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“Spider?” I heard a voice say from behind me.
When I turned around, I didn’t recognize the woman who’d said it. “Hi,” I said, hoping she’d tell me her name or at least how she knew me.
“You don’t recognize me, do you?” she asked.
“Sorry. Too many skiing accidents involving head injuries, I guess. Remind me your name?”
“Danielle Sweeney. My mom is Susan Sweeney.”
I still couldn’t place the name.
“Leopard?”
“Oh. Wow. You’re Leopard’s daughter? It’s, uh, nice to see you.” I couldn’t remember the last time I saw her mom, and I sure couldn’t remember ever meeting Danielle. “Um, tell your mom I said hey.”
The young woman—who I now realized couldn’t be out of her teens—left, and when I turned around, Calla was grinning, arms folded. She shook her head.
“What?”
“You don’t remember me, do you?” she mimicked.
“I haven’t skied competitively in years.” I counted on my fingers. “And it’s probably been at least twelve since I last saw Leopard, err, Susan. How old would you guess Danielle was at the time? Three or four, tops? Probably younger.”
“And yet she remembers you.”
“To be fair, you’d just said my name, and the kid probably saw photos of me from back in the day, given her mom and I were on the ski team together.”
“Were you in a relationship with her mother?”
I put my arm on the back of her barstool and leaned closer so my mouth was next to her ear. “Why do you ask, sweetheart?” When she didn’t respond, I inhaled her scent. “Damn, you smell good.”
Calla’s breath hitched, and I could see her nipples pebble under her tight sweater. When she turned her head and faced me, she was so near if I got another couple of inches closer, I could kiss her.
“I missed you,” I blurted before I had the chance to talk myself out of it. I closed the distance between us halfway to see what she’d do, and was stunned when she met me in the middle.
“I missed you too,” she whispered before her lips brushed mine.
“If we weren’t in the middle of a crowded bar in an equally crowded airport, I would kiss the hell out of you, sweetheart.”
Calla leaned in again, this time pressing her tongue against my lips. I opened them to her. While brief, our kiss held more promise than I’d expected. Truth be told, I’d anticipated spending tonight and tomorrow stuck firmly in the friend zone. I’d refrain from getting my hopes up, though. Maybe once we were in Austin, that was exactly where I’d land.
We each had another drink,then went to the gate. We were only there for a few minutes when I heard our names called. “I’ll go,” I said, walking up to the desk.
“Mr. Vaughn?”
“That’s me.”
“I wanted to let you know you’ve been upgraded to first class.”
I groaned. “I have been? Why?”
“I can’t say.”
“What about Calla Rey? She and I are traveling together.”
“She has been as well. You’re in seats 3E and 3F.”
The woman handed me the new boarding passes.
