“I didn’t think a short flight would bother me.”
“When did that happen?”
“About…six years ago. I was on my way to a competition with my team. Landing gear failed. No one died or anything. We just got banged up.”
The plane hit an air pocket, lifted, then fell, leaving Noah’s stomach in his throat for a millisecond. Julia’s body tightened like a taut rubber band, and a soft curse floated from her lips.
“Just turbulence,” he murmured.
She relaxed a little. The floral scent of her hair lifted to his nose, and the heat of her body infused his. Noah closed his eyes to soak in this rare sliver of intimacy. His craving for her had grown to insane levels over the past few weeks. Their one night of deliriously great sex had only primed him for more, and he spent every free moment fantasizing about all the things he still wanted to do with her. But when he woke in the night, it was the thought of her lying next to him, the fantasy of her head on his shoulder, that helped him drift back to sleep.
“What’s got you so twisted you need to track down the surgeon who fixed my ankle?” he asked, hoping a change of subject would help her anxiety.
“Your orthopedist just seemed evasive to me. Every time I brought up the procedure, he deferred to the surgeon, who, conveniently, is difficult to get ahold of. And I’m never thrilled about any prototype. Especially one I can’t find in-depth studies on.”
His mind drifted to the appointment that morning. To all the questions Julia peppered the orthopedist with. To the man’s growing impatience with Julia’s prodding. “He’s not used to people asking questions. His clients are a list of who’s who with great success stories. At some point, I guess you get so good at what you do, your word is accepted verbatim.”
She made a negative sound. “He’s not used to people asking questions he can’t answer. He’s not used to people knowing what he’s talking about. And his reluctance—or ignorance, I haven’t decided which yet—gives me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.”
He chuckled to lighten the mood. “Are you sure that’s not the plane ride?”
“Had it five minutes after we walked into his office today. It’s not the plane.”
They finally leveled into a smooth glide, and Julia pulled away far too soon for Noah, definitely a new sensation. One night with a woman had always been enough. More than enough. But Julia had changed that. He was beginning to fear Julia had changed everything.
She was pale, her eyes dark with stress, but she turned to Noah. “Can you get the laptop for me? I was reading a paper about the screws he used.”
He unbuckled, but before he could get up, the flight attendant was standing in their row, drawing the laptop from the overhead, and offering it to Noah. He thanked her and slid it over to Julia.
“What kind of competition were you headed to when the plane crashed?”
“Swimming,” she said, distracted now that she’d opened the laptop.
“That explains the sexy shoulders. I’m surprised you didn’t ask me to open the pool.”
“It’s heated?” Her gaze pulled from the computer screen and really focused on his face for the first time all day.
“Whoa. Look at you perk up at the mention of a pool.” That earned him one of her sweet smiles. “Yes, it’s heated. I’ll open it when we get home if you want.” And wasn’t that weird, referring to his house as their home. Weird and somehow…right.
“I probably won’t have time to use it,” she said. “But thanks.”
“What’s your stroke?” he asked.
She refocused on the computer. “Butterfly, once upon a time. Now I just stick with freestyle.”
“Why’d it change?”
“Shoulder injury.”
“Is that why you became a physical therapist?”
“Yep.”
And then silence again as she read. Annoyance niggled along the back of his neck. He didn’t appreciate a woman who talked endlessly about the minutia of life, but he didn’t like having to be the one keeping a conversation alive either.
“Hi, Noah.”
The young female voice surprised him. He turned toward the aisle and found eight-year-old Hailey Belmonte standing there at eye level. “Hailey!” He unsnapped his seat belt and tugged her into his arms for a hug. “Almost didn’t recognize you out of your gear.” He pulled back. “What’s up, girl? Saw you aced the boardercross event in the Catskills last month.”