Page 3 of When You Blush
I clear my throat. “I just left my piece-of-shit fiancé, and I need a room for two nights, please.”
The woman—Monica, according to her name tag—tilts her head to the side, her smile gone, looking at me with sharp eyes. “Are you okay, honey?”
“I’m way better than I was thirty minutes ago.”
She nods, types on her keyboard, then offers me a half smile. “One presidential suite for the basic room rate coming up. I’ll send up some champagne in thirty.”
I blink at her, and for the first time in a long time, I feel like crying.
The kindness of this stranger is what finally breaks me?
Pressing my lips together, I take my credit card and driver’s license back from her and nod.
“Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure. Congratulations, Miss Newman.”
Chapter One
BLAKE
“It’s wild to me that Bitterroot Valley is so socked in with fog and snow that we can’t land there, but it’s not bad at all here in Missoula.”
With her hand still clutched in mine, the gorgeous woman next to me stares out the airport windows to watch the snow drift down softly as we wait for our luggage.
She’s not my girlfriend.
She’s definitely not my wife.
This intriguing woman is a complete stranger to me, but I absolutely donotwant to let go of her hand.
The minute she stepped foot on that plane, I felt it. An immediate attraction. A connection. And not simply because she’s gorgeous.
I met her less than two hours ago on a flight from Denver to Montana, thanks to a medical emergency mid-flight with another passenger.
I was asked to help because I’m a doctor, and she wassitting next to the patient. She couldn’t have been better with him. She knew exactly how to calm him down, how to keep him engaged and his mind off being scared.
I loved that she told us about how sad she gets after losing a patient of her own. And when it was time to leave the plane, I knew I couldn’t leave her behind.
All I know about her is that her name is Harper, she’s a NICU nurse by trade, and with all that dark hair and gray eyes, she’s so fucking beautiful. I can’t take my eyes off her.
But when she tried to walk out of my life at the end of that tarmac, I told her she’d be with me and I offered her my hand.
It wasn’t a question or a request.
And she didn’t argue. If Harper weremysister, I’d punch myself in the face. But she’s not. She’s a beautiful woman, and I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.
We’re stuck in Missoula for the night, thanks to the early winter storm happening at home in Bitterroot Valley.
And I plan to make the most of it.
“Are you okay?” she asks, peering up at me with those gray eyes.
I’m fucking fantastic. Never better.
“I’m fine. And you? Will your family be upset if you don’t make it home in time for Thanksgiving?”
Yes, this is my way of asking about her family.Minewill not be thrilled that I won’t make it home in time for dinner.
