THE universe wanted her to resolve this, clearly.
If it didn’t, it would have left well enough alone and allowed her to just walk out of that café and never see Sam Gregory again outside of her dreams. Now here he was, in the rock-hard flesh, leaning casually on the counter of the airport coffee lounge with his back to her, wearing a light, earthy sweater and sinfully snug jeans.
Her throat tightened just slightly. It had to be a bad thing that she knew him so instantly from behind.
The weeks of separation hadn’t done a thing to scrub him from her mind. If anything the passage of time had only exaggerated him in her subconscious. And six days of anticipation since she’d agreed to the State Government’s request hadn’t helped her to be ready for this moment.
If anything they’d made it worse.
She stopped just a few safe feet from him, suppressed her natural urge to get closer, and took a deep, confident breath. ‘Sam.’
Nothing.
She stared at his oblivious back. His broad shoulders shifted just slightly and his right foot tapped on the edge of the counter’s kick-bar. She caught a flash of a white wire poking from his ear.
Was he … dancing?
While her stomach ate itself from the inside? Clearly this wasn’t as big a deal for him.
She cleared her throat and laid her fingers on his warm bicep to get his attention.
He jerked with surprise, then turned and smiled at her, yanking earphones from his ears. He quieted the tinny tsss-tsss with the press of a button in his pocket.
Warm eyes rained down on her and her stomach tumbled in on itself. ‘You came. I wasn’t convinced you’d actually show up.’
She almost hadn’t. Should she be trusted with Sam on an interstate flight? Spending her days in close confines with him? Staying in the same hotel? He hadn’t got any worse smelling since she’d last seen him, and the texture of his sweater screamed touch me.
She tucked her hands behind her back before she experimented to see if the front of it was as soft as the back. ‘Your department was responsible for saving my life and it cost them a lot in equipment and manpower. Coming along on this promotional tour is the least I can do to repay them.’
Even if it put her heart at significant risk.
He took her carry-on bag from her and turned for the check-in area. ‘Apparently we made quite a splash with the public that day in Canberra. My boss’s boss wanted this.’
‘You didn’t?’
He chuckled. ‘More time in the spotlight? No, thanks.’ Then his eyes found hers. ‘But I’m not sorry I get to see you again. I hope to handle myself a bit better this time around.’
Aimee frowned. Straight back into awkward territory. Oh, well, since they were already here … She took a quiet breath and asked as casually as she could, ‘Melissa not with you?’
Was it wrong that she wanted him to say yes almost as much as she hoped he’d say no? Having his wife along would solve an awful lot of problems.
‘Ah … Three days away from work is more than she could swing. Some imminent breakthrough on an ice shelf project.’
‘A what?’
‘She works for the Australian Antarctic Division. She’s been studying fracture patterns in ice shelves.’
He’d said Melissa was smart. Foolishly, she hadn’t believed him. She’d thought it was just what people said about their spouses. ‘At least I can bring my work with me. Transcription goes wherever I do.’ She looked around anxiously for inspiration. ‘So … We’ll be talking to schools?’
Talking to schoolkids was another tick in the pro column for coming along: the opportunity to share what she’d discovered about herself during that twenty-four hours on the mountainside. She’d needed quite a few ‘pros’ to outweigh the big three-lettered ‘con’ scrawled in the other column.
S.A.M.
‘I think so. And some Victorian volunteer groups. Their Parks and Search and Rescue services are separate up there.’
‘So this is about more than just publicity?’
‘Not for the department, but for me I look forward to the chance to talk to others in the field. Share expertise. Bring something new back to my team.’
‘Sounds like we’ll be busy.’ If there was a God.
‘I think there’ll be some down time.’ His blue eyes seemed to turn luminous.
Oh. Great.
Aimee struggled to generate small talk until their flight was ready for boarding. Then getting on the plane and seated and into the air knocked off a good thirty minutes. She busied herself with the in-flight magazine, flicking pages she wasn’t reading. It helped keep her from thinking about the way Sam’s thigh pressed into hers in the tight seating. And how she was going to survive three days up close with him.
He leaned over the armrest. ‘You know, we could probably use this time to get to know each other better.’
If eyes could get whiplash hers would have needed that neck brace he’d once given her. ‘What?’ she choked, half afraid of the answer. But only half.
‘For your book. We never did finish that interview.’
Oh. ‘No. I kind of blew that on my last question.’
His lips twisted. ‘What question? I thought we were forgetting that. Do you have your recorder?’
She slipped it out of her handbag a little too keenly. When had she started so thoroughly hiding behind her job? She wanted Sam in her book, no question, but she could do it without his wife being in it. Leaping in on his marriage hadn’t been premeditated, but her subconscious had definitely acted with intent.
Now Sam was buying into her folly. But, as gift horses went, he was a pretty good-looking one.
‘You’re sure about this? I’ll need to ask you about Melissa.’
He took a breath. ‘Why don’t we start there? Get it out of the way? I promise not to be reactive.’
A non-reactive man? Another novelty. Assuming he could pull it off. She lowered her food tray, sat the recorder on it gently and pressed the red button.
‘How old were you when you married?’ she asked over the hum of the jet engines.
‘Twenty-one.’
Wow. That made her feel like an old spinster at twenty-five. ‘Young. Is that a Catholic thing?’
‘It’s a Gregory thing. We don’t believe in wasting time.’
His smile was gentle, and she grew aware of how big he was in the cramped seat next to her. Her heart kicked up She shook her head to stay focussed. ‘How did you even know who you were at twenty-one, let alone each other?’
‘I knew. Plus Mel had been a fixture in my family for a long time because of her friendship with my brother.’ He studied the digital recorder and didn’t quite meet her eyes, making her wonder if there was more to that story.
‘How does she feel about the work you do?’
Pained creases appeared above his brow. ‘It bothers her. The hours. The disruption to our routine. She’s a creature of habit.’
‘You being at such risk?’
She’d never seen eyelashes flinch, but Sam’s did. ‘She doesn’t like thinking she could be widowed. The financial uncertainty. I get that.’
The warm glow inside her responded to the misery