Page 587 of One More Kiss

Rexton Crawley stares into my eyes. I blink, waiting for the mirage to dissipate. I feel the bag lifted from my arms and shoved above us. Rexton’s eyes don’t leave mine as he closes the bin.

His hands come to my face, cupping it as his thumb grazes my lips.

“Breathe, buttercup,” he says softly.

I feel tears forming and falling. I can’t stop them. He wipes them with his thumbs over my cheeks, catching each one as it trails down them. So many emotions pass between us, from shock to pain, to excitement, and to…love? No, it’s too soon for that, but there’s something there in the depth of our stares, maybe affection, or longing?

“How?” I finally mouth.

He gives a slight chuckle. “My flight got canceled. I went by your hotel, but they said you weren’t a guest.”

“Huh?”

“The Swan Inn, right?”

I shake my head. “No…that’s down the street. It was the Swan Bed-and-Breakfast.”

He smiles. “I almost made a social media account just to see if I could try to find you on there, but I had horrible cell service and then my phone wouldn’t connect to the airport Wi-Fi.”

“You’ve been here for two days?”

He nods. “Two long days.”

“I looked for you, too. You don’t have social media and I couldn’t find your shop online,” I explain.

“I don’t. My shop’s web designer is switching us to a new platform while I’m gone, so the website is down.”

I bite my lip before admitting my final idea. “I was going to hire a private investigator to find you,” I admit.

He laughs again. “I guess…the universe decided to solve this conundrum for us, huh?”

Nodding, I reach up and touch his cheek. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” he says as he leans down and kisses me. Everything else disappears as I close my eyes and relish the feel of Rexton against me.

“Excuse me, you both need to take your seats,” a voice says from behind us.

Rexton pulls back slightly and glances at the flight attendant. Everyone around us watches us and I blush.

He takes my hand and pulls me down to our seats where we buckle in. The attendant leans in and smiles at us.

“Can I get you both a drink or snack as we wait for take-off?” I glance at the menu in the seatback pocket.

“Can we each get a red wine and a cheese platter?” I ask, remembering a discussion we had about wine one night.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, we only have one cheese platter left. We weren’t able to get those restocked for this flight.”

Rexton looks at me and I glance at him before we both burst into laughter. “We’ll share it,” he manages.

The flight attendant looks confused, but nods and goes to get us the order.

I look back to find Rexton studying me.

“You’re really here,” he whispers, squeezing my hand.

“I’m really here,” I agree.

He leans forward until our foreheads meet. And with our eyes locked, he says, “I’m not letting you go again, Scarlett. I know this whole week was crazy and I don’t know where this thing between us will lead, but I’m not ready to let you go. And I’m hoping based on your puffy eyes, that maybe…you feel the same?”

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