“Did he kiss you?” Jenny asked the next morning.

Olivia yawned and turned over to hug her pillow. “Uh-huh.” She held the phone away from her ear in anticipation of the shriek.

Jenny didn’t disappoint.

“Do you think you could take it down a notch? I haven’t had coffee yet. And why are you calling so early on a Saturday?”

“It’s ten o’clock. That’s noon in my world. So define ‘kiss’—are we talking a peck or tongue and tonsils?”

“Option B.”

“Shut up.”

“Fine, I’m going back to sleep.”

“Oh, no, you’re not.”

“Jenny. It’s my day off. Give me a break, will you?”

“Not until I hear every detail of what happened last night.”

Even though she wanted to still be sleeping, Olivia couldn’t help but smile when she thought of the evening she had spent with Cole. She wondered where he was at that moment. His eight o’clock flight was long gone. To where, she had no idea.

“Olivia…”

“He liked the dress.”

“I told you he would.”

“It was too much for dinner at the airport, but he didn’t seem to care.”

“He was too busy sticking his tongue down your throat to care about what you were wearing.”

“Stop. It wasn’t like that.”

“Then how was it?”

Olivia told her the whole story. When she finished, Jenny was silent.

“Hello? Still there?”

“If you aren’t in love with him, I am.”

“It was one date, Jenny,” Olivia said with another big yawn. “Don’t go there.”

“He’s the one. I know it.”

“Oh, for crying out loud! You haven’t even met him. How can you say that?” Olivia hated the crazy trip of excitement that rippled through her at the possibility that Jenny could be right. As if the thought hadn’t already occurred to her.

“Just a feeling I have. This whole thing is so incredible. When can I meet him?”

“He’s going to catch a flight back here next weekend when he’s off. Maybe then.”

“He’s flying here just to see you?”

Olivia giggled at Jenny’s reaction. “Yes.”

“I’m flipping out over here!”

“No, really?”

“You guys can come here for dinner.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready to subject him to you.”

“He may as well see what he’s getting into right at the very beginning. I come with the package.”

“That’s true.”

“Did you talk about what happened in January?”

“He told me all about it. He’s gotten to the point where he doesn’t like the attention anymore. You won’t believe it, but the waitress actually slipped him her number with the check.”

“You’re kidding me!”

“I wish I was. He was super pissed.”

“I can imagine.” Jenny squealed again. “This is ab fab, Liv. I’m so excited for you.”

“Don’t get too excited. Who knows what’s going to happen?”

“You’re already thinking about how it’s going to end, aren’t you?”

“Not really.”

“Don’t, Liv. For once in your life, just run with it, will you? This could be something really great. Don’t ruin it by anticipating disaster.”

“I’m not exactly lucky in this department.”

“You just hadn’t met the right guy—until now.”

“Jenny! You’re going to jinx me. I’ve got to get going. I’ve got a paper due in my international business class next week.”

“Yawn. You just put me to sleep.”

Olivia laughed. “Cole thinks I should be doing something with my drawing.” Using his name felt like an acknowledgement that he really existed, that he had managed to infiltrate her whole life in the course of one unforgettable evening.

“And who has been saying that for years?”

“You,” Olivia said with a long-suffering sigh.

“He and I are going to get along just fine. Dinner. Next weekend. Have a good day!”

Olivia showered, got dressed in jeans and a sweater, and went downstairs to find her parents reading the Washington Post at the kitchen table.

“Morning, honey,” her dad, Jerry, said.

“You were out late last night,” Mary said.

“I had dinner with a friend after work. I told you I’d be late.”

Without glancing up from the paper, Mary said, “Do you kiss all your friends like that?”

Olivia made an effort to keep her anger in check. She couldn’t wait to get her own place.

“Nothing you want to tell us?” Mary goaded.

“Nope,” Olivia said as she poured coffee into a travel mug.

“Leave her alone, Mary,” Jerry said.

Olivia sent him a grateful smile. “I’m going over to campus to work on my paper.”

“Want a ride?” Jerry asked.

“Sure. That’d be great.” Since she felt like she spent half her life on the Metro, the ride was more than welcome.

On the way into the city, Olivia took a moment to appreciate the clear autumn day, the bright blue, cloudless sky, and the colorful foliage. As they traveled parallel to the airport on Route 1, she watched a red-and-blue Capital Airlines plane take off. She couldn’t believe Cole, the man who had kissed her senseless the night before, was capable of doing that, of steering an airplane into the heavens.

“Penny for your thoughts,” her father said.

Olivia looked over at him and smiled. He was her anchor in the sea of madness that surrounded her mother. “Promising date last night.”

“With?”

“A Capital pilot.”

“Ah, no wonder why you’ve got your eyes glued to the action on the runway. How’d you meet him?”

Olivia told him about the fight in the store and what had transpired since then.

“Well, I’ll be. So you like this guy.”

She sighed. “Am I that obvious?”

“No, but I know my little girl.”

“It’s kind of scary how much I like him,” she confessed. “I’ve only actually seen him three times, and he was out cold for a big part of the first one.”

“The other two times must’ve been anticlimactic after that.”

“Not really. He’s very… dynamic. In fact, he’s the pilot who landed the plane in the blizzard last winter and then saved the captain who’d had a heart attack.”

“Is he now? I remember reading about that.” He reached over to squeeze her hand. “Good for you, honey. You need to enjoy yourself more than you do. I hate that you have to work so much while you’re in school. Things are starting to pick up some for me, so maybe in the next month or two, I’ll be able to help you out.”

“Don’t worry about it, Dad. I’m doing all right.” Left unspoken was the silent truth they both lived with but never discussed—if her mother would quit her obsessive shopping, he would be able to do a whole lot more for Olivia.

“I just wish you didn’t have to do it all on your own. When the boys were in school, things were more flush, and I was able to help them.”

“No one’s keeping score. You’ve always been right there for me.”

When Olivia was five, her mother had miscarried twins late in her pregnancy. Something in Mary had come unglued in the aftermath of her loss, and years of therapy had failed to put her back together. Mary had slowly withdrawn from life, and without her father’s steady presence, Olivia never would have survived growing up in that house. Every ounce of her energy was directed toward the day she would finally be able to move out.

“Can I ask you something?” Olivia asked hesitantly. They didn’t talk about this. Ever.

“Sure you can.”

“Do you ever think about leaving?”

“She’s my wife, you know? Better or worse and all of that.”

“You’re a saint.”

“Nah. You do what you gotta do. That’s life.”

“I guess.” Olivia often wondered if the drama she’d grown up with had caused her to doubt that it was possible to ever be truly happy. She saw how happy Jenny and Will were and how delighted they were with their baby son. They gave her hope. But both of Olivia’s brothers had failed marriages behind them, and she was wary enough to be afraid of the feelings Cole stirred in her. He made her want things she was better off not hoping for.

Her dad navigated Ward Circle and pulled into a parking lot by the library.

Olivia leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Thanks for the lift.”

“My pleasure.” He squeezed her hand one last time before he let her go. “Have some fun with this pilot of yours, Livvie. Don’t be afraid to give it a shot. You never know what’ll happen.”

“You sound like Jenny,” she said with a smile.

“My very wise niece knows a thing or two about love. Listen to her.”

“She’s already got me married to him.”

Laughing, her dad left her with a wave, and she headed for Bender Library. She found a quiet corner on the third floor, took out her laptop and notes, and tried to focus on the International Monetary Fund. But thoughts of a dark-haired man with piercing blue eyes kept intruding.

Before she knew it, she was sketching prominent cheekbones, a straight nose, full lips, and the hint of cockiness that should have been off-putting—and would have been on most men—but only added to Cole’s appeal.

As he came to life on the page, she was filled with yearning. For what exactly, she couldn’t say. For anything other than what she had. She was tired of waiting for her life to begin and sick of being on her way to some far-off destination where all her problems would be solved. The harder she worked and the more she dreamed, the further away that destination seemed to be.

She hated business school. There. She’d finally admitted it. She hated the classes about things that didn’t interest or matter to her, the pretentious students who talked about how much money they planned to make after they got their MBAs, and some of the professors who acted like they held the keys to success and would only give them to a lucky few.

Here she was, three-quarters of the way through college, working toward a degree she didn’t want. The realization was devastating. What was she supposed to do? Quit? No way would she leave without a degree. She couldn’t let all the time and money she had invested go to waste.

All she could think about was Cole telling her she was exceptionally talented, that he felt he knew the people in her drawings. How had she gotten so far down a road she didn’t want to be on? How could a man she had seen just three times finally make her realize that her art had value? Was it possible that if she followed her whimsical heart rather than her practical head she might get all the things she wanted without selling her soul to the devil in the process?

Touching the space bar on her computer, she clicked on AU’s website and found the link for the studio art program. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was looking, she felt her heart race like it might if she clicked on porn by mistake. As that thought made her giggle, the studio art page filled her screen. All along, she had known the program was there, but she hadn’t paid much attention to it as she pursued the business degree.

She devoured the information on the program and then read about the Katzen Arts Center. The center’s website declared, “The Katzen Arts Center stands as a clear statement to the community that at the heart of the city, there exists a place where the arts are honored as the heart of higher education. That place is American University.”

Imagining herself a part of the art community at AU was overwhelming and exciting at the same time. Before she could lose her nerve, she sent an email to the contact person for the studio art program, requesting an appointment. After she sent the message, she dissolved into giddy laughter.

“I can’t wait to tell Cole about this,” she whispered.

Over the next few hours, she ground out the business paper while hoping he would call. She checked the phone twice to make sure she hadn’t missed a call and then felt silly for caring so much. By six o’clock, the paper was done, and she gathered her stuff to leave.

Invigorated by the fresh air after being cooped up all day, she had almost reached the Metro station when her phone rang. Her excitement was dashed when she saw Jenny’s number on the caller ID.

“Hey,” Olivia said. “Did you finish the paper?”

“Just now.”

“Want to come over? We’re thinking about pizza.”

Since she would rather hang out with Jenny and Will than go home, Olivia accepted the invitation.

“Give us a call when you’re getting close to Franconia-Springfield, and one of us will come get you.”

“Sounds good.”

“So, um...did he call?” Jenny asked.

“Not yet.”

“He will.”

“I wish I could be so sure.”

“He’s probably busy with work. Don’t get all mental over it.”

“Who’s mental? I wasn’t even thinking about it until you asked.”

Jenny howled. “Yeah, right!”

“I’ll see you soon.” Olivia hung up and put the phone away in her bag, telling herself that Jenny was right. Cole was working and didn’t have time to call her—even between flights. He would call when he could.

But he didn’t call that night or the next day.

By the time Sunday night rolled around, their date on Friday seemed like a lifetime ago, and she had given up on hoping she would hear from him. The waiting, the wondering, and the speculating about how she could have been so wrong about him had completely sucked the life out of her. She went to bed early but tossed and turned for a long time before drifting into restless sleep.

When the phone rang at eleven, she thought she was dreaming until the persistent tune of “Ode to Joy” finally woke her. She lunged for the phone and answered without checking the caller ID.

“I knew it was too late to call,” Cole groaned. “I decided to risk it and woke you up.”

Now fully awake and with every sense on high alert, Olivia pushed herself up to a sitting position and cleared the sleep from her throat. “No, it’s fine. I’m usually up late.”

“But not tonight?”

“I was tired.”

“Sorry. And I’m sorry I haven’t called before now. This weekend was insane.”

“That’s okay.”

“Were you thinking I was one of those guys who says he’s going to call and then doesn’t?”

“Of course not.”

He laughed softly. “Yes, you were.”

“Maybe a little.”

“I really am sorry. Some stuff happened this weekend. Well, anyway… it was nuts.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, but thanks for asking. I’d much rather talk about you. What’ve you been up to?”

“Let’s see, I wrote a very exciting paper on the International Monetary Fund, hung out with my cousin, looked into changing my major to art, and cleaned the house.”

“Back up, back up. What was that about your major?”

She laughed at his reaction. “I was seeing if you were paying attention.”

“I’m very definitely paying attention. Tell me.”

“I decided to look into it. That’s all.”

“What brought this on?”

“It’s just… what you said the other night about how you felt like you knew the people I’d drawn. No one’s ever said anything like that before.”

“Not even in high school? In art class?”

“I didn’t show my stuff to anyone back then. That’s a recent development.”

“So no one had any idea just how good you are,” he said, sounding incredulous.

“Except for my cousin, Jenny, and my dad. They’ve been saying for years that I’m good, but what you said got me thinking.”

“Well, I’m glad I said something that got your attention. Are you really going to change your major?”

“I’m going in tomorrow afternoon to talk to the academic adviser in the studio art department.”

“That’s great, Olivia. That’s exactly where you belong.”

“The only bad thing is I’ll probably have to spend another year in school. At the rate I’m going, I’ll be lucky to get my degree by the time I’m forty.”

“Once you get into a major you love, school will become much less of a chore. I promise.”

“I hope you’re right, because I’m not sure how much more of the International Monetary Fund I can take.”

“That sounds truly dreadful.”

“I hate it. Do you know how liberating it is to finally admit that? I hate it.”

“We’ll have to celebrate this epiphany of yours next weekend.”

Her stomach fluttered with nerves and anticipation. “I’d love to,” she said softly.

“I was going to take a flight from O’Hare on Friday that would get me there around six-thirty. Does that sound okay?”

“I get off work at seven, so I hope you don’t mind waiting a half hour.”

“I don’t mind. I booked a room at the Sheraton, since it’s close to your house.” When Olivia didn’t say anything right away, he asked, “Is this too much for you?”

“No.”

“Then what is it? Something’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Olivia, talk to me,” he said in a gentle, cajoling tone. “Come on.”

“I’m kind of freaking out,” she confessed.

“Why?”

“This whole thing is just…”

“Intense?”

“Yes.” That was exactly the word she would’ve used.

“Is that bad?”

“It would be if you were to suddenly lose interest.” She cringed, hating how needy that made her sound.

“Or if you did.”

“I won’t.”

“Then why do you think I would?”

“I can’t help but wonder what a pilot who’s been everywhere and done everything sees in a perpetual student who works at the airport.”

He sighed. “Olivia, why do you do that? Why do you make it sound like there isn’t a single thing about you that’s interesting?”

“Because nothing about me or my life is all that exciting.”

“If that’s the case, why have I thought of you constantly since Friday night? Can you tell me that?”

Amazed, she rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. “I don’t know.”

“I do. It’s because you’re beautiful and fun and talented and interesting—very, very interesting. I loved talking to you, and I can’t wait to kiss you again. So what do you have to say to that?”

Olivia’s cheeks burned and her lips tingled.

His soft laughter rolled through the phone and went straight to her heart. “Nothing at all?”

“How about right back atcha? Would that suffice?”

“Yeah,” he said, his voice husky and sexy. “That works.”

Olivia wanted to crawl through the phone to him.

“Call me tomorrow after you see the adviser?”

“I will.”

“Are you one of those girls who says you’ll call and then you don’t?”

A burst of laughter took her by surprise. “No. I’m not.”

“I know. I’ve known that since I came to and saw you looking down at me. It’s a good thing I found you that next time.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I never, ever would’ve forgotten your face. So don’t you forget to call me tomorrow, okay?”

It was all Olivia could do to say, “Okay.”