“What in the world?” Lauren leaned forward in her seat.
“The IOC is still investigating. However, there is one common element between Small and Corwin testing positive. Both men were involved with the same woman at the time their tests proved positive. Kristina Marino is currently missing and authorities are searching for her. More information as it becomes available.”
Lauren checked her watch again, then shut off the television. She had to leave for the airport, but the story stayed with her. It was unlikely Rusty Small’s problems would lead to Jason being cleared, but it did show Karma hard at work.
Impulse had her reaching for her cell to call Jason, but hard-earned lessons made her put the phone away. Focus forward, she reminded herself.
“Paris awaits,” she said aloud.
Too bad Paris was the city of love, and she’d be visiting alone.
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS MEANT long wait times in the airport. Lauren remembered waiting with her parents for hours at a time while traveling abroad. She and Beth would play word games to keep themselves busy. One of the few good memories she had of Beth.
Lauren had taken a few days to calm down before calling the prison to check on her sister. They had her in some form of psychiatric solitary confinement. For her protection and for the safety of others, they’d said. Lauren completely understood their rationale. She also hadn’t been surprised when Beth’s lawyer had informed her that Beth would be charged with additional crimes.
Although it pained Lauren to do it, she’d told the lawyer she had no more money to spend on her sister’s case. If that meant Beth would be at the mercy of a court-appointed public defender, then so be it. Lauren hadn’t washed her hands of her sister. They were still siblings and Lauren loved her-or maybe she loved the sister she remembered. Lauren wasn’t sure about anything except the fact that Beth was criminally insane. All beyond the scope of Lauren’s comprehension. Or her responsibility. She was only sorry it had taken her so long to accept the truth.
Annoyed with her train of thought-yet again-Lauren decided to break up the airport monotony and head to the sundry shop. She bought herself a bottle of water and some magazines for the long flight. Then, returning to her seat, she stuck her earbuds in her ears and began to page through the most recent issue of Vogue. But for the first time in memory she was unable to get lost in the world of fashion. Her thoughts kept drifting to recent events: the fire, her sister and, yes, even Jason.
Especially Jason.
Yet when someone tapped her on the shoulder, the unexpected touch nearly made her jump out of her seat.
She yanked on the wires, pulling the buds out of her ears, and looked up-into Jason’s eyes. “What are you doing here?” she asked over her rapidly beating heart.
“I thought you invited me to Paris?” He sounded out of breath.
She frowned. “I recall you turning me down. Flat.”
He treated her to a cocky smile that would have had her blind with anger had she not caught the uncertainty in his eyes. But just because he doubted his welcome didn’t mean she’d let him off the hook easily.
She still didn’t know why he was here. Or what he really wanted.
She wrapped the white headphone cord around her iPod and shoved it into her travel bag, taking her time before leaning back into the chair.
Jason eased himself into the seat beside her and reached for her hand. “I’m an idiot,” he said at last.
Lauren folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “You don’t hear me arguing.”
“And I didn’t expect you to make this easy.” He laughed, the sound brittle. “Look, I deserve your anger and suspicion and any other emotion you want to throw my way.”
“Still not arguing.” But her heart pounded in anticipation and her throat swelled with unexpected emotion as she waited for him to explain.
Instead, he first brushed away a tear she hadn’t realized she’d shed.
“Before you arrived, I’d lost everything that ever mattered to me. I was working a job that passed time but wasn’t fulfilling, and I was just going through the motions of living.” He leaned closer. “Then you showed up, and suddenly there was everything I didn’t know I was looking for. Life suddenly mattered again.”
It was time to call him on his behavior. To hold him accountable. “So you pursued me. You manipulated the situation so you’d get my job, and then you went about making me feel things.” She glanced down at their intertwined hands. “Things I didn’t want to feel for you again.”
“Guilty,” he admitted.
She nodded. “Meanwhile, all I wanted was a fling while I was in town. I’d planned to leave without any regrets or emotional ties, but that wasn’t enough for you, was it?” In the end he’d stolen her heart.
“How could it be enough?” he asked. “I wanted you. All of you. And I wanted you to give yourself to me freely.” His deep eyes bored into hers.
“Yet when I finally did, you tossed it back in my face. Just like-”
“Just like your parents. Just like your sister. I made you feel like everything you offered wasn’t enough.” His voice was gruff as he admitted to understanding her heart and her soul.
In his eyes, she viewed the warmth and love she’d been searching for all her life. “Why are you here now? What changed? Other than the fact that you realize you’re an idiot?” she asked, tears finally flowing. “Why did you push me away?”
He cupped her cheek in his hand. “Because I thought you deserved someone better. Someone who hadn’t lost everything and who was happy with his life. Who could be your equal.”
“So what changed your mind?” she asked, because if she didn’t understand, she’d never trust him not to do a one-eighty again and abandon her.
“That’s easy.” A wry smile twisted his lips. “You left me. And I discovered what it meant to really be alone. Then Mike and Derek asked me what getting back into snowboarding would mean if I’d lost you, and that’s when I knew. Nothing has any meaning without you.”
His voice cracked and Lauren leaned forward and kissed him, sealing her lips over his, savoring his taste and his warmth. His familiar scent wrapped around her, giving her comfort and arousing her at the same time. Suddenly life had color again.
She never wanted to let him go.
“Flight six thirty-nine to Paris, France, is ready to board.” The announcement penetrated the cocoon they’d wrapped themselves in, but she still didn’t want to release him.
Jason had dug out his passport, packed quickly, flown to New York and finally tracked Lauren down. He didn’t want to break this long-awaited kiss, but he had no choice. “They’re boarding.” He unwrapped her arms from his neck, separating them with difficulty.
Lauren groaned. “Do you really think I’m getting on that flight without you?”
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his ticket. “Why do you think I was so out of breath? I got to your apartment only to have your neighbor tell me you’d left an hour before. Luckily for me, you’d given her your flight information and she believed I wasn’t a stalker. I had to hightail it to the airport, buy my ticket and make it to the gate in time.”
“And I’m glad you did. But you still haven’t told me what happens after Paris.”
He drew a deep breath, still in shock himself by everything that had happened in the short time since she’d been gone. “Well, I’d put a call into some snowboard companies, asking if they’d be interested in having me test their boards. I saw it as a way to get back into the sport in some small way.” Just the thought had given him a renewed sense of purpose.
“And?”