And the next day when he packed his bag and headed for the airport.

And when he boarded the plane and found her already on board. In first class. Her gorgeous long legs crossed under a tight little red pencil skirt, a glass of champagne in hand, and a smirk on her face as he looked at his ticket and realized she’d booked him a seat in economy.

A middle seat.

As he settled down into the seat between a big, burly man holding a tiny dog on his lap and a young woman who wore headphones and a look of absolute disdain on her face when he sat down, he was still grinning over Savannah Lee.

And the fact that he was probably going to fall in love with her in North Carolina.

Chapter

Fourteen

Where the hell was he?

Savannah checked the time on her phone again. And also noticed the lack of texts and missed calls.

It had been almost thirty minutes since the plane had landed. She’d gone to the restroom and freshened up, grabbed gum from the gift shop, and made her way to baggage claim and had now been sitting here waiting for Theo for almost twenty minutes.

And she hadn’t seen him or heard from him.

What the hell was going on?

She was actually starting to worry. Was he okay? Had he gotten sick on the plane? No one would have thought to notify her if he wasn’t able to. No one knew they were traveling together.

She’d put him in coach as a joke, and he’d grinned at her. He totally got it. And later he’d somehow “punish” her for it. Then, on the way back to Louisiana, he’d be up in first class with her. Which, depending on how this trip went, could be amazing, or completely terrible.

Now, though, she was regretting not being right beside him.

Her bag was sitting by her feet and after everyone else from their flight had claimed their bags and left the area, the airlinestaff had pulled the five remaining bags from the carousel and put them to the side in preparation for the next flight’s luggage being loaded to the same carousel.

Savannah had gone to the unclaimed bags, checked their tags, and pulled Theo’s big black duffle bag out of the collection and kept it with her hard sided purple case while she waited.

And waited.

This airport wasnotthat big.

She stood, ready to go find airport security, when she heard a familiar deep, male voice say, “You’ve been such a help. Thank you.”

And a definitely feminine voice say, “Oh, it’s absolutely my pleasure. I’m so glad we got seated together.”

Savannah turned to find Theo walking toward her, accompanied by averypretty woman about their age. She was dressed in an off-the-shoulder green sweater, blue jeans, and brown boots. Her hair was in a loose ponytail, and she carried a brown leather shoulder bag. She looked very girl-next-door. And she was gazing up at Theo with an obvious I’ve-got-a-serious-crush look on her face.

A sharp jab of jealousy poked Savannah right beneath her breastbone and she sighed. She was annoyed that she was jealous, but she wasn’t surprised. She really liked Theo Taggart. She more than liked him. And yes, it was the kind of more-than-liking that would make her jealous of other women getting his attention.

Well, fuck. This is what she got for seating him back there on his own.

He couldn’t have been his usualquiet, gruff self? He had to be all grinning and talkative and cute?

She crossed her arms and waiting for them to get to her.

“Hey, City Girl,” Theo greeted.

“Hey,” she said. “Did you get lost?”

He chuckled. “Kind of. Or I would have, if not for Molly here.”

Savannah looked at Molly. “Really? This airport is so small.”