Crash

Prologue

Amanda

“Next,” snaps the woman from behind the counter. Her mahogany hair brings a warmth to her features, but the tension tightening her jaw and the thinning of her lips snuffs it out. Her eyes lift from her computer screen as the man in front of me approaches, and the two lines between her brows smooth.

“Hi. My flight was just canceled, and I need another one to Boston,” he says. His voice is deep, commanding confidence and authority, but also smooth and inviting, like a calming balm to my nerves.

“All flights to Boston have been canceled, sir. I’m sorry,” she answers with a gentle tone.

I strain to listen to their conversation as he cocks his head before shaking it.

“There must be a different route. I’ll fly anywhere and grab a connection to Boston.

” The back of him has been a nice distraction.

He hasn’t turned around once and has been glued to his phone the entire time we’ve waited in line.

Through the scent of mint gum from the guy behind me, I’ve even caught a whiff of him a few times.

I can’t put my finger on the exact scent, but it’s quite intoxicating.

Perhaps a mixture of Old Spice, expensive hair product, and probably just him. He’d make a good candle.

“Actually, sir, we’ve just been notified that all flights have been canceled due to the impending storm. I am so very sorry.”

What? Oh, no. My heart sinks. There’s a collective murmur of disappointment around me as others hear the news.

“I have a lifesaving surgery on a woman with a one-day-old baby; there must be something.” He folds his arms and sighs deeply, the powerful muscles in his back widening under his black long-sleeved shirt, which molds to him like clay carved by Michelangelo.

He shifts his weight as he sighs, and I notice his build on his lower half is as proportionate as his top.

So many men have built upper bodies and forget about the rest. Not this guy, and he’s a doctor.

I wonder if the front of him is as enticing.

He grasps his neck just under short dark hair, and there’s no ring on his finger.

“I’m very sorry, sir. I don’t have anything. I wish there was something more I could do,” she says as sweet as pie.

“Okay, thank you.” He turns, visibly frustrated, with full lips pressed into a thin line and a clenched jaw.

Yep, his front is just as glorious. This is a guy I’d normally be interested in if he were local—the hot, built, currently flustered doctor—but circumstances have changed.

I wouldn’t trust him; I’d never trust any man again. Never again with my heart.

His eyebrows draw together over dark eyes as he strides away, pulling his carry-on bag behind him without even a glance in my direction.

“Next.”

I feel the heat rise in my cheeks. My eyes must have lingered on Dr. McHottie.

I’m already dejected as I approach the desk.

If a doctor can’t get a flight out to perform a surgery, there’s no way I’m going to.

The woman has a forced smile that doesn’t match her eyes, but there is still a hint of sympathy behind them.

“Hi. I overheard what you said to the man in front of me.” Her gaze shifts in his direction.

He’s back on his phone about fifteen feet away.

Her pink lips curve up before her eyes dart back.

She blinks twice and regains her composure.

“I know there aren’t any flights, but my son was in a car accident.

He’s only seven, and I’m trying to get home to him.

” My heart aches in my chest at those words.

“Oh, no, I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you. It has been scary, but he should be okay.” I breathe in deeply and swallow as the emotion rises up my neck. “They are keeping him in the hospital for a few days for observation, but he’s scared.” My voice cracks, and I swallow down the lump in my throat. “So, I need to get to Boston.”

Sympathy pours into her features as her face softens. “I’m sorry, I wish I could help you. If there was anything I could do, I would.”

I bite my bottom lip as I nod. “Thank you,” I say, then pivot and tote my bag behind me, passing travelers adorned in cozy sweaters and festive scarves.

Instead of their faces lit up with joy, they are tight, their eyes darting in anxiety, wondering where they will be staying tonight or how they will reach their next destination.

My arm’s bumped, and my eyes meet the large blue ones of a boy similar to Tyler’s.

“Sorry,” he says as he keeps pace with his parents and sibling.

Tears heat behind my eyelids, and I’m on the edge of a breakdown.

I scan my surroundings as I ponder this situation, seeing the weary travelers slumped in their seats.

I can’t just sit here; there must be another way.

My gaze shifts to the doctor who has one hand raking through his neatly trimmed hair and the other clutching his phone against his clean-shaven face.

I have an idea. I brazenly walk towards him as he paces under a bright, crystalline snowflake hanging from the ceiling, chewing his bottom lip.

“There’s got to be another way out of here.

Even all the rental cars are booked. I’ll try to get an Uber to the train station.

” He pauses as his eyes widen, then his jaw ticks.

“The trains are canceled, too?” He sighs heavily, then twitches his wrist, shaking the expensive silver watch on it as he listens on the other end of the phone.

“No, Doctor Young can’t take the lead. He can assist, but you need to see if Paul can lead the procedure if I can’t make it. ” He pauses again. “Okay, bye.”

He closes his eyes and blows out a breath as I approach him.

When he opens them, his dark, mysterious, and presently angry eyes glare into mine, and I almost turn back.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but you and I have the same problem—well, technically, everyone does…

” I laugh nervously at my not-so-funny joke, and his expression doesn’t change.

“I, um, overheard that you need to perform a surgery, and I need to get home to my son, who’s in the hospital.

” His nostrils briefly flare on his straight nose before his pinched brows draw back and his features soften.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He studies me as the tension in his face further diminishes. “Yes, it appears we both have somewhere important we need to be.”

“I have an idea. What if we find a pilot willing to fly a charter plane out of here before this storm hits?” His eyebrows raise. “I’m Amanda, by the way.”