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  Heart Desires

  Copyright © 2011 by Becca Dale

  ISBN: 978-1-61333-154-5

  Cover art by Dara England

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC

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  www.decadentpublishing.com

  Heart Desires

  A 1Night Stand Story

  by

  Becca Dale

  ~DEDICATION~

  To my sister and friends who made me stick to my heart desires until I got exactly what I wanted.

  Chapter One

  Come on. Go in. Devlynn Connors stood on her toes and twisted her carry-on in a vain effort to stuff it into the overhead compartment. Deliberately avoiding the cold, impatient stares of the people filing in behind her, she shoved at the suitcase.

  “Can I help, ma’am?”

  “Please.” She stepped back and turned toward her rescuer, expecting an older man to go with the polite address. Instead, a hunk dressed in snug jeans and a faded Go-Guards T-shirt tucked her suitcase in place. His extra height and obvious muscles gave him an advantage over the stubborn baggage.

  He flashed a killer grin that sparked all the way to his eyes. “The handle caught on the hinge. Careful taking it out.”

  “I will. Thank you.”

  Nearly black hair, impossibly thick despite the cropped military cut, emphasized the stranger’s masculine features. Strong jaw, high cheekbones, straight if slightly large nose, and perfectly spaced, expressive gray eyes…eyes a woman could get lost in. Eyes that seemed to laugh at her.

  “Ma’am? You’re blocking the aisle.”

  His voice traveled all the way up from his toes, deep and sexy, but his words jerked her back to reality. “Sorry. Long day.” She scooted into her seat, cheeks burning from the encounter. Long day? Cripes, it’s not even seven in the morning. Her idiotic response echoed in her skull.

  As the gorgeous stranger moved on, a young mother tried to maneuver a diaper bag, a bright blue backpack, a toddler, and a chubby, carrot-top infant into the narrow space between their seats and the row ahead. The baby, dressed in pink and white ruffles, gurgled and drooled adorably while the two-year-old pouted.

  “Mommy.” The little boy tugged on his mother’s shirt impatiently. “Fruit snacks.”

  “In a minute, Rickie. Let me get things put down.”

  “Hungry!”

  She shifted the baby higher as she looked around for a place to set things. “You should have eaten your breakfast then.”

  “Fruit snacks!”

  “Need help?” At the other woman’s smile, Devlynn grabbed the bright pink and lime bag and stuffed it under the middle seat. “Could I hold the baby while you get settled?”

  Relief swept over the other woman’s face. “Would you? That would be so kind.”

  The tiny girl came to her without fuss. Devlynn dodged the wet little fists and settled the infant on her lap. “Hello there. You’re a cutie, aren’t you?”

  “For now. Give her a minute.”

  Great. So much for a peaceful trip. Devlynn pushed away the unkind thought and bounced the baby. “Are you traveling on your own? Besides the little ones?”

  “No. Heaven forbid. My husband is about ten rows back. We had seats together but the airline lost the information or got it mixed up somehow.”

  “I could switch with him once we’re airborne if that would help.”

  “Really? I was going to give him one of the kids after we took off, but having him here would be better. Thank you so much.” She finally managed to buckle the toddler into his seat and settle into her own before taking the infant. She shifted the baby to her shoulder and held out her right hand. “I’m Terra.”

  “Devlynn.”

  “Mom-meeee, fruit snacks!”

  No matter who she had to sit by further back, nothing could be as tiring as a child with the terrible twos and a woman stressed out of her mind. As soon as the attendants announced people could move about the plane, she maneuvered out of the tight spot while Terra called her husband forward. “Thank you again for doing this, Devlynn.”

  A pudgy, redheaded man squeezed past his son’s knees and dropped into the seat by the window. “You’re a life saver. Terra would have been crazy by the time we landed.”

  “No problem. Twenty-five A, right?”

  ***

  Erik couldn’t believe his luck as his seat partner traded places with the angel. The beautiful woman he’d helped earlier squatted down to speak to a noisy toddler and pick up the baby’s rattle before she rose and headed down the aisle. Something about her interactions with the little ones and the grateful look she’d thrown his way when he helped her with her luggage drew him. Adorable girl-next-door Meg Ryan-type meets Heidi Klum. Blonde curls twisted in a wild tangle around her oval face and wide smile. Elegant, long legs glided as she gracefully navigated the narrow aisle. Faded blue jeans clung to hips just curvy enough to emphasize her tiny waist, which in turn complemented her perfect, mouth-sized breasts encased in a form-fitting T-shirt of pure white.

  His groin tightened. He dropped his eyes to his laptop screen so she wouldn’t catch him staring like a fool. The small aircraft sat five across with two seats on one side and three on the other. The single seat beside him meant he’d have her to himself. If she wanted to talk or anything else. Maybe join the mile high club.

  Get your mind out of her pants, Mallard. You’re already on your way to a date. He pulled up the information sheet on his one-night stand, pretending to read rather than notice her enticing scent or sexy slender feet in leather flip-flops as she stopped beside his seat. Her toes were painted bright orange, reminiscent of the stripes on his motorcycle.

  “Excuse me. Can I slide in?”

  Erik looked up from the screen into the most compelling eyes he’d ever seen. Like the Caribbean, or the sky on a clear cold morning, or maybe Cari’s birthstone. “Aquamarine.”

  She lifted an eyebrow and smiled. “I beg your pardon?”

  What a stupid comment. He stood and motioned her in to the window seat. “Sorry. Your eyes. They look like my sister’s birthstone.”

  She laughed and the lighthearted sound eased his discomfort. “You know your sister’s birthstone? I doubt my brothers even know my birthday.”

  He grinned. “Afghanistan. Cari conned me into finding her a unique setting while I was stationed near there with the Guards.”

  “Ah, that explains it.” She crossed her long legs and eased her seat back with a sigh. “You don’t have a burning desire for fruit snacks, do you?”

  “Not usually. Why?”

  “Nothing. Lame joke.”

  Her full lips twitched and upped other burning desires. He fought the urge to lean toward her. “So who, or what, is in Las Vegas—family or just fun?”

  A strange smile flitted acros
s her face before she chuckled. “Just fun. I hope. How about you?”

  “A little of both. My sister thinks I need more playtime, less work, so she’s messing with my life as usual.”

  “Oh, that sucks.” Laughing she held out her hand. “I’m Devlynn.”

  “Erik.” Her slim fingers disappeared in his palm, and his mind shot to images of her holding much more intimate parts of him. His spontaneous erection threatened to knock his laptop on the floor. “So, planning on doing some gambling?”

  “Sort of. I don’t bet with my money other than in the stock market though.”

  “So what’s the gamble?”

  “That I can shake off a bad relationship and get on with my life.”

  “Ah…so are you meeting some poor bastard destined to be the rebound guy?”

  “Something like that.”

  She shifted in her seat and the overhead light highlighted her pebbled nipples obvious beneath the thin top. Did she not have a bra on? His groin tightened painfully, and he gripped the computer. Shit, she’s so damned fuckable.

  “I’m hoping that partying in Sin City will break through five years of being what my ex expected of me.” She shrugged. “I want something different, something or someone I can count on to be exactly what I need for once.”

  “I see.” He could barely carry polite conversation. He wanted to kiss her, throw a blanket over her lap and finger her until her gorgeous lips parted in ecstasy and the smattering of freckles across her nose popped as she flushed with the heat of passion. Or better yet, haul her to the back of the plane and blow her mind in the tiny washroom. Maybe he could forget all about the stupid computer date his sister had arranged and join Devlynn on her quest for freedom. “So who are you meeting?”

  Her soft laugh teased his fantasies. Would she make that same sound as he rolled her across a king-sized bed? “Would you believe I have a blind date?”

  Really? What are the chances? He reached for her hand and stroked his thumb over her knuckles. “Actually, I would. It seems my sister has arranged a similar situation for me. You wouldn’t be my date, would you?”

  Shaking her head in denial, she let her gaze wander over him in a teasing caress but stole her hand back. “That might be nice, but somehow I doubt it. You don’t fit the profile in any way. Besides, don’t you know your date’s name at least?”

  “Sadly, no. Cari has a habit of setting me up. I usually turn her down, but this one seemed important to her so here I am.”

  “What did she say?”

  “I didn’t listen.” She had to think he was insane to fly to Vegas and meet someone he knew nothing about. He hadn’t even cared enough to read the file on his computer. “My sister’s pregnant, and I don’t want to upset her. She’s had a rough time carrying.”

  “Well, I do know a bit about my date and my friends. Trust me, you’re not him. No man I’d ever pick would be that sweet, that concerned about his family.”

  The bitchy tone to her voice threw him. It seemed out of place with the woman in front of him. “Is that a bad thing?”

  “No.” Long, fingers settled on his arm. “Not at all.”

  Her genuine warmth called to him. Too bad she wasn’t the woman he was scheduled to meet, but that didn’t mean he would waste the time he had. He’d fulfill his obligation to the computer chick and then convince Devlynn to let him be her rebound or maybe even her next long term. “So would you be opposed to dropping him and meeting me later?”

  A scowl tipped her sandy brows. “That wouldn’t be very nice. My friends went to a lot of trouble and expense to set this up.”

  “You’re right.” Her sense of honor made him feel like a cad. “Forget I said anything.”

  Her bottom lip disappeared beneath even white teeth for a moment before she smiled. “Do you live in Tacoma?”

  He nodded.

  “When do you fly back home?”

  Was she suggesting what he hoped? “Tomorrow afternoon at three. Right after I touch base with an old buddy.”

  Her grin flashed. “Perfect. If our dates don’t do it for us, we can continue this conversation on the flight back to Washington. No questions or worries.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  She shook his hand and then turned to the window, effectively sealing her promise to wait for the flight home. He clicked the information sheet from 1Night Stand closed without reading it and opened a report that was due to his superior officer on Monday. He no longer cared about the date his sister had set up for him. It wasn’t fair, probably even shitty, but he couldn’t think about pleasing another woman when a truly gorgeous fantasy sat less than two feet away. Her soft scent tantalized his senses, but it was more than that. The manner in which she had teased the toddler up front, or the way her smile seemed shy and bold at the same time, or even the fact that she felt obligated to follow through with a promise said interesting things about her personality. Shifting his focus away from the curve of her hip, he ignored the growing need to make her laugh just to watch humor light a fire behind her pretty eyes.

  Chapter Two

  Devlynn fought the swirl of arousal coursing through her veins. She wanted the man next to her with a primitive desire. His casual attire, so different from the Wall Street types she dated, made her horny for some reason. Gorgeous eyes and a teasing smile coupled with muscles for days, and subtle yet enticing cologne tipped her over the edge from wow, he’s hot right into good-God-would-he-haul-me-to-his-cave-already? What would he do if she slid her hand beneath his shirt and stroked his chest?

  She’d looked for a way to break her cycle of bad relationships and found Madame Evangeline’s 1Night Stand. The site claimed that Madame Eve would look beyond the surface to find the perfect match, but still she turned her application form over to her friends hoping they knew what she needed. God and everyone else around her understood that Devlynn sure as hell didn’t. Her ex had demanded she behave as he saw fit until she believed it herself, until she allowed him to tell her how to dress and act and even what to think. She’d left Lyle over a year ago but continued to consider what he would expect in every situation. His favorite dress lay folded in her suitcase because her date’s profile assured her that the conservative style would be appreciated.

  Lyle had demanded she be prim and proper at all times. Even in the bedroom he’d wanted a lady. The one time she’d gone down on him, he freaked and accused her of whoring around before she met him. The man was a pompous ass. Too bad it had taken her almost six years to see the truth.

  Feigning sleep, she turned toward the stranger and studied him beneath lowered lashes. Would the guy she planned to meet in Vegas be her rebound like Erik suggested? She didn’t want that. She wanted to go into the one-nighter open-minded, free of any and all hang-ups. The idea of sleeping with a man she’d never met set her nerves on end, but other people did it, didn’t they? Breaking the cycle of self-doubt offered her only chance. In the three weeks since her friends filled out the questionnaire, she’d vacillated between determination to shrug off the past and fear her date would be a custom copy of Lyle, or Sean, or Tyler or every man she’d ever even lunched with since the eighth grade. Why wouldn’t he be? Her friends would list what they thought she needed, and she consistently chose strong-minded, arrogant jerks who knew what they wanted in life and didn’t give a shit what she wanted.

  The sexy man next to her oozed confidence, but he didn’t look like the type who would ignore a woman’s needs. Too bad he wasn’t her one-night stand, but the guy she was supposed to meet was named Steven or Stephan or her luck, Stalin.

  Her seatmate had chosen a place by the exit, which said something about his consideration of others, didn’t it? His broad shoulders were too wide for his seat, and his legs could not stretch out fully even with the extra room provided by the escape aisle. Leg room was probably a more likely reason for having picked the seat he did, but she liked the idea of him wanting to help. The fact that he was, or at least had been, in the National Gu
ard supported that theory.

  His long hands played over the computer keyboard in much the same way she wanted him to stroke her, slow and delicate sometimes as he fell into thought, quick and sharp at others. She shivered, and he scowled at her before twisting the overhead fan off and motioning to a flight attendant. “Do you have a blanket? And a couple pillows?”

  “Of course, sir. One moment.” She returned almost immediately with a plastic-sealed throw and two pathetically small pillows. The attendant leaned forward so he could see the scant cleavage her uniform allowed and brushed her fingers over his hand. “Here you are.”

  “Thanks.”

  Devlynn restrained a satisfied smile when her soldier didn’t even notice the girl’s flirtatious manner. Her soldier? The possessive term sounded right and reinforced that she really did need to get laid before she did something stupid.

  Erik carefully tucked a lumpy, cotton-covered pillow beneath her neck and shook open the thin red blanket. He spread it over her shoulder and leaned across to make sure her back was covered.

  “Damn, you smell good.”

  He glanced at her with a startled expression. “I thought you were asleep.”

  Had she spoken aloud? The mischievous gleam that turned his gray eyes almost silver said she had. Devlynn sat up with a gasp. “Oh, my God! I can’t believe I said that. I’m so sorry.”

  With a grin he shut down his computer and tucked it into the seat pocket before he spoke. “I’m not. I’ve been thinking the same thing about you.”

  She couldn’t look at him. What kind of idiot talked that way to a virtual stranger?

  “Hey.” He leaned closer. “Seriously, I’ve been fantasizing about you since I saw you earlier.” A long finger slid beneath her chin and tipped her face up then left too soon. “In fact, I can’t concentrate on anything else besides how much I wish it were tomorrow afternoon.”