Stealing Cupid's Bow

by Jewel Quinlan

  “If you say so.” He shrugged.

  “You don’t think so?”

  “It doesn’t matter what I think. It’s easy to see marriage isn’t the norm anymore. You have to wonder if things are changing to the point where it will completely fall out of fashion.”

  “'Fall out of fashion'?” she echoed the phrase. “No, there’s no way.”

  He grinned. “You seem so sure.” The sun coming in the window lit his eyes just the right way, making them look sky blue. His hair caught the light as well, causing the golden locks to shine.

  He was beautiful.

  She yanked her train of thought back to the conversation. “Of course I’m sure. Love would have to pretty much cease to exist in order for marriage to go away, and that will never happen.”

  “Really, you think so? But what’s so great about love?” he pressed. “Look at what happened to you. Wouldn’t it be better if it didn’t exist anymore? Then no one would experience such pain.” He leaned slightly in and fixed her with a serious gaze.

  How could he say such a cynical thing? Were they seriously debating about the merits of love existing? Her eyebrows drew together. Maybe he was teasing her.

  She searched his face for any break in his facade and found none. But then, in the next second, he assumed an innocent expression, and she knew at once he had been teasing her. They laughed in the same instant. Her chuckle was a bit soggy, and she had to blow her nose, but it was such a relief after the last twenty-four hours.

  Alexander raised his voice to get the attention of the flight attendant walking by in the aisle, “Excuse me, miss.”

  She stopped and turned to look at him. A flirtatious smile broke out on her face. Raine guessed she was not the only one to be instantly charmed by Alexander.

  “Yes, sir, can I get you something?”

  “My fellow passenger here has had a rough morning. I think a tea or coffee would do her some good.”

  “Yes. Of course,” she said, “which would you like?”

  The question seemed to be geared toward her but the flight attendant’s eyes never left Alexander. He looked at her, waiting for her answer. But she was struck speechless for a moment by how considerate he was. It was the second time, in the short while they’d met, that he’d thought of her comfort. Brad had never even opened doors for her, even on the first date.

  “Tea would be great,” she said. But opening doors wasn’t the end of the world. When she was with Brad she’d always felt like a prize. And he had a zest for life that was irresistible. When they were together they always had fun. He worked for DSSI, a security system company, and whenever they got a new product he always practiced his sales pitches on her. Sure it had been kind of boring, but he said he didn’t feel right about it unless he practiced with her. It had made her feel special. Like she’d been contributing to his success.

  Alexander gave the flight attendant a smile of thanks and she headed toward the back of the plane. Settling back in his seat, he turned to Raine again. “Anyway, what were we saying? Oh yes, I was saying I find it much easier to keep my expectations low.” He smiled a cheeky grin that took Raine’s breath away.

  She smiled back, but inside she couldn’t help but disagree with him. She herself had high expectations. Love was a wonderful thing, something she’d looked forward to her whole life. She knew, once she found it, it would be even better than her imagination.

  “You are such a tease. I know you don’t mean that,” she said.

  He shrugged. “To each their own. The divorce rate doesn’t lie. In fact, it’s getting worse every year. Are you hoping to be one of the few, like your parents, who will be the positive side of the statistic?”

  “Yes, I am, as a matter of fact,” she said.

  “Well as long as you’ve accepted how low your chances are, I don’t think I can stop you from hoping,” he teased.

  “So are you saying that, instead of dreaming about getting married and spending my life with someone I love, the most I should expect is for my life to be one long string of love affairs?”

  “Love affairs. There you go again. Love is an old-fashioned idea. I believe ‘fling’ or ‘hookup’ are the more modern terms.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. He was charming even while saying things she disagreed with. “No it’s not,” she insisted, on to the game now. “It’s what everyone wants in life. Everyone.”

  “Well then how would you account for the rising divorce rate? How do you explain all those people who say they fell out of love with someone else? I mean, if they were truly in love before why do they just throw it all away? Isn’t it worth fighting for? You’d think they would stick it out if it was really worth it,” he said in a challenging tone.

  So, the man liked a good debate. He seemed to be baiting her and she found she kind of liked it. He had a way of keeping the tone light while still saying what he really meant. He also listened when she spoke. In fact, he was patiently waiting for her answer.

  “People do fight for it,” she insisted. “I’ve seen it. And I have given a lot of thought as to why the divorce rate is rising the way it is. I think everyone should think about it, about what’s going wrong. The only way to not become a part of the statistic is to learn from other people’s mistakes.” If he wanted a silly debate, why not rise to the occasion?

  “So you think that will fix it?”

  He had the clearest blue eyes and his cheeks had strong planes, the kind found on male models in fashion magazines. There was the barest cleft in his chin, something she’d always thought was sexy. She caught the scent of his cologne, an intoxicating mix of things she couldn’t place. But it was that warm, male aroma. The kind that, if she caught a hint of it on a pillow, was entirely capable of making her long for its owner.

  He gave a small smile as if in challenge.

  Even though he irritated her a little bit she couldn’t help but smile back. Feeling a little light-headed, she decided to tease him back a bit. Lowering her voice, she said in a conspiratorial tone, “No. That’s not the only thing. You know, now that I think of it, not very much has changed about people or marriage in the last thousand years. So, there can only be one thing going on. Only one thing that really needs fixing.”

  He cocked his head the slightest bit when she paused, an amused look on his face as though he was vastly entertained by her.

  She took the plunge and said with mock seriousness, “Cupid has been slacking off. He’s not doing what he’s supposed to be doing.”

  For a moment his blue eyes widened in surprise, and then he laughed at her. “Cupid? You mean that little baby with the wings who goes around shooting love darts at people? That’s your answer? No, you’re right, I take it back. It must be the fault of some ancient god.”

  She laughed along with him, feeling cheerful now. Sticking firmly with her side of the debate, she continued, “Yes, he’s probably sitting somewhere on his lazy ass, eating grapes and slacking off on his job. Isn’t that what all those gods do? I tell you, if I ever meet him, I’m going to give it to him.” She punched her fist into her hand for emphasis. “And then I’m going to give him a piece of my mind. I mean who the heck thought to put a man in charge of people falling in love anyway? What do men know about love?”

  The plane suddenly hit a very rough patch of turbulence. Raine sucked in a breath as it dipped sickeningly, shuddered, and then rose again. Passengers let out startled shrieks. She clutched the armrests. Looking out the window she could see there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Strange, must have been a random gust of wind….

  As the plane leveled out and flew smoothly again, she eased her clench on the armrests. Alexander looked undisturbed, which she found odd.

  “Turbulence,” he said.

  He must be a hardened flyer. He wasn’t ruffled at all.

  The flight attendant reappeared with her tea. As she walked back down the aisle Raine noticed the long look she gave Alexander. She was glad to see she wasn’t the only one who respo
nded to him. Women probably fawned over him all the time.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  Darn, her thought must have shown in her expression! “I was just noticing the flight attendant seems rather taken with you,” she said casually.

  He chuckled. “Although that’s a flattering observation, I think her boyfriend might get a little upset if I asked her for her phone number.”

  “Boyfriend?” Raine’s eyebrows rose.

  He pointed and she followed the direction his finger led in time to see a pair of hands wrap around the flight attendant’s waist from behind the curtain in the back. A light giggle reached Raine’s ears as she disappeared behind it.

  “Oh.” She lifted the tea and sipped at it, feeling embarrassed. She should have just kept her big mouth shut.

  “People seem to have a certain glow to them when they think they’re in love, don’t they?”

  She nodded in agreement, certain her glow was gone.

  They sat in comfortable silence for a while and she distracted herself with the in-flight shopping magazine. It was better than nothing. As the minutes ticked by her physical attraction to him grew. Despite her less-than-perky mood, she could feel her body warm with an awareness of him. The light, clean scent of him tickled her nose awakening a chain of reactions beneath her skin. It was like inhaling a fresh breeze mixed with the creamy smell of shaving cream and a hint of cologne warmed just right by the heat of his skin. What was wrong with her? It was as if he were a magnet. She would have loved to run her fingers up his arm. The fabric of his shirt looked fine and soft and very promising of a large, firm biceps. She tried harder to focus on the pages of the airline magazine she’d pulled from the pocket.

  A while later he touched his fingertips to her arm lightly.

  A jolt of electricity shot up through her from the contact. Thankfully, he was gazing out the window.

  “Look, you can see the Strip.”

  She leaned in closer. Below, the pyramid of the Luxor Hotel, the Eiffel Tower of the Paris Hotel, and the glimmering gold of the Palazzo Hotel, were in view.

  “So, where are you headed when we land? Are you here for fun?” she asked.

  “No, I live here,” he said. “The Palazzo is my home.”

  “It is?”

  “Can you think of anywhere better?” he said with a grin.

  “Actually I can’t.” Did the hotels really have permanent residents in them? It would be like living in a giant mansion complete with round-the-clock fine dining and entertainment. She wondered what line of work he was in that enabled him to live in one of the most luxurious hotels on the Strip. “How long have you lived there?”

  “Quite a while now. Have you ever been?”

  “Just for dinner once or twice with my parents. It’s a beautiful place.”

  “Sin City….” he said quietly. “It’s how most of the world will be soon.”

  He continued to gaze out the window, a distant look in his eye.

  She huffed out a breath but decided to ignore his cynicism. It wasn’t her business to change his thinking.

  “What’s it like living there?” she asked.

  “It’s great. I have everything I could need just seconds away from my rooms.”

  “It doesn’t get lonely?”

  He shook his head. “Quite the opposite. I know everyone that works there by name. It’s like being surrounded by family. In addition to that, new guests arrive at the hotel every day. I find it interesting to see the variety of people that come through and chatting with them at the bar on occasion.”

  “I never thought of it that way.” The way he described it made it sound wonderful.

  Together they continued to look out the window. Alexander pointed out sites where new hotels were in progress or others were planned.

  Before she knew it, they had landed and were walking off the plane. He carried her bag to the front of the plane for her but then had to wait for his own. The flight attendant had stowed it for him in a separate closet. There was simply no space for her to wait for him in the shuffle of people getting off the plane. So they said a brief good-bye, and she headed down the gangway.

  She made her way through the terminal past slot machines and people who looked exhausted from partying as they waited for planes to take them home. In baggage claim, her beige suitcase was one of the first to pop out, unfortunately. Now she had no reason to wait around and talk to Alexander a little more.

  She was heading to the sidewalk to get a cab when she noticed her purse was missing.

  Chapter Three

  Panic filled her mind. Everything was in that bag! She took a breath to steady herself. It couldn’t be far. She scanned the floor around her through the people as well as she could.

  Nothing.

  In this town, it wouldn’t have stayed on the floor for more than a second. It was a Prada bag. Great! Just the most perfect end to a long and stressful morning, she thought, suppressing the urge to tear her hair out.

  The door leading to the baggage claim was the exit point, and there was no getting back into the terminal now so she could find lost and found. Her cell phone was gone along with the bag. Ugh. She would just have to wait until she made it home to start making phone calls to cancel everything.

  She approached an attendant pulling lone bags from the next carousel over, not knowing what else to do. Thankfully, he took down her information and told her he would take it straight to the lost-and-found desk for her.

  She prayed some good Samaritan would get it to security so she could get it back. Hopefully one of her parents would be home to pay for the cab ride.

  She exited through the sliding glass doors and was heading to the cab line when two men in sunglasses blocked her path. Both were wearing expensive suits in a light tan, almost white color. They looked like models on their way to a photo shoot.

  “Excuse me, ma’am. We need to speak with you for a moment,” said the one with light brown hair as he removed his sunglasses.

  “What? What about?” She tried to continue around them, toward the taxi line, but they moved with her.

  “We just need to ask you a couple of questions,” he said.

  “Why don’t you just step over here near our car, away from the door,” said the other man. He was serious-looking and had black hair and dark skin. He gestured in the direction of the curb where a chic white limo was parked.

  Hair stood up on the back of her neck. Her immediate thought was that she was not about to get anywhere near their car no matter what it was. She backed away from it in the opposite direction, to the side of the building, which looked safer. At least now the stream of people coming out were between her and the limo. But it was slow going with both a suitcase and carry-on in her hands. The men followed her closely. The dark one started to put a hand on her arm and she yanked it away.

  “Who are you guys?” she demanded. “You don’t look like cops.”

  “No, ma’am, we’re not,” said the first one, smiling. He had a gentle expression about his hazel eyes. “We just need to speak with you for a minute. It’s not a big deal I’m sure,” he said, giving his cohort a stern look.

  The dark-haired man folded his arms across his chest. She decided to call him Number Two.

  Both of them were quite tall and, standing in front of her, they blocked her view of the people coming out of the terminal. She felt her neck tighten with worry. What kinds of questions could they possibly have for her?

  “We really don’t want to take up too much of your time, ma’am,” Hazel Eyes continued. “You see, we work as bodyguards for a very important man. Anytime there is a threat against him we look into it to ensure there’s no real malice behind it.”

  She gaped at them for a moment. “But…you must have the wrong person. I haven’t threatened anyone.”

  Number Two removed a notepad from his pocket. “Is your name Raine Daniels?”

  She frowned. “Yes…but, how did you know that?” Were they with homeland sec
urity maybe? Some kind of secret branch?

  Instead of answering, he glanced at his notepad and continued, “Did you make the following statement not an hour ago? ‘He’s probably sitting somewhere on his lazy ass slacking off on his job. I tell you, if I ever meet him, I’m going to give it to him. And then I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.’” He looked back up at her, one brow lifting over the edge of his sunglasses.

  Astonishment froze her in place. How could they have possibly heard her say that? She’d been on the airplane for crying out loud. Shaking her head, she said, “There must be some kind of mistake. I don’t have a clue how you heard me say that. And I don’t know who you think I was talking about, but it definitely was not…not…whoever you seem to think I was ‘threatening,’” she said, using air quotes. “I was having a casual conversation with someone on the plane about Cupid. You know, the ancient god?”

  “Exactly, ma’am.” Hazel Eyes nodded.

  “What did you have in mind when you said ‘give it to him’?” asked Number Two.

  She could only blink at them. Was this a joke? Would laughter possibly be appropriate at this point? But no, they looked serious.

  Suddenly a hand patted Number Two’s shoulder.

  “Are we ready to be off?” said a familiar voice.

  The two bodyguards turned to greet him. The him being Alexander. Relief flooded through her.

  Alexander had a bag slung over one shoulder. Almost like a long duffel. In his other hand, he held a Louis Vuitton suitcase. The two men relieved him of his burden right away.

  “We meet again,” he said to Raine. “I see you’ve met my drivers.”

  “Your drivers?”

  “Well, they do a bit more than drive. This is Cole,” he said, motioning to Hazel Eyes, “and Donovan,” he said with a nod at Number Two. He paused for a moment while Donovan leaned in to mutter something in his ear. Alexander grinned, looking from Raine back to Donovan, and said, “No, no she’s fine. You boys can let this one go.” He waved them away, and they headed off to the limo with his bags.