By dawn, he was out of bed. Thirty minutes later he was showered, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and packed to leave. He spent the next hour and a half researching Judge Moore, and his connections, and passing along leads by email to Blake.

By seven, determined to keep Julie from running off without him, fairly confident that’s what she would do, he was at her door with two cups of steaming coffee in hand. He’d seen the confusion on her face, and he knew she wasn’t sure how to deal with him outside the bedroom. She’d figure it out. He’d help her. They’d figure it out together. He’d show her they weren’t the sum of their passion, but rather their passion was a sum of much more that she wasn’t ready to put a name to. He wasn’t sure he was either, but they had to do something because avoiding each other wasn’t an option. Their lives were too intermingled.

He knocked on her door with his foot, the idea of seeing her again shooting fire through his veins. He stood there a minute and kicked at the door again. No answer. He cursed, knowing he’d been right about her leaving him behind, and she’d still outsmarted him. She was gone, probably while he’d been sitting at his computer.

Luke set the coffee by her door so he didn’t spill it all over himself and headed back to his room. He dialed the front desk and sure enough, she’d checked out. Well, she wasn’t going anywhere without him. He’d already pulled strings and made sure they were on the same flight going home, seated next to each other.

***

Forty-five minutes later, Luke was inside the airport, past security, and searching for Julie. He spotted her at counter of one of the gates, the dark blue jeans she wore accenting her curves, her long blond hair loose around her slender shoulders, and the short-sleeved red silk blouse showing off her pearly white skin. She was gorgeous. She also seemed to be flustered, as was the customer service rep, and since he was pretty sure he was the cause, he hurried toward them.

“I don’t understand how you put all those other people on a flight out but you say my name isn’t on that ledger. I recognize most of them from my flight.” Julie was asking the lady as Luke appeared beside her, and settled his hand on Julie’s back. Her head swung around in surprise. “Luke?”

He grinned at her. “Not expecting me, I guess?” She looked guilty. Luke looked at the service rep, whom he’d met several times. “Sue, how are you?”

The twenty-something woman smiled and flipped her dark hair over her shoulders. “Hey Luke, I’m good,” she said with a flirty little grin.

“I’m glad to hear it,” he said with a smile. “I believe you should have a reservation for myself and Ms. Harrison on the next flight, under a special security clearance.”

“What?” Julie asked, turning to him. “What reservation?”

“I would have told you if I had the chance,” he said. “I pulled some strings to get us on the first flight out.”

“No,” Julie insisted. “They just called those names and I wasn’t one of them.”

“Actually,” Sue said. “You are on the first flight out. It’s a reserved flight for priority travelers. I missed the reservation because of the way it was flagged by Luke’s name.”

Luke arched a brow at Julie. “Now would be the time to have your seat moved away from mine if you want to.”

Her expression softened. “I don’t want that.”

“You sure about that?”

Pink flooded her cheeks. “Yes. I’m sure.”

“Here you go,” Sue said. “Two tickets. You’re all set.”

Luke held Julie’s stare a moment and then accepted the tickets. “Thanks, Sue.”

“We should begin boarding in about fifteen minutes,” she informed them.

“Excellent,” he said, and he and Julie stepped away from the counter, where he teasingly asked, “How about some coffee? I’m guessing you haven’t had your standard two cups of coffee this morning, since you took off from your room so early.”

“Luke, I-”

“Don’t know what to do about me,” he finished for her. “Ditto me about you, but I’m betting we don’t have a chance of figuring it out without some caffeine.”

She sighed. “I’ll buy. It’s the least I can do considering you got us on this flight and I, well, you know.”

“I know,” he said, not about to let her off the hook for running off and leaving him at the hotel. “And since I brought you coffee when I showed up at your door this morning, I’ll let you provide this round.”

“You brought me coffee?”

“That’s right.”

She glanced at a clock. “You showed up early.”

“You left earlier.”

“You knew what I was going to do.”

“Just not how early.” He lowered his voice. “I know you better than you think.”

Surprise flashed on her face before she quickly joked, “Then you know I’m dangerous without coffee.” She started walking.

Luke smiled and followed. She was still running, but he had a good feeling he was catching up.

A few minutes later, they sat down in the waiting area, cups in hand. She sipped her white mocha. “I still don’t know how you drink your coffee straight-up black.”

“It’s the only way I got it the past few years,” he said.

“I remember you saying that,” she commented, settling fully into her seat and crossing her legs. “You’re a civilian now though. We need to convert you to a real coffee drinker.”