“That’s me.”
“Somehow it ended up in Miami,” she said, her face tugged in apologetic lines.
“At least it won’t get cold,” Willow deadpanned.
Tina frowned, then smiled uncertainly. “Yes.” Willow listened to the woman go on to explain when it would be sent back and what the procedure would be. She verified Willow’s contact information and droned on about how sorry they we
re for the inconvenience, assuring her that her luggage would be back before she knew it.
Finally Tina was done talking and she headed back to her little office.
Willow sighed, disappointed. It was silly, but she had missed Ethan so much—like, so much—and she had expected him to be eagerly awaiting her return, not late and ignoring her text messages.
Resigned to stay where they’d agreed to meet and scan the crowd until he showed up or the airport detained her for being suspicious—whichever came first, at that point—Willow spun around.
And there he was.
His long beige coat cloaked his firm, muscular frame. He was still wearing his black dress slacks from work, but he’d changed into a sweater, since it was pretty cold outside. He held up a bouquet of roses and waved them slightly.
Willow leapt into his arms, knocking him back a couple of steps as he laughed. The flowers brushed her back as he hugged her close.
“You’re here,” she murmured, nuzzling against his neck.
“Where else would I be?” he asked, giving her another little squeeze before going to pull back.
“Nope,” Willow said, holding on tight. “Few more seconds.”
Ethan chuckled. “It seems like maybe you missed me.”
“What would give you that impression?” she teased, still molded to his body.
“I don’t know if you know this about me, but I’m a detective. The subtlest of clues can’t sneak by me.”
That caused her to pull back and grin at him. “Okay, Velma.”
Dark eyebrows rising, he said, “I’m Velma? There are three males, and I’m Velma?”
“You’d be so cute in glasses,” she said, playfully tweaking his nose.
“I could’ve even been the dog. But I’m Velma.”
Laughing lightly, Willow took a step back and grabbed her carry-on. “They lost my luggage.”
“Bastards. Need me to find it?”
She shook her head, extending the handle so she could drag it. “It’s already been found. In Miami. So… this is all we’ve got.”
“I didn’t plan on us wearing a lot of clothes tonight anyway,” he told her.
“Might be a few days.”
Feigning a pained look, he grasped his heart with his free hand. “Damn.”
Willow smiled and reached for the bouquet of roses. “These are lovely, thank you.”
“I can’t wait to hear all about your trip. I’m gonna need context for some of those texts.”
Willow rolled her eyes, but she wasn’t really annoyed. “Hey, if you would’ve let me call you as much as I wanted, you’d have already heard all about it.”