Read part one, part two, and part three first! 

Dylan held her as she cried, again. He didn’t care. His heart tore in his chest listening to her sob. He wanted to take her pain away, but he knew nothing would.

“I told her I wasn’t her. That I wasn’t like her. We argued the last time we talked and she said she wanted to see me happy and married. I threw her whole life back in her face, telling her I wasn’t going to be like her. I had a career, a life, and I didn’t need a man. God, if she could see me now! Snotting and crying all over a complete stranger. A man. The only thing holding me up.”

Her self-deprecating laugh made his chest ache. To know you’d never speak to your parents again and that the last thing you said was in anger… He couldn’t imagine. The thought of it made him want to call his mom and dad up and tell them how much he loved them.

First thing when we touch down, he told himself, resolving to make more of an effort with his parents. Their relationship was never a poor one, but he didn’t consider himself close to them either. Why, he didn’t know. It was as though they’d drifted apart instead of grown into friends as they aged like many of his friends and their parents. Dylan always assumed it was because he didn’t have kids, didn’t need his parents’ advice or counsel.

How wrong he was.

“You didn’t know, Tracy. There’s no way you could have known you’d never speak to them again. And I’m sure your mom knew you didn’t mean it-“

“Oh, but I did! That’s the worst part. I believed every word I said to her. I didn’t want to be her. I wanted to travel. To leave a legacy. To not have anyone to answer to. By the time my dad took the phone she was crying and said she was sorry for wanting more for me. I told her I didn’t have time for more, that I had enough in my life. My dad was furious with me. She wouldn’t tell him what I said, so I did. I told him I was like him, not her, and that I was chasing my dreams. That she just didn’t understand us. Then he said, ‘Tracy, you were your mother’s dream. She lived for you her whole life. Everything she’s ever done was to make you happy. Don’t tell her she has no dreams, or that her dreams aren’t worthwhile. Raising a family and loving a child is the most important thing a person can do. You might need to take a look at your life if you think putting down hers makes yours more important.’ Then he hung up. I couldn’t sleep that night. I guess they couldn’t either because they ran off the road between three and four am. No one found them until almost seven. They were holding hands. Gone for hours. I never got to tell them I was sorry, or that I was wrong.”

Dylan didn’t think he could listen to her anymore. The pain he’d seen in her amber eyes ripped him in two, but the sorrow he heard in her voice made him want to shield her from the world forever.

The plane jolted with their sudden landing. Dylan was so wrapped up in Tracy he didn’t even notice they were descending. He only had a few more moments with her. Then she would vanish from his life forever, go back to her empty life and he would go back to his. And he would forever wonder if he’d missed out on his one chance to have a full life.

“Come home with me,” he blurted out.

“What? You’re joking. Right?”

“No,” Dylan answered honestly. He could see it in his head, clear as day. A life with her. A future. Happiness. Love. Everything he’d ever truly wanted in his life, and he felt as though it was sitting in the chair next to him, a tear stained face, whiskey colored eyes, honey kissed waves of hair, and the softest, most perfect lips he’d ever kissed. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. I know you feel it too. It’s insane, and it makes no sense, but I can’t let you go. Maybe it won’t work out, but can you honestly walk away right now without even trying? Because I can’t. I can’t let you leave knowing you’re hurting. I can’t let you leave knowing I won’t be there to hold you. I can’t let you leave knowing you could be it for me. Maybe that’s selfish of me, but I’m okay with that.”

Tracy smiled a watery grin as they pulled into the gate. “You sound like my mother. That’s something she would say. Like she brought you to me.”

Dylan nodded. “Maybe she did. Maybe this was the only way we would have met. The only way we would have both seen past the perfect lives we thought we were living to the truth of where we were headed. Maybe this is your mom telling you that she was right all along, and that you should listen to her now.”

Tracy sniffed and laughed, nodding her head in agreement. “I think maybe you’re right.” Tracy looked out the window into the sky we just soared through. “I get it, Ma,” she said with a laugh. “I get it. You were right all along. But did you really have to go through all this to prove it to me?”

Tracy shook her head and turned back to Dylan. “I agree. Let’s see where this goes.”

Dylan beamed at her, his whole life seeming brighter and more meaningful with just those few words. “There’s only one thing left to do,” he said, leaning into her. Carefully, so he didn’t hurt her lip again, he lowered his mouth over hers. She winced lightly before sinking into him, a soft sigh slipping past her lips. Dylan’s hand dove through her hair, pulling her gently against him as he angled his head to deepen their kiss. He poured everything he had into the kiss, promises for the future, healing of the past, and hope for the present.

Then his teeth clacked against hers, his seat jolting forward. Their foreheads bumped and they pulled back, both rubbing red marks.

“Timmy!”

Read part one and part two first!

Tracy let Dylan kiss her. The feel of his mouth on hers made her forget everything she’d been through in the last few weeks. Guilt tried to swamp her, but she shoved it aside and tugged Dylan closer. She brushed her tongue against his lips and felt his chest rumble with a groan. Tracy smiled. Her mom would have been proud. As much as her dad always talked about chasing her dreams and finding her own way, her mom always encouraged her to seek out happiness, and love.

Not that she was in love with Dylan, of course. He was a stranger. She knew nothing about him. But he definitely stirred feelings in her she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Longer than she wanted to think about. There was no time for thinking when Dylan’s hand slipped over her cheek, tugging her just a little closer, pulling her into him.

Tracy didn’t resist. She couldn’t if she wanted to. His touch was intoxicating and his kiss… there were no words. She wanted to get lost in him. To find herself all over again in his world. To-

“Ouch,” she exclaimed as her lip smashed into Dylan’s teeth. The seat she was in shifted back to its rightful place.

“I’m so sorry,” said a woman’s voice from behind them. “Timmy, that was very rude. Don’t kick the seats in front of you.”

A child. Tracy’s distraction was derailed by a child.

Tears welled in her eyes before she could stop them. She turned from Dylan, suddenly self conscious. What was she thinking, kissing a stranger on a plane? He could be married, or involved, or crazy. And she was completely wrapped up in him.

“Are you alright?” Dylan asked. His hand hovered over her cheek, reaching for her but not touching. Tracy wanted to lean into him like a greedy cat. Her head even arched toward him, but she resisted.

She couldn’t lean on him. Her mom would want her to be happy, but the last words she spoke to her mother still rang in her head. Words she could never take back. Words she wished she’d never said.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be dumping all my drama on you. I apologize. I’ll leave you alone,” Tracy said sadly, without looking at him.

He was silent for a moment. His hand still floated in front of her. She watched his palm, memorizing the callouses on his fingers and the way it felt against her cheek. For a moment she was free. For a moment she wasn’t that horrible person. For a moment she could recall her mother in happiness.

Dylan’s hand turned into a fist and lowered out of Tracy’s view. She breathed a sigh of relief. He was going to let her slink back into her corner. There was no reason for him to fight for her. They didn’t know each other. He owed her nothing.

“I should be the one apologizing. I forced myself on you and- Oh, God, are you alright?” Concern covered Dylan’s handsome face when Tracy glanced at him. She had no idea what made him stop abruptly, but he was staring at her mouth. She brought her hand up and winced when she contacted her lip.

Blood. She was bleeding. Tracy didn’t do well with-

“Tracy, can you hear me? Are you alright? Tracy? Can you hear me, Tracy?” a man’s voice repeated over and over again. Tracy felt like she was underwater. Swimming? Was she in a pool? Why was he trying to talk to her underwater?

She opened her eyes, looking up into the most beautiful pair of green eyes she’d ever seen. They were the same color jade as her mom’s favorite earrings. She’d worn them on her wedding day and saved them for Tracy. Her mom always wanted to see Tracy wear them on her wedding day.

A day her mother would never see.

Suddenly, Tracy was awake. The accident. Her parents’ death. The airplane. Dylan. Her lip.

Damn. She passed out.

Shaking her head she sat up, prying her head from Dylan’s chest.

“Be careful. Don’t sit up too quickly. Are you feeling okay?” he asked.

Tracy squeezed her eyes shut. “Yes. I’m sorry. Again. I just can’t seem to act like a normal human being around you.”

“Please don’t apologize for how you’re acting around me. I’m taking advantage of you. You’re the one whose just been through something horrible and I’m here kissing you like a starved man and pawing at you like a wild animal. I want to kick myself.”

A smile spread over her lips, making her lip hurt again. She winced from the pain and Dylan reached for her again. “Let me get you some ice,” he said, reaching up to call the flight attendant.

“No, it’ll be fine. I just split it-“
“On my teeth,” Dylan finished for her. “Because I couldn’t leave you alone. I saw you in the airport. You looked so sad. When I realized you were sitting next to me I wanted to do anything to make you smile again. I felt like, even for one minute, if you were smiling, things might not be so bad. I never imagined what you’ve been through though.”

Tracy tried to smile. The tears were back. She dabbed at the corners of her eyes, but it was no use. The floodgates were open again. She closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down, but it didn’t work. Dylan’s arms closed around her, drawing her against his warm chest. She resisted for a second, but he wouldn’t let her go, cradling her into him, even against the beating his chair took from little Timmy while his mom wasn’t looking.

Read part one first!

Dylan’s lips kissed away her tears, one by one. He hated to see women cry, and the beautiful pixy he’d watched from across the airport was the last person he ever wanted to see in tears.

He heard her sharp exhale of breath and wondered about it, but only briefly. When his lips touched her soft skin he knew it would take every ounce of his willpower to pull himself away from her.

His hand drifted into her hair of its own volition. The silky feel of her golden brown waves twining between his fingers heightened his awareness of her and made his pants tighten. He shifted in his seat, drawing his lips from her skin. She looked up at him, vulnerability and sadness in her eyes. Damn, she was beautiful, he thought.

“I’m sorry. Again,” she said sheepishly. “I can’t seem to stop crying all of a sudden.”

“Will you tell me about your parents?” Dylan asked, wanting to know more about her. Know anything about her. He didn’t care if she told him her favorite color and recited a recipe. He just wanted to listen to her speak.

A wistful smile spread over her lips. Her eyes turned toward the window, seeing something beyond the glass that Dylan couldn’t see. Something he ached to know.

“When I was a little girl, my dad would bring me out here. He loved watching the planes take off. He always told me about the adventures he and my mom wanted to have. The trips he planned to take her on.” She paused, watery amber eyes that he wanted to drown in like his favorite whiskey focused back on him. “He always encouraged me to live my dreams. So I did. I never looked back,” she said, so quietly he wondered if she realized she said it aloud.

“I bet he was proud of you. That you went out there and did what you wanted to do,” Dylan said, hoping she would tell him more. He held his breath, awaiting her next words.

A small laugh escaped her lips. “Oddly, I’m not even sure. I did what he said. I chased my dreams. But a part of me wonders what I was ever really chasing. I have a great job. A great life, by many standards. But it’s never felt like enough.” She shrugged, dismissing her own admission. “Not that it wasn’t enough for my dad, or my mom, but something always felt like it was just out of reach for me. Like I never really found my true happiness. Like I was never really home.”

She laughed mirthlessly again and the sound drew the breath from his chest. How could one woman, one random woman, put into words exactly what he’d been feeling himself for the last few months. Years, really, if he was truly honest with himself. Dylan loved his job, he was good at it, but something was always lacking in his life. He knew what it was, in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t admit it to himself.

Yet Tracy could. She knew what was lacking from her life. And she eloquently confessed it to a perfect stranger. How could he ever resist a woman so honest, so open, so beautiful.

No, he couldn’t. She was hurting. She was lost. And he would think himself a first class asshole if he made a move on a woman who was in pain.

“I understand,” Dylan finally said. “I’ve felt the same way for a while too. Although it’s a little harder to admit. It’s like men are supposed to have all this stuff figured out.”

A teasing grin quirked her lips, “Men are the worst. Emotional, mushy stuff usually sends men running. Men can find contentment in work and friends and sports and their own independence. Women… we need more. We need friends and careers and independence, yes. But women need love too. I think I never felt at home because I never felt like I’d found love.”

“Love. So elusive. So terrifying.”

Tracy laughed. At first it was a small, timid laugh. Then she looked up at Dylan and laughed harder. She clutched her stomach and leaned over in her seat. She threw her head back and guffawed like he told her the best joke ever. And Dylan sat and watched her. He loved seeing her so free. Just for a minute the sorrow was gone from her eyes, replaced by sheer joy, and humor. Damn, she was laughing at him.

His heart swelled, like the Grinch’s on Christmas morning. He never fathomed himself as someone incapable of love, or closed off to the idea. But watching Tracy laugh as though nothing could touch her, seeing the pure happiness on her face, it was almost too much for him.

He watched himself, as though he was having an out-of-body experience, move toward her. His hand slid back into her hair, his fingers tightening around the soft strands once again. His tongue darted out to moisten his lips, not wanting them dry for her. His eyes fluttered shut a second after he saw the surprise in hers.

Then his lips were on hers. A softness he’d never known touched him. Her lips, like silk, were pliable under his. A squeak erupted between them, followed quickly by a soft sigh. Then she melted into him, like he was made for her.

Dylan wanted to kiss her forever. To feel the smooth skin of her lips on every part of his body. He wanted to delve into her mouth and claim her. But he held back. Why? he dared wonder. But he couldn’t bring himself to formulate an answer. Maybe because he was afraid of what she would say. Or maybe of what she wouldn’t say. All he knew was one taste, one simple chaste kiss, was not going to be nearly enough to satisfy him. Not then. Not in a day. Not in a year. Not in forever.

Tracy dropped into her seat with a sigh. It’d been a long week, and she was ready to go home.

‘Home,’ she thought wryly, ‘as if it exists anymore.’

Passengers filed past her to their own seats on the plane, anxious to get to their destination. Vacation, home, visiting family… They had happy trips ahead of them. Tracy didn’t know what she had to look forward to. All she knew was she would be doing it alone.

A man stepped on the plane. He was tall and broad, everything Tracy wasn’t. Her petite frame next to him would look silly, but it didn’t matter. Not much mattered anymore.

His jade green eyes swept down the aisle, checking row numbers as he stepped closer and closer to the vacant seat beside Tracy. When his gaze met hers the corner of his mouth tipped up in acknowledgement.

‘Great,’ she thought. ‘The sexiest man on the plane is sitting next to me.’ She glanced down at her well worn outfit of jeans with a hole in the knee, Taylor Swift t-shirt that was softened with both age and wear, and hot pink wrap sweater that she never left home without. On her feet she wore flip flops to make the transition through security easier, but the chill in the air made her second guess that choice.

The man slid into the seat next to Tracy with the ease of someone who knew his body well. He smiled at her, a brief flash of perfect white teeth surrounded by luscious pink lips that made Tracy’s mouth water. “Hi, I’m Dylan,” he said, extending his hand toward her.

She sat there staring at him for what felt like entirely too long, but neither his smile nor his gaze faltered. When Tracy finally slipped her hand into his the smoothness of his palm contrasted with the roughness of his fingertips, sending shivers up her spine. “Nice to meet you,” Tracy stammered. “I’m Tracy.”

“Nice to meet you as well. What brought you to this sleepy little town?”

Tears welled up in Tracy’s eyes before she could stop them. She glanced out the window, wondering if she’d ever step foot in the town she grew up in again, knowing the answer was probably no. She had nothing to come back for. Her roots were severed, cut clean like the roof of her parents’ car when the jaws of life freed them from the wreckage. A small sob broke free, the first she’d allowed herself to cry since she got the phone call from the deputy sheriff. Until that moment she’d managed to keep it all bottled up, but knowing she was homeless, or at least rootless, was more than Tracy could handle.

“I’m sorry,” Dylan said from beside her. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” He rested a tentative arm over her shoulders, his warmth drawing her in. She leaned against him like he was the only thing keeping her from falling apart, even as she did just that.

When Tracy finally composed herself she looked down at Dylan’s neatly pressed white dress shirt, complete with a wet spot and mascara right in the middle. “Oh, my God. I am so sorry. I ruined your shirt.”

Dylan glanced down at it and waved his hand. “Nothing to worry about. I’m sorry for whatever I said. Are you okay?”

Tracy shook her head and offered a watery half-smile. “I’ll be fine. My parents… Phew, my parents were killed in a car accident ten days ago. Their funeral was…”

Dylan wrapped her into his arms again, pulling her tight against him. Tracy cried, letting out all the emotions she’d been keeping bottled up.

As she came back to herself from her second bout of tears, she was aware of the roar of wind rushing past the window outside, the steady thump of Dylan’s heart under her ear, the whisper of his hand up and down her back, and the rumble of his voice in her ear, promising her it would all be okay.

She allowed herself a few moments to listen to him, to let Dylan’s words sink in and to believe them, even though Tracy had no idea how everything would ever be okay again. For just a minute she started to believe him. That the sexy man she was cuddled against knew something she didn’t know and that he was right. That there was something more for her out there.

Tracy pried herself out of his arms, again, and tried to wipe her eyes. Dylan lightly grasped her chin and tipped her eyes up to his. With his thumb, he swiped the tears from her cheeks and leaned toward her.

Closer and closer he came, his intentions completely unknown to Tracy. Her breath caught in her throat, her heart hammered in her chest, her palms filled with sweat, and her whole body filled with anticipation.

In one second he had flipped her from a blubbering mess to a woman hotter than hell waiting for a kiss from a man. A woman who had forgotten all about the horrors she’d seen over the last ten days, from identifying her parents’ bodies to sorting through over 30 years of memories.

She wasn’t that woman with Dylan’s lips getting closer. His eyes, a deep rich brown that reminded her of the brownies she used to bake with her mother after school, bore into her as though he could read her soul. ‘Maybe he could,’ she thought.

Time seemed to freeze as Dylan moved closer, millimeter by millimeter as though he was dragging it out. Or maybe it was just Tracy’s brain, stalling time so she could enjoy it. A man hadn’t looked at her like that in a long time, like she was precious, and someone to care for. She was enjoying it.

When his lips finally reached her, Tracy’s eyes fluttered closed, her breath slipped from her lungs, and disappointment scorched her.