when we stall. The ride hasn’t been easy, but it’s sure as hell been a lot of fun. On to the next.
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Book One of the Love Lessons Series
The line at security was longer than I would have expected for a Monday evening. I placed the hand sanitizer and lotion from my purse into a clear plastic bag and put them into the gray container, along with my shoes.
I popped open my compact, suddenly feeling the need to assess my appearance. My usual pale face was still partially flushed an embarrassing shade of crimson. Oh well, at least I had a little color. I pressed some powder on the darkness below my clear hazel eyes and applied some tinted gloss to bring out a little color in my muted lips.
I was definitely regretting not getting changed after dinner. Heels and a pencil skirt were not the best choice of attire for a late-night flight, but I had left in such a hurry after my parents’ hurtful remarks about how I was wasting my life. Changing had been an afterthought. Instead, I had grabbed my luggage out of their car and opted to call a cab, heading straight to the airport while my parents were still waiting for dessert.
A part of me thought that at least one of them would come after me, try to smooth things over after I had announced that I had endured enough and was leaving. But heaven forbid they end their meal early on my account. My disappointment was still palpable as I placed the container on the conveyer belt and walked through the metal detector when the portly, balding security officer motioned me through.
“Ma’am, please step into the area to the right for a full-body scan.”
Here they go with that “ma’am” shit again. And what was all of this crap about? Was getting one break tonight asking too much?
“The detector didn’t even beep. Why do I need to be scanned?”
“It’s just protocol. Completely random.”
Random, my ass, I thought. Those pervs in the back room probably get off on watching women go through body scans. I had no choice but to comply, so I stepped into the clear box and spread my legs slightly in order to place my feet in the painted outlines on the ground.
As I turned impatiently toward the officer at my right to give him a look of disdain through the glass barricade, my eyes widened as they locked in on the “gentleman” from check-in. He was a few people back in line. His head was pointed toward the ground, but his eyes were tilted up toward me, staring at me intently, clearly amused by my perpetual inconvenience. What an asshole!
A smoking-hot asshole, though. He removed his zip-up black Nike hoodie and lifted up his fitted white T-shirt at the waist slightly to allow me a peek at his hardened abs. He took off his belt with his other hand and placed it in the container, never once taking his clear blue eyes off me as he made his way through the security area easily.
My eyes followed him to my left as he slid on his shoes, bending down for a few moments to fix the bottoms of his faded jeans before pulling the waist up slightly and putting on his belt. Damn, he had a nice ass! Now I was the voyeur, raking my eyes over him as he stood there completely oblivious. Or did he know that I was watching? Maybe he was doing this intentionally—putting on a show for me to enjoy while I was stuck in this cage, helpless. Tossing his black backpack over one shoulder, he ran his hand through his hair and strolled away, his gait unhurried and confident. This time, it was his turn to not look back.
I knew two things for certain. I desperately needed a drink, and I needed to forget about everything that had happened during the past seventy-two hours. By the time I left security, I still had about forty-five minutes before my flight boarded, so I found an open bar and took a seat near the door, at the corner of the U-shaped counter.
I organized my belongings—I’ll be damned if I was going to lose my boarding pass again—and hung my purse on the hook under the bar as I sank down onto the red cushioned stool. I looked up to get the