She looked down at her bag and then back up at him. "We're only going to be gone aweek," she replied.

"I thought women packed three or four suitcases wherever they went," he mumbled.

"Not me."

"Well," he said awkwardly. "That's good."

She walked over to join the line to the counter and he followed her. "I might aswell stay with you. No sense losing you in this crowd."

Jodie realized that he was nervous! She found that hard to believe, consideringhow much traveling he did. Was it because she was along?

She hadn't spotted it at first, probably because she'd been shaken by hisaccusation that she may have caused them to miss their plane. There was no way shewould lose him in the crowd. As tall as he was, she'd spot him in any group.

She circumspectly checked out what he'd chosen to wear for the trip and waspleasantly surprised to see him in black pants, a black turtleneck sweater and ablack leather jacket that fit snugly at his waist.

The wind had ruffled his dark hair and the leather jacket made him appeardangerous and very masculine.

He looked downright swashbuckling.

Now if he'd only smile once in a while, he could be attractive.

They reached their plane with time to spare, which Jodie wisely did not point out.Dean stopped and bought himself a paper and a couple of magazines. Jodie found thenewest book out by one of her favorite authors, as well as a crossword puzzle bookin case she got tired of reading.

She watched Dean as he paced the concourse. Was the man ever still? She placed herparka on her lap and started reading.

When it was time to board, first-class passengers were seated first. Not too bad.Dean waved her to the window seat before settling down beside her. A flightattendant checked to see what they would like to drink and handed them menus forbreakfast.

Once they gave their orders, Jodie settled comfortably into the luxurious depthsof her seat and looked around her.

The only time she'd seen first class on her flights was when she'd walked throughto the tourist section. What a way to travel.

"Are you nervous about flying?" he asked after several minutes of silence.

She'd been peering out the window when he asked, and she straightened. "A littleperhaps. Why?"

"I noticed your fingers gripping the armrests, and the plane hasn't moved."

She jerked her hands away and folded them into her lap. After a moment she duginto her purse and pulled out the book she'd been reading but gave up a few minuteslater because she couldn't seem to concentrate. Maybe she'd work one of thecrossword puzzles.

After another prolonged silence-were they ever going to leave the terminal?-Jodieasked, "How long is the flight, do you recall? I've forgotten what the reservationssaid."

"About thirteen hours, depending on a headwind. We change planes in Los Angeles."

"Oh."

"We should reach Maui by midafternoon local time."

"But we'll still be on Midwest time."

"True."

Well, she'd exhausted all her skills at social chitchat with him. Jodie picked up

the airline magazine and began to thumb through it.

After what felt like hours, the plane finally taxied out to the runway fortakeoff. Then it stopped. The captain apologized for the delay. There were ninejets ahead of this one. Great. That gave her plenty of time to rethink this whole idea.

Dean cleared his throat. "Jodie?"

She'd just peered out the window again. "Yes?"

"I'm a little embarrassed to mention this after you've worked for me so manyyears, but I really don't know much about you besides your work ethic, which isoutstanding, and your determination to get your degree, which is admirable. I'dlike to learn more about you. Why don't we use this time to get acquainted?"

"I'm sorry, but I really don't want to talk right now. I need all my concentrationonce we're ready for takeoff to make absolutely certain the plane's wings arefirmly attached." After all, there was a lot of thrust by the jet engines, andeveryone knew that takeoffs and landings were the most dangerous times during aflight. Unless they happened to fly into the side of a mountain. They had to crossthe Rockies, didn't they?

Or if they went down over water...say, maybe the Pacific Ocean?

"Jodie?" She jerked her head away from the window and looked at him inquiringly.

"We're perfectly safe, you know."

"Of course we are," she promptly agreed. "As long as we sit here on the runway."She glanced back out the window to continue to check the wings.

Dean made some kind of noise that sounded as if he was either choking or coughing.She looked back at him in concern. His lips were compressed and he wore a frown.His shoulders shook and suddenly, like Mount St. Helens, he erupted into laughter.

Laughter? She had rarely seen him smile, much less heard him laugh, and she staredat him in amazement. What a difference it made in him. He looked much younger thanhis thirty-eight years. Who would have believed it?

He immediately attempted to quell the sound, but then he looked at her again,recognized her bemusement, shook his head and continued to laugh-a deep-throatedsound that finally made her smile.

He reached for his handkerchief and wiped his eyes, blew his nose and finally,after what seemed like forever, managed to stop.

But he continued to smile and she still hadn't recovered from the change in him.Dean was smiling and, miracle of miracles, his face hadn't cracked into a thousandlittle pieces. Who would have believed it?

"Care to share the joke?" she asked. She smiled her pleasure at this unexpectedpeek into the man she thought she knew so well.

He touched her arm and slid his hand down, lacing his fingers between hers. "I'msorry. I shouldn't have laughed at your nervousness. You're going to be just fine,I promise."

"From your lips to God's ear," she muttered.

He chuckled again. He was certainly getting a great deal of amusement out of herfear of flying. Then again, maybe it was worth it to see that the man had a humanside. A decidedly masculine side at that.

The brackets around his mouth had revealed dimples. She bet he hated them.

In fact, the man bore little resemblance to her stone-faced boss. Same hair andeyes, same strong jaw, and yet with his silver-blue eyes sparkling and his teethflashing he was actually handsome.

Okay, she was losing it. When she looked at Dean Logan and saw a handsome man sheknew she'd lost her grip. Fear could certainly do crazy things to a person'sperceptions.

"I was born in Indiana," he said in a casual voice as though answering herquestion. "Came to Chicago to attend Northwestern and never left. How about you?"

She cleared her throat. "We're from Wisconsin originally."

"Who is we?"

"Mom, my three brothers, my sister and me. My parents got married way too young,but they were in love and didn't want to wait until after they finished school toget married. My brother came along not long afterward, and Dad dropped out ofcollege to get a job. He took good care of all of us, but I think he pushed himselftoo hard for too many years and he died of a heart attack when he was forty-five.

"Mom had to get a job but had trouble finding one since she'd never worked before.Without training or an education, it was tough going for her. She ended up as awaitress. Both Mom and Dad really stressed the importance of an education when wewere growing up. All three of my brothers worked their way through college so theycould take care of her."

"Where does your family live?"

"All over the place. Mom's in Phoenix. That's where they lived when Dad died. Oneof my brothers is an attorney in Oregon, one is career Navy and based out ofBremerton, Washington, and one lives just outside of D.C. doing who knows what. Ifanyone asks, he says, 'I work for the government' in a vague way and changes thesubject. My sister, Lynette, and I live here in Chicago."

"Do any of them have children?"

She smiled. "Chuck and Lynette have two boys and a brand-new baby girl. The boysare pleased as little boys can be that they have a baby sister. My sister had twomiscarriages before Emily came along."

"Are any of your brothers married?"

"Not a one. Too busy with work or too busy playing the field." She waited, andwhen he didn't ask any more questions, she said, "It's your turn. Tell me aboutyour family."

She wasn't sure at first that he was going to answer her, but eventually he said,"My mother lives in a nursing home here. I had an older brother, but he and my dadwere out on Lake Michigan at the wrong time years ago. A storm blew up and theydidn't make it back."

"How awful. How old was your brother?"

"Twelve. I was eight and had a cold, so my mother wouldn't let me go with them."He looked away. After two or three minutes he added, "I haven't talked about themin years."

She wondered about the emotional scars he carried from that time. No doubt he'dbeen upset, probably angry, that he didn't get to go. Then to lose them like that.Survivor's guilt probably played a part. She knew him well enough not to say anymore by way of sympathy for his loss.

"Why aren't you married?" he asked bluntly.

She looked at him in surprise. "Isn't that a rather personal question to ask?"

"Probably. But if I'm going to drag out all my personal stuff, I figure you can,too."

"Mmm. I don't think it's quite the same, unless you want to discuss whyyou're notmarried."

"That's easy enough. I have no intention of getting married. I was engaged once,but she found someone who had more money and broke the engagement six weeks beforethe wedding." He shrugged. "She's on her third marriage now, so she did me a favor.After that I decided to devote my time and energy to building my business, whichwas much more important to me than getting too involved in a relationship."

"You know, Dean, one of these days you're going to meet the woman you've beenwaiting for your whole life. And when you do, you'll be a goner."