Married in Seattle (6 page)

The ride to the airport seemed to take an eternity. She felt a burning sense of regret at leaving Scotland. She’d
fallen in love with the country during her short visit and hoped someday to return. Although the memory of her evening stroll through the garden would always bring with it a certain chagrin, she couldn’t completely regret that time with Zach. In fact, she’d always remember the fleeting sense of contentment she’d felt in his arms.

Janine arrived at the airport long before her flight was scheduled to leave. She spent an hour drinking coffee and leafing through fashion magazines, several of which she took with her to give to Pam later.

A cup of coffee in one hand, she approached the airline counter with her passport in the other. The bag she had draped over her shoulder accidentally collided with the man standing next to her. An automatic apology formed on her lips, but before she could voice it, that same man turned to face her.

“Zach,” she cried, nearly dropping her coffee in shock. “What are you doing here?”

“Y
ou think this is intentional, don’t you?” Zach demanded. “It’s obvious
you’re
the one running after me. You found the note I slipped under your door and—”

“I checked out just before midnight so I couldn’t possibly have read your note,” she said angrily. “And furthermore I left a message for you.”

“I didn’t get it.”

“Then there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“To say the least,” Zach muttered. “A misunderstanding…” His tone was doubtful, as if he suspected she’d purposely arranged to fly home with him. She launched into an indignant protest.

“Excuse me, please.”

The interruption was from a uniformed airline employee who was leaning over the counter and waving in an effort to gain their attention.

“May I have your ticket and passport?” she asked Janine. “You’re holding up the line.”

“Of course. I’m sorry.” The best thing to do, she decided, was to ignore Zach completely. Just because they were booked on the same flight didn’t mean they had to have anything to do with each other. Evidently they’d both panicked after their encounter in the garden. He was as eager to escape as she was.

Okay, so she’d ignore him and he’d ignore her. She’d return to her life, and he’d return to his. From this point forward, they need never have contact with each other again. Then they’d both be satisfied.

The airline clerk punched something into her computer. “I can give you your seat assignment now,” she remarked, concentrating on the screen.

Standing on tiptoe, Janine leaned toward the woman and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Could you make sure I’m as far from Mr. Thomas’s seat as possible?”

“This flight is booked solid,” the attendant said impaiently. “The only reason you and your…friend were able to get seats was because of a last-minute cancellation. I’ll do the best I can, but I can’t rearrange everyone’s seat assignments just before the flight.”

“I understand,” Janine said, feeling foolish and petty. But the way her luck had been going, Zach would end up in the seat beside hers, believing she’d purposely arranged that, too.

They boarded the flight separately; in fact, Zach was one of the last passengers to step onto the plane.

By that time, Janine was settled in the second row of the
first-class section, flipping through the in-flight magazine. Zach strolled past her, intent on the boarding pass clutched in his hand.

Pretending she hadn’t seen him seemed the best tactic, and she turned to gaze out the window.

“It seems I’m sitting here,” Zach announced brusquely, loading his carry-on luggage in the compartment above the seats.

Janine had to bite her tongue to keep from insisting she’d had nothing to do with that. She’d even tried to prevent it, but she doubted Zach would believe her.

“Before you claim otherwise, I want you to know I didn’t arrange this,” he said, sitting down beside her.

“I know that.”

“You do?”

“Of course,” Janine told him. “The fates are against us. I don’t know how my grandfather arranged our meeting at the airport or the adjoining seats, any more than I know why I stumbled on you my first day at the Bonnie Inn. We might never have crossed paths. But somehow, some way, Gramps is responsible.” That didn’t sound entirely reasonable, but she thought it best not to mention their stroll in the moonlight.

“So you’re not ready to unleash the full force of your anger on me?”

“I don’t see how I can be upset with you—or the reverse. Neither of us asked for this.”

“Exactly.”

Janine yawned loudly and covered her mouth. “Excuse me. I didn’t sleep last night and now it’s catching up with me.”

Her yawn was contagous and soon Zach’s hand was warding off his own admission of drowsiness. The flight attendant came by with coffee, which both Zach and Janine declined.

“Frankly, I’d be more interested in a pillow,” Janine said, yawning again. The attendant handed her one, as well as a blanket, then offered the same to Zach. He refused both, intending to work on some papers he’d withdrawn from his briefcase. The minute the plane was safely in the air, Janine laid her head back and closed her eyes. Almost immediately she felt herself drifting into a peaceful slumber.

She stirred twice in the long hours that followed, but both times a gentle voice soothed her back to sleep. Sighing, she snuggled into the warmth, feeling more comfortable than she had in weeks.

She began to dream and could see herself walking across the moors, wearing traditional Scottish dress, while bagpipes wailed in the background.

Then, on the crest of a hill, Zach appeared, dressed in a Black Watch kilt and tam-o’-shanter; a set of bagpipes was draped over his shoulder. Their eyes met and the music ceased. Then, out of nowhere, her grandfather appeared, standing halfway between the two of them, looking distinctly pleased. He cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted to Janine. “Is this romance?”

“Yes,” she shouted back.

“What else do you need?”

“Love.”

“Love,” Gramps repeated. He turned to Zach, apparently seeking some kind of assistance.

Zach started fiddling with his bagpipes, avoiding the question. He scowled as he concentrated on his task.

“Look at the pair of you,” Gramps called. “You’re perfect together. Zach, when are you going to wake up and realize what a wonderful girl my Janine is?”

“If I do get married, you can be sure I’ll choose my own bride,” Zach hollered.

“And I’d prefer to pick out my own husband!”

“You’re falling in love with Zach!” Gramps declared, obviously elated.

“I—I—” Janine was so flustered she couldn’t complete her thought, which only served to please her grandfather more.

“Look at her, boy,” Gramps directed his attention to Zach again. “See how lovely she is. And think of what beautiful children you’ll have.”

“Gramps! Enough about babies! I’m not marrying Zach!”

“Janine.” Zach’s voice echoed in her ear.

“Keep out of this,” she cried. He was the last person she wanted to hear from.

“You’re having a dream.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she saw Zach’s face close to her own, her head nestled against his chest. “Oh…” she mumbled, bolting upright. “Oh, dear…I am sorry. I didn’t realize I was leaning on you.”

“I hated to wake you, but you seemed to be having a nightmare.”

She blinked and tried to focus on him, but it was difficult, and to complicate matters her eyes started to water. She wiped her face with one sleeve. Then, straightening, she removed the pillow from behind her back and folded the blanket, trying to disguise how badly her hands were trembling.

“You’re worried about what happened after dinner last night, aren’t you?”

Janine released a pent-up breath and smiled brightly as she lied. “Nothing really happened.”

“In the garden, when we kissed. Listen,” Zach said in a low voice, glancing quickly around to ensure that no one could overhear their conversation, “I think it’s time we talked about last night.”

“I…You’re right, of course.” She didn’t feel up to this, but she supposed it was best dealt with before she had to face her grandfather.

“Egos aside.”

“By all means,” Janine agreed. She braced herself, not knowing what to expect. Zach had made his views on the idea of an arranged marriage plain from the first; so had she. In fact, even her feelings about a marriage based on love weren’t all that positive at the moment. Brian had taught her a valuable lesson, a painful lesson, one she wouldn’t easily forget. She’d given him her heart and her trust, and he’d betrayed both. Falling in love had been the most shattering experience of her life, and she had no intention of repeating it anytime soon.

“I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit how nice kissing you was,” Zach said, “but I wish it had never happened. It created more problems than it solved.”

Janine wasn’t exactly flattered by his remark. Keeping egos out of this was harder than it sounded, she thought ruefully. Her expression must have revealed her thoughts because Zach elaborated. “Before I arrived in Scotland, we hardly knew each other. We met that first afternoon over lunch—with Anton—and talked a couple of times, but basically we were strangers.”

“We had dinner one night,” Janine reminded him, annoyed that he could so casually dismiss it.

“Right,” he acknowledged. “Then we met at the Bonnie Inn and, bingo, we were having dinner together and walking in the moonlight, and before either of us knew how it happened, we were kissing.”

Janine nodded, listening quietly.

“There are several factors we can take into account, but if we’re going to place blame for that kiss, I’m the one at fault.”

“You?”

“Me,” he confirmed with a grimace. “Actually, I’m prepared to accept full responsibility. I doubt you were aware of what was going on. It didn’t take me long to see how innocent you are, and—”

“Now just a minute,” Janine snapped. Once again he was taking potshots at her dignity. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s obvious you haven’t had a lot of sexual experience and—”

“In other words I’m so incredibly naive that I couldn’t possibly be held accountable for a few kisses in the moonlight?”

“Something like that.”

“Oh, brother,” she muttered.

“There’s no need to feel offended.”

“I wasn’t exactly raised in a convent, you know. And for your information, I’ve been kissed by more than one man.”

“I’m sure you have. But we’re getting sidetracked here—”

“I’m sorry you found me so inept. A man of your vast worldly experience must’ve been sorely disappointed by someone as unsophisticated as me, and—”

“Janine,” he said firmly, stopping her. “You’re putting words in my mouth. All I was saying is that we—
I
—let matters get out of hand and we can’t blame your grandfather for what happened.”

“I’m willing to accept my part in this. I can also see where this conversation is leading.”

“Good,” Zach said. It was clear that his composure was slipping. “Then you tell me.”

“You think that because I enjoyed spending time with you and we shared this mildly romantic evening and—”

“
Mildly
romantic?”

“Yes, you did say egos aside, didn’t you? I’m just being honest.”

“Fine,” he said, tight-lipped.

“You seem to think that because you have so much more experience than I do, there’s a real danger I’ll be
swooning
at your feet.” She drew out the word, enjoying her silliness, and batted her eyelashes furiously.

“Janine, you’re behaving like a child,” he informed her coldly.

“Of course I am. That’s exactly what you seem to expect of me.”

Zach’s fingers tightened on the armrest. “You’re purposely misconstruing everything I said.”

“Whatever you’re trying to say isn’t necessary. You figure we had a borderline interest in each other and now we’ve crossed that border. Right? Well, I’m telling you that you needn’t worry.” She sucked in a deep breath and glared at him. “I’m right, aren’t I? That’s what you think, isn’t it?”

“Something like that, yes.”

Janine nodded grimly. “And
now
you think that since you held me in your arms and you lost your control long enough to kiss me, I’m suddenly going to start entertaining thoughts of the M word.”

“The…M word?”

“Marriage.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Zach said, jamming the airline magazine back into the seat pocket in front of him.

“Well?”

“All I mean is that the temptation might be there and we should both beware of it.”

“Oh, honestly, Zach,” she said sarcastically, “you overestimate yourself.”

“Listen, I wasn’t the one mumbling about babies.”

“I was having a dream! That has absolutely nothing to do with what we’re talking about now.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” He reached for the same magazine he’d recently rejected and turned the pages hard
enough to rip them in two. “I don’t think this discussion is getting us anywhere.”

Janine sighed. “You were right, though. We did need to clear the air.”

Zach made a gruff indistinguishable reply.

“I’ll try to keep out of your magnetic force field, but if I occasionally succumb to your overwhelming charm and forget myself, I can only beg your forgiveness.”

“Enough, Janine.”

He looked so annoyed with her that she couldn’t help smiling. Zach Thomas was a man of such colossal ego it would serve him right if she pretended to faint every time he glanced in her direction. The image filled her mind with laughter.

Zach leaned his head back and closed his eyes, effectively concluding their conversation. Janine stared out the window at the first signs of sunrise, thinking about all kinds of things—except her chaotic feelings for the man beside her.

Some time later, the pilot announced that the plane was approaching Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Home sounded good to Janine, although she fully intended to have a heart-to-heart talk with her grandfather about his matchmaking efforts.

Once they’d landed, she cleared customs quickly. She struggled with her two large pieces of luggage, pulling one by the handle and looping the long strap of her carry-on bag over her shoulder. Zach was still dealing with the customs agent when she maneuvered her way outside into
the bright morning sunlight, joining the line of people waiting for cabs.

“Here,” Zach said, from behind her, “I’ll carry one of those for you.” He’d managed to travel with only his briefcase and a garment bag, which was neatly folded and easily handled.

“Thank you,” she said breathlessly.

“I thought we’d agreed to limit our expressions of gratitude toward each other,” he grumbled, frowning as he lifted the suitcase.

“I apologize. It slipped my mind.”

Zach continued to grumble. “What’d you pack in here, anyway? Bricks?”

“If you’re going to complain, I’ll carry it myself.”

He muttered something she couldn’t hear and shook his head. “Once we get a cab—”

“We?”

“We’re going to confront your grandfather.”

“Together? Now?” She was exhausted, mentally and physically. They both were.