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“Oh.”
The surprise in his voice was a natural reaction, but he had to force himself to do it. He felt like a complete jerk about it, but he was trying to ignore the way his heart lifted at the news she wasn’t engaged. She was single.
Yeah, he was a jerk.
“Sounds like a moron to me,” Holden said.
Had that actually slipped out? Oops.
The look she tossed him told him the words surprised her too. But she let him off the hook by not addressing it.
“I guess I can’t be too mad,” she said. “They’d been friends since childhood. They grew up in the same town, and she’s worked for his parents since high school. He always had a crush on her, but she didn’t realize how she felt about him until he got engaged to someone else.”
“And after proposing to you, he chose another woman? That doesn’t make sense.” He shook his head, staring past her at the pitch-black night sky outside the window. “I’ve only proposed to a woman once, but I didn’t look at another woman from that point on.”
She was still staring at him, and he realized his words likely had her assuming he was married. Probably for the best. She was hardly in the mood to be romanced right now, anyway. In fact, if he were her, he probably wouldn’t date for at least a year, maybe longer.
“Yeah, well not all guys are good ones,” she said with a sigh. Then she thrust her hand toward him. “I’m Faith.”
He stared down at her hand. Shaking hands seemed too impersonal, but what was he going to do? Hug her? Kiss her?
Yes, he’d definitely like to kiss her.
“Holden,” he said, sliding his hand into hers.
At first contact, something unexpected happened. A jolt of electricity shot through him, and he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. Yes, this was definitely next-level attraction. Was she feeling it too?
She quickly averted her gaze and pulled her hand away. That answered his question. Luckily, the flight attendant was finishing up with the row ahead of them. An awkward silence fell over them as they waited, and he worried she’d go back to pretending to read her book. But instead, she watched the flight attendant hand a plastic cup of wine to the woman seated in front of him.
Maybe he should offer to buy this woman a drink. That’d be the nice thing to do. He’d never been much of a drinker himself, and having a daughter made him even less interested in the stuff, but a drink could be just what the woman beside him needed.
“You know what I could really go for?” Faith said as the flight attendant rolled her cart toward them and handed each of them a small square napkin. “A diet soda. Do you have that? I never drink soda anymore. I know it’s bad for me, but I’ve had a rough day.”
Holden wasn’t sure how long he sat there, staring at the woman, jaw gaping. He’d expected hard liquor with the first part of that statement, but diet soda was her indulgence? This woman was getting more intriguing by the second.
The flight attendant smiled down at her. “Sure do.”
She named four different types of diet soda, and Faith thought about it a few extra seconds before finally deciding. She chose the last of the four that had been named.
“You know what?” he asked when the flight attendant turned to him. “I’ll take a soda too, but not diet.”
He named the sugary version of her diet one, and the flight attendant poured both. Meanwhile, they lowered their trays.
“You probably think I’m a weirdo,” she said. “Sitting here, crying over a broken engagement and consoling myself with a sugar-free carbonated beverage.”
He shook his head. “Sounds like my kind of woman.”
Whoa. Slow down, buddy. What was he saying?
He rushed to clarify. “My idea of a fun Friday night is watching an animated movie and sharing a bowl of popcorn on the sofa with my daughter.”
He had to add that last part because watching animated movies on a Friday night sounded strange without the daughter part of it.
“You’re a dad?” she asked. There was no mistaking the respect in her tone. “How many kids?”
“Just one,” he said. “She’s eight.”
He didn’t miss the way her stare quickly flashed to his left hand, which was settling the napkin under his drink. Nope. No wedding ring. He’d taken it off the day they signed the divorce papers.
