Page 2 of Wedding Daddy

“Fine, I'll pay for a new ticket for her,” the man said, reaching into his pocket for his wallet. “Anything to get this line moving.”

“I don’t need your money,” she growled at him.

“Looks like you do,” someone in the line said impatiently.

“I don’t want it.”

“Just take the money,” someone else said. “We’re tired of standing in line.”

“Ma’am, either you let this kind gentleman pay for a new ticket for you, or I call security to get you out of here,” the agent snapped. “I’m sure the last thing you want right now is to be placed on the No Fly List.”

Jill paused for a moment to think about it. In a perfect world, she would tell this strange and very rude man to kick rocks. Thenagain, in a perfect world, she would have gotten to the airport early enough to avoid all of this. She wished she could turn down his help, but she couldn’t afford a second ticket, not if she intended to pay her bills next month. And missing her brother’s wedding was not an option. She was the only family he had left.

“Okay,” she said grudgingly, unable to meet the man’s eyes as she stepped aside to let him pay.

When audible sighs of relief came from the crowd behind her, she sank her head in embarrassment. The agent collected her details and handed her a new ticket. Jill mumbled her thanks and apologized to the people in the line as she slunk off to a corner to hide her face.

A few minutes later, she watched the gentleman who had paid for her ticket wheel his luggage away from the counter. He stopped to take a call in the middle of the lobby, and Jill watched him. Tall and broad-shouldered with salt-and-pepper hair that gave him a distinguished look, she could very well imagine him wearing a suit and standing at the head of a boardroom.

He looked good and carried himself well, so she wasn’t surprised he got second looks from women as they walked past him. She would have done a double take herself if he was not too old for her. He had to be at least three decades older than her. Also, he was a bit of an ass. Just because he was old enough to be her father did not give him the right to speak to her like she was some naughty kid who needed to be scolded.

That didn’t change the fact he had helped her when he had no reason to, and she knew she owed him a proper “thank you.” Not the mumbled words of gratitude she’d grudgingly said to him after she got her new ticket. Sighing as she got to her feet, she grabbed her luggage and walked toward him.

He was ending his call when she approached him, and she saw a look of impatience cross his face before he masked it. Resisting the urge to bare her teeth at him, she swallowed herpride and got ready to do the right thing like she'd been raised to do.

“I came to say thank you for paying for my ticket,” she said, pushing the words past the thick log in her throat. “It was really kind of you, and I'm sorry if I offended you in any way. It was not my intention.”

He seemed to relax a little, but his expression still held a hint of chastisement as he spoke. “It’s alright. No one is perfect, and we all make mistakes. That is why you’re supposed to arrive at the airport at least two hours before your flight.”

It was the tone. She wouldn't have a problem with what he was saying if he didn't say it in that condescending tone that immediately set her teeth on edge.

“I’ll have you know I planned on getting here long before my time for check-in,” she bit out through gritted teeth. “Things just didn’t work out for me this morning.”

“You must be a real lousy planner, then,” he said dryly, seemingly unaffected by her rising ire.

“I’m not a lousy planner,” she hissed in frustration. “It was out of my control. First, my alarm didn't go off when it was supposed to...”

“Or it did, and you were too lazy to get out of bed.”

“Then the clothes I was going to wear had a tear in it and...”

“That is definitely your fault,” he interjected.

“And my car died on the way here this morning!” she snapped so loudly that a few heads turned in their direction.

He paused for a few seconds, watching her as she glared at him. “You know, your car probably won’t stall on the road if you get it checked regularly.”

“You don’t know that. It’s a machine. They break down all the time.”

“Not when they are taken care of. I should know. It’s my job to make sure they don’t stall out of the blue.” His lips thinned indisapproval. “You know, I have a daughter about your age, and she’s just as forgetful as you are about taking care of her car. I’m starting to think it’s a problem with your generation.”

“Maybe if your generation made cars that didn’t need so much money and effort to take care of we wouldn’t have that problem,” she hissed.

He frowned in confusion. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” she hissed. “I just don’t want you to win.”

“Win?” He looked even more confused before shaking his head in disappointment. Jill would have preferred it if he’d turned her around and spanked her instead. That would be a lot less humiliating. “Why are you driving to the airport so early in the morning anyway,” he continued. “You should have gotten someone to drop you off.”

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