She sighed, sitting back in the seat. Right now she had enough to worry about, trying to keep her job. Before leaving the office the day before, she’d stopped by Marvin’s with the perfect excuse for why her fiancé would be unable to attend the retreat, but her boss had already left for the day. Now she had the entire flight to stress over his reaction to her arriving solo.
She needed this job. While no one ever said it, everyone knew that her father’s influence had secured her current position at Marshall and Thompson after she’d been fired from the law firm in New York where she’d been working since graduating from Harvard. As a well-respected corporate law attorney, he had a lot of friends and he’d used his connections. She appreciated his help, especially since being let go had made it impossible to secure interviews with some of her top firm choices. Annoyance rose in her chest when she thought about it. She’d only gotten fired because she’d made the mistake of sleeping with a senior partner at the firm. Once she’d ended things, he’d turned her recent lack of success in the courtroom into a reason to let her go.
As the plane filled and the seats next to her remained empty, she entertained the hope that she’d have the row to herself. But of course there was always that one guy, Hayley thought as a man hurried onto the plane. The one who was never early for a flight, the one who thought the plane should just wait for him, the one who was...drop-dead gorgeous.
Hell, if she was a plane, she’d wait for him, too.
He towered over the flight attendant, which would put him at about six feet, and his shirt—open at the top—revealed that it was six feet of tanned, sculpted muscle. His dark hair was gelled in a messy tousle and when he smiled at the young attendant, his cheeks gave way to the deepest dimples she’d ever seen on a man.
Either an actor or a model. The only people on earth that had the right to be that good-looking, serving as eye candy for mere mortals.
“Hi,” he said, stopping next to her row. “This is me.” He pointed to the aisle seat as he stuffed a small carry-on into the overhead compartment. He looked for a place to hang a dark garment bag from Joseph’s Formal Wear.
Of course he was sitting next to her—fate hated her. The hottest guy on the planet was going to Maui for a wedding. She scanned the aisle behind him, expecting to see a dazzling, supermodel-gorgeous woman rushing to take the middle seat between them, but the aisle was empty. “Hi.”
“Here, Officer Hartley, let me hang this in the cockpit for you.” The flight attendant who’d earlier given her a menacing glare showed no signs of the terrifying authority now as she touched his arm.
Officer? This guy was a police officer? She studied him more closely. Okay, she could see that. Looking beyond the obvious physical qualities was a strong, sturdy, cautious air about him... And now at least the gash above his left eyebrow made sense.
“Thank you,” he told her, handing her the garment bag. “Everyone on this airline is so friendly and helpful,” he said to Hayley.
“Yeah, I don’t think it has anything to do with the airline.” The man couldn’t possibly be humble enough to think that the flight attendants treated everyone the same. She was sure he’d stirred the same body-tingling, pulse-racing effect in every woman he’d passed on the way to his seat, including the crew.
He laughed as he sat, and all cop-like attributes disappeared. That easy, confidence-filled sound was anything but good, decent and safe. It was the bad-boy heartbreaker soundtrack. “Chase Hartley,” he said, extending a hand toward her.
Suddenly chitchat with a perfect stranger didn’t seem so inconvenient. Really, only five hours? “Hayley Hanna. On your way to a destination wedding?” She nodded toward the disappearing garment bag.
“My sister’s. And you? Vacation or obligatory attendance at a family event?”
Cute. He was definitely cute. “Work, actually. A corporate retreat.”
“Corporate retreat—that makes you a...doctor?”
“Lawyer.”
His smile faded slightly.
“Divorce and family law,” she added.
The smile was back with a vengeance, bringing out the big guns—those two never-ending dimples in his five o’clock shadow that were even more fantastic up close. “That’s a relief. It would be a shame if we couldn’t be friends.”
A shame indeed. Terri-Lynn’s advice echoed in her mind.
Have lots of vacation sex—the best sex you’ll ever have.
She didn’t doubt for a second that this man could fulfill that fantasy. An image of his incredible body lying on top of her as those tempting-as-hell lips kissed her everywhere flashed in her mind, and a wave of heat crashed over her. It had been far too long since someone had kept her awake all night with mind-blowing sex. Hell, it had been months since anyone had appealed to her as a potential candidate.
What was she thinking? For all she knew, this guy was meeting someone in Maui and she had more important things to think about, like...um...surely, there was something.
“So, Hayley, corporate retreat—as boring as it sounds?”
“Let’s just say I’m looking forward to it about as much as you’re looking forward to the wedding.”
He grinned and oh, my God—the smile was perfection, the laugh was mesmerizing, but the grin was sexy and mischievous. “That obvious, huh?” he asked.
“You’re not flying with the rest of the wedding party,” she said, “and by the look of disappointment on your face when you barely made this flight, you were hoping the plane would leave without you. I’m guessing that duffel bag you somehow found space for in the overhead is the only piece of luggage you’re bringing other than the tuxedo that you’d rather burn than wear.”
He clapped. “You nailed me.”
Wouldn’t that be a dream?
“It actually sounds like you know something about avoiding weddings.”
“My best friend got married twice—last year...making me the maid of honor twice in one year.” Only for Terri-Lynn would she put herself through that. She just prayed her friend wouldn’t rush down the aisle again anytime soon.
“I thought all women loved weddings.”
“Common misconception. Women love their own weddings. Other people’s weddings just remind them how alone they are and create a panic—that their biological clocks are ticking and to hurry up and find someone before they die alone.”
“Harsh assessment,” he said with a note of amusement in his voice.
“I don’t sugarcoat much.” Which was exactly why she’d ended up in hot water over that stupid article. Maybe she needed to adopt a more bullshit-your-way-through-life approach. People who did that seemed to get into trouble a lot less.
“Should I be worried that I’m sitting next to a walking time bomb?” Chase asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“Nope, not me... I’m blissfully betrothed to a dentist who unfortunately cannot make this corporate retreat because he’s performing emergency dental surgery on Wednesday afternoon.” She toyed with the fake engagement ring on her finger.
Chase frowned as he cocked his head to the side. “He knows about an emergency surgery in advance?”
Good point. She was glad she’d tested her fabricated excuse on Mr. Heartbreaker Hartley. “Thank you. I didn’t think of that.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a lie I’m trying to perfect,” she said, not really caring if she was making a bad impression. After this plane ride, she’d never see him again anyway. Both a relief and somewhat disappointing. He might be