Chapter 2
TWO
ACE
I couldn’t help myself. The stuffy guy in the suit sitting in the aisle seat of my row was bringing me great joy.
He was just so buttoned up and so easily annoyed by my new friend Erica.
He was at least six feet tall, wearing a charcoal gray suit that complemented his blue eyes, his dirty blond hair styled to perfection, not a hair out of place.
It wasn’t that I wanted Erica to annoy him.
It just seemed so easy. He was way too serious.
Definitely not my type, despite how attractive I found him.
If I was going to have to travel on Valentine’s Day, at least I could get some enjoyment out of the situation, right?
As I settled into my seat, pulling out my pen and sticky notes and the book I’d been annotating, Erica turned to me.
“Ace,” she said.
I clicked the button to retract my pen. “Erica.”
She grinned. “What do you say we get a drink after this?”
I laughed softly. “As friends? Sure.”
“Well, I don’t know. I’m single. Are you?”
Another laugh slipped out of me. “I am. But… I’m not in the market for a relationship right now.” I didn’t need to get into the details of the recent, messy breakup I’d gone through, and how I’d vowed to at least get through Valentine’s Day staying single.
Her face fell, but she recovered with a half-smile. “You sure?”
I shrugged. “I’m sorry.”
She sighed and lowered her voice to a murmur.
“How many times can a woman strike out on one plane trip?” I raised an eyebrow in confusion, and she turned her back to the guy in the suit.
Her voice was barely audible over the roar of the engine when she whispered to me.
“I tried to flirt with that guy, too. He turned me down.”
I glanced over her shoulder. Suit Guy had earbuds in, head tilted back exposing his long neck and prominent Adam’s apple, his eyes closed as he presumably listened to something on his phone. A moment later, I looked back at Erica. “Shit,” I murmured in sympathy, giving her a grimace.
She sighed and leaned her head against the seat. “I have terrible luck.”
“Look at it this way. That guy looks like a stick in the mud. You probably dodged a bullet. I’m not looking to date, but I promise I’m more fun than he is.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Really?”
Just then, the flight attendant stopped by, a pretty woman in her twenties. “Can I get you anything?”
I glanced at Erica before looking back at the flight attendant. “How about a couple of vodka sodas?”
The flight attendant nodded. As she turned to pass us our drinks, the stuffy guy scoffed and gave her a tight smile. “Just water for me.”
I looked at Erica and smirked, raising my cup to her. “To new friends.”
She nodded and did the same. “New friends,” she echoed.
“So, is Port Grandlin home for you, or are you from Atlanta?”
“Home,” she said. “You?”
“Same. I was in Atlanta for a work conference.” I gestured toward the book in the pocket of the seat in front of me, where I’d stowed it while waiting for the flight to take off.
“What do you do?”
“I’m a professor. History.”
“Ooh,” Erica said. “Do you like it?”
I sipped my drink. “I love it. I love showing students that history isn’t boring.
There’s so much more to studying history than memorizing dates, which is what most of them had to do in high school.
” What I didn’t say was that as a relatively new professor—I’d only started teaching in January—I worried I was too enthusiastic.
I had spent the entire conference stressing out that I wasn’t serious enough to come across as a real academic. “How about you?”
“I’m a social worker. I was in Atlanta to visit family.”
“Hopefully it was a good visit.”
She nodded. “It was good, but I’m glad to be headed home. I miss my cat.”
I chuckled. “Fair enough.” After a moment, I leaned closer to her. “Do you think that guy ever smiles?”
She glanced at the guy next to her, before looking back at me and giggling. “Definitely not.”
“What do you think he does for a living?”
She gave me another giggle. “He told me he works at a museum. Maybe he’s the librarian?”
I shook my head. “Definitely not. They’re friendly. Night guard?”
Erica let out a snort. “Finance?”
Suit Guy let out a sharp breath through his nose and closed his eyes again.
Erica and I chatted and giggled together for the rest of the flight, much to the obvious annoyance of Stuffy Suit Guy. He cleared his throat several times and adjusted his earbuds. We weren’t even being that loud, honestly.
When the plane landed, I let out a relieved sigh. I’d had a great time at the conference, but I was glad to be back in Port Grandlin, too. “Home sweet home.”
Erica and I said our goodbyes at the gate and went our separate ways, promising to stay in touch, before I headed downstairs to the baggage claim area.
I hadn’t packed heavily for the weeklong conference, but I had brought a suitcase to carry home any books I bought, and I was ready to collect my things and hit the road.
Suit Guy walked just ahead of me. A couple of times he glanced over his shoulder and furrowed his brow, scowling. By the time we reached the carousel, he looked at me and spoke. “Are you purposely trying to annoy me?”
I let out a startled laugh. “I’m just trying to get my suitcase and go home.”
He sighed, a slow exhale. “Fine.” He made his way to where the bags were going to come out and to prove my point, I moved to the far end of the carousel and waited.
It didn’t take long for bags to start coming out and I halfway kept an eye on them as I responded to the many notifications I’d gotten while my phone was on airplane mode.
Suit Guy quickly grabbed his bag as they emerged from the depths of the airport and headed out.
I was tempted to do something to annoy him one last time, but I decided against it.
Instead, I spotted my own suitcase, yanked it off the conveyor belt, and headed to the parking lot to take myself home.