Two Little Secrets. Linda Wisdom Randall

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      Chapter One

      People were not meant to fly.

      The previous day, Ginna had been scrubbed with sea salt, waxed, exfoliated, massaged, moisturized, moussed and polished. Her skin glowed and felt smooth as silk. Thanks to her co-workers’ efforts, she was sent off to have the time of her life.

      If only she didn’t have to fly to achieve it.

      Ginna Walker was known to be fearless. With three brothers, she’d had to be. Over time, she’d handled snakes, lizards and even a scorpion named Ralph.

      But when it came to walking into a large cylinder that a human and computers navigated through the air, she didn’t do as well. If it hadn’t been so expensive, she would have opted for a cruise.

      Except the movie Titanic stayed with her much too long.

      So she’d armed herself with motion-sickness medication, a couple of paperback novels and a positive attitude to get her over the Pacific Ocean.

      She made her way down the aisle to her seat. She pushed her carry-on bag into the overhead compartment, then settled herself in the window seat assigned to her. She opened her book and pretended not to hear the jet engines warming up or feel the faint rumble under her feet.

      “Excuse me, I’m afraid you’re sitting in my seat.”

      She looked up into a pair of brown eyes that rivaled Casper’s, her German shepherd’s.

      “I don’t think so.”

      He didn’t move. “I do think so. You’re in my seat.”

      She looked up at him, refusing to back down.

      “This is seat 15C and my ticket reads 15C.” She pulled her ticket out of her bag and showed it to him.

      As if not to be outdone, he brandished a ticket with the same seat number printed on it.

      She glanced at his ticket and smiled. “Amazing, my ticket says the same thing. Besides, haven’t you ever heard of possession being nine-tenths of the law and all that?”

      “I guess we’ll need a third party to figure this one out,” he said, pushing the call button.

      The flight attendant was warm and helpful as she took both tickets to investigate. When she returned, she was equally apologetic.

      “I’m very sorry, Mr. Stone, but somehow the same seat assignment was made for both of you,” she told him. “As Ms. Walker’s ticket was purchased first…” Her voice fell off. “I’m afraid we have no more window seats. In fact, we’re full except for the middle and aisle seat here.”

      He nodded. “That’s fine with me.”

      She handed them back their tickets and went about her duties.

      “Sorry about that. I’m Zach Stone.” He held out his hand.

      “Ginna Walker.” She felt his warm palm slide across hers.

      Not bad at all. She judged him to be a couple of inches over six feet and nice-looking, with dark-blond hair she knew would lighten under the Hawaiian sun. It needed a good shaping, her keen hairdresser eye noticed. Soft yellow polo shirt, khaki-colored pants. A pair of glasses stuck out of his shirt pocket.

      Maybe the flight won’t be so bad, after all.

      All the way to the airport, Zach had busied himself with instructions for Lucie about the twins. His sister looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.

      Which he had. He was leaving his precious babies with his sister and her son, a child who aspired to be number one on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.

      “Nothing is going to happen to the twins,” Lucie had said firmly, steering him through the security checkpoint and toward the gate. She held on to him as if she feared he would bolt in the opposite direction. “Emma always knows when Nick is trying to con her and she keeps Trey out of trouble. You just enjoy your vacation. And remember what I told you. For the next two weeks, no mention of your kids. You’re a single man out for relaxation. That’s it. And if you get lucky—” she paused “—I packed what you’ll need in your shaving kit.”

      Zach groaned. He really should have made a run for it, but he knew his bloodhound of a sister would only drag him back. The woman was relentless.

      He dropped into the aisle seat and adjusted his seat belt. He wouldn’t be surprised if Lucie had stationed herself by the door, prepared to stand there until the plane left the ground. With him in it.

      An exotic fragrance he couldn’t hope to name floated from his seatmate. Nothing overpowering but enough to tempt the senses. The lady was ready for her vacation in the islands in a short black knit skirt that bared a pleasant amount of leg and a blue silky top that stopped a couple of inches short of the skirt’s waistband. Brown hair that shone with gold and coppery highlights was pulled up and back in a curly ponytail that cascaded down her back. The eyes that watched him were a startling shade of blue. They were large and liquid, meant to captivate a man. Her voice held a husky note that was equally enthralling. Zach, the kid, would have stuttered his way through an introduction. Zach, the man, almost swallowed his tongue.

      Maybe this vacation won’t be so bad, after all.

      Since his seatmate was engrossed in her book, Zach opened the book he’d brought with him. With Lucie so insistent on his finding some romance in the islands, he wasn’t about to allow her to choose his reading material.

      As they took off, he glanced out the corner of his eye and noticed her knuckles were white as she gripped the book.

      “Flying’s СКАЧАТЬ