“Hey!” Jarik interrupted. He passed a cup of coffee to her. “Maria, why don’t you do a cursory check of the plane while I talk to the mechanic and see if we can’t figure something out.”
She opened her mouth to argue but just growled and snatched her coffee careful to keep from spilling it. After she’d stomped off, the mechanic gave him a grateful look. “Thank you,” he muttered. “She’s very difficult to talk to.”
“Look, I know that you have a schedule that you feel obligated to keep, but we both have places that we need to be. I’m sure that, with the right incentive, you can find a way to make her plane a priority and still keep your schedule.” To make his point, Jarik pulled out his wallet.
The mechanic took one look at the incentive that Jarik offered him and immediately nodded. “I’ll have you up in the air in two hours, but please keep her out of my way.”
“Done.” They shook hands, and Jarik went to tell Maria the good news. She planted her hands on her hips and glared suspiciously at him.
“He changed his mind? Just like that?”
Jarik tried to smile charmingly. “I can be very persuasive.”
“How much did you pay him?”
“Do you want to leave this evening or now?”
Sighing, she sipped her coffee. “Fine. Deduct it from the amount that you owe me. So what do you want to do for the next couple of hours?”
All kinds of erotic images popped in his head, and he tried to keep them to himself, but she must have seen the desire in his face. Narrowing her eyes, she pushed past him and climbed from the plane. “You can find a way to entertain yourself for a couple of hours. If you’re not back in time, I’m leaving without you.”
Catching up with her easily, he fell in step next to her. He still felt unsure about letting her wander on her own. “There are quite a few shops near the airport all decked out for Christmas. Think maybe we can find a few more teddy bears to take with us?”
Maria snorted. “I thought you hated Christmas.”
Shrugging his shoulders, “Just because I don’t care for it doesn’t mean others can’t enjoy it.”
She turned to look at him; he could have sworn she was trying to look into his soul, the way she stared at him. Taking a noisy sip from her cup, he watched her eyes start to twinkle with amusement. “Trying to distract me with toys?”
“Is it working?”
Looking up at him, she shook her head and smiled. “I’m not usually the kind of woman to be distracted by shopping, but toys? Count me in.”
Even with the pressure weighing down on his shoulders, he couldn’t help but feel good about indulging her and distracting her. A strange peace settled over her face when she filled up her cart with toys and goodies, and he couldn’t miss the sideways glances she gave him or the looks she stole around the aisles.
Nor could he resist stealing them in return.
There were so many different layers to her. There was the fiery side that wouldn’t let anything get in her way and the raw fear that she wouldn’t be able to help those in need. Here, he could see the innocence of a woman experiencing pure joy. Jarik wanted to continue to peel those layers back until he found the very center of her.
Her laughter filtered around the corner, and he leaned against the wall as he watched her flipping through a children’s book. The urge to touch her was overwhelming. Before he could analyze the insanity of his choice, he pushed himself off the wall and grabbed her around her waist. She gasped but didn’t fight him.
Lowering his head, he pressed his lips to hers and released all the pent up desire he’d kept locked away. Maybe she was too surprised to push away, or maybe she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her, but she melted against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. His kiss was almost desperate and entirely too hot to be public appropriate, but he didn’t care. She tasted of coffee and sugar, and if she’d let him, he’d pick her up, push her against the wall, and slide his fingers inside her until she surrendered herself to him completely.
“Mine,” he growled as he pulled away and tangled his fingers in her hair.
The word slipped out before he could stop it, and it immediately erected a wall between them. Maria stepped back and stared at him.
“Wait,” he said hoarsely as he stepped toward her, but she put her hands up to stop him.
“I am going to pretend that you didn’t just say that, that we didn’t just do that. I’m going to purchase the toys and load the plane. You can buy us some lunch for later and meet me out there,” she said in a low voice. He could tell that arguing with her would be fruitless, so he nodded his head and watched as she clutched the handle on her cart and headed to the register.
“Damn,” he whispered. There was no way that he was going to let her go. Not after that kiss, but it was clear that he had his work cut out for him.
That was okay. Jarik was up for the challenge.
6
Maria wasn’t great with ignoring issues, but she wasn’t even about to touch the kiss in the toy store.