Free What She Wants by Jenna Byrnes Page A

can’t believe you’d do that.”
    Tom shrugged again. “You’re alone, and I had more company than I needed. It seemed the perfect compromise.”
    “ Okay,” she agreed with some reluctance. “Right now, I need to use the bathroom. Then, I could use a bite to eat.”
    “ Want me to hang on to your stuff?” He held his hands out.
    “ No thanks.” She clutched her backpack to her chest. She liked the guy, but wasn’t nuts. All her money, ID, and everything was in the one bag. She looked down at the rolling carry-on. It contained clothes—a couple killer bikinis, for sure, but nothing of much value to anyone else. She rolled it over to him. “You can watch this one, I guess.”
    He grinned. “Okay. I promise I won’t go through your unmentionables. Ladies restroom is back that way.”
    Kelsie grinned and nodded. She found the bathroom, phoning her mother while waiting in line for a stall. After peeing, she hauled her loaded bag out to the sink and washed her hands. Glancing in the mirror, she tugged off her winter cap and fluffed her long, curly hair. It was no use, she was stuck with hat hair, unless she wanted to wet it to tame the curls. The line behind her didn ’t make that idea seem feasible, so she sprayed on some perfume from her bag and called it good.
    She stepped away to an available full-length mirror, and inspected her appearance. Unzipping her bulky coat, Kelsie yanked off her long red scarf and shoved it in her backpack. It was warm enough in the airport, and the red knit didn ’t do much for her style. She looked okay otherwise, she thought. Her blue sweater was form fitting, as were her jeans. Fluffing her bangs one last time, she left the ladies room, took a minute to phone her cousin, and then went back out to Tom.
    He was exactly where she left him, one hand on his backpack and another on her suitcase handle. “Hey.” He smiled at her.
    “ Hi. I’m starved, how about you?”
    “ I could eat.” He nodded toward a small restaurant, just down from their gate. “What do you think?”
    Kelsie shrugged. “Why not?” She took the handle of her rolling suitcase from him, and he grabbed their airline-issued pillows and blankets. They walked to the restaurant in silence. An empty table in the corner caught her eye. They tucked their belongings under the table, then settled into chairs.
    A waitress offered them small paper menus, and Kelsie looked hers over quickly. “I’ll have the chicken sandwich, fries and iced tea, please.”
    Tom handed his menu to the waitress, nodding. “Make that two.”
    “ Be right back.” The woman shuffled off.
    Kelsie offered him another smile, and he grinned. Fiddling with a packet of sugar from the table, he began, “So, what are you studying at K-State?”
    “ Marketing. I’m a junior. How about you?”
    “ Junior in Business. What are you going to do with a Marketing degree?”
    “ I’m sure some company will hire me to straighten their sales department out. It’s supposedly a pretty hot field right now. You’re in Business? Where do you see that taking you?”
    The waitress brought their drinks and they paused for a moment, then Tom answered, “I have no idea. Business is the next best thing to ‘undeclared’. I’ll eventually figure something out.” He grinned impishly, and she had to laugh.
    “ What do your folks think of that?” she inquired, stirring the straw in her drink.
    A strange look crossed his face before he responded. “They don’t care. They met working in a paper factory, and my dad still works there. They just wanted me to go to college.”
    “ Why KU?” She looked into his eyes, interested at what made him tick.
    “ You’re full of questions,” he teased.
    Kelsie shrugged. “We’re stuck here together. I just thought…” she let her words trail off. Maybe she was being too nosy.
    “ Nah, it’s okay. I chose Kansas because I wanted to get as far away from the paper factory as I could. I felt like I was