Only You
Colette Davidson
Chapter One
Tyler
How did I get here?
Via meddling family and well-meaning friends, that’s how. Why hasn’t anybody invented teleportation yet? Having your molecules disassembled, transported thousands of miles, and reassembled must be safer than getting in a giant tin can that looks too big and heavy to fly. My heart is racing. My breathing is ragged and, oh god, my flight is boarding. I can’t do this. I don’t care how much I want to be in New York. Ican’tget on this plane. I can’t get onanyplane.
Gripping my passport and boarding pass tightly in my shaking hand, I do a one-eighty and stride away from the queue, right into a sturdy chest. It’s a wonder we didn’t bash heads too. I’m bounced backward, stumbling. The man I knocked into grabs my wrist, preventing me from falling.
“Whoa. Are you okay?” He has a thick, fast-paced American accent.
“Oh, god, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—” I can’t decide if I’m tongue-tied because I collided with him, or because he’s gorgeous.
Thirty-something, thick, black glasses, dark eyes and hair, a tidy beard, and a trim physique. Be still, my heart. He’s handsome enough to take my mind off boarding for about half a second.
“I’ve got to go,” I say.
He raises his eyebrows. “Go? Isn’t this your flight?”
I glance over my shoulder. The queue of people is gradually going down as their passports are checked and they’re allowed through to the sky bridge that leads directly onto the plane.
“No. Well, yes. But I can’t.” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. It doesn’t help.
“You can’t get on the plane?” He seems genuinely surprised.
Which is probably better than pissed off. If I run away, the flight will be delayed because they’ll have to remove my luggage from the cargo hold.
“I—” My mouth is dry. “Please let me go,” I whisper.
He releases my wrist.
“Thank you.”
“Hold on a second.”
I stare at him.
“Why can’t you get on the plane?”
“I’m terrified of flying,” I squeak. “This was a mistake. A big mistake.” I widen my eyes. “A whopping mistake. I’ve never been on a plane.” I tug my hand through my hair, which is longer and shorter than his, while still being above collar length, barely.
He touches the pulse point on my wrist. “Take a deep breath.” His voice is deep, calm, and soothing enough to trigger my submissive side.
I obey, filling my lungs with oxygen.
“And another.”
I inhale again, allowing my chest to expand. The oxygen rushes around my body, making my head spin a little less and my extremities less tingly.
“Better?”
“A little, yes, thank you.”
“Where are you heading?” he asks.
