An Unexpected Kiss

For my
granddaughter Brooklyn who thinks superheroes are cooler than princesses, but
still likes to wear sparkly high-heels with a dress.

Acknowledgments

First let me say that I could not
have completed this book without the love and support of my family. My husband,
John, did the dishes almost every night, and frequently took the boys out to
eat so I could write. When the laundry piled up, John took care of that as
well. He also took the time to read over the manuscript to look for any inconsistencies.

This has been a fun book to
write, and I enjoyed working with such gifted authors to complete this
Christmas romance anthology. Thank you Cami, Christina, Taryn, Janet, and
Kimberly for including me.

I want to also thank Sadie
Anderson, my talented editor, typesetter and formatter. There is nothing she
can’t do. She’s my superhero!

A special thanks to Casey Harbertson for the cute cover.
He is so talented and I’m lucky to have him as my exclusive book cover guy.

Lastly, I need to thank Valerie
Bybee who dropped everything she had going on to read through the manuscript in
one day. I couldn’t do it without her help.

An
Unexpected Kiss

Cindy
Roland Anderson

©2014 Cindy
Roland Anderson

Published
by Winsome Press Publishing

This
is a work of fiction. The characters, names, places, incidents and dialogue are
products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.

No
part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without prior
written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief passages
embodied in critical reviews and articles.

Published
by Winsome Press Publishing, Farmington, UT

1. Fiction.
2. Women’s. 3. Romance

Editor:
Sadie L. Anderson

Typeset and
Formatting: Sadie L. Anderson

Cover design: Casey Harbertson of Zulu Six

Cover photo:
Gpointstudio from iStock and
www.gpointstudio.pl

The
scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or any
other means without permission in writing from the publisher is illegal and
punishable by law. Purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not
participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Thank
you for supporting the author’s rights.

Lucy
Phillips read the text from her mother
and stifled a frustrated groan.

Lance
will be picking you up at the airport. Make sure to wear something nice. And
don’t forget to bring a coat.

Really? Her
mother was already telling her what to do and she hadn’t even boarded the plane
yet. If it weren’t for the Christmas season, she’d send a sarcastic reply.

Not that
it would do any good if she did. Her mom was determined to marry Lucy off to
her old high school boyfriend. It didn’t matter that Lance still wished he were
in high school. Her mother wanted grandchildren, and apparently Lance was
willing to help her get them. If only Lucy would cooperate.

“Hey,
could you move ahead?” an irritated voice said from behind her.

Lucy
shoved her phone in her pocket and took one step forward to close the gap in
front of her. She resisted the urge to turn around and say something sarcastic
to the grumpy lady. The way this week had gone, Lucy would end up sitting by
the woman.

Her phone
vibrated another incoming text. Lucy loved her mother. She really did, but she
didn’t like her meddling with her life. Her two teenage brothers were still at
home. Couldn’t her mother focus on them?

The line
inched forward, and Lucy quickly moved ahead. No need to tick off the grumpy
lady again. She really hoped her seatmate was someone nice. The flight from
Southern California to Montana wasn’t a long one, but when you are seated by
the wrong person it can seem interminable.

Her phone
buzzed again, and Lucy ignored it. It had to be her mother again, wondering if
she’d gotten her first text. Just knowing Lance was going to be waiting for her
at the airport put a damper on her Christmas spirit.

Without
looking at the new messages, Lucy turned off her phone. She’d deal with her
mother and Lance when she absolutely had to. She wasn’t going to let them ruin
her favorite holiday.

Lucy
loved Christmas, and nobody did Christmas better than Snow Valley, her hometown
in Montana. Since her managing director decided to take his family on an
extended Caribbean cruise over the holidays, Lucy had a full two weeks of paid
time off to enjoy the town’s festivities.

Finally,
it was her turn to board the plane. She envied the lucky people traveling in
first class. They were settled in wide, comfortable looking seats, and already
had been served the beverage of their choice. Lucy wondered if they offered hot
chocolate. There was nothing more soothing than a cup of hot cocoa topped with
a dollop of thick whipped cream. If she got the promotion she’d been slaving
away for over the past year, maybe she’d be able to afford traveling first
class. But for now she was stuck in the back of the plane.

The
flight was full, and by the time Lucy made her way toward her assigned seat,
the flight attendant warned her there might not be any room left in the
overhead bins. She offered to check her bag for free, which Lucy gladly accepted.

With only
her messenger bag to carry, Lucy squeezed through the aisle, counting the seats
until she reached row twenty-six. A man stood with his back to her, trying to
shove his carry-on bag into the overhead bin. He was a big guy, not fat but certainly
not toned.

While she
waited, she glanced back down at her ticket and saw she had the middle seat,
which meant she was going to be squished in between this guy and…the grumpy
lady. Seriously? First, Lance would be waiting for her at the airport, and now
this?

Dismayed,
she tucked a strand of her long, blonde hair behind her ear. Glancing to her
right, she found herself staring into the most unbelievable blue eyes she’d
ever seen. She blinked and the owner of the eyes came into full focus. He had
thick, light-brown hair that was slightly tousled, a look she was sure hadn’t
come from using any special hair product. His tanned skin only emphasized the
electric blue color of his eyes. Two tiny lines creased between his eyebrows,
and Lucy realized the man was scowling. At her?

“Is this
your seat?” he asked, pointing to the empty spot next to him.

Hope
flared in her chest. Maybe she’d read her ticket wrong. “I’m in twenty-six E.”

The man’s
face relaxed and the slightest smile appeared on his handsome face. “This is
seat B. You’re on the other side.”

Of course
she couldn’t be that lucky.

“That’s
right, sweetheart,” a booming voice said from her other side. “Slide on in here.”

Lucy
noticed a spark of compassion in the blue eyes before the man dropped his gaze
to study his smart phone. Slowly, she turned and offered her seatmate a warm
smile.

“Hello,
I’m Lucy.”

“Howdy,
Lucy.” The jovial man stuck out his hand. “I’m Jed Harrison.”

Lucy
shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” She slipped past him and took her
seat. Right away she noticed both of the arm rests were lifted, which allowed
the passengers on either side of her to encroach on her space, leaving her very
little room to sit.

“Hi, I’m
Lucy,” she said to the grumpy woman.

“Maxine,”
the woman said, eyeing Lucy with a frown as she buckled her seatbelt. “I suppose
you want the arm rest down.”

No, what
Lucy wanted was to be seated across the aisle next to the cute guy with the
blue eyes.

“If you’d
prefer it up, I don’t mind.”

That at
least won her a smile.

Jed took
his seat and fumbled with the seatbelt. His elbow caught Lucy in the chest.
“Oops, sorry about that. Didn’t mean to touch you there.” He grinned. “I’m not
trying to get fresh with you. It’s just these seats are awfully close together.
Besides, I’m a happily married man.”

Lucy
thought she heard a muffled laugh from across the aisle, but she wasn’t about
to try and see who might find this so funny, although she guessed it was the
blue-eyed stranger. If she moved at all, Jed was sure to get another feel of
her womanly curves, and she did not want that to happen again.

The last
of the remaining passengers found their seats, including a bedraggled looking
mother who was holding a crying toddler. Lucy found herself smiling when the
woman declared she and her son were in seats twenty-six B and C.

She bet
Mr. Blue Eyes wasn’t laughing now.

The
flight went by slowly. Maxine had fallen asleep, and while she didn’t exactly
snore, her breathing was noisy. But not noisy enough to drown out Jed who insisted
on chatting the entire time. By the time the plane landed in Billings, Lucy
felt like she knew the man’s wife and children intimately, not to mention his
stellar sales record.

Her head
hurt, and she’d been unable to come up with a plan to avoid Lance, or at the
very least come up with a speech that would finally get it through his head she
was not interested in having a relationship with him, let alone have children
with him.

While
waiting for people to deplane, Lucy overheard the mother of the toddler thank
the man sitting next to her for being such a big help. Although mildly curious
about how the guy had helped the young mother out, Lucy didn’t move. Jed was
attempting to unbuckle his seatbelt, and had already made bodily contact with
her far too many times.

Finally, Jed
had his bag and moved out of the way, talking loudly on his cell phone.

Lucy
stood up, feeling a little disappointed the cute guy had already vacated his
seat. She glanced down the aisle just in time to see him disappear through the
passageway to the terminal. She wondered where he was going from here. Maybe he
had a girlfriend or wife waiting to meet him. Or he could be catching another
flight to someplace else.

“Are you
going to stand there and gawk all day?” Maxine said.

Lucy snapped
to attention and grabbed her messenger bag. “Sorry.” She got in the dwindling
line and made her way to the terminal. And to Lance.

What to
do about Lance?

No matter
how many times Lucy told him she just wanted him for a friend, Lance held onto
hope—no doubt fueled by Lucy’s mother—that they would rekindle
their high-school romance.

Lance
Christensen had been her boyfriend her senior year in high school. It was the
typical high-school romance that ended when Lucy went to the University of
Montana in Missoula on a full-ride scholarship. Lance was supposed to attend
Montana State on a football scholarship, but he blew his knee out before they
graduated, ending his football career. After washing out his first semester at
Montana State, Lance returned home to Snow Valley to continue working on his
dad’s ranch.

Lucy
didn’t look down on Lance for his vocation in life. Ranchers made a good
living, were hard workers, and she respected them. What bothered her about Lance
was his desire to live in the past. Even though they’d graduated seven years
ago, it seemed like he wanted to stay a senior in high school the rest of his
life. And he wanted Lucy to be a part of that fantasy.

As Lucy
passed through the portal of the plane to the walkway, she shivered from the
noticeably lower temperature. While she enjoyed the weather in Southern
California, Lucy loved snow. It was one of things she missed most about home.
Winter in Snow Valley, especially during the Christmas season was like stepping
inside a snow globe. The entire town was decorated for the holiday, making her
homecoming even sweeter.

Christmas music played
over the speakers as she stepped into the busy terminal and made her way to the
baggage claim. She was so torn about what to do. If she did ride home with Lance,
maybe he would finally listen to her and accept that they could never be anything more
than friends.

She
needed to make it clear to him that as much as she loved Snow Valley, she
wasn’t moving home. After graduating cum laude from the University of Montana
with a degree in computer science, she’d landed her dream job with one of the
top internet companies in the heart of silicon valley. During her first year
with the company, she’d worked hard and earned her MBA while also climbing the
ranks in her department for her part in successful projects.

Just
before leaving on his cruise, the managing director announced when the new year
rolled in he would be appointing a new manager over an upcoming project that
would explode the company’s presence into worldwide markets previously untapped.
Lucy’s name had been on the list, along with seven other candidates who were being
considered.

Still,
she and Lance had had this conversation before, and it hadn’t gotten her
anywhere. Her other option would be to rent a car and drive to Snow Valley
herself. While Lucy loved the snow, she didn’t like driving in it. Her dad knew
that, and usually picked her up. If her mother would’ve given her more of a
heads-up about Lance, Lucy could’ve made sure her father was the one waiting
for her.

Digging
her phone out of her pocket, she powered it up and stepped onto the escalator. She
wanted to check out the local weather. If the roads were clear then she would
rent a car. Her phone vibrated to life. There were seven text messages. All
from her mother.

Ignoring
the messages, she tapped the weather app and waited for it to update her
current location. Relief washed over her when she read the forecast. There was
a forty percent chance of snow, but it wasn’t until after midnight. She could
easily make the two hour ride home long before that.

The
baggage claim area was abuzz with people. She scanned the faces, looking for Lance
as she made her way to the carousel for her flight. Her stomach twisted with
anxiety over the inevitable confrontation with Lance. If only she could avoid
seeing him in the first place. Since she’d been squished between Jed and Maxine
on the flight, maybe she’d luck out and Lance would show up late, or even
better, not show up at all.

Speaking
of her seatmates, Lucy spotted Jed standing in the front of the crowd, still
talking on his cell phone. She couldn’t see Maxine, which meant she either got
on another flight or hadn’t checked any luggage.

With no
sign of Lance, Lucy eased into the milling people to wait for the luggage
conveyer belt to start moving. That’s when she spotted Mr. Blue Eyes.

He was
taller than she’d realized. Probably at least six two. She wouldn’t have to
worry about wearing too high of a heel if she went out with him. At five six,
she could wear her favorite four inch stilettos and still have to look up into
his eyes.

What was
she doing? The odds of her ever getting a date with the handsome stranger were
about as good as her mother not telling her what to do. Besides, the guy was
probably married or had a girlfriend.
Although
… her eyes dropped to his
left hand, and she could see he didn’t have a wedding ring on. She squinted,
and couldn’t see any telltale signs of a ring having ever been there.

As if he
could feel her checking him out, he turned his head slightly and their eyes
met. Oh wow. A girl could get lost staring into those pools of blue. Sort of
like she was doing right now. She felt herself smile at him. It was kind of like
sending a wink on the online dating service she’d signed up for and then quit a
few weeks later after some weird guy started stalking her.