Free Lady of Heaven by Kathryn Le Veque Page B

returning to Los Angeles, alone and in love.  She’d met
a man who was her soul mate and she didn’t want to be parted from him, not
ever. But the London/Los Angeles difference was a huge issue. She couldn’t
think straight, unsure what to do about it.
    The last twenty four hours before
her flight home had been the most serious.  They had stayed up all night talking
in the library, lying on the old leather couch and watching the sun rise. They
talked about his background, family, education, and his stint in the rugby
club. She had also gotten the impression that he was a bit of a brawler when
provoked, which had come in handy playing rugby.
    He’d talked about his family, his
father who was a marine biologist and his four younger brothers, three of whom
were in the royal marines. Morgan had talked about her own rather uneventful
life, her career as a cop and the few times she had been shot at. But he didn’t
want to hear that part, so the conversation had moved to other things.
    When the sun finally rose, he had
helped her finish packing, lugging all of her baggage and her mother’s down to
the rental car and loading them in.  He had even driven them to the Manchester
airport for their flight that connected in London before going on to Los
Angeles.  
    Because of security at the airport,
he couldn’t go past the security check point so they had to say good-bye out in
the terminal where all of the check-in counters were located. When the baggage
was checked and Laura made herself scarce, Morgan and Fox faced each other in
the cavernous, busy terminal.
    There were a thousand people all
around them, busily going about their lives, but Morgan and Fox had eyes only
for each other.  Fox stared at her for about five seconds before wrapping his
enormous arms around her and pulling her into a crushing embrace that had her
feet dangling more than a foot off the ground. He kissed her amorously,
whispering his feelings for her in his ear but stopping short of telling her
that he loved her.
    They both knew they were in love
with each other but, somehow, only knowing each other for six days, thirteen
hours and forty-seven minutes prevented them from making the declaration, like
it would be too rash for them to do it. So Morgan got on the plane without
telling Fox that she loved him and without hearing him tell her that he loved
her in return.  She wondered, as the plane landed at Cairo International
Airport, if he was kicking himself as much as she had been kicking herself over
that. She wished she’d told him.
    As the plane pulled up to the
terminal, the pilot thanked everyone for choosing SwissAir and mentioned that
the weather was a balmy eighty degrees.  Morgan waited until almost everyone
had left the plane before standing up and getting her carry-on from the
overhead compartment.  She was dressed in jeans, a lightweight long-sleeved
shirt and a lightweight jacket, and her white tennis shoes.  Her long blond
hair was pulled back in a ponytail, slightly mussed as a result of the
seventeen hour flight, but she was her usual beautiful self in spite of the
exhaustion of travel. 
    Fox’s flight was due to land three
hours after hers so Morgan knew she had some waiting to do.  She hoped to clean
up a little bit and look presentable for him.  Disembarking the plane, she
trudged up the gangway and into the main terminal where a collection of people
were greeting each other. Kids, grandparents, parents and lovers were all
hugging each other, glad to be together again.
     Shifting her carry-on to the other
shoulder and hiking up her purse, Morgan had her head down as she moved through
the crowd.  She was nearing the corridor that led to the baggage claim area
when someone suddenly grabbed her from behind.
    She was up in the air before she
realized what had happened. Panicked, her police training kicked in and she was
preparing to take out her attacker’s kneecaps when a warm face suddenly nuzzled
her neck.
    “I thought