittal nod. “And I have some work I must finish.”
He’d just put the laptop away, so he pulled out the newspaper he’d already read from back to front out of the seat pocket. He wasn’t worried about hurting the feelings of someone he’d never see again, and glanced across at her as he opened the newspaper and was surprised to see a huge grin plastered on her face. Her opinion of him was written in her expression.
“Okay, I’ll leave you in peace and stop the twenty questions.”
She slid back to the window seat and placed the headphones over her ears and reached forward to fiddle with the control of the small viewing screen on the back of the seat in front of her. Even though he’d ended the conversation, Tom decided he had been dismissed. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. This was going to be a long flight…maybe he should have spent the extra and flown business class. He could afford it, but old habits died hard.
…
The voice of the captain announcing they were commencing the descent into Singapore roused Brianna from a deep sleep. She rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands and pulled the earphones out. They’d slipped across her face and were now snagged in her hair.
“Damn,” she said softly. Tugging at them only made it worse. She tried to untangle the hair caught around the posts, but they snagged even more tightly. Glancing over at Tom, she was pleased to see he was awake and typing on the keyboard.
“Could I have some help here, please?”
Tom looked up from his screen and then closed the lid and slipped the computer into the seat pocket in front of him. He moved closer and lifted her hands away from the tangled hair and cable, and placed them in her lap.
“You let go, I’ll do it. You certainly have it tangled.”
“Ow,” she cried. He unwound a strand of dark hair from the cable on the earphones and she closed her eyes.
<
br /> “Sorry, I’ll try to be gentle. Relax.”
Brianna leaned forward, and warm, gentle fingers brushed against her cheek. His hands smelled like citrus, and she smiled to herself as he tried to untangle the cord from her hair. She’d noticed his manicured nails when he was typing his list earlier.
“Move closer.”
She dropped her head lower and leaned across into his shoulder to help him. Peering down, she had a clear view of taut thighs encased in trousers with sharp creases and a pair of polished shoes, and a frisson of attraction skipped her heart rate up a notch.
“There you go.”
She sighed with relief when he handed her the earphones. After putting them back in the seat pocket, she ran her fingers through the loosened hair and tried to wind it back into her braid.
“Thank you so much.” She looked up and smiled at him. “For a while there, I was thinking I would be leaving the plane with them stuck in my hair. I’m overdue for a trim.”
She’d intended to get her hair cut in Sydney, but the letter and the rush to change her travel arrangements and book the flight to Rome had interfered with all her plans. Not that planning was one of her strengths. She’d been lucky the travel agent had been able to book her all the way to Lipari with ease. All she had to do now was not lose her itinerary. Luckily the Burrough Medical Service back home in Edinburgh had given her a year’s leave to finish her book, and she’d planned to stay in Australia for at least half of that. The deadline from the publisher was creeping closer every day and she’d started to panic. Most of her advance had been spent on travel, so she had to make the deadline. She’d need the rest of the money to sort out her current problem.
Hopefully this cottage on Lipari would have somewhere she could sit and write, and get her first draft finished and back to the publisher. Tears pricked her eyes as she thought of that lonely unkempt grave back in Sydney. She’d managed not to think about it since she’d woken from her nap, and she sighed as the grief filled her chest. Brushing the tears away with the back of her hand, she glanced up and saw Tomas watching her. “Sorry, I was miles away. Did you say something?”
“Only that it would be a shame to cut your hair. It’s beautiful.”
“Are you hitting on me?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.
“Certainly not.” His voice was frosty and he stared at her. “I don’t need to hit on women.”
She looked at him as he lounged back in the seat. His dark hair deepened his tanned skin and his cold gaze was fixed on her. An observer may have been fooled by the relaxed and casual position, but there was nothing casual in his unswerving observation of her. A flicker of discomfort shimmied down her spine.
“No matter. I won’t be insulted.” She forced her lips into an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Tom…is it okay if I call you Tom? Look, I was teasing. I grew up in a family with lots of brothers and male cousins, and I protected myself through childhood by tormenting them before they could get at me. I guess it comes naturally, and I usually lead with my mouth and then my brain kicks into gear.” She placed her hand on his arm and then pulled it back when he dropped his gaze down to it. His mouth was set in a cold, straight line.
“Look, I didn’t mean to insult you or be forward. If someone wants to hit on me, that’s flattering, but I expect honesty. And like I told you before, I always babble on too much. So if you want some peace and quiet on the next leg you can always change seats.” She pointed to the vacant seat across the aisle.
“There’s no need for that,” he said. “Besides, we’ve landed. We’re in Singapore.”
The wheels bounced onto the tarmac and she glanced out of the window to see the puff of smoke as the rubber hit the ground. Relief coursed through her body and all thoughts of Rosa, the inheritance, and her deadlines flew from her mind.
“Oh wow, we’ve landed! And I didn’t even have to worry. I hate landing…it’s not the flying. I usually put the music on and close my eyes and ignore it, but you took my mind off it. Thanks so much.” She looked up and caught a bemused look on his face. “Whoops, I’m prattling on again, aren’t I? I told you I talk too much. If you get sick of me babbling, tell me to put a sock in it.”
A slow smile spread across Tom’s face and she grinned up at him when he shook his head at her. Relief coursed through her. That was one less thing she had to worry about.
“Look, I’m sorry for being an asshole. It’s been a big week. I’m sure you’ll keep me entertained and the rest of the flight will pass very quickly.”
“How about you buy me a cup of tea to apologize for being rude? I’m sure we can get a decent cup in the airport somewhere.” She smiled up at him, and although the daunting stare had disappeared, she sensed his reluctance. “Don’t worry, no strings attached.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Leaning forward, she checked her money belt was secure and tightened it around her waist. She was not going to lose anything else, especially while they were in Singapore. They disembarked and strolled through the retail area of the airport, and Brianna looked around in appreciation at the huge gardens down the center of the concourse. Tropical orchids of every imaginable color cascaded in garlands from lush foliage and the perfume overlaid the usual sterile, artificial smell of most airports. As they walked on, a large display of tropical and temperate orchids hung into a pond filled with bright orange, red, and yellow koi.
“How amazing is that?” she exclaimed. “That’s one thing I’m looking forward to in Italy—the gardens. Are you a gardener, Tom?”
He gave her a reluctant smile. “No, I live in an apartment and any plants die from neglect.”
“Well, that’s another thing for your list.” She tipped her head to the side and wrinkled her nose at him. “No, scrub that. Not exciting enough. You can have a garden when you’re old.” She grabbed his arm and dragged him into the Starbucks at the edge of the orchid garden and slid onto the padded bench seat along the wall. “I hope Starbucks is up to your coffee tastes.”
“Starbucks in Singapore. Hmm…we’ll see. Okay, I’m buying. How do you like your coffee?”
“Tea, please,” she said and leaned back against the soft padded back of the seat. She was stiff and sore and they’d only traveled for eight hours. The second leg of the flight was another twelve hours and her body was telling her she’d spent too much time in planes in the last week.
Tom stood at the end of the long queue at the counter. Even as he waited in the crowd, his bearing showed what her adopted mother referred to as “good breeding.” When he stepped forward to be served, she had a clear view of him, and Brianna smiled to herself. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and held himself straight. His eyes were bright and his cheeks had the fresh glow of good health, of someone who looked after himself. Her gaze traveled down from his wide shoulders to his broad chest and his snug-fitting white business shirt. He’d shed the jacket on the jet bridge as the humidity had hit them and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. Long legs ended in a nice butt. Even in the suit pants. She looked up and caught his cool glance before he turned back to the counter. The heat rose in her cheeks.
He might have a nice butt, but he needs to lighten up.
She wasn’t going to let him get away with the cool responses and grinned at him when he placed a tray loaded with a variety of food on the table. She’d get a laugh out of him if it took the whole damn trip.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. “Sprung. We’re even now.”
He raised his eyebrows without speaking, but it was clear he understood what she was referring to.
“Okay, thanks. I owe you a meal, or several meals by the look of this,” she said. He sat and reached for his coffee and leaned back, silently watching the hustle and bustle of Changi airport go past them as Brianna demolished most of the food.
“I won’t need to eat again till Italy.” She smothered a burp and giggled. “Oops. Sorry…bad manners. My mother would be horrified.”
She tipped her head to the side and tapped her finger on her chin.
“Tell me a little about you, Tom. Where’s home for you? Do you live in the city or are you from the outback?”
“No, certainly not the outback. I grew up in small rural city, Armidale. It’s inland from the north coast. I went to Sydney to university and then back to the country after I graduated.” He looked at her. “What about you? How long were you in Australia?”
“Ach, my wee accent has given me away as a tourist, then?” she said, exaggerating her Scottish lilt.
“Just a little.”
Finally she’d gotten another smile out of him.
“Well, I’d only been in Australia a few days when I received—” She hesitated. Even though she could babble on like a brook, she was circumspect about giving personal details to strangers. And he was a stranger. For all she knew, he could be setting her up. Her family always told her she trusted too easily and wore her heart on her sleeve. “I received some sudden family news that meant an unexpected trip to Italy. So no, I have no idea where your city is. I visited Sydney and that was it.”
“What about your boyfriend? Weren’t you traveling together?”
“My boyfriend?”
“The guy at the airport…with…er…with the hair.”
“God, no. Phil’s my brother. He’s been over here for six months and he’d just flown back in from Bali. It was an absolute coincidence we were at the airport at the same time. We were going to travel around Australia together for a few months. No boyfriends or husbands in my life. I’m a career woman through and through.”
