The More I See You (Stevens Book 5)

Chapter 2

Laura looked at her phone as she sat at the bar across from the departing gate. She had been the first to arrive so she had decided to get something hot to drink to help warm her. It had been a bitterly cold winter and she would be glad when spring finally broke.

She was sitting alone with her bag at her feet when she felt someone sit next to her. Ignoring the person, she continued to read the email that had been sent to her by her stepsister about her upcoming wedding.

Charlotte deserved some happiness and she was truly pleased for her. She had been through hell since her mother had married into the Wren family, and Laura felt less guilty since she had been able to find some happiness, and with a handsome ex-Navy SEAL no less.

She felt a large masculine arm brush her arm as it reached in front of her for some peanuts. Laura looked up, careful to keep her face blank as she looked at the man. 

He was the classic business traveler. He was wearing a suit and tie and had a briefcase and rolling bag. Laura supposed he was handsome in an average all American way, and she didn't doubt that he had money because the suit was not off a rack, but he did have a wedding ring.

Pushing the peanuts towards him, she went back to looking at her phone, her senses on high alert.

"Hi," he greeted, popping a peanut into his mouth and grinning.

Laura looked up from her phone and let her gaze travel from the top of his head to the tips of his toes with a bored expression. Then, ignoring his greeting, went right back to reading her emails.

"Do I know you?" he tried again.

"No," Laura answered, turning slightly away from him.

"I'm sure I do, you look vaguely familiar."

"I'm sure you don't." She asked the bartender if she could get her drink to go.

"Why are you leaving so soon? I'll remember how I know you if you just keep talking."

"I doubt that." She stood up and wrapped her scarf around her neck while hanging her jacket over her arm as the bartender passed her a 'to go' cup full of hot water and a tea bag. Thanking him, she pulled some money out of her pocket and put it on the bar. Taking a couple of packets of sugar, she turned to pick up her bag and the man reached out to grab her arm to keep her from leaving.

"Please don't touch me," she insisted in a calm voice, looking pointedly at his hand on her arm.

"But I'm sure I know you."

"I promise you, you don't." She reached over for a glossy magazine that had been left on the bar top and opened it to the first page, sliding it towards him. Landau purchased the inside cover of most women's magazines to sell their cosmetics and in the advertisements she was either alone or with Carmen and Kelly.

Not waiting to see his response, most men immediately left her alone thinking she was way out of their league, she gathered her bag and coat and walked across the wide corridor to her gate. Finding a seat in the sun near the window, she settled in, pulling out her tablet to read a little.

"So, you're a famous model," he said, sitting next to her, letting his gaze travel over her, undressing her with his eyes. It was a look she was used to, but it still bothered her. It made her feel like a piece of meat.

She put a wall up and closed herself off, to talk to him would only encourage him and frustrate her. Laura would wait for a security guard to walk by then let him know that he was bothering her.

"What do you know, we're on the same flight." He grinned, obviously not reading her go away signals.

Laura gathered all of her things and moved to another seat, hoping that he would get the very overt hint. He didn't.