Tall, Dark & Hungry(6)

"Probably Kate's office."

"Yeah. That would thrill Kate. Let's hope the flight isn't early."

It wasn't.

"Two hours late," Lucern grunted as they made their way into the arrivals terminal. "All that rushing to get here on time, and we end up cooling our heels for two hours."

Bastien smiled faintly at his brother's disgust. They had arrived at the airport only to discover Kate's cousin's flight had made an unscheduled stop in Detroit for "mechanical difficulties," and had stayed there while something was fixed. It was due to arrive two hours late. Bastien had been concerned by the news until he had approached the airline desk to inquire and learned that the problem was with one of the bathrooms on the plane. Not that the clerk had told him that; Bastien had slipped briefly into her mind to find out. It wasn't something the airline wanted to advertise, and the mysterious "mechanical difficulties" sounded better to them than admitting one of their toilets had gone screwy. They didn't want the motto "Fly the crappy skies."

With two hours to kill until Terri's flight arrived, Bastien and Lucern had retired to a bar, having to make their way into the nearest departure terminal to find one. Now they were returning to the arrival area to await Terri, hoping as they did so that she wouldn't be held up too long at customs. Both were rather weary of waiting, and eager to get out of the airport, what with its buzz of stressed-out travelers and anxious friends and family.

"Here they come," Bastien announced. The first weary travelers began to appear beyond the blocked off area. "Where's the sign you made?"

"Oh, yes." Lucern pulled the piece of paper from his pocket. The moment it was unfolded enough for Bastien to read, he snatched it incredulously out of his brother's hand.

" 'Terri, Kate's cousin and best friend?' " he read with disbelief.

"I couldn't remember her name," Lucern said with a shrug. "She'll know who it's for. Hurry and hold it up, a whole load of them are coming out and she might be one of them."

Bastien glanced toward the arch where travelers were appearing in clusters of three or four. It would seem that customs wasn't holding them up at all. "They must have worked double time to get the luggage out so fast. And customs must have extra people on."

"Hmm," was all Lucern said. Bastien raised the makeshift sign over his head to be easily seen. "They're probably rushing them through to try to make up for the delay."

The two men were silent as several dozen people arrived, were met by happy relatives or friends and departed the arrivals area. Bastien would guess that a good fifty people came and went before he spotted a woman making a beeline for them. He might not have recognized her if she weren't walking toward them with a tired smile of greeting on her face. Without realizing it, his arms relaxed, allowing his sign to lower.

The woman was just as curvy and ripe-looking as she had been in her photo, but her hairstyle had changed. It had been up in a ponytail in the photo; now, it was down and flowing around her shoulders in soft chestnut waves. She still wore jeans, Bastien noted with interest. Tight white jeans, a white University of Leeds T-shirt, and white running shoes made up her outfit. She had obviously dressed for comfort.

"Lucern!" She beamed at Bastien, pausing before him and, after the briefest hesitation, giving him a warm welcoming hug. "Kate's told me loads about you. It's a pleasure to meet the man who's made her so happy."

Bastien stared down at the top of the woman's head in surprise, his arms dropping automatically to embrace her. Lucern watched with amusement. Catching the grin on his brother's face, Bastien cleared his throat as Kate's cousin released him and stepped back. "Terri, I presume?"

She laughed at his stiff tones. "Yes, of course." Then she paused and tilted her head to examine him. "Kate was right. You must be the most handsome man in New York. She said that's how I'd recognize you," she confided with a grin.

Bastien found himself grinning back, ridiculously pleased at the compliment, until Lucern got tired of being ignored and announced, "That would be me, then. I'm Lucern, the most handsome man in New York. The man you just hugged is my brother Bastien.

Terri Simpson turned a startled gaze to the man who had just spoken. Perhaps an inch shorter than the man she'd just hugged, the speaker eyed her with amusement. Terri was surprised she hadn't noticed this fellow, but while he was almost a twin to the man he'd just called Bastien, he wasn't an exact copy. They had the same nose, but his lower lip wasn't quite as full as Bastien's, who also had a more defined jawline. There was also something different about the eyes. Both had large silvery blue irises, but Bastien's were deeper and filled with an indefinable emotion that called out to her.