Page 13 of Two Tickets to Paradise

Or because of the guy?

Leaning a little closer to him, she felt her cheeks warm and her skin tingle.

Maybe it was both?

Yes,she decided,both.

Her phone chimed, but Vince's phone remained silent.

Dreading what she'd read, she knew she couldn't put it off for long.

As much as she was enjoying this time with Vince, she knew that the message was going to make a difference to him.

Picking up her phone from its place beside her, she looked at the screen.

FOUR

Cora bitinto her bottom lip as she read the screen on her phone.

Vince let out a near-silent breath as her eyes moved over the screen a couple of times. "Is something wrong?"

She turned slightly on the bench and gave him a look full of sorrow.

Not for herself.

It took him a minute to see it, but once he did, it was plain to see on her face. "What is it?"

She cast a look down at his phone where it sat between them on the bench before she lifted her gaze to meet his. "You'll get a message on your phone in a few minutes, but I think you should know now." Her brow furrowed over her nose and Vince had to make a conscious effort to keep his hand where it was when his instinct was to lift his hand and smooth it away.

Cora tilted her head and leaned forward. "They're cancelling all of the flights heading east due to the weather. You're not going to be able to get back to Maine this weekend."

His stomach dropped at her words.

He'd been expecting that result but hearing it, along with the sadness in Cora's eyes hurt even more.

He sighed and picked up his phone to stare at the screen. "I guess I can go back to the base and call my mom. I bet my CO would let me get back on the schedule."

He looked up at her and smiled. "And I know you're headed to Hawaii to see your brother, so I can't exactly ask you to dinner tonight."

Her cheeks flushed with color and her eyes sparkled.

Damn, he was probably starting to lose a little bit of his mind. Sparkling. He'd never described a woman's eyes like that.

Then again, he'd never met a woman like Cora.

"Maybe," he wet his lips with his tongue hating how dry the AC in the airport made his lips, "when you get back from your vacation, you'd let me take you out for-"

"Wait..." She got up from the bench and gave him a curious look. "Just wait a second before you finish that question, okay?"

"Uh... okay?"

With a nod, she moved off down the walkway back toward the ticketing office.

As soon as she was out of sight, Vince looked down at his hands. Shaking his head, he grumbled under his breath. "Smooth, Vince. Smooth."

He was fairly sure that she'd be okay with dinner, at least he was hoping she would.

He didn't even know how long she'd be in Hawaii.

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