between them.
He watched as she bristled, biting down against her bottom lip. Her eyes misted but she fought back the urge to cry. She tossed him a quick look, then returned her stare to the window and the landscape outside.
“You ask a lot of questions, TJ,” she finally answered, shifting in her seat to meet his eyes. “You’re like a woman, you’re so nosey.”
Tinjin laughed. “You’re one to talk. And don’t call me TJ. My parents named me Tinjin and I like my name. It’s the only thing the two left me with.”
She chuckled softly. “I like your name, too, so don’t be so sensitive.”
“I’m not being sensitive. Just don’t call me TJ. We don’t know each other that well.”
“I think we know each other very well. Well enough that you deserve a nickname. If it makes you feel better you can give me one. Something just between the two of us.”
Tinjin paused briefly. “Okay, Gnat. I’ll call you Gnat. Like the bug.”
“You’re calling me a bug? An annoying bug?”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “It fits. I’m giving you a nickname just like you gave me one. We’ll be TJ and Gnat. Gnat and TJ. Airport buddies forever!”
“You’re not funny. And you’re a pain in the ass, do you know that?”
Tinjin laughed. “Takes one to know one.”
Natalie rolled her eyes.
“Now that you’ve walked all around my question, are you going to answer it?” He crossed his arms over his chest.
She eyed him intently, the look he was giving her moving her heart to skip a quick beat. She took a deep breath and held it for a second. “No, I’m not,” she said finally. “It’s still none of your business.”
“I told you why I was headed in that direction.”
“But I didn’t ask. You just volunteered it. Just like you’ve been volunteering all of your business.”
Tinjin smiled, his full lips bending warmly. “I’m an open book. I have nothing to hide.”
“Bully for you. I don’t know you that well, so my business is none of your business.”
“I thought we were becoming friends.”
“It’s good they don’t pay you to think.”
“And you’re a mean girl, too!” Tinjin exclaimed. “Beautiful and mean!”
“You should be careful,” Natalie said, her expression smug. “That’s a lethal combination.”
They were interrupted as a hostess suddenly moved between them. “Can I get either of you anything to drink?” the woman asked as she looked from one to the other before letting her gaze rest on Tinjin’s face. She gave him a suggestive smile.
He smiled back. “I’d love a scotch. Straight,” he said. He looked toward Natalie.
“A glass of white wine, please,” Natalie said.
“And white wine for my friend,” Tinjin said as he passed the woman his credit card.
“I’ll bring those right over.” She gave Tinjin a quick wink of her eye.
Tinjin winked back.
When the woman was out of earshot Natalie shook her head. “Really?” she snapped, her eyes narrowed into thin slits as she stared at him.
“What?”
“You’re really going to flirt with another woman right in front of me? Really?”
“That wasn’t flirting. Besides, you set the rules. You said that it’s not like we’re friends, remember?”
“It’s still low of you. But then you’re a man, I guess I shouldn’t have expected better.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I don’t have a lot of expectations when it comes to you and your kind, TJ. That’s what it means.”
Tinjin crossed his arms over his chest. “Beautiful, mean and bitter. You’re just a walking contradiction, aren’t you?”
“Am I?”
A wry smile pulled at his full lips. “You’re like an angel’s trumpet.”
“A what?” Confusion washed over her expression.
“Angel’s trumpet. It’s this incredibly beautiful flower. It has amazing color and seductive lines. In low doses it can be a highly effective hallucinogen. Too much and it’s lethal. It’s also called devil’s weed.”
Natalie paused as she pondered his comment. Before she could respond the hostess returned with their drinks.
“If you need anything else please let me know,” she said, the comment directed straight at Tinjin.
“Thank you. We’ll do that,” Natalie said.
Tinjin laughed. “I think you like me.”
“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t,” Natalie said nonchalantly.
He nodded. “Yeah! You like me a lot!”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m getting used to you, TJ. Don’t misread me.”
“Oh, I’m reading you just fine, Gnat!” Tinjin said with a soft chuckle.
Natalie met the look he was giving her. Despite her best efforts she couldn’t fight the smile that pulled at her mouth. An easy laugh slipped past her lips. She rolled her eyes a second time.
Natalie had never known a man who slept with his eyes half open but Tinjin did, the dark lids at half-mast as he slumbered. If it were not for the soft lull of his breathing, with the wispy whistle at the end of each breath, she would have sworn he was staring at her. But he snored softly, lost in a deep sleep.
The length of his body was stretched across the cushioned seats. His arms were crossed over his chest, his hands tucked beneath his armpits. His head rested on a pillow beside her leg. He was so close to her that she could feel the heat from his body warming her own. She resisted the desire to draw her finger across his forehead, to tease the slight arch to his brow with her manicured nail. She didn’t know him like that, yet she had the strongest urge to trail her hand across his profile.
There was something about him that she liked and it had as much to do with his deft sense of humor as it did with his good looks. He made her laugh and feel as though she didn’t have a care in the world, even if it was a false sense of comfort in the moment. Because truth be told, Natalie had a lot on her mind and she couldn’t imagine anything about the next few days being carefree or easy. But something about being with Tinjin had her feeling as if things might settle upright when it was all done and finished. She blew a deep sigh, a shiver running up her spine.
Tinjin suddenly shifted, his body jumping slightly as he was startled from a sound sleep. He sat upright, wiping at his face with the palm of his large hand. He swiped the sleep from his eyes, then moved his gaze in her direction.
“I guess I fell asleep,” he said, murmuring softly.
“You think?” Natalie responded. “You snored and you drooled. It wasn’t pretty, player.”
He met her gaze. “I see waking up to your warm personality is quite the thrill.”
“Enjoy it while you can,” Natalie said smugly.
Tinjin’s full lips lifted in a slight smile. He shook his head then stretched his arms up and out as