A Bride for Jackson Powers (Desire, 1273) by Dixie Browning Page B

sat and examined the tear near the hem of her skirt. “I stepped on my blasted skirt tail. I don’t suppose you have a safety pin or any kind of tape?”
    “No pin, no tape, not even a paper clip. Look, there’s no point in wading into that traffic jam yet. Wherever you plan on going, you won’t be boarding anytime soon. We need to talk.”
    Hetty, trying not to think beyond the moment, said dully, “There’s no one at the desk yet, anyway. I don’t even know if my flight will still be leaving from this gate. They might’ve changed everything around.” It was no longer “her flight,” but there was nothing to be gained from belaboring the point. They’d been booked on different flights, both with the same small airline. The only reason they had met at all was that both flights had been posted at the same desk.
    Hetty’s thoughts veered off on a path best left unexplored. She couldn’t imagine being in the same airport with Jax Powers and not knowing it. Could a magnet ignore the presence of iron?
    No more than she could ignore the physical attraction she felt for this one man. And the scariest part of all was that it wasn’t entirely physical.
    Correction: the scariest part was that he would be leaving her all too soon, and that would be the end of it.
    Whatever it was.
    Jax knew she was worried sick. He wanted to place a reassuring arm around her shoulder, but didn’t dare. Not when even the most casual touch could escalate to full-fledged arousal. Which, under the circumstances, was not only ludicrous, it was dangerous.
    He cleared his throat. “Keep watching the board. Once my flight’s posted, I’ll get in line at the desk. Meanwhile, neither of us is going anywhere for a while, so we might as well sit tight.”
    He cleared his throat and frowned, wondering how to phrase the idea that had been taking shape in his mind for the past few hours. “Look, Hetty, I’ve got a proposition for you.”
    Eyeing him warily, she tucked her skirt tightly around her ankles and edged away. Dammit, he hadn’t meant to spook her, but if she was too proud to take his money he was going to have to come up with another way to help her. He had a pretty good idea from a few things she’d let drop that her family wasn’t going to come through for her. Nor did he hold out much hope of contacting her travel agency until things settled down. This was more than a local problem. The whole country was affected in one way or another.
    But there was no way he was going to walk awaywhen his flight was called, leaving her here all alone. “Next time you might consider electronic ticketing,” he said dryly, and then had to explain what it was. His expression must have given him away, because she immediately turned defensive.
    “I might not know all there is to know about a few of the newer technological gadgets, but I do have a microwave. I have a VCR. I even know how to program it.”
    “Congratulations, I can still screw up on that.”
    “I seriously doubt that.”
    “Hey, I’m good but I’m not perfect,” he confessed, hoping to lure a smile from behind the shadows. He considered telling her about the Lizzie-Linda and his one crazy attempt to get in touch with his roots.
    And then he reconsidered.
    Silently they watched the board and waited for their flights to be posted. Hetty had thought things through and come up with a plan. She would wait until the crowd thinned out and then find someone in authority. If she explained about her stolen purse, and how it wouldn’t have happened if her flight hadn’t been cancelled, then she might eventually get a free flight back to Oklahoma City.
    She would demand it. She might not look it in her fancy cruise wear, but she was tough as ironwood. She’d faced adversity of one kind or another all her life without buckling under. It might take a few hours, or even another day, but if she persisted, sooner or later she would win. It was only fair.
    But just in case, she’d better