She moved quickly through the crowd.

Gate A7 . . . Gate A8 . . . There it is!

“Gate A6!” she blurted as she rounded the corner to the Trans Pacific corridor.

Suddenly she found herself in an area of the airport unlike the familiar sight and scent of a Sea-Tac coffee shop. The walls were adorned with Trans Pacific logos, big blue letters embossed with red and gold. The employees were dressed to the nines in their sharp uniforms. She shifted uncomfortably, feeling utterly out of place.

“I’m . . . looking . . . for . . . Captain . . . Armstrong,” Stormy wheezed, straining to get the words out with what little breath she had left to speak to the gate agent standing behind the podium.

Before the agent could respond, Stormy heard a deep voice behind her.

“I’ll take that off your hands.” Stormy turned around to see the man of the hour standing with his coat hanging over his shoulder and a smile on his face.

“I thought this might be one of those ‘don’t forget’ type of things,” she responded, still out of breath with her bangs lightly sweeping across her forehead, drawing attention to the tiny beads of sweat forming beneath them.

It was hard for her to hide her sense of accomplishment. She smiled brightly, the gaze of her eyes betraying the secrets of her ridiculous crush on the man who didn’t deserve her attention.

“Yes, I would get in just a bit of trouble for leaving it behind,” he told her.

Dang it. She really needed to get herself a little more under control. Trying to adjust her breathing, she realized there was no more reason to keep standing there with this man.

“Well, you have your bag,” she began as she took a step back. “I better get back to work now . . .” The sentence trailed off.

“Thank you. I’m sorry I pulled you away from the coffee shop,” he said. “Is there anything I can do for you in return?”

Well, you can work your magic with that magnificent tongue of yours . . . That wasn’t what she said out loud.

“No, of course not. I’m just doing the best I can in my customer service job,” she said with a hint of sarcasm.

“I do appreciate good customer service,” he said with a laugh as he leaned toward her. Like a magnet, she felt herself wanting to touch him. It took a lot of willpower to stop.

His eyes narrowed, and she could feel the waves of pheromones coming off the man. If only she didn’t have firsthand knowledge of what it was like when he sank deep inside her body . . . A shudder ripped through her as she moistened her dry lips. The action drew his gaze to her mouth, which made her moisten her lips again. She swore she heard a growl escape his throat, but she wouldn’t bet money on it. She had to be mistaken.

It looked as if Cooper was about to speak again, but then a gate agent abruptly interrupted the conversation. “Captain, we need you on board now if we’re going to get this flight out on time. We need to close the door.”

Just short of shoving, the gate agent ushered Cooper through the Jetway door and slammed it shut behind him. Stormy found herself standing there looking at the empty doorway.

Turn around, she commanded herself. What the hell?

Looking down at Stormy over her purple reading glasses while pecking away at her keyboard, the gate agent said, “Sorry, sugar, someone has to keep this airline running like clockwork. My name’s Meredith, by the way. Fifteen years I’ve seen love find its wings in this terminal. Don’t worry, he’ll be back about nine tonight, Gate A3.”

Meredith was an attractive woman, somewhere between the ages of forty and fifty. She had a no-nonsense aura about her, but also projected the nurturing of a mother, in tune to everyone and everything around her.

“Nice to meet you, Meredith. I’m Stormy.” She spoke softly and was clearly embarrassed. It was as though Meredith had been reading her thoughts since she arrived at the gate.

She hadn’t realized she was that obvious. She really hoped she hadn’t come across as desperate. “I’m not looking for love and I’m definitely not taking any flights with the captain,” Stormy finished as she smiled and then turned to walk back to the coffee shop.

“Mmm-hmm, you watch yourself with those flyboys. If you’re looking for something other than rolling around in the hay, it’s best you stay clear of this terminal.” Meredith giggled and shook her head as she continued to feverishly peck away at her keyboard. Stormy chose to ignore the comment and continued walking away.

As she made her way back to the shop and began her daily duties all over again, her mind was in a fog. She couldn’t figure out what exactly had happened. Had her normally sarcastic customer suddenly turned soft? And what did it matter to her anyway?

She was sure he simply felt responsible because of almost getting her fired, but why the sudden turnaround?

“You won’t believe what happened,” Stormy uttered with excitement the first chance she got to speak to Amy.

“What is it?”

“He was nice today. I mean really nice! I’m sure I’m mistaking his intentions, and there’s more to the story than I’m willing to share at the moment, but it was sort of an okay feeling to have him act like a normal guy instead of a pompous baboon.”

“Yeah, they sometimes get extra nice when they think there’s a chance they’re about to close the deal,” her friend warned.

That took a bit of her happiness away because Stormy realized Amy was probably right. Stormy had been a bit starry-eyed today and the good captain couldn’t have missed it. Dang it. It would have been nice to enjoy her five seconds of happiness.