Fucking LA traffic.

Even at this time of night, it was still shitty on a lot of roads. It didn’t help that the airport was so damn far away—it would be at least half an hour till I got there.

On the way, I called Angie on my hands-free phone set, desperate to hear any updates on Nora’s situation. She didn’t answer my first few calls, but she finally picked up on the fourth after nearly letting it ring out again.

“What do you want?” she asked, her voice stiff.

“Has Nora left yet?”

“That’s none of your business.”

I explained everything to her, just like I’d done with Ina. I heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line.

“Shit, I had no idea. I’m sorry, Jake. I guess we’re all kinda used to Nora attracting the worst kinds of men, so I didn’t even think—”

“It’s fine, I get it,” I said, interrupting her. I didn’t mean to be rude, but I needed to know exactly where Nora was. “I just need to know if her flight left already, or if there’s still time for me to find her.”

“Hold on a sec. She used my laptop to book it.”

Angie was quiet for a minute while she searched. Then she came back onto the line. “Her flight hasn’t left yet. It takes off in twenty-five minutes from Terminal 2. Gate 23.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. I was only five minutes away from LAX now. If I found parking quickly enough, I’d hopefully be able to intercept Nora before she boarded the flight.

Unfortunately, parking was a bitch. It took me over ten minutes to find a spot, and it was about as far as fucking possible from Terminal 2. My stomach filled with dread with each and every moment that passed by, and soon I was counting the seconds down with each frantic beat of my racing heart.

I finally arrived at Gate 23. I saw two flight attendants standing at the gate desk, checking a man’s ticket. Thank god. The flight was still boarding, even though it was meant to be departing in just two minutes.

“Hi, how can I help you?” one of the attendants said as I dashed up to the desk. The other giggled and batted her eyelashes, obviously recognizing me immediately.

“I need to reach someone who just got on this flight,” I said. “Is it possible for you to call her and get her off the plane before it leaves?”

She tapped something on her keyboard. “Flight KL56 to Florida?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No. Flight AM17 to New York.”

The attendant frowned. “To New York? Oh, sorry, sir. That flight was changed to another boarding gate. You’ll need to go to Gate 26.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake…

I thanked the attendant and dashed across the airport to Gate 26. My heart sank as I looked up and saw the flight status announcement sign above my head. Nora’s flight was no longer in ‘boarding’ status. It said ‘departed’ in big red flashing letters.

Shit.

I swallowed a hard lump in my throat and tried to think of my next move. This was okay. It was just a minor setback. There would surely be some other flight leaving for New York within the next few hours. All I had to do was buy a ticket for that and then wait here for a while, and when I finally got to New York, I could track her down and tell her how I—

“Jacob?”

I whirled around at the familiar voice. Never before had something looked and sounded so sweet. It was Nora, standing behind me with two enormous suitcases and a puzzled expression on her pretty face.

“You’re here. You’re still here,” I said, unable to believe my own eyes.

She gave me a weak smile. “I couldn’t leave. I booked the ticket, but as soon as I arrived at the gate, I realized how hasty and stupid I was being.”

“You’re not stupid.”

She shook her head. “No, but I was being stupid. I was running away instead of facing things like I should have. Just like I did that time up in Santa Barbara when I found out those things about my parents. I couldn’t run away again. I knew I had to stay and confront things head-on like you told me to that night. So I never got on the flight.”

“You never got on the flight,” I repeated. “Shit, Nora, I thought you were gone. I thought.…” Emotion welled up in me as I stared at her, and I cleared my throat. “Let me explain what happened. I—”

She cut me off. “Ina and Angie both texted and called me to tell me what happened with Chris, and they told me what that text I saw really was. Now I feel even stupider,” she said, glumly staring at the carpeted floor. “I’m so sorry. I know you were just trying to sort the whole situation out and protect me.”

I pulled her into a tight hug and took a deep breath, taking in the sweet scent of her hair and perfume. “You’re not stupid. That text made me look dodgy as fuck,” I murmured. “And after the shitty experiences you’ve had with other men in the past, I’m not surprised you ran like hell.”

She pulled back, her eyes shining. “But you aren’t other men. You’re you. I should’ve trusted you. So I’m never running away again. Not from you. If you’ll still have me after this stunt I pulled,” she said, casting her gaze down.

I pretended to think about it for a second, scratching my chin. “Hmm….” I began, before breaking into a grin. “Of course I’ll still have you, you silly woman. I love you. It’s gonna take a lot more than you dashing off to an airport to get rid of me.”

She smiled. A tear slipped out of the corner of her right eye, which she quickly dabbed away. “Thank you. I’ve been so foolish. I promise I’ll never do something like this again.”

I grinned. “So are you just gonna leave me hanging again?”

She laughed. “I love you too!” she replied, throwing her arms around me.

Our lips pressed together, and her taste filled my mouth. I inhaled deeply as I drank in her sweet lips, and my hands gripped her waist, pulling her body against mine as we kissed deeply. The noise and bustle of the airport around us quickly faded away to nothing. It was only us here right now. Only us in our own little world.

Finally we pulled away from each other, electricity still sparking between us. I grinned down at her. “Come on,” I said, capturing one of her hands in mine. “Let’s go home.”