Honeymoon Hunt

“Are we going to be served a meal of any kind?” he asked the redhead.

“We’ll be serving a meal in an hour. But if you’re hungry, I can bring you something now, Mr. Rampling.”

He turned to Julia. “Honey, do you want a snack now, or can you wait?”

“I can wait,” Julia responded.

He looked at the flight attendant, who wasn’t as warm and friendly to him as she had been earlier. “I believe we’ll wait for the meal, but thanks for the offer.”

“Yes, sir. Let me know if you need anything.”

He nodded and she hurried away.

“Thank you for finding my tray.”

Her quiet words drew his attention. “When you haven’t traveled first class before, you wouldn’t know.”

A few minutes later, after finishing her Diet Coke, she turned to look out the window.

Nick smiled. He’d guessed she’d prefer the window seat. However, after a few minutes when she hadn’t moved, he realized she was asleep.

She must not have slept well last night. He leaned over and pushed the button to lower the back of her seat as far as it would go.

The flight attendant immediately appeared. “Would your wife like a pillow, Mr. Rampling?”

Chapter Three

The question took him by surprise. Not the pillow part, but the wife part. “She’s not my wife,” he whispered fiercely.

“I beg your pardon, sir. Would your…companion like a pillow?”

Her suddenly smug look irritated him. “Yes!” he snapped.

When she brought him the pillow, he leaned over and slipped it between Julia and the window. He needed to get rid of that protective feeling he had. Julia certainly hadn’t asked for his assistance. In fact, she had seemed determined to pay her own way. An unusual occurrence in his life. The women he dated always expected him to pay. Not only for food and transportation, but also for expensive gifts.

Of course, he wasn’t dating Julia.

A light snore from his companion interrupted his thoughts. He wondered if anyone had ever told her she snored. Somehow, he didn’t think so. He couldn’t picture Julia Chance with a lover. She appeared too…too untouched. When he found himself taking inventory of Julia’s slender beauty, he shook his head. He had to stop thinking about Julia Chance.

He wanted nothing to do with her.

Julia’s eyes fluttered open and she stared around her, not sure why she was on a plane. Until her gaze collided with the broad-shouldered man next to her. Nick Rampling.

She straightened up, worried her sleeping might have made her look weak. Around Nick, she had to be careful about how she came off. After all, he was obviously a man of the world, experienced in all things.

All things…

She wasn’t experienced in that way, either. Not that Nick would ever find out. She’d gotten engaged in college and her fiancé had tried to force her into bed with him. But she’d resisted and had broken off the engagement.

When she felt Nick moving beside her, she stretched. “I’m sorry. Did I miss anything?”

“No. You must not have slept well last night.”

Julia looked away. “No, I was worried about my mother.”

“Are you worried about whether she’ll appreciate your concern?”

“No. I know she’ll appreciate it.”

“Trust me, Julia, I can tell you from experience, your mother will not want your interference. My father never does.”

Julia gathered her courage. “You make it sound as if he elopes every week.”

“Not quite that often.” Nick shrugged. “But I’ll admit this is the first time he’s ever chosen an older woman. However, if your mother looks anything like you, I’m not surprised.”

“I suppose you think I should be flattered, Nick, but I’m not. In order to marry her, a man should feel more than admiration for a woman’s looks. Looks fade. Her soul is always there.”

“And you think my father is in love with your mother’s soul? Right.” He looked as if he were about to laugh.

“Yes, I do, because my mother wouldn’t marry a man just because he flatters her.”

Her chin was in the air. She was not going to allow him to destroy what her mother must be feeling now. That was the very reason she was along on the trip to Los Angeles.

Turning toward the window, she ignored Nick. His opinion of his father’s behavior wasn’t encouraging. But she was relying on her mother’s behavior. She knew her mother would not be with Abe Rampling if she didn’t believe that she loved him…and that he loved her.

At fifty-two, Lois Chance was young enough to start a new life, but still old-fashioned enough to not sleep around with strange men interested only in a fling. She was a levelheaded woman who would have to have a good reason to do something impetuous.

The flight attendant brought warm, damp towels, much to Julia’s surprise. She watched Nick clean his hands with the towel, so she did the same and found it delightfully refreshing. The redhead took back the towels and returned with small cups of warm nuts.

They were Julia’s favorite. As she ate them, she looked over her shoulder and discovered that the door to the coach section was closed. “Are we the only ones receiving the towelettes and the nuts?”

“Yeah. They’ve got to give us some reason for paying the higher prices,” Nick said with a grin. When she stopped eating, he asked, “What’s wrong. Don’t you like them?”

“Yes, I do,” Julia said. “But don’t you feel bad eating in front of the others?”

He looked around with a frown. “Who? They’re all eating their nuts.”

“But not the passengers in coach,” she pointed out.

“Damn it, Julia, they don’t care about warm nuts if they get cheaper airfare!”

Julia nodded and ate another nut. But the difference in coach and first class still bothered her. “Are they being served anything?”

“They get a snack!” Nick snapped at her as if he’d had enough.

Why did he always seem to get irritated whenever she asked anything?

She stopped asking questions, stopped talking altogether.