18 ONE NIGHT TOGETHER 04 (1/2)

After she'd placed her order and had a tray piled high with lunch, she saw him again.

He was waiting for her. He'd snagged a table and two chairs, one of which was obviously for her. So Rose ate lunch with the most handsome man she'd ever seen in her twenty-nine years.

”Thank you again for helping out with those men back there,” she said.

”I couldn't let a lovely lady like yourself get hit by a backpack, could i?”

She ignored the compliment. And the flirtation. ”Do you do that kind of thing often?”

”When it's necessary,” he said, tearing the wrapper off a taco. ”I'm a Texan, born and bred. We don't believe in backing down from a fight.”

”I can believe it.” She held out her hand. ”I'm Roro.”

He took it, sending a jolt of awareness through her. ”Andrew.”

”Nice to meet you,” she said, knowing she sounded ridiculous as they smiled at each other. There was something about all the testosterone that was oddly appealing, Rose realized. And something about being stranded in a snowstorm that made her want to sit in the food court with the cowboy for the next few hours. He was safe....or else she felt safe when she was with him.

And she was so darn tired of being lonely. She couldn't remember what they talked about over lunch, but he told her Texas stories and she listened and laughed. She bought them large cups of coffee from a concession. They shared his newspaper; she left her luggage with him while she went to the ladies' rest room.

The storm worsened. People began to stake out chairs and benches on which to nap. The restaurant began to run out of food, since trucks hadn't been able to make deliveries. More flights were cancelled, more unintelligible announcements made on the loudspeakers.

”Look,” he said, leaning toward her so she could hear him. A group of teenagers had landed at the table next to them, CD player blasting the latest pop hit. ”This is crazy. I've got a hotel room,” he said. ”You are welcome to share it.”

”I can't.”

”It's right here, next to the airport,” he said. ”You'd be more comfortable in the hotel, I think. I can sleep in the lobby.”

”I can't take your room.”

”You are not taking it, I'm giving it to you. Nobody's going to get out of here until tomorrow.” He motioned around him at the crowds of people. ”Tell me you don't want to spend the night here.”

”I don't, but..…”

”Then come on,” he said, picking up both their bags.

”You can buy me a drink after we get rid of these bags.”

”You could have been in your hotel hours ago.”

~--------------------~

”I FIGURED were going to be alone all day,”