It's finally happened! After all these months of writing and editing and missing deadlines, One Flight Stand has finally been published to Amazon and is available both for purchase and in Kindle Unlimited.
I'm super excited, and I hope you are too! 😀 Thank you so much for your patience.
So, anyway, to remind you of how it starts, I'm going to put the entire first chapter below the sexy cover. I hope you enjoy it!
Lastly, for some recommendations for other steamy romance novels on the move these days, scroll to the bottom. Because you'll need something between finishing One Flight Stand and my next book. 😉
One Flight Stand: Chapter 1
Andrea
“Felicity! What are you doing over here? I’ve been looking all over for you.”
The boom of a deep voice startles me from my phone screen. A giant man built like a solid brick wall of yum strides my way across the British Airways flight lounge at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport. I glance around, wondering where the mysterious—and probably stupidly gorgeous—Felicity is hiding, but nope, it’s just me. All by my lonesome, the only one at the end of the bar.
But hey, if he wants me to be Felicity for a drink or two, I could give it a go.
I wrap my tongue around the tiny little straw in my drink and take a sip as my eyes trace the way his expertly tailored slacks hug his muscles. It’s a good thing they put too much ice in my drink, because he’s hot in the sort of way that makes my knees weak and my throat parched.
A wavy lock of rich, brown hair hangs over his forehead, just a little too long to be professional, and a little too short for a rock star. He’s maybe thirty years old with an angular jaw framed by a neatly trimmed beard, and his eyes…
So dark they look black, they’re locked onto me with an intensity that has my stomach fluttering hard enough to take off without clearance from the traffic control tower.
I wait for him to realize his mistake, and the closer he gets the more I dread the awkward moment when he figures it out.
But he doesn’t.
Not even when he’s close enough for me to get hit by the full force of his sensual mouth spreading into a sexy smile. Full lips frame his straight, white teeth and a ball of searing heat drops straight into my lap. I don’t have nearly enough ice for this.
When he throws out his arms and wraps them around me, I really should say something, but my brain has just kind of stopped.
Completely.
Mmm, he smells like expensive cologne. Of course he does.
“God, I’ve missed you. I’m so glad you’re here.” He pulls me off my stool and against his chest so hard I have to quickly put my drink down or risk it going everywhere.
“What are you—” I lose track of what I was saying as his hand slides down to the small of my back, settling a hair’s breadth above my ass.
What the hell? As much as I’m kind of liking where I am, I try to push back a little. It’s like trying to move concrete.
“Go with it,” he whispers in my ear. “Please.” He tips his head, leaning closer before he stops, waiting to see what I do. Those lips look incredibly kissable.
Is this a hidden camera show? Now, wouldn’t that piss my mother off?
That’s reason enough right there.
I go for it, wrapping a hand around his neck and pressing my mouth to his. There’s no hesitation as he responds, his lips soft and insistent against my own.
Would tongue be too much?
Oh my God, Andrea, of course it is!
Damn.
He knows what he’s doing, that’s for sure. After the initial shock, I really want to give him the chance to show me exactly how good this kiss could be, because even as chaste as it is, I think my panties just ran off.
It takes several long moments before the surreality of what I’m doing fully sinks in. I’m standing in an airport lounge being kissed by a man I don’t know. My eyes pop open and I stiffen in his arms. The confusing hottie pulls back slowly, his gaze sultry and a playful smile on his lips. Oh yeah, he knows exactly how much I enjoyed that.
So much.
Ugh, focus.
I open my mouth and raise my hands to give him a piece of my mind, but before I get out a word, he presses a finger to my lips.
“Don’t say anything yet, darling. Just let me look at you. You’re even more beautiful than last I saw you.”
Seriously?
Okay, yeah. There have to be cameras hidden somewhere.
“And here I thought you were faking.” It takes a second to realize the annoyed woman standing a few feet away with her hand on her hip is talking to us. Or at least to my surprise boyfriend.
Hottie’s eyes plead with me, as he mouths, “Please”.
My brain finally kicks into gear and I put two and two together. “Th—thank you, uh Pookie.”
Ok, that was lame.
His lip twitches. “It’s only what you deserve, oh jewel of my soul.”
Biting down hard on my lip to keep from laughing, I barely get out, “You’re so sweet, motion of my ocean.”
He almost loses it. His expression is soooo close to cracking, and his chest convulses in suppressed laughter.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake, Monty. Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
Monty? Okay, that I wasn’t expecting. I giggle.
Who is this woman? Aside from someone Monty is obviously desperate to get away from. I’ve played the “cover for me” game enough with my friends while we’re out to know a cry for help when I see one.
This better not be his girlfriend. I don’t mind helping out, but I have no desire to get caught up in some three-way tsunami of jealousy over drama I’m not involved in.
Leaning to the side, I peer past his considerable bulk to get a better look. Who could be bad enough to send a man like this fleeing for his life, into my arms?
She’s a bottle blonde with a forehead so tight it’s shiny, and a pert little nose I’m pretty sure she found in a catalogue. She’s also at least twenty years older than he is and wearing a uniform from one of the domestic airlines.
His mom?
No way, not with the daggers she’s sending my way.
I pat his arm. “Yes, Monty darling. Why don’t you introduce me to your friend?”
He sighs when I call him Monty, obviously not a fan of the name either. Not letting me go, he keeps an arm around my waist as he faces both of us towards her. “Patty, this is who I was telling you about, my beautiful fiancée. Felicity, this is Patty. She was gracious enough to offer to keep me company and find me somewhere more comfortable to wait, but I told her I had to find you first.”
Oh, I’ll just bet she was.
“Glad to help,” Patty bites out. She’d be glaring if her face still moved.
Welcome to Cougar Town. Population: her. Rawr.
I pull away from Monty and grab Patty by the shoulders, giving them a tight squeeze before planting noisy kisses on both her cheeks. “Really, it was so sweet of you. I hope you thanked the nice lady, Shnookums. Do you have five bucks? She deserves a good tip.”
Patty’s eyes widen. She’s gone from wanting to stake her claim to looking for an escape hatch to dive through. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my mother, it’s how to get my point buried in someone’s back with a giant smile on my face.
An incomprehensible announcement sounds from the airport speakers. Patty pulls away in a rush. “That’s my flight. I should really go.” Glancing at my “fiancé”, she gives him one last wistful look before practically running out of the lounge.
We stand rooted to the spot, not saying anything until she’s well out of sight.
Monty drops smoothly to one knee and takes my hand in his. “Marry me, Buttercup. You’re a lifesaver.”
“You know, usually the asking happens before the engagement.” I know he’s just kidding around, but my cheeks warm anyway. “Monty.”
He returns to his feet, but doesn’t drop my hand. “Please, never say that again. The name’s Montana.”
What an odd name. “Andrea.”
He smiles. “Oh, that suits you a lot better than Felicity.”
“Thanks? I suppose I’ve gotten used to it.” Now that’s a story I don’t feel like getting into right now. “Where’d you pull Felicity from? Secret Keri Russell fan?”
Montana laughs. “Would you believe me if I said it was on while I was waiting and might have contributed to why she didn’t trust my fiancée story?”
“Can’t say I blame her for doubting you. You do seem a little shifty.”
“Baby, sweetie, honey-bun, how can you say that?” He clutches a hand to his chest, mortally wounded by my implication. “If it makes you feel any better, I did try to escape on my own first, but she was remarkably persistent and I had to go to Plan B.”
I roll my eyes and smack his side. “Plan B, huh? I’m so flattered.”
“You should be, you were the most beautiful woman I could find.” His grin is half teasing, half flirtatious, and all sexy.
Looking around the nearly empty lounge, I spot a frustrated mother herding two identical toddler boys while cradling a crying pink bundle in her arms, and a gray-haired businessman who seems very intent on picking something out from under a fingernail.
“Not exactly much competition, was there?”
He scratches the back of his head, picking his words carefully. “Doesn't mean you're not beautiful.”
The ridiculousness of it all makes me laugh. “Flatterer.”
“It’s true.”
God, that smile.
If I weren't in the process of leaving the country, I could easily see myself fawning after him like Patty. How embarrassing. “Alright, well, my flight is leaving soon.”
He nods in understanding and presses a kiss to my cheek, his beard rasping pleasantly against my skin. “You’ll always be my lifesaver.”
I nod graciously. “All in a day’s work.”
“Really? A kiss like that? I need to reconsider my day job. Keep me in mind if there’s a position open.” He winks at me, before he turns and walks off.
My olive skin usually saves me from the worst of blushing, but I'm pretty sure I'm beaming bright red all the way up to the roots of my hair.
Wow.
Recommendations
It's going to be a while until my next book hits the stores, so here are some recommendations for you to fill your reader with in the meantime. 🙂 Bad boy lumberjacks, bad boy bundles, bad boy billionaires… they may be bad, but they're amazing at what they do!
