Intercepting Daisy by Julie Brannagh Page A

up from the chair and run out of the restaurant.
    â€œI have an idea,” he said. Her head jerked up. She’d stopped running her fingers through the horizontal fabric tucks in the waist of her dress. “Maybe we should pretend that we’ve never met before, that I’m Grant, who works in a cubicle somewhere, and you’re Daisy, who works for the business next door. What do you think?”
    â€œI’d like that,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to talk about your job or not. You probably get sick of people asking you about it.”
    â€œI don’t mind so much,” he said. “There’s other stuff to talk about, though, and I’d like to get to know you. What do you like to do when you’re not flying?” He leaned forward a bit more. A few seconds later, he saw her lean forward too.
    â€œI enjoy a lot of different things, but I have to be able to schedule around being here or not do them. I’m in a women’s soccer league. I try to get a certain schedule so I can play in games, but sometimes I can’t. My teammates are understanding about it. I worry they’re not happy I can’t be at every game.” She shrugged a little. “I run. I tried rock climbing a couple of months ago. I’m still not sure about that one.”
    â€œWhat didn’t you like about it?”
    â€œI’m afraid of heights.”
    â€œBut you fly for a living.”
    â€œI don’t really think about being up that high when I’m flying,” she said. “It doesn’t seem to bother me as much. I’m not staring out the window or anything.” She took a sip of water. “I work with a guy who became a flight attendant because he was scared to fly.”
    â€œYou’re kidding me,” he said.
    â€œNo. It took him a few flights, but now he’s the guy helping the passengers calm down when things get bumpy.” She smiled at what must have been a private memory. “Most passengers hold it together, but I’ve worked flights before when someone had a real meltdown.”
    â€œHow do you all handle it?” he said.
    â€œThe bumpy stuff?” she said. “The flight I was on with you guys—that was scary. The only reason I wasn’t freaking out right along with you was I’ve flown with that pilot a hundred times before. He started out flying in the military, and then he flew bush planes in Alaska. He’s seen every situation that can happen with a plane, up to and including losing more than one engine.” She let out a sigh. “Turbulence is like hitting a bad patch of road in the car. It’s a case of taking a deep breath and remembering that the pilots know what they’re doing, they have the guys in the tower and the weather stuff right in front of them, and they’ll divert to another airport if there’s really a problem.” She glanced at him again. “See? I’m talking about work. Maybe we should talk about what you like to do when you’re not working in that cubicle you mentioned earlier.”
    The server arrived at the table and took their order. Mostly, Grant wanted the guy to walk away so he could chat with Daisy some more.
    â€œAre you as hungry as I am?” she said to him.
    â€œAbsolutely,” he told her. “Speaking of things I like to do, I’ve always been fond of eating.”
    â€œDo you know how to cook?”
    â€œOh, hell no,” he said, and he was rewarded with the sweet sound of her laughter. “Well, I really can’t say that. I can cook enough to feed myself, but anything more involved doesn’t happen. I get some of those pre-made meals delivered each week. The rest of the time, I go out.”
    â€œWould you like to learn to cook?”
    â€œAre you offering, Daisy?”
    â€œI’m not an expert, but I can teach you to boil water and make toast,” she said.
    â€œSounds like fun. If we