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  “I’m not laughing at you. I just find it funny that you need help, but refuse every attempt I make to offer it.” He sighed deeply and then added, “You can pay me back if you want to, but I need to book the flight, because I want to sit next to you so we can talk while we’re in the air.”

  She didn’t like his crack about her refusing the help she so obviously needed, but she allowed Ian to win the argument, or better yet, the discussion. He ordered the tickets while she went home to pack.

  The next morning Surry threw on a paisley-print caftan with a V-neck and V-shaped hemline. The knee-length dress had gold and purple swirls, and Surry felt like an African princess with it on. It was also comfortable, and since she was going to be in and out of airports today, she was opting for comfort. A little sex appeal didn’t hurt, either. Sometimes it got a woman through the lines faster.

  Surry caught a cab to the airport and got out in front of the terminal where her nonstop flight to Charlotte would be taking off. She gave the cab driver a tip after he took her bags out of the trunk. She looped her tote bag over the handle of her suitcase. She then grabbed hold of the handle and easily carted her belongings into the airport without the help of any man. All she needed was the trusty wheels on the bottom of her suitcase. Move out of the way, men. She was woman and could handle her own business.

  She stood just inside the airport. Her head swung back and forth as she looked for Ian. She heard someone holler her name. But it didn’t sound like Ian, so she kept looking.

  “Surry,” the man said again as he grabbed her arm and turned her to face him.

  She plastered a smile on her face as she turned and greeted Greg Thompson. She’d gone out with him a few times last year because she thought he was a player who wasn’t looking for a serious relationship. Boy, was she wrong. “Hey, Greg, how’ve you been doing?”

  “Not so good. I’ve been waiting on a certain lady to return my call.” He looked at his watch and then back at her. “For about a year now.”

  She hated confrontations like this. But Surry also thought that it was always best to be up-front and honest, so she took a deep breath and said, “I’m really too busy to get involved in a serious relationship.”

  “Who’s asking for serious?” Greg gave her a nudge. “I was just thinking we could hang out...you know, like we used to.”

  “How’s that new business of yours going? What was it?” She snapped her fingers. “Sporting goods?”

  “Actually, I did sporting goods when we first met. The last time we spoke I had opened a shoe business, but it didn’t go so well.” He started making hand gestures, as if he was conducting a workshop and explaining some things to the group. “Look, I understand how it is with you now. You want your freedom—no rules, no labels. I can flow with that. Just give me a call.”

  She put her arm on his shoulder, still giving him that I-pity-you look. “Greg, listen, you are a really nice guy, but—”

  “Honey.” Ian kissed Surry on the forehead and put his arm around her waist. “We’re going to miss our flight if we don’t get going.”

  Surry looked up at Ian. He was her knight in shining armor coming to her rescue, and at that moment she wanted to thank him by wrapping her arms around him and planting a lingering kiss on his perfectly luscious lips. But since she didn’t want to start anything that she couldn’t finish, she came to her senses quickly. “Hey, I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Is that right?” Ian asked as he turned his attention to Greg.

  “Who is this?” Greg asked Surry, with possession clinging to his tone.

  Ian stuck his hand out. “Ian Duncan.”

  Greg shook Ian’s hand as he introduced himself. “Greg Thompson.”

  “Well, come on. We don’t want to miss our flight,” Ian told Surry as he put his hand around the handle of her suitcase.

  “I got it,” Surry said, pulling back from him.

  “I don’t mind,” Ian told her as he took the suitcase and began walking toward the check-in desk.

  Surry would have protested the taking of her suitcase as if she was some helpless female who couldn’t walk a few steps without begging for the help of some big, strong man. But Greg was watching them, and Ian had done a good job of convincing him that they were a couple. She wasn’t about to do anything to take that image out of Greg’s mind. “Well, see you another time.” She waved at Greg as she rushed to catch up with Ian.

  When she found him, he had pulled their tickets from the kiosk and was getting ready to wrap a tag around the handle of her suitcase. “I can do it,” Surry told him as she took the tag away from him.

  After completing the task, she glanced over at Ian and noted that he was laughing at her again. She refused to say anything to him about it this time. If he wanted to spend his life being a laughing hyena, then who was she to stop him?

  He pointed at the tag. “You took it from me before I could tell you to write your name on it.” He handed her an ink pen.

  “Good thinking. If they lose the suitcase, they’ll know where to send it if my name and address are on the tag.” She bent down and wrote her information on the tag, knowing that he was laughing at her again. She couldn’t take the embarrassment one more minute, so when she stood she said, “Okay, I like to do things myself. Is that such a crime? I am, after all, single and have learned to do things myself.”

  Ian pointed in the direction where they’d just seen her friend. “Greg what’s-his-name would love to do any and everything you ask. The man looked positively lovestruck when I arrived.”

  She took her tote off the suitcase and handed the luggage to the steward. “Just a case of a man not being able to take no for an answer.”

  “Is that right?” Ian asked as he also handed over his bag and then began walking to the security checkpoint.

  “Sure is.” Surry took her shoes off and went through the security area. After leaving security and heading for their plane, Surry added, “Look, I have no illusions about men chasing after me because I’m the most beautiful, intelligent or witty woman on earth.” She lifted her hands and twirled around. “Goddess material, I’m not.”

  “So you say,” Ian answered while staring at her with a hunger he couldn’t suppress.

  Shaking her finger at him, she said, “The way I see it is like this—men chase after me because I don’t want to commit myself to them. I’m more of a free spirit and fully concentrating on making a success of my business.”

  “And you can’t have a successful business and a man?” Ian inquired.

  Surry shook her head. “One would be a distraction from the other.”

  “Now see, that just goes to show how much I know. Because I’d always thought that having success in business and in love would be the best of both worlds.”

  What Ian considered the best of both worlds, Surry considered a distraction that she didn’t need. Lately, she’d given up the idea of even hanging out with a man and dating with no strings attached. She had a business to run and wasn’t about to let anyone tie her down before it was in the black.

  But Surry could admit that seeing her two best friends so happy about their pregnancies yesterday did something to her. She went home last night and, as she lay in bed all alone, wondered if she had made the right decision with her life. But one single thing kept Surry on her path. That was the memory of how all of her father’s failures affected his family.

  A man who can’t take care of his family shouldn’t have one. And with Surry’s business in shambles, she couldn’t even consider finding someone to marry and have a child with. Her friends had chosen their paths in life, and she had chosen hers. Simple as that.

  “What are you thinking about?” Ian asked after they had boarded the plane and were seated next to each other waiting for takeoff.

  “What...huh? Oh, nothing.”

>   “It didn’t look like nothing. Your eyes were like this.” He put his face in front of hers and scrunched his eyelids ’til she could barely see his pupils. “So, I know you were thinking about something pretty serious. ’Fess up, Surry. If you were thinking about me, just admit it.”

  She laid her head on the headrest and turned to Ian. “Are you just being nosy, or do you really want to know my thoughts?”

  “It seemed like you were thinking about something important, but if it was too personal, I don’t want to pry.”

  Now it was Surry’s turn to chuckle it up. The man was out of control. “I thought that was what this trip was all about...me giving you time so you can get all up in my business.”

  Ian raised a hand. “I’m not trying to be nosy. I need to know a lot more about you than I currently know if I’m going to figure out how to help you.”

  “This image-building stuff is hard work, huh?” Surry’s eyes lit up as she smiled at Ian. She didn’t know when it occurred, but she felt comfortable with him. Comfortable enough to let loose and talk to him. “Okay, so what do you want to know about me?”

  Chapter 5

  Everything and then some was what he wanted to know about the elusive Ms. Surry McDaniel, who claimed not to be a goddess but in his book was pretty doggone close. He tapped his chin with a fingertip. “Let’s see. What do I want to know?” He turned toward her and then let his eyes slowly trail the length of her body, stopping at her shapely legs. The dress she had on was knee-length, but when she sat down, as she was now, it exposed her muscular thighs. “Are you a runner?”

  Surry looked down and spotted where his eyes had traveled. “I prefer to use the EFX machine and to do a bit of fast walking. Running is bad on the knees.” After saying that, she held out her hand. “Can I borrow your jacket, please?”

  He took the jacket off and placed it across her lap. And then with a smirk, he said, “If you don’t want anyone to see your legs, you may need to start wearing full-length dresses.”

  “Or maybe old men should stop leering at me,” she suggested as she positioned his coat jacket so that it covered her thighs and the tops of her legs.

  “Woman, you wound me.” Ian touched his heart as if it were breaking. “Calling me an old man is like saying I’m just like my father.”

  “Don’t most men want to be like their father?”

  “Not this man,” Ian said and then turned the tables on her. “But we’re not here to talk about me. Tell me, Surry, did you design the dress you have on?”

  Surry looked down at her dress, enjoying the gold-and-purple color of it. She nodded. “I found the fabric in West Africa. I love the feel of it and thought other women would also, so to answer your question, yes, I did make this dress.”

  “So why African apparel?” Ian put his elbow on the armrest as he put his hand under his chin and leaned in while they talked. It was true that he needed to know more about her so he could build the image they would present to the media, but Ian was fascinated by Surry.

  “I just love the look and feel of the material. Since my first trip to Africa, I’ve been purchasing outfits from them.”

  “Were you purchasing the clothes so that you could work on your own designs? Was that your original purpose for going to Africa?”

  “Not at all,” Surry said. “I used to be a travel writer. I chose to write about places like Ghana, Kenya, Haiti and a few other places in Africa. When the books stopped selling and my travel writing career was over, I decided the best thing for me to do would be designing clothes that I love.”

  “How did you feel when you discovered you wouldn’t be able to write anymore?” Ian asked.

  “I understood the decision, so I wasn’t bitter. But I knew I had to figure out a new life for myself. So I didn’t have time to wallow over a career that was ending. I had to figure out what my new life was going to look like.”

  Surry had managed to impress Ian without even trying. Most people would have wallowed in self-pity after losing a career they loved, but not Surry. She just dusted herself right off and went out and made another life for herself. “Wow. That’s awesome. I don’t know what I could do if I couldn’t be involved in politics.”

  “But you’re not a politician,” Surry reminded him.

  Shaking his head, Ian told her, “I’ve never ever wanted to be an actual politician. I get more of a thrill out of the making of politicians.”

  “So you’re the kingmaker, huh?”

  “Up to this point, I’ve only been the duke and princemaker. But if things go the way I want them to go in Charlotte, then yeah, you could call me a kingmaker.”

  She pointed at his eyes. “Your face lit up as you talked about becoming a kingmaker. So I would say that you’ve definitely picked the right career for yourself.”

  Smiling, Ian said, “Judging by the outfits I’ve seen you in, I’d say you picked the right career also.”

  “My mother was a seamstress, so I guess it came naturally to me.”

  They continued to talk about Surry and her adventures until they reached the subject of Haiti. Surry told Ian that she gave ten percent of her profits to the rebuilding of schools in Haiti. Ian then confessed that he’d gone to Haiti in 2010 to help with the cleanup after that awful storm.

  “Shut up!” Surry said, becoming more animated with the movements of her arms. Even though they had their seat belts on because they were, after all, flying high in the sky, Surry couldn’t help but turn her body even more toward him. “You went to Haiti?”

  Ian nodded. “Sure did. I got there in February. I was working with four clients for the elections at the time. Things were going poorly from the start. I needed to regroup in order to rethink my strategy, and the people of Haiti needed some houses built.”

  “How did it go?”

  “About a million Haitians had lost their homes. So the group I went down there with spent two weeks cleaning up rubble and rebuilding as many homes as we could.”

  “You know that your eyes lit up again,” Surry told him. But this time, instead of just pointing at his eyes, she leaned over and touched his cheek just under one eye. “Maybe you need to reevaluate your career also.”

  Ian shook his head. “I’m in the right place. I’m not a complicated man. I am a product of my birth. My father is a political animal, and my mom is a giver. She believes that people should give money, time or both if it is a worthy cause.” He shrugged his shoulders and added. “So, politics and giving to others excites me.”

  “Are those the only two things that excite you?” Surry teased.

  “Looking at your legs excited me, but you covered those up.”

  She shoved him. “Shut up, Ian. And anyway, when I asked how it went, I wasn’t asking about Haiti. I know how things are going there. I wanted to know about the elections you had so much trouble with in 2010.”

  “Oh.” Ian was surprised by the way the conversation had turned. He didn’t spend much time talking about himself. Usually, he was talking up his client or finding out things about his client to talk about. “Okay, well, by the time I left Haiti my head was clear, and I got back into the States and won three out of the four campaigns we’d been working on. Number four still blames my trip to Haiti for his loss.”

  Surry laughed. “I bet he never had a chance in the first place.”

  Ian turned serious as he looked her in the eye and said, “I’ve never taken on a client that I didn’t believe in. And that includes you, Surry McDaniel.”

  Her eyes moistened as she laid her hand on his arm. “You really believe that I have a chance to turn this thing around?”

  “I wouldn’t have invited you on the trip if I didn’t.”

  “Thanks for saying that, Ian.” Their eyes met and held a moment too long. She turned away but then noticed that her hand was on hi
s arm. She removed her hand and then leaned back in her seat, placing her hands in her lap.

  * * *

  What was happening to her? She had just been gazing into Ian’s eyes, wishing that she was his and he was hers. She’d told her girls that she wasn’t attracted to him in a romantic kind of way. And Surry had thought that was true, but Ian was just too handsome, kind, magnanimous, and, and, and...she was losing it. The man was winning her over without even trying. Maybe she should have stayed at home.

  If she had stayed home, she wouldn’t be on this airplane discovering how much she and Ian had in common. For she had also allowed her parents’ paths to lead her. By the time Surry was thirteen, her father had owned three failing dress shops. He could never find a way to make his shop profitable in order to take care of his family, and he’d refused to give up dreaming and get a nine-to-five where he collected a paycheck from employers who had their finances together. She just hoped she wouldn’t end up like him, dreaming of success that would never come.

  By the time they arrived at the Hilton hotel in the uptown area of Charlotte, North Carolina, Surry was so thrown off her game by thoughts of her father’s failures and Ian’s triumphs that she had to get away.

  Ian looked at his watch and said, “I have a meeting at one this afternoon. So, I’m free for about an hour and a half. Do you want to grab lunch?”

  “I need a little rest.”

  “Okay, well, then how about dinner when I’m done with my business today?” He waited a moment. When she didn’t answer, he said, “Come on, Surry, you have to eat, and we still have a lot to discuss.”

  “Okay, I’ll meet you for dinner,” she told him and then escaped to her room. Ian was getting to her, and she had to find something to take her mind off this fabulous man whom any woman should be so lucky to have in her life. She sighed at the thought and then turned on her laptop and checked a few emails.

  After that she spent another half an hour fiddling around in her room, and she got hungry. But Surry was too stubborn to call Ian, so she contacted room service and ordered a turkey club sandwich. While eating her sandwich, she looked through the hotel directory for things to do in uptown Charlotte, which most people called downtown.