Annie jerked back, her face coloring. How long had she been asleep? How long had she been lying snuggled up against Chase as if she were a teenager in a drive-in theater-if there still were such places?
No wonder Chase was looking at her that way. God, she'd probably drooled all over him.
"Sorry." She put her hands to her hair and smoothed it back from her face. "I, ah, I guess I dozed off."
"And dreamed of Prince Charming," Chase said, with a tight little smile.
"Prince...?"
"Good old Milty. Your fiancé."
Annie stared at Chase and remembered her dream. "Did I-did I say anything?"
"What's the matter, Annie? Afraid I might have heard the dialogue that went with an X-rated dream?"
"It wasn't X-rated! I was just dreaming that-that..."
"Don't waste your breath." Chase's voice was chill. "I'm not interested."
Annie stiffened. "Sorry. I almost forgot. Nothing I ever had to say was of much interest to you, was it?"
"Mr. Cooper? Mrs. Cooper?" The flight attendant smiled down at them both. "We'll be landing in just a few minutes. Would you put your seat-backs up, please?"
"With pleasure," Chase said.
"I'm buying a return ticket the instant we touch down," Annie snapped, without looking at him.
"You won't have to. Believe me, it'll be my pleasure to buy you the ticket and to see you to the plane."
* * *
It was a fine idea. Unfortunately it didn't work.
The next plane to Boston was completely booked.
"Providence, then," Chase said. "Bradley..."
One by one, he rattled off the names of airports. One by one, the clerk at the ticket counter shook her head.
"We've had lengthy delays all morning," she said. "Fog here, thunderstorms in the Midwest..." She smiled apologetically. "I might be able to get your wife-"
"Ex-wife," Annie said.
"Whatever. I might be able to get her out of here tomorrow afternoon."
"Yeah," Chase grumbled, "okay."
"Not okay! "Annie glared at him, as if it was his fault she was in this predicament. "What am I supposed to do until tomorrow afternoon? Sit around the airport?"
"I'll get you a hotel room."
"Good luck."
Annie and Chase looked at the ticket clerk, whose shoulders rose and fell in a helpless shrug.
"On top of all the delays, there're two major conventions in town." She leaned forward and lowered her voice to a confidential whisper. "My boss tried everything he knew to get a room for a VIP just a little while ago, and even he couldn't come up with anything."
Annie had a mental picture of herself joining the rows of exhausted travelers draped over every available seat in the terminal.
"Don't worry," Chase said quickly. "I'm sure my client's arranged a room somewhere for me. You can have it just as soon as I get in touch with him."
As if in response, an electronically amplified voice rang out, paging Mr. Chase Cooper.
Chase took Annie's arm, drew her aside and picked up a courtesy phone.
"Yes?" He listened, then sighed and rolled his eyes as if to say this was just one more problem he didn't need. "Mr. Tanaka," he said politely. "No, no, I didn't see your man holding up my name at the arrivals gate." He glared at Annie, who glared right back. "I was, ah, preoccupied."
"Who is it?" Annie hissed.
Chase turned away. "Well, that's very kind of you, Mr. Tanaka. Sending a car for me...thank you."
"Is it somebody from Seattle?" Annie said, dancing in front of him. "Ask him if he knows of a hotel that might have a room."
Chase sighed. She was right. Kichiro Tanaka, his new client, was a wealthy and well-connected businessman. He had major investments in the southwest, and now he'd turned his attention to the coast. For all Chase knew, the guy might even own a hotel in this city.
"Mr. Tanaka... Yes, I'll meet your driver at the exit. In just a moment. But first-I wonder if you might be able to help me out with a small problem?"
Annie's mouth thinned. That's what she was, all right. A small problem. It was all she'd ever been, as far as Chase was concerned.
"Well..." Chase rubbed the back of his neck. "My, ah, my wife accompanied me to Seattle."
"Ex-wife," Annie snapped.
Chase glared at her and slapped his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone.
"Do you really want me to start explaining what you're doing here to a stranger?"
Annie colored. After a second, Chase cleared his throat and spoke again.
"She didn't intend to stay, though. Yes, well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it."
"What is?" Annie demanded.
"Charming. Yes. Yes, that she'd fly all this distance, just so we could spend a few hours more together."
Annie opened her mouth, stuck the tip of her finger inside and pretended to gag.
"The problem, Mr. Tanaka, is that all the flights have been delayed. It's probable Annie won't be able to leave until tomorrow and I've been told all the hotels are solidly booked... Really?"
"Really, what?" Annie said.
"That's fine. Yes, of course. At the exit area, in a couple of minutes. Thank you, sir. I'll...we'll see you soon."
"What?" Annie said again.
Chase hung up the phone and grabbed her hand.
"Come on. We've got to meet the car and driver he sent for me."
"Hot stuff," she muttered. "A car and a driver, all for you."
"And a suite, all for us." His smile was quick and shiny. "So stop complaining."
Annie looked at him as they hurried toward the escalator.
"You mean...?"
"I mean, luckily for you, he says there's more than enough room for the both of us."
"Not in one hotel room, there isn't."
"Didn't you hear what I said?" They'd reached the lower level, and Annie hurried to keep up with Chase's long stride. "He says we'll have a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom all to ourselves."
"Well, that's good news," Annie snapped, as Chase thrust her out the door ahead of him.
"Damn right. The last thing I feel like doing is curling up in a hotel lobby tonight while you take over my bed."
"Such gallantry. But-"
"But what?" Chase snapped in her ear as a black limousine slid to the curb. The driver got out, executed a perfect salute and opened the rear door. "Just get into the car, Annie. We can endure each other's company a little while longer. As tempting at the thought of leaving you at the airport is, I can't bring myself to do it."
As tempting as it was, staying at the airport for endless hours didn't appeal to her, either.
"All right," she snapped back. "But you better hope this suite is the size of Yankee Stadium. Otherwise, you may find yourself sleeping in the lobby anyway!"
* * *
It wasn't the size of Yankee Stadium-although it was close.
But it wasn't a suite, Annie thought an hour later, as she stared around her in shock. And it certainly wasn't a hotel.
The limo had not taken them to one of the high-rise buildings in downtown Seattle. It had whisked them to a pier, where they'd boarded a sleek motorboat.
"Chase," Annie had said, over the roar of the boat's engines, "where are we going?"
Chase, who'd been starting to think he knew the answer, looked at the pilot.
"Tell me that we aren't going to the island," he said.
The pilot grinned. "Sure enough, we are."
Chase groaned.
Annie looked at him as he gripped the railing and stared out over the churning water. She'd read the one, silent word on his lips and the tips of her ears had turned pink.
Now, standing in this room, she half wanted to say the word herself.
The wisps of fog that had drifted across the boat's bow during their journey had lifted as they'd neared their destination. Annie had glimpsed an island, a place of towering green trees sloping down to a rocky shore. High among the trees, as if it were an eagle soaring out over the water, there was a lodge. It was a magnificent sight, a sculpture of redwood and glass. It was a fabulous aerie, commanding a view of the Sound in isolated splendor.
Wooden steps led up the craggy face of the cliff. Annie had climbed them, refusing Chase's outstretched hand and instead clasping the wooden railing, telling herself that when they reached the top, she'd see something more than that one structure. A hotel. A cluster of buildings. A resort...
But there was only the lodge, and when Chase opened the door and went inside, she followed.
The rooms they passed through were spectacular. There was a kitchen, white and shiny and spotless. A bathroom, complete with a deep Jacuzzi and a stall shower built against a glass wall so that it seemed open to the forest. There was a living room and as Annie stepped into it, sunlight suddenly poured through the huge skylight overhead, so that the white walls and pale hardwood floor seemed drenched in gold.