Mark finished his beer, paid the tab—including Lana’s drink—and headed towards the gate. Disappointed she hadn’t wanted to hang out, he thought about the times he’d seen her. Kate was Erin’s best friend and Lana spent a lot of time with both of them. He’d run into Lana quite a few times, but she usually made a beeline in the other direction the moment he got near her. Kate said she was shy, but it was easy to see she was self-conscious about her height and probably her weight too. In his opinion, she was perfect, but women seemed to think there was something wrong with them if they didn’t have flat stomachs and some weird space between their thighs. As far as he was concerned, the only time a woman needed space between her thighs was when he was getting ready to go down on her.

He loved and respected both women and sex, but at 33, he was tired of the game involved with new relationships. He’d all but given up on finding a woman who would not only try to understand what he’d lived through on some of his missions but wasn’t afraid to listen when he talked about them. The last woman he’d told about the day Shay had died had stopped returning his calls. Not that he’d loved her or anything, but he’d thought she would at least give it a chance. That had been five years ago and he’d resisted relationships since then. His gut told him Lana would be different, but she didn’t let him get close enough to find out.

His melancholy thoughts fled as he spied Lana standing near a bay of windows, her phone at her ear, talking animatedly. She was lovely, he thought, pausing to lean against the far wall so he could watch her. Her shoulder-length dark red hair fell over the side of her face as she talked and she would use her free hand to brush it back, where it would slowly cascade down until it moved across her cheek again. From the profile, her nose was slightly upturned at the tip, giving her a girlish appearance, especially when she laughed. Something drew him to her, and he was transfixed, taking in the way she looked, the way she sounded…the way she moved. On one hand, she wasn’t even remotely his type; on the other, she wasn’t just his type, she was his fantasy. He’d thought so from the first time he’d ever seen her two years ago.

Taking in her figure, she had what he considered a real woman’s curves, with breasts that were full and round, a sweet ass he could already envision in a pair of shorts, and those legs…if she had less than a 38-inch inseam, he’d eat his uniform. Breasts and asses were great, but he was a leg man. A woman with long legs got him every time and hers were exquisite. She was wearing jeans today, but there was no hiding how long her legs were and once again, he wished he could see her in shorts.

She turned, spotting him in her peripheral vision, and for a moment showed no signs of being shy or awkward, acknowledging him with a nod of her head as she finished talking. It wasn’t until she hung up and made eye contact that her cheeks got a little pink and she stumbled over an invisible wrinkle in the carpet.

“This is yours,” he said, handing her the ten-dollar bill she’d left on the bar. “I’m the reason you spilled your drink so the least I could do is buy it for you.”

She smiled, the motion lighting her face and he thought again how pretty she was. “Thank you.”

“Will you go to dinner with me when we get to Eagle Rock?”

She sobered instantly, all humor gone, her eyes going wide as she stared at him. It was probably more of a gape, since her mouth fell open too, and no sound came out as she stared.

“Oh, come on,” he cajoled softly. “Don’t hurt my feelings by saying no. I’m just a boring military guy, not like the celebrities you’re around all the time, but I think I’m a decent conversationalist and I promise I won’t bore you with war stories.”

Lana still didn’t say anything, her eyes never leaving his.

“Lana?”

“I puked on the last guy I went on a date with,” she whispered.

Mark cocked his head. “Was he a jerk? Did he deserve it?”

“Oh, um, yes. Definitely. He was an asshole.”

“I’m not a jerk or an asshole, so there would be no reason for you to puke on me, would there?”

“No.” She shook her head. “But roller coasters are never a good idea for me.”

“Duly noted. No roller coasters.” He gave her his most charming smile. “You’re safe because Kate and Erin would kick my ass if I wasn’t nice to you, and I’m not afraid of much, but Erin? Holy shit, don’t run into her in a dark alley.”

Lana relaxed as a giggle escaped. “I’ve never seen that side of her, but I’ve heard stories.”

“All true.”

She paused. “I’m not sure what my schedule is going to be—Aaron Farrar is supposedly on a tear. That’s why I’m going to Bum-fuck, Montana.”

“We’ll work around it. My schedule is pretty flexible.”

“Okay. Thank you. Dinner would be nice.” Her phone rang and Lana jumped, sending her phone toppling out of her hand. She fumbled to grab it and promptly sent it flying.

Mark snaked out a hand, catching it in mid-air, and handed it back to her. “You’re not flying the plane, are you?”

She dipped her head, sighing as her call went to voice mail. “I told you—cute guys make me nervous.”

He chuckled. “Be that as it may, I’m really looking forward to dinner.”

Lana sank into her first-class seat with a sigh of relief. She’d always made it a point to avoid men like Mark. He was way out of her league so there was no need to flirt or pretend she had a chance with him. He was so damn hot, she didn’t understand why he wanted to go out with her at all, but if sex was the motivation, she was all in. It had been a while and she’d had a crush on him for so long, what could it hurt to get it out of her system? He was an inch shorter than her but didn’t seem to mind, and from what she’d seen so far, his body would provide her with a rock-solid sexual playground.

She was shy with men because her height had garnered too many unkind comments over the years, but she loved sex and missed having it regularly. She wasn’t fond of one-night stands but wound up having them now and then because the alternative was no sex at all. None of those men had been as attractive as Mark, though, and she wondered if she could keep from embarrassing herself long enough to see him naked. If she could use the time on the flight to beat back her nerves and not do anything else that was foolish, maybe she had a shot.

“This is truly my lucky day,” Mark said, dropping into the seat next to her.

“Uh…hi.” She was fairly confident she hadn’t done anything dumb yet, but it had only been a few seconds, after all.

“I hate to fly,” he said, fastening his seat belt. “I’ve been on so many flights but I’ve never learned to enjoy it.”

“I don’t mind it,” she said, motioning to the bag at her feet. “I’ve got my laptop, e-reader and day planner. I have plenty of stuff to make a two-hour flight go by quick.”

“I don’t have that kind of job, so it’s a little different for me.”

“Do you like to read?”

“Sometimes. For some reason, I don’t like to on planes, but I can watch movies.”

“I tend to get bored,” she admitted. “I need to keep my brain busy or I start to fidget.”

“Then you can talk to me,” he said. “I’ll keep your brain busy.”

“Okay.”

“Tell me about yourself.”

“Born and raised in Long Island, got my bachelor’s degree at Columbia and have worked in public relations since I graduated. I’m 29, never married, no kids, but three brothers who all have at least three apiece.”

“Does that mean you want at least three as well or there are already so many you don’t want any?” he chuckled.

She grinned. “I want one, maybe two, depending on what my future husband wants. I have no desire to be a stay-at-home mom, so having three kids would be a lot, but I guess it would depend on the father.”

“I always wanted them,” he said thoughtfully, “but with my kind of military career, it felt wrong to have kids I’d rarely see. I’ve been deployed a lot, always moving around, always in dangerous situations… It’s what I signed up for, but it never seemed fair to a family.”

“But now you’re leaving the military.”

“I’m not sure. I’m considering the option of going Reserves, but the bodyguard job sounds good too. Something different, something new…”

“But also dangerous?” She met his eyes, searching for a clue as to how he really felt about leaving the military.

“How dangerous can Eagle Rock, Montana, be?”

“But how much local work can there be?” she countered. “Chances are, they’d be hired to protect people elsewhere too.”

“Which would make it perfect. I could fish, ski, all kinds of things I haven’t had time to do in years, and then when the jobs come up, get out of town and go someplace interesting to do the job.”

“Sounds about right,” she mused. “I’m kind of the opposite. I live in Manhattan so I’m always in the interesting place. I go out of town to relax and wind down. Although I think Montana might be a little too far in the other direction.”

“Yeah, it worries me a little too,” he admitted. “I don’t know how I’ll live in such a low-key place. But the pictures look beautiful so I’m anxious to look around, explore, see what there is to see.”

“I’ll probably be locked away in the cabin and—”

“Cabin?” he interrupted in confusion.

“Aaron’s staying at his buddy’s cabin. It’s the cabin version of a mansion. I think there are five bedrooms, an indoor/outdoor pool, Jacuzzi and all kinds of amenities. Even a housekeeper.”

“Yeah, Hank said there are quite a few celebrities who own land or homes in Eagle Rock.”

“Hopefully there will be something to do other than skiing and fishing.”

“Horseback riding? Hiking in the summer? I’m not sure either.”

“Not much that’s up my alley.”

“Not the outdoors type?”

“I live in Manhattan... I mostly do a lot of walking. Occasionally, I bike when the weather’s good but the truth is, I’m busy. I work six days a week, sometimes seven, and ten- or twelve-hour days are exhausting.”

“Is it worth it?” he asked quietly.

She cocked her head. “Well, I live in one of the most expensive cities in the country… What else am I supposed to do? Get some job that pays ten bucks an hour and move home to my parents?” She shuddered in mock horror.

“But are you happy?”

“With my job? Oh, yes. I love the work and the clients, and working with Kate is phenomenal. She’s so good at what she does, and I’ve learned so much from her, I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

“Erin said Kate asked you to be a partner.”

“Yes. We’ve got more clients than she can handle and right now I’m half publicist, half executive assistant. That’s part of what this trip is about—me taking on a client on my own. We don’t usually do this level of hand-holding, but he’s a new client and he’s not a huge name in sports, so she’s pretty much handing him over to me and letting me run with it. We’ll see what happens. If it goes well, I might take on some of our less famous clients and do a buy-in to become a partner rather than an employee.”

“Is it a lot of money?”

She smiled. “It’s a fair amount, but I’ll pay for it through the profits. Kate and I, along with the part-time assistant we have, get a salary. She typically re-invests the profits or takes a share for herself at the end of each year. If this works out, I’ll get a big raise but she’ll take on some new business and for the first few years, my share of whatever profit is left at the end of each year will go to her until I’ve paid her off. After that, we split everything down the middle.”

“Sounds exciting.”

“It is. It’s also good that she’s out West and I’m in New York; we can cover both coasts, but we’ve discussed me moving to Vegas.”

“Really?” He seemed surprised.

“Manhattan is expensive. With the money I make, I could buy a house in Vegas. I’ll never buy in Manhattan unless I want to commute to and from Long Island, and even then, it would be something tiny.”

“I don’t know how anyone affords to live in the city.”

“I took over Kate’s rent-controlled apartment when she married Karl, so I got lucky. If I ever move out, the rent on that place will triple. And I pay three grand a month.”

“Let me guess—a one-bedroom, one-bath walk-up?”

“There’s an elevator,” she laughed. “But yeah, it’s small. It’s all I need, though. I’m gone a lot and when I’m working I can do it from bed, the couch or the kitchen counter.”

“My townhouse is pretty small too, but I figured owning something was better than renting. It’s a two-bedroom, two-bath, with a one-car garage underneath.”

“That’s the only thing I miss…a car.” She smiled dreamily. “I sold mine when I moved into Kate’s place since I never drive anywhere, and it’s easy to rent one if I need it, but I miss being able to jump in the car and leave town.”

“Are you renting one in Montana?”

“Oh, hell yeah. No way would I leave myself stranded with no way to get around.”

“Hank’s picking me up, so we should exchange numbers now, in case we get separated when we land.”

“Sure.” She told him hers and then typed his into her phone.