The Right Time (2 page)

She placed a restraining hand on her savior’s shoulder. His hard, muscular shoulder. Tempted to rub her palm up and down his arm, she snatched away her hand. “I can take it from here.”

He straightened, and the way his gaze traveled over her face sent her pulse beating faster and out of control. This man rattled her.

“Thank you,” she said, settling into a cool, professional voice. She fixed a smile on her face. “Please have a seat.”

He didn’t move, his body still taut, as if ready to spring into action at her command. His gaze lingered on her a little longer, dragging from her eyes down the vest and skirt of her cranberry uniform. She straightened her back, skin tingling under the blatant inspection.

Then she saw it—a softening of his features. Interest. He blinked. Mutual attraction shimmered on the air between them. Then he leaned closer, and her body tensed, tightening like the string pulled taut on a bow.

“He shouldn’t have put his hands on you.”

His breath hit the corner of her mouth, and he held her gaze to punctuate the statement. Neither moved. Time halted.

Then, as if none of that had happened, he turned and walked the few rows back to his seat. Sophie let the trapped air out of her lungs, releasing the tension from her shoulders and back.

A round of applause went up through the cabin, and Matthias’s face flushed a bright shade of crimson. Sophie smiled reassuringly to the applauding passengers and then walked briskly toward the galley.

“What happened?” Jalinda asked, filling a glass with ice to complete another drink request.

Sophie rubbed her red wrist. “Mr. Dickhead grabbed me.”

Jalinda’s eyes widened. “What? You need to write that up.”

Protocol dictated that any disturbance had to be written up and reported.

“I will.”

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. 5A came over and stopped him.”

Jalinda shot a look around the dividing wall and then wiggled her brows at Sophie. “Oh yes, I remember him when he came on board. He is
hot
.”

“I guess,” Sophie said, pretending to be uninterested.

“What are you, blind?”

“He’s all right.”

“Oh, come on. He is H-O-T.”

“Don’t you have a passenger to take care of?” Sophie asked.

Jalinda rolled her eyes and went to deliver the drink.

As soon as her back was turned, Sophie checked the passenger manifest and saw the name of the passenger who’d come to her aid.

Ransom Stewart.

An unusual, but strong name. Brash. Commanding. Just like him.

Peeking around the dividing wall, she took another look at Ransom. He seemed absorbed in whatever he was writing, head bent over a spiral-bound notebook, brow furrowed as he concentrated. He’d been writing since he came on the flight.

Idly, she wondered what he did for a living. Something corporate, like banking. Of that she was certain.

Jalinda started down the aisle and Sophie hurriedly replaced the manifest and began prepping for the lunch service.

She had work to do. Enough drooling over a man she’d never see again.

Ransom hated wasting time. Even if that time was spent on Paradise Island in the beautiful Bahamas. There were a dozen other things he could be doing instead of standing around, sipping champagne during a wedding reception at the Atlantis Resort. After spending yesterday in relaxation mode, he needed to focus again. He had interrogatories to read, briefs to write, and client files to review.

The wedding had taken place over an hour before on a green lawn overlooking the blue Bahamian waters. At the moment, Ransom stood with the groom, Giles, at the U-shaped bar where bartenders filled drink orders for family, friends, and coworkers from the law firm.

Giles was a lanky corporate attorney a few inches taller than Ransom, with dirty blond hair and a gregarious personality more befitting someone in sales than law. His smiling face camouflaged a sharp mind and made opponents settle into a false sense of security so that he was often able to outmaneuver opposing counsel.

“She threw the whole drink in your face?” Giles asked.

Ransom had just recounted his experience with Lisa.

“The entire glass.”

Giles chuckled. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“You look really sorry,” Ransom said dryly, taking a sip of his martini. One day he’d probably laugh at the story, too, but for the moment couldn’t find the humor in being punished for his honesty. “I’ve barely seen you drink anything all night. It’s your wedding day. Drink up.”

“No, thanks. I need to stay sober for later.”

“Not as if you two haven’t slept together before,” Ransom said.

“But this will be the first time we’ve slept together as husband and wife.”

The road to getting to this point had been rocky. Stephanie almost marrying another man had catapulted Giles into action to win back the woman he loved. Tears had filled his friend’s eyes when he saw Stephanie walk down the aisle, and even now, every so often his eyes found her wherever she was in the room and lingered there. Softening. As if he couldn’t believe his good fortune.

Both men walked away from the bar and stood against the wall, watching the festivities. The musicians had been playing a blend of rock, pop, and soul. Right now the lead singer crooned into the microphone, her voice dripping with a slower, sexier version of James Brown’s “Hot Pants,” with her gyrations bordering on too lewd for a wedding.

“Heard anything about the invitations yet?” Ransom asked.

As was the custom, invitations for the partners’ annual cocktail party would be going out soon. The event rotated to the four cities in which the firm had an office, and this year it would take place in Atlanta.

“Nah. I’m not worried about it.”

Ransom’s head swung toward his friend. “How could you not be worried?”

“I know it’s too soon for me to get an invite. You should be getting yours soon, though.”

“I hope.”

“You will.” There was a pause. “Becoming a partner is all you care about, isn’t it?” Giles asked.

“In all the time you’ve known me, what else have you ever heard me talk about?”

Ransom had been working toward an equity partnership ever since he left a big law practice eight years ago to join Abraham, MacKenzie & Wong. With other offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York, the midsized firm was known for rewarding its attorneys with excellent bonuses and opportunities for advancement.

Giles was quiet for a while. Then he spoke in a voice weighted with thoughts. “I used to want the same thing, but now I’m not so sure.”

The words hit Ransom like a blow to the chest, so foreign he almost gasped. “Are you saying you don’t want to be a partner?”

“I’m not saying that. I want it, but it’s no longer as important as I thought it would be. I’m not going to lecture you. You know what you want, but I can’t help thinking about me and Stephanie. I almost lost her to another man because I didn’t realize what a good woman I had, too consumed with pursuing the brass ring. When in reality, she is the brass ring—hell, the gold ring. I’m telling you, man, once you fall in love, everything else becomes so…irrelevant.”

Ransom took a sip of his martini. “I don’t plan on falling in love.”

“No one ever plans on falling in love.”

Ransom groaned. “Please don’t tell me how great it is to be married when you’ve been married less than a day.”

Giles chuckled. “I wouldn’t dream of it. I’m new at this, but it does feel great.”

“I’ll see how great you think marriage is in a couple of years. I’ve been in serious relationships before, and they consume too much of my time. I have a new motto. No commitments. No girlfriends. I need to stay focused.” The debacle with Lisa had taught him that much. Timing was everything, and right now he should concentrate on his career. A committed relationship could come later, when he had the time to devote to it.

“I understand what you’re saying. But believe me, there’s never going to be a right time to make a commitment. There will always be something else that comes up. You just have to seize the moment.”

Ransom shot him a sideways glance. “You are so whipped.”

Giles chuckled, his eyes sparkling with amusement despite the dig. “And I couldn’t be happier.”

“Or luckier. I don’t know what you said to get Stephanie to break her engagement with Alexander, but it worked.”

“Yeah, I know I’m lucky.” Giles looked extremely grateful, a smile of tenderness on his face as he gazed across the room at his new bride.

Stephanie was in the middle of a conversation with her mother, a tall, elegant-looking black woman with salt-and-pepper hair that curled around her ears and nape. Stephanie’s hair was styled into a series of twists atop her head. The long sleeveless gown flattered the lines of her svelte frame. She glanced away from her mother and looked at Giles, and no one could miss the connection between them. The messages their eyes sent to each other were known to them alone.

Stephanie bit her lip and didn’t even seem to notice that Ransom stood beside her new husband. When her mother spoke, she returned her attention to her.

“If I hadn’t done something completely impulsive, I never would have won Stephanie back and be standing here today. Can’t believe I almost lost her for good.” Giles shook his head.

“Hmm,” Ransom said, for lack of anything better to say. He often found effusive declarations of love and feelings to not only be boring, but exaggerations. He scanned the room, searching for a viable candidate for a hookup later. “There simply aren’t enough single women at this wedding.”

“My mistake. I should have given more thought to your needs when Stephanie and I put together the guest list.”

Ransom drained his glass and set it on a table nearby. “You can work on that for your next wedding.”

“Not happening, friend. She’s stuck with me for life.”

“Unless yours becomes one of the forty to fifty percent of marriages that end in divorce.” With numbers like that, he could never understand why couples spent such an exorbitant amount of money celebrating one single day—one single moment—that would soon be forgotten in the monotony, stress, and acrimony of married life.

“You know as well as I do those numbers are questionable, but even if true, it means fifty to sixty percent of them last. And don’t worry, I won’t tell Stephanie the horrible conversation you’ve sucked me into on our wedding day.”

Ransom grinned. He couldn’t dispute the topic wasn’t the best. “Please don’t. She’d never forgive me.”

Giles and Stephanie exchanged another look and his friend shoved away from the wall. “I think it’s time I get my bride out of here.” He clapped Ransom on the arm. “Maybe Lisa wasn’t the right woman for you, but one of these days, you’re going to meet her. Seize the moment or you’ll end up with regrets.” He flashed a grin and then strolled to the other side of the room.

Ransom checked his watch. He could go to his room and work, but it was still early. He scanned the room again. Sleeping with a coworker was out of the question, and the few other single women there didn’t pique his interest enough to pursue them. He’d go to the casino and gamble a bit, and then head back to his room to get some work done.

Unlike Giles, Ransom had his priorities straight.

Ransom sat at the roulette table with a British couple off to his right. They whisper-argued before placing each bet, the female gesticulating widely, emphasizing the words with her hands, while the male took slow, deep breaths every few seconds and shook his head, then spoke between his teeth. A couple of seats down to the left sat a boisterous American male in a black T-shirt that highlighted his pale skin. He clearly hadn’t taken advantage of the sun’s rays yet.

Ransom watched the little white ball bounce along the wheel and land on red twenty-one. He grunted, a sound of dismay that joined the groans of loss going up from the table. He lost sixty dollars this time. Perhaps roulette wasn’t his game.

“Well, if it isn’t my hero.” The friendly voice came from off to his right.

Ransom looked up to see the flight attendant from Noble Airlines, and his eyes settled on her in appreciation. She wore more makeup than the day before, her lashes brushed into long sweeps over wide gray eyes. The prim and proper uniform had been exchanged for a touristy sunburst sundress that brightened her light, amber-toned skin. Her hair was much longer than he originally realized. On the plane it had been pinned at her nape in a wavy ball, but this evening she let it hang loose to fall over her shoulders and graze the tops of a pair of impressive breasts. Colorful bangles adorned her wrists, and a pair of gold sandals showed off shapely calves.

His spirits immediately lifted, and his interest instantly piqued. “Heroes wear capes,” he tossed back.

“Not all heroes,” she said, a smile on her face.

He played with the chips in front of him while keeping an eye on her. “I’m pretty sure I saved the passenger. You looked ready to hit him in the face.”

She laughed, a sweet, feminine sound that tugged at his gut and made an older man walking by turn to watch her appreciatively before continuing on his way. She didn’t seem to notice, keeping her eyes on him.

“I thought about punching him one good time, but then I would have lost my job. So you saved me from making a really bad decision. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your help. Thank you.”

“You thanked me on the plane,” Ransom said.

She shrugged a slender shoulder. “I wanted to do it again.”

Ransom was getting some very positive vibes from their interaction. Perhaps he’d get lucky on this trip after all. He waved at the chair beside him. “Have a seat. I need a little lady luck at the tables. I haven’t been doing too well.”

She didn’t hesitate to sit down, confirming his suspicion that she’d been waiting for an invitation to join him. With a cross of her legs, she pulled the hem of the dress down to her knees, but not before he caught a flash of one smooth thigh.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Sophie.”

“I’m Ransom.”