Noah Hart was attempting not to raise his voice and not having much luck in it. “How could you possibly lose my luggage,” he demanded. “There are about four gates at this airport.”

“It didn’t happen here, sir,” a flustered clerk explained. “It happened at LaGuardia.”

“If they hadn’t insisted on checking my bag, this wouldn’t have been a problem.”

“I understand, sir, but it was a full flight, and you walked on at the last minute.”

Noah hadn’t been planning on coming into Blacksburg until the end of the week, but his work schedule had changed so he’d decided to come in early. The flight from Tokyo to New York had been fine, but the only flights from New York to Roanoke were on very small planes without first class or business class cabins. So they’d insisted on checking his bag when he’d tried to board.

Naturally, his luggage hadn’t made it.

What else could he expect? He’d never wanted to make this trip to begin with.

He was on the verge of loudly expressing his displeasure, but he cut himself off. The clerk looked like she might cry at any minute, and it wasn’t even her fault.

He swallowed over his frustration and gave a curt nod. “I’m on my way to Blacksburg. Am I going to have to drive all the way back up here to pick up my bag.”

“No, sir. We’ll have it delivered to you. But if you don’t mind waiting a few minutes, I’ll double check and make sure it’s not here and just slipped through the cracks somehow.”

“I’ll be at the bar,” he muttered.

The Roanoke airport was tiny, but it was clean and sunny and more pleasant than a lot of airports he’d been to over the years. He wandered in the direction of the only bar he could see. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was the only bar in the whole airport.

As he approached, he noticed a young woman watching him.

She was perched on a stool at the end of the bar, her hand wrapped around a glass of what looked like club soda. She was crossing a pair of very fine legs.

His body immediately tightened with interest.

She was a pretty little thing. Small but with a great shape to her. She wore a knee-length dress and sandals. She had shoulder length brown hair, clear skin, dark eyes and lovely, lush lips.

And she was definitely watching him. Her eyes never left his face as he approached. After a minute, she gave him a little smile.

She was absolutely gorgeous. He was already imagining what she might be like in bed.

The airline had lost his luggage. His sister wasn’t expecting him for a couple more days. If he stayed in Roanoke for the night, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

At least some fun with this hot little package might salvage this trip.

“Hello,” he said, coming over to stand beside her with a practiced smile that always worked on women.

“Hi,” she said, that little smile still hovering on her lips. “Did you just fly in?”

“Yeah.” When the bartender came over, Noah ordered a beer. Then he leaned a little closer to the woman. “They lost my damned luggage.”

“Annoying.” She was watching him in a strange way, but he liked the way her soft brown eyes rested on his face. Like she saw more in him than most people, like she wanted to see even more. “How are you?” she asked.

It was an odd question, but he was just happy to keep talking to her. “I’m doing pretty well now.” He took a swallow of his beer. “You’ve got the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.”

He’d learned early on that the eyes were the best thing to compliment a woman on. The body was considered too sexual and thus too suggestive. The skin was too personal, and the hair wasn’t personal enough. The eyes were exactly right, and in this case it happened to be true.

They were beautiful eyes—like liquid chocolate.

Her cheeks flushed prettily, and she dropped her eyes. “Thank you.”

Even more enchanted than ever, Noah repositioned himself and reached over to lift her chin. “I’m Noah.”

Something changed on her face. It grew oddly still. “Noah,” she murmured.

“Yes. You can say my name any time you like.” He paused, and when she didn’t reply, he asked, “What’s your name?”

The soft look in her eyes disappeared, replaced by something else, something he didn’t understand.

What the hell had just happened?

She’d been into him. Totally into him. He wasn’t a fool, and he knew how to recognize it. And now it was like she’d just shut down.

He didn’t want her to shut down on him. He wanted her all soft and flushed like she’d been before. He used a husky murmur that he knew women liked as he said, “You don’t have to give me your name if you don’t want to.”

Her shoulders had stiffened, and she turned her head away from him. It looked like she was breathing unevenly.

Damn it. He’d lost her, and he had no idea why.

Before he could say anything else, a voice called out from behind them, “Emma! Emma!”

Emma.

Something sparked in his mind. Something that should be significant.

He turned around and saw a familiar face.

Patrick was older now, and he wasn’t as skinny as he’d been in high school. But his features and smile were familiar as he hurried over to the bar, rolling a small suitcase and carrying a leather bag.

One of Noah’s best friends since childhood.

One of his only friends.

But Patrick’s eyes weren’t focused on Noah. They were focused on the woman beside him.

Emma.

Noah gasped as it finally caught up to him.

Emma. Emma. Patrick’s little sister.

Little Pudge.

He’d just been standing here coming onto plain, chubby little Emma, who was always lurking around, wearing baggy clothes and staring at him.

She wasn’t plain or chubby anymore. There was nothing pudgy about her.

Patrick had glanced over at him, and his face changed with recognition. “Noah? Damn, man, why didn’t you let us know you were coming?” He pulled to a stop, his expression altering yet again. “Or did you know?” His eyes moved from Emma to Noah suspiciously.

“Of course I didn’t know,” Emma said, evidently rousing herself to respond to the situation. “We just happened to run into each other.”

“Y-yeah. I almost didn’t recognize her after so long,” Noah managed to say, his mind buzzing from surprise and disorientation and a strange kind of embarrassment.

He was never embarrassed.

He didn’t like it.

Emma slanted him a look that was decidedly cold. She obviously resented the fact that he hadn’t recognized her, but how the hell was he supposed to know this gorgeous woman was Patrick’s little sister, Pudge?

And what the hell was he supposed to do with the fact that he was still hopelessly attracted to her, that he was seeing her as anything but a little sister?

Patrick had relaxed, evidently assuming that nothing untoward had happened between his friend and his sister. He grinned at Noah. “Emma’s here to pick me up. I guess she probably told you that. If you don’t have a car, you can ride along with us.”

Noah gulped down the rest of his beer. “I’m waiting to hear about my luggage.”

Patrick waved to the bartender and asked for a beer himself. “Well, we’ll wait with you. You don’t mind, do you, Emma? Man, I can’t believe you’re here after so long. We have so much to catch up on.”

Noah swallowed over his discomfort and resigned himself to a long chat.

***

You can find out more about Falling for her Brother’s Best Friend . It will be out on June 7th.