Page 4 of Two Tickets to Paradise

He shook his head. "We all have our strange habits and superstitions. Or in your case, finger limbering exercises, don't stop on my account. Besides, it looks cute."

"Ohhh." The noise came from one of the women on the other side of the counter. "Cute and nice. Can we keep him."

Cora barely resisted the urge to turn around and bare her teeth at the other women and hiss, 'Mine.'

She shook herself at the thought. She wasn't that person.

No matter how handsome he was.

Okay, okay. She had to put her mind back onto the matter at hand.

"Where are you headed?"

He leaned in on the counter. "Portland."

"Portland? Oregon?"

He winced a little at her confusion. "Maine."

Cora nodded. "I've never been to Maine. Is it as beautiful as people say?"

"More."

She saw him smiling out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, when everything is completely covered in snow."

She liked the light tone of humor in his voice. Having a good sense of humor was a huge plus. Lord knows her brother was short on laughter... all of the time.

"Hmm..." She looked at the notes on outgoing flights headed EAST from Chicago. "This is going to be tough."

Leaning to the side, she looked at Margo behind the counter. "Are you trying to route him around to the south and up the East Coast?"

Margo nodded. "I'm trying but with the weather delays on the earlier flights, I couldn't find any chain of flights that had a hope of connecting through to Bangor and the weather projection..."

Cora blew out a breath. "Well, here's hoping my mojo is still on the clock. Let's try to get you home for the holidays, okay?"

He smiled. "That sounds great."

She heard the enthusiasm in his voice and she liked it. She might not get to spend more than a few minutes with the handsome man, but she was going to make the most of it.

"Alright. Let's see what magic we can make happen."

"Thanks." She heard the earnest tone in his voice and found her cheeks heating at the thought of making him happy.

She wanted to shake her head at herself. Simple pleasures, right?

She really was a simple girl at heart. And this man?

She snuck a glance at him as she signed into the system. Goodness, he was hot in a scruffy kind of way.

Not that she liked scruffy.

Okay... so she liked scruffy.

Not that she'd admit it.

"Hmm... this might take awhile." She licked at her suddenly dry lips. "You're welcome to have a seat."

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