Veiled Fantasies - Anna Lowe Page 0,1

two minutes before New Year’s and all she’d done up to then was regret. Gotta get a life. Gotta stop hiding in work and start getting out more. Make new friends, maybe through a running club. Find a good man. Better than the last one, if nothing else.

The woman and her children straggled away. There he was again. God, he was something. The angle of his eyebrows, the chiseled jaw. If only he leaned over her the way he leaned over that cell phone and worked the buttons in his hand. What was he writing? Short delay, honey. Can’t wait to get home to you and make up for lost time. Love, your perfect hunk.

Oh man, she had to get a grip.

Jill dragged her eyes to the right, where three mismatched men in cheap suits stood in an awkward huddle. The one in the middle was dark, surly. A story there for sure. But before it materialized, Jill’s eyes migrated right back to Adonis.

Stop that!

She tried focusing on the backpacker couple, now locked in a long, slurpy kiss. Yikes. Known each other for six months and already thinking marriage. Met when the plumbing at her brother’s house went during a party, the one when–

A chiming noise sounded, and the PA system came on. “First call, Sydney to London via Dubai.”

* * *

Erik Bergstrom hit send and clicked the phone shut, allowing himself a slight smile. That secretary was such a flirt. He indulged her mainly because she had the magic touch when it came to booking unbookable flights, unavailable rental cars, and sold-out hotels. Other than the fact that she couldn’t get him business class for this flight, she was a real gem. The woman was also safely locked away at the other end of a phone line. Just a voice, not a real person who would ever intrude into his well-ordered world. No contact meant no disappointments, no misunderstandings. No threat.

He glanced up at the departure board. Sydney to…where? Where was he going? Right, the meeting in London. There’d been too many stops on this trip, and it wasn’t over yet. At least the flight was beginning to board. He would find his seat, read that report, and finally catch some sleep.

Sleep. Wouldn’t that feel good? But what if sleep didn’t come?

One drink, that would ease the way. He’d read the report, have one drink, and wake up just in time to land. Simple.

If only his mind weren’t so restless, so haunted. The creases on his brow deepened. Maybe it would be better to work straight through. A drink would help with that, too. Words and numbers on the screen were almost as good as sleep, anyway. And they would save him from having to make conversation with anyone in the plane.

Work was the key. When he worked, he could forget.

He’d read the report, put together his summary, start that presentation. A quick stopover in Dubai and on to London—in business class, thankfully. He checked his phone for the flight information. How long was the stopover?

Only two hours. Then he’d be back in the air and tired enough to sleep. Just a quick, uneventful transfer in Dubai.

Chapter Two

Erik eased himself into his window seat and unfolded his legs. Even the newest A380 felt a little cramped in economy class. At least a window seat meant other passengers wouldn’t be crawling over him. The man over by the aisle looked quiet enough, but who knows who might appear in the empty seat between them. Hopefully not some chatterbox.

No matter. After the quick stopover, he’d have business class to look forward to, the rest of the way to where ever it was he was going.

Right, London.

He looked out the window, watching suitcases ascend a conveyor belt, then closed his eyes and willed his mind blank. When the space next to him stirred with a new arrival, he kept his eyes firmly shut. Closed eyes sent a clear signal to anyone thinking they might chat the flight away.

Whoever it was, he or she was quiet. A few seconds of shuffling, organizing the tiny space allotted to them, and that was all. Good. Someone sensible enough to leave him in peace.

Erik tried to settle back into a brief time-out from the world, but something teased at the edge of his senses. A very faint scent. Something fresh. Mild. Unexpected.

Nice.

Flowers. Flowers like…like the ones that bloomed around his grandparents’ cabin in summer. The yellow flowers around the back, the ones that danced along the