Indigo Nights (Nights #3)(12)

I wanted to ask her if she’d seen Beth, but knew how desperate that sounded. “No. Thank you.”

I tried to busy myself scrolling through the email on my phone, but before I knew it, we were being called for boarding. At least I’d see her on the plane. An exchange of numbers wouldn’t be so private with the cabin crew gawking at us, but it would have to do.

I strode to the gate, on the way checking travelers, scanning faces. She’d probably just wanted to take her time to get ready. Not that she needed to. She’d looked pretty close to perfect when I’d last seen her—her silky hair mussed up, her lips well kissed, but I could understand if she hadn’t wanted to travel with “I just got f*cked” tattooed on her forehead. I grinned again.

I headed straight to the desk and down the ramp to the plane. I glanced down at my ticket. As I’d thought, 8A. They hadn’t changed the seating. Good. I didn’t want her far from me.

Jesus, Dylan, what are you thinking? She was a good lay. Calm down.

But I was anything but calm. I wanted to see her. I wanted to know more about her. Who might be calling her? Why was she going to London? Had she grown up in Chicago? All of a sudden, I had too many questions. Perhaps on the plane we could sit at the bar and just talk. I wanted to get to know her, which was unusual.

I turned left as I entered the plane.

“Good morning, Mr. James.”

I didn’t glance at whoever spoke. It was a man, which meant it wasn’t Beth and therefore I wasn’t interested.

There were passengers in front of me, so I craned my neck to see if she was already in her seat. The sides of each seat were too high to get a proper look. As I got closer to my seat, I saw hers. Empty. I spun to see if she was behind me.

“Champagne, sir?” A blonde flight attendant held out a glass.

I shook my head. “No. Are we all assigned to the same seats as yesterday?”

The flight attendant squinted at me. “Yes sir, you’re still in 8A.”

“And everyone else? They’re all in the same seats?”

“Umm. Yes, I think so. There may have been some changes in economy, why—”

“Okay, thanks.” I stripped off my jacket and she took it from me.

I kept one eye on the people trailing in. The cabin was pretty full already. The seat next to mine remained empty. I took out my laptop and notebook from my carry-on luggage and slid my case into the overhead compartment.

Damn. She still wasn’t here. I checked my watch. I should have taken her number before she left my hotel room. I could get them to hold the plane if she was running a little late.

I took my seat. What would I say when I saw her? I’d just keep it casual.

The slamming of doors caught my attention and the crew began to round the cabin, collecting empty glasses. Where was she?

An announcement asked for all mobile phones to be switched off. She must have had her seat reassigned.

“Excuse me.” I caught the blonde as she walked by.

She smiled. “How can I help you, sir?”

“You said the seat allocation had remained the same.” Something gnawed in my gut. “But there was a young woman sitting next to me yesterday.”

The flight attendant frowned. “Oh, yes. I think there was.”

“So, where is she?” I was impatient and it was beginning to show.

“Let me check, sir.” The blonde scurried away.

It would be inconvenient if she’d been assigned to a seat farther away. I couldn’t recall whether there was a first class section upstairs on this flight. I would be really irritated if she was there when she could be next to me. I set my phone and my laptop to flight mode. When I glanced up, the blonde was heading my way.

She leaned toward me. “Sir, she didn’t check in. She’s not flying with us today.”

What. The. Fuck?

I nodded curtly and fixed my stare on my laptop, trying to get a handle on myself.

Where was she? Had she fallen asleep? Was she embarrassed by the way I’d made her scream and decided that she couldn’t face me?

Jesus, I was furious. With myself for not having made sure I had a way of contacting Beth, and with her for not checking the f*ck in. What had happened? Beth f*cking Harrison had got in my head; that was what had happened. And women didn’t get in my head. Not since . . .

Well, not since a long time ago and it wasn’t supposed to happen again.





Beth

I couldn’t stop grinning as I closed my hotel room door behind me, my thoughts fuzzy and my body deliciously sore. I needed to snap to attention and get my ass down to check-in. My shower would have to be a short one.

I grabbed my purse on my way to the bathroom, rifling through it to find my phone. I tried to unlock it single-handedly as I switched on the shower.

Seven missed calls? Shit. What had happened?

I stepped back from the shower and put my voice mail on speaker as I began to undress. I was going to have to multitask to make the flight.

The voice of my dad’s second wife, Marissa, came through the speaker. She sounded muffled. The words heart attack caught my attention like a blade scratching over glass and I froze.

Heart attack? Another one? Quickly, I started to dress, grabbed my phone and headed back into the bedroom, glancing around to see what I needed to gather. The message ended and the next one was from my brother, Jake, asking where I was. Fuck. Luckily I hadn’t unpacked. I grabbed my case and raced down to the lobby.