Page 15 of Not on the Same Page

Those rich brown eyes lock onto mine. I couldn’t look away if I wanted to.

And I don’t want to. Which should absolutely be setting off all the alarm bells in my brain, but for once, it’s blissfully quiet in there.

Casey backs away and grins again. “Let me just grab a book, and we can go.” He takes a moment to study the shelves, then pulls down the book sitting next to Scarlett’s. I peek over his shoulder at the cover, getting close enough to smell his clean linen scent.

“Where We Belong.” I consider the title. “That one has been on my TBR for a minute.”

“Mine too,” he says as he places the book on the counter directly behind him to check out. “The author is going to be there this weekend.”

“Aww,” I tease. “Are you going to get your copy signed?”

“Of course I am,” he says matter-of-factly as he winks at me. “It’s not every day you have the chance to meet a bestselling author.”

I laugh at the joke, glad the tension is broken, at least for now. Casey flashes me a lopsided smile as his gaze passes smoothly over my face again. It seems to catch on my lips before moving slowly up to meet my eyes.

This is trouble. We agreed we couldn’t keep sleeping together when we parted ways a year ago. It was too dangerous for our careers. But if he keeps looking at me like that…

“Twenty-five thirty-four,” the cashier says, clearly bored.

“Highway robbery,” I mutter as Casey hands over his credit card.

“They know we’re desperate once we’ve passed security,” he says as he waves away the offer for a plastic bag, opting instead to slide the book into his laptop bag that’s slung over his shoulder.

“You could have bought it elsewhere before coming here.”

“Sure,” he concedes. “But I’ve been busy.”

That feels cryptic, but I’m not going to push. We walk out of the small shop and hang a left toward our gate. It’s still early, so there aren’t many people there, which makes the awkward silence between us even more noticeable. I settle into a chair by the window. I thought he might realize we don’t have much to say to each other and take it as a signal to sit by himself, but he plops down right next to me. I’m grateful for the view as I watch a few planes take off while carefully avoiding his gaze.

“I read once that back before they cracked down on airport security, people would come and hang out just to watch the planes take off and land,” Casey says thoughtfully.

Huffing, I turn to find him studying me yet again. My stomach flips. How long has he been watching me like that?

“Why would anyone do that?”

“The routine is calming.”

I take a sip of my coffee and direct my attention back out the window as another airplane taxis to the runway. “Takeoff and landing are the two most dangerous parts of any flight. I would hardly call that ‘calming.’”

“Hmm.” His hum gives nothing away as he crosses an ankle over his knee.

I pick at the fabric of my purple palazzo pants. Good thing I used the extra time in my morning to wear actual clothes and dry my hair rather than throwing on ratty sweatpants and piling my hair into a messy bun like I originally wanted to. The idea was that I wanted to look presentable when I checked into the hotel. You never know who you’re going to run into, and you can only make a first impression once.

Turns out the person I ran into was also a man who has seen me naked. But I guess cute clothes never hurt.

We make some small talk for a while, but it’s stilted. I consider bringing up the elephant in the terminal but ultimately decide against it. If he wants to pretend we’re just two old friends who haven’t seen each other in a while, then far be it from me to ruin the delusion. It’s so awkward, though, that when the flight attendant calls for passengers with upgraded boarding and Casey stands, I’m relieved.

“You paid for early boarding?”

He glances at the boarding pass on his phone. “The press did. You?”

I shake my head. “And I didn’t check in from home, so I’m in the last group.” Not that it matters. Seats are assigned, so there’s no way I’ll end up sitting next to Casey, but at least this way, I won’t have to board with him too.

Score one for procrastination.

Rubbing his jaw, he hesitates before starting to turn toward the door to the walkway. “I’ll see you on the flip side, then, I guess.”

“Yeah.” I make a face that I hope is full of disappointment even though that’s the last thing I’m feeling. “Have a great flight.”