Julie leaned into him, her hands on his chest, scorching his skin through his shirt. She pressed to her toes and brushed her lips over his and it was all he could do not to kiss her like it was his last kiss in this lifetime. “Don’t die, soldier,” she whispered. “The world needs more men like you, not less.”

He’d wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “And you? What do you need?”

She blinked up at him and he saw the uncertainty in her face for an instant. “One last kiss,” she said, her mouth finding his again for a feather light kiss that was over too soon. She pushed out of his arms and turned away, half-running toward the exit. Regret and disappointment filled him.

Luke scrubbed the tension at back of his neck. As time had ticked on, one thing about that day had replayed over and over in his mind. There had been no goodbye.

An announcement sounded over the intercom, snapping Luke back to the present. His flight was cancelled. The doors to Julie’s plane hadn’t closed. He had a gut feeling she wasn’t going anywhere either.

He walked to the counter and found the attendant. “Is this flight going to take off?”

She sighed. “They’re trying to get clearance but it’s not looking good.”

“If they don’t, since you put them on the plane, will you put them up in a hotel for the night?”

“We won’t pay for the room since weather is an act of God,” she said, “but we’ll get them to a reserved room if they want it.”

“Which hotel?”

“The Royal Blue,” she said. “If you’re thinking about staying there, I’m not sure that will be possible. The airline reserved a large block of rooms. You should check around quickly before everyone is sold out.”

“Understood,” Luke said. “Thank you.” He turned away and started walking. The airline wasn’t the only one with a Royal Blue contract. Airport administration and security had one as well, and he had a security clearance badge that gave him priority reservations. He was headed to the Royal Blue and he wasn’t giving Julie a chance to run away to a different hotel.

He’d see her when she arrived.

Chapter Two

An hour and a half after she’d left Luke behind in the airport, Julie was off the plane and inside a hotel, rolling her bag toward the registration desk. She wondered about Luke and where his flight and the night had taken him. She worried about both of them getting home for the wedding. The temptation to call him would have been extreme if she actually had his number, especially since she just might be needing that charter flight to get out of here quickly. But she didn’t have his number and she wasn’t going to call Lauren and Royce and freak them out about being snowed in when she might well be on an early morning flight. If not, well, she’d find her own charter if she had to, and ignore her own warning issued to Luke to be careful. She’d walk home before she’d miss Lauren’s rehearsal dinner.

Julie stopped at the roped-off area to wait in line for registration, noting that there were a good ten people in front of her, most of whom were from her flight. Thankfully, she’d caught the first shuttle to the hotel or the line would probably be longer already.

With a sigh, she leaned on her suitcase, feeling the ache of the long day, and as time ticked by without any movement, she let her lashes lower. Her mind went back to the last time she’d said goodbye to Luke. To that day in the airport when she’d dropped him off. The end of their affair had come far too soon. She told him the world needed more men like him. “What do you need?” he’d asked in response. It had been all she could do not to say, “You, Luke. I need you.”

A sudden shiver of foreboding swept down Julie’s spine with such intensity that she straightened and cast a furtive glance around the lobby. Her attention was drawn instantly to three men standing with their backs to her near the door to what looked like a restaurant or a bar. They weren’t even looking her way and yet...there was something about them.

Elizabeth Moore’s words played in her head. “He won’t kill me. He won’t kill you. But there are others who’ll kill us all if they find out what he’s hiding.” Julie rubbed her arms, inwardly shaking herself for letting her imagination get the best of her.

The line progressed, and she gladly refocused on getting to a room and out of this lobby. Several more customer service reps took their places behind the counter and in a matter of a few minutes, she was being called forward. Still, she found herself casting a glance towards the three men, only to find them gone. So why didn’t she feel relieved? In fact, she felt more uneasy.

She didn’t have time to contemplate. The customer service rep was quick and Julie was on her way to her room in a snap. She propped her purse on her bag and with key in hand, rolled her way to the elevator, thankfully finding an empty car. She punched her floor and leaned against the mirror, ready for peace and quiet and sleep. Oh yes. Blessed sleep.

A second before the doors would have shut, someone stuck their hand inside the panels and they jerked open with a loud jangle of a bell. That same foreboding chill she’d felt in the lobby travelled her spine.

A man entered the car, his dark stare meeting hers and turning her chill to ice. They were cold, calculating eyes. She cut her gaze and willed her heart to stop trying to jump out of her chest, telling herself to look at him, to get a better description than a tall man, with dark, wavy hair, and a tan jacket, because for some reason she felt she needed it.

He punched a button three floors above hers and she tried to find comfort in that fact. With a destination, a room, and a right to be here, he was likely just another traveller. Still, even with that logic, she counted floors, willing the car to move faster. The doors opened, but not at her stop, and Julie fought the urge to dart forward and just get out of the car.

A young couple rushed forward and joined them. Julie reached for the handle of her bag. She should get off. Get away from the strange man who now held the door for her. But what if he got off, too? There was safety in numbers and she had company now.

The doors started to shut and she let them. One more level up and the couple got out, leaving Julie alone with the stranger, and as uneasy as ever. She stared at the doors, ticking off the seconds until they stopped two levels up. The instant she was able, she rushed forward, eager for escape.

Once Julie was in the hallway, she found her destination a few rooms to her left. Thank you. She was nearly to sanctuary and safety.

Letting her bag settle upright on the ground, she glanced over her shoulder, eyeing the elevator. The doors were just now closing with the stranger still inside, she assumed. Still, had the man held the door open long enough to see which room was hers?

Gnawing her bottom lip, she worried despite assuring herself the rooms were safe, and near impossible to break into. Key in hand, she swiped the plastic through the electronic panel, and frowned when the little light stayed red. “Damn,” she mumbled as she slid it again.

Still red.

No. No. No. Please say this wasn’t happening. She dropped her head to the surface of the door, her hair falling forward, glad it covered her face. Crying wasn’t her style, but tears prickled in her eyes. Seeing Luke had rattled her. Add in her fear of missing the wedding and she was a mess. Then there was Elizabeth Moore’s visit, which clearly had shaken her to the core. Good gosh, she was tired. She was worried. She was not herself. A return trip to the lobby felt overwhelming.

“Problem?”

The deep, sensual baritone danced along her skin and sparked a familiar, warm feeling. Lifting her head, Julie swivelled around and blinked, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her.