Girl on a Plane: A sexy, sassy, holiday read. Cassandra O’Leary

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      He shoved past people and tripped over a table. He groaned, the air whooshing out of him.

       Shit, shit, shit.

      He looked up, and there she was. Finally. Sprawled across the floor on her front, half propped-up on her elbows. Looking lost and scared. He skidded to her side and dropped to a crouch.

      “Gabriel? Is everyone freaking out because I can’t sing and I fell off the stage?” Her voice was tiny.

      “Of course not! Are you hurt?” He pushed her hair back from her face and cradled her head in his hands. She looked beautiful, but too fragile.

      “No, I’m okay.

      She was okay. He breathed a sigh of relief.

      She sat up, still resting against him. “I didn’t see what happened. What’s going on?”

      “It’s the typhoon. The windows shattered and the bar’s flooding. We need to get out of here.”

      He wrapped an arm around her waist, loving her softness, having her close. Heat prickled across his skin. She hooked her arm through his as he helped her slowly stand. His hand squeezed tighter, holding her steady.

      She winced. “Ow, my knee.” Bending, she rubbed the sore spot.

      “Hurt?”

      “Bruised, or sprained. I’ll survive.”

      He nodded. An emergency siren sounded. The woop-woop noise nearly split his ear-drums and didn’t help his damn headache. His whole skull vibrated with the clanging. He grasped his forehead with both hands.

      “Are you all right? What happened to you?” Sinead tilted her chin up, still holding onto his arm.

      “It’s a migraine. I get bad ones sometimes.” This wasn’t how he imagined things going, but he had to try. “It’s a big ask, but I might need to share your suite after all.”

      Sinead dropped her hand from his arm like he’d zapped her with electricity. Not the good, panty-melting kind. The drop your hairdryer in the bathtub kind. The shock could kill you.

      God, she was stupid. Of course it was the bed he really wanted. Most likely he wanted to shag her and then steal her room.

       Migraine, my arse.

      She stepped back a pace and yelped when her knee throbbed, and a shot of searing pain zipped up her leg.

      He stared at her, face crumpling like a balled-up tissue. “Sinead? Did you hear what I said? I’m seriously about to fall flat on my face.”

      What to do? Screams and shouts rang out around them, standing still as statues while the crowd flowed around them. People were skedaddling, that was for sure.

      A puddle of water formed around her feet and she sploshed as she shifted her feet. She breathed in deep and caught a strange whiff of ozone. Jesus, Gabriel was right about one thing. The storm was barging in, flood water heading their way.

      It was like a scene from Titanic: some people losing their marbles and others fleeing and pushing others out of the way. Only she wasn’t buying Gabriel in the role of Jack. Not selfless enough.

      Locking her fingers together in front of her, she told it to him straight. Kind of. “I’ll need a hand getting upstairs. Then we’ll see about getting you settled.”

      It was the truth as far as it went. She didn’t mention the part about him not having a hope in hell of getting into her bed.

      He moved close to her body. She could’ve purred and rubbed against him like a cat. But that would be bad. A bad, bad idea. She couldn’t remember why, or much of anything, when he wrapped his arm around her waist. She could feel muscles on his muscles, for goodness sake.

      He spoke low and deep in her ear. “Here, lean on me.”

      She’d flake out at his feet if he kept that up. Her mind went places she wasn’t supposed to be interested in. Gabriel talking low and dirty in her ear, naked and hovering over her, kissing her deep and slow, waiting for her to …

      “Are you coming, or not?” He squinted and sounded puzzled. The question nearly had her laughing, except it wasn’t funny at all.

      So she hadn’t had a boyfriend for a year. Not even a man to hold her hand or put his arm around her. There was no need to become a quivery mess, a volcano filled with molten lava, ready to blow at the slightest touch.

      Nope, no need at all.

      She let him lead her across the bar, their footsteps falling in sync. He was going slow, helping her balance. Her knee throbbed like it was huge and red. It was hard to see in the low light. Glass crunched underfoot and she sloshed through water to her ankles – her little boots would be ruined.

       Stupid thoughts. Stupid boots.

      They reached the side exit, where a long line of people were jostling and shoving, trying to get out. A man near her staggered into her shoulder. She glanced up and she nearly lost her dinner. Oh, no. He was bleeding from a great gash in his head, red rivers down his face and droplets on his shirt.

      Gabriel tugged her towards him. “Let’s go, right now. Are you with me?”

      Was she with him? It was a good question. One she didn’t have time to ponder as he yanked her arm and pulled her behind him into the hotel foyer. It was like a transplanted refugee camp right off the evening news. Hotel staff in black uniforms handed out pillows from huge trolleys, stacked high. Blankets and air-bed mattresses too. Emergency services were just arriving, pushing through the front doors with stretchers.

      Gaze skimming the open area, she took in the families, small children huddled on the floor wrapped in blankets, more than a hundred people altogether. The hotel foyer was dripping with opulence, plush carpets and marble staircases, chandeliers and all. Now it was oddly practical and hospital-like. People with bandages around their limbs, a makeshift first-aid area near the reception desk.

      She must have gasped, because Gabriel spoke all reassuring and hot in her ear again. He squeezed her waist, making her skin tingle through her silk shirt. That was one way to get her mind off the chaos.

      Glancing at her, then to the crowd near reception, he rubbed her back. Up and down. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”

      She shivered under his touch and hoped her reaction wasn’t obvious. “I know, it’s bad though. All these people. I hope no one’s stuck outside in the storm.”

      Their heads swung to the full-length windows facing the street. Staff were taping them with sheets of cardboard. It probably wouldn’t make a lick of difference. Through the uncovered panes of glass was a torrential downpour the likes of which she’d never seen. As if a hundred high-pressure fire hoses exploded and rained down on the hotel from all directions.

      With a tug on her upper arm, Gabriel pulled her with him, towards a bank of elevators. Her knee twinged as she struggled to keep up. Gabriel stormed ahead of her. She frowned and stopped to catch her breath. “Hey, weren’t you supposed to be helping me along?”

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