Chance Encounters

“Of course,” he stated, both confident and sexy.

“Will you think about me?” She played with fire, but thought if he felt the same, then maybe it would make it all less wrong somehow.

“Of course I’ll think about you. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“Well, it’s a wedding. Lots of single girls, I’m sure. You’ll probably have a slew of new fans before the day is over.” She tried to act cool and nonchalant, but deep down she wanted to be the girl who was different—the one who made a guy do things he’d never normally do, behave in ways he’d never behaved, because he met her, or had to have her.

“You’re probably right,” he joked.

Pangs of disappointment darted through her body as she faked a smile.

The plane started to lose altitude slowly and that could only mean one thing. “I’ve been dreading that feeling,” he confessed, interlocking his fingers with hers.

“What feeling?” she wondered, keenly aware of his touch.

“We’re going to be landing soon. I don’t want this flight to be over.” He rubbed her fingers with his thumb.

She was aware of the moisture that started to fill her eyes and she blinked quickly to keep her emotions at bay. “I don’t want to go,” she said and then quickly buried her head into his chest.

“Me either,” he said, and she knew he meant it.

“I don’t want to let go.” Caroline refused to unwrap her hands from his body.

He smiled. “I know exactly what you mean.”

She felt his grip tighten slightly and she took a slow, deep breath before closing her eyes, completely consumed in him. Her heart hurt and she wondered why and how this stranger could affect her this strongly in such a short amount of time.

“I can’t believe this is it.” She lost herself for a moment in the blue of his eyes. She stared deeply into them as every thought she didn’t dare say aloud floated around in her mind. Like how much she wished she could leave with him. How she wanted to see him again before he left town. How desperately she wanted to kiss those full, gorgeous, soft-looking lips. How she couldn’t believe she had to let him go and walk away as though they’d never met.

“I think I’m really going to miss you,” he said, his voice half surprised so it came out weird.

She rolled her eyes. “Wow. That was sweet,” she said, her voice dripping with teasing sarcasm.

She wanted to grab him by the back of the neck and crush her lips against his. The way his lips moved when he spoke tempted her. Everything tempted her. He leaned close to her face and softly kissed her cheek. The brush of his lips against her cheek made her feel flushed. When he pulled away, the heat still lingered. She struggled to catch her breath.

“And hey,” he said softly as he tilted her chin up. “I won’t cheat on you this weekend.”

“What?” Completely lost in his touch, she had no idea what he meant.

He laughed. “At the wedding. The other girls. Don’t worry, babe. None of them will be you.”

Her mouth fell open slightly and she didn’t respond.

“By the way, this has been the best flight of my life,” he confessed to her with a smile, as the plane landed with a few bumps on the runway.

Caroline looked out the small, dirty window at the city in the distance before she turned back to him. “Me too. I can’t believe I have to let you walk away.” She believed people came into her life for a reason and although she wasn’t entirely sure what his purpose was, she knew she had never had feelings like this for a stranger before. She didn’t want to let him go, but knew she had to. Letting him go felt wrong somehow, but what other option did she have?

“Bye, you guys,” the teenager said, before heading out with the rest of his group. “By the way, you two are a really nice couple.”

“Aww, thanks. See ya!” Caroline said to him cheerfully, and then realized they never exchanged names. None of them had.

“Oh my gosh.” She looked at her handsome stranger and said, “I don’t even know your name!”

“I guess we never really got that far, did we?”

“We kind of skipped all that. I’m Caroline.”

He looked at her, his eyes filled with warmth as he extended his hand. “Jax.”