She crossed the street at a jog, whisked through the automatic door and ran up the moving escalator, all the while keeping her eyes peeled for Harry. With regret she nixed the idea of grabbing a quick iced latte. Something about airports always made her want coffee.
As she searched the passengers streaming out of the gate area, she fantasized that she was a CIA operative on the lookout for a double agent who resembled Harry. Judging from his picture, he’d make a fine double agent—thick dark hair, square jaw and James Bond-blue eyes. Definitely a good choice for the best man in her sister Kim’s wedding, especially considering that Kate was the maid of honor, so she’d be hanging out with Harry for the next few days. Still, she’d decided not to get her hopes up about him.
No doubt he’d turn out to be a typical urban male with a well-paying job, a late-model Volvo and a cell phone. A decent guy. Well, she craved excitement more than decency. Unfortunately, she couldn’t seem to meet exciting men.
Men like her grandfather, for example. During World War II, Grandpa Charles left a wife and two young sons to enlist because he wanted to make the world a safer place for vulnerable young families like his. In a rain-drenched foxhole in France, he’d thrown himself on a grenade, sacrificing himself to save others. His incredible act of bravery gave Kate goose bumps.
Now that was the kind of man she wanted—except one that would not actually die. So far, nobody she knew personally had exhibited the sort of bravery modeled by Grandpa Charlie. She had little hope that Harry would, either.
Her mother, however, might decide Harry was Good Husband Material and try to matchmake. Now that Kim was getting married, the pressure would be on for Kate to do the same. After all, they were twins. A couple of days ago their mother had confessed her disappointment that Kate hadn’t found anyone yet, because she’d always imagined a double wedding.
Kim and Kate had exchanged a twin-to-twin look that required no words. They’d both fought to keep from cracking up as they pictured their mother trying to dress them alike, one last time.
They hadn’t been through that torture since their older brother Nick’s eighth-grade graduation. After shredding those little green dresses with garden shears and threatening to do the same to any subsequent matching outfits, they’d been grounded for a month. But their mom had gotten the message.
Digging in her purse for the picture of Harry, Kate scanned the faces of the arriving passengers. She didn’t really need to look at the picture again. She had a good eye for faces. Still, she glanced at it one more time.
He really was a cutie. She vaguely remembered he was some kind of doctor. Yes, definitely a doctor. Kim had said he and Stuart had gone through med school together. He was tall, Stuart had said—easy to spot in a crowd. Kate paused to study the crowd hurrying by. Then she saw him.
Damn, he was more of a hottie in the flesh than in the snapshot Stuart had given her. But the poor guy appeared to be exhausted. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt and a denim jacket, which made him look more like a rock star than a doctor.
The shadow of a beard covering his sculpted jaw indicated he’d had no time to shave before racing for the plane, and she wondered if he’d been at the hospital all night tending to a patient. That was pretty noble, come to think of it. Maybe Harry would fit her criteria better than she’d imagined.
He trudged through the terminal, a leather garment bag hanging from one broad shoulder by a wide carrying strap. When she hadn’t been waiting to meet him, he’d probably assumed he’d have to take a taxi to the hotel. Remorse pricked her. Here she’d been playing tardiness games and he looked ready to drop.
“Over here, Harry!” she called, waving her arm in the air as she dodged through the throng to intercept him.
He didn’t glance her way.
For a moment she wondered if she’d made a mistake. No, that was him for sure. Training in portrait photography had made her acutely aware of the arch of an eyebrow, the curve of a lip. That man was Harry. Maybe he was too tired to pay attention to his surroundings.
She should have been on time so that she could have met him as soon as he’d cleared security. But she’d make it up to him, poor man. She’d give him the VIP treatment for the rest of the day.
Stepping in front of him, she put a hand on his arm. The denim of his jacket was surprisingly soft. Expensive denim, she decided. “Sorry I’m late.”
He looked startled, as if coming out of a daze.
Her conscience nagged her again for giving this guy additional grief and she smiled in apology. “I should have been here earlier. I’m Kate Cooper, Kim’s twin sister. Stuart and Kim asked me to pick you up.”
“Oh!” His expression cleared and he looked pleasantly surprised. “That’s great. I didn’t think anybody—”
“I know, and I feel terrible that I wasn’t on time.” Looking into those weary blue eyes, she just knew he’d been up all night. His voice was a little rusty, too. But it was a nice voice, a deep baritone that probably comforted his patients. She glanced at the garment bag. “Do you have more luggage?”
“Nope, this is it.”
“Good. Then we can head straight to my car.”
“Sounds good to me.” He fell into step beside her.
“Stuart would have been here himself, except something important came up.”
“I wouldn’t doubt that. After all, the guy’s getting married day after tomorrow.”
“Well, that’s exactly the trouble.” She noticed that he’d matched his pace to hers and gave him points for that. Some tall guys took off with ground-eating strides that left her in the dust. So maybe he was considerate, besides being yummy to look at.
“Kim and Stuart are having trouble?” he asked.
“No, no, not that kind.” Kate really liked the sound of his voice. “They just became a bit overwhelmed by all the commotion. My parents flew in from Florida, and my brother Nick came yesterday, and even my cousins Clint and Maureen arrived this morning. Stuart’s mom is here with her new husband, and then Stuart’s dad showed up with his new wife, and Stuart’s two sisters have their hands full dealing with that. Anyway, there’s all sorts of socializing and family intrigue, and Kim and Stuart weren’t getting enough time alone with each other.”
“Hmm.”
Kate ushered him out of the terminal, and each of them paused to put on sunglasses. His wire-framed aviators made him look even more like a star on vacation than a doctor soon to be the best man in a wedding. So far this assignment of hers was beyond excellent. She could hardly wait to motor into Newport with this piece of eye candy in her passenger seat.
“My car’s down this way,” she said. “It’s not far, but if you want to wait here I could bring it around.”
“Do I look that feeble?”
She doubted there was a single feeble bone in his finely tuned body. Most MDs she’d met weren’t this muscular. “No, but you look that tired.”
His smile was wry, and adorably dimpled. “Well, I’m not that tired. Lead the way.”
“Okay.” Mmm. Great smile on this guy. “It’s right down here. The red Miata.”
“Sweet ride.”
“I like it.” Then she remembered how tall he was. “You might be a little cramped, though. Maybe I should have borrowed my cousin’s—”
“Good grief. From the way you’re worrying about me, I must look like something the cat dragged in.”
If she had a cat, it could drag in a specimen like