“Not your misery, Deb. But I’m loving the epiphany.”

“I didn’t mention an epiphany.”

“Sure you did, you just didn’t recognize it. Think about this,” Janine continued in an oh-so-patient tone. “You’ve got the deal of a lifetime. One that’ll not only save your business but probably make you stinking rich, right?”

“Yeessss…”

“You’ve got built-in security. Even enough for you, my slightly crazy friend.”

“Thank you so much, but, yes, I get what you’re saying and I still don’t see the epiphany.”

“Here it is. You’ve got security, but it doesn’t mean anything without the love.”

She groaned. “Janine…”

“Deb, security’s overrated.”

“So says someone who’s never lived in her car.”

Janine ignored her. “It’s good, sure, but you can’t count on it. Life happens, Deb. Businesses rise and fall. Don’t you get it? The only real security is love. The kind of love that doesn’t let you down. The kind you can count on no matter what else happens in this wide, weird, crazy world. That’s the only security that’s worth a damn, girlfriend. And, I think you’ve finally figured that out.”

Everything her friend said chimed inside Debbie like a clear bell of truth. Hadn’t she pretty much come to these same conclusions in the last twenty-four hours herself? Hadn’t she already felt the hard fact that even with a Fantasies contract, without Gabe, she would never be truly happy?

Was it all so easy, then?

So simple?

“Hello?” Janine said. “You still there?”

“Yeah,” Debbie answered, her voice little more than a whisper. “I’m here. And I get it. I love Gabe.”

“Yep.”

“But how could he ever believe that I love him for himself and not for what he’s become?”

Not surprisingly, Janine didn’t have an answer. And that, Debbie thought, was the saddest part of all. She loved a man she couldn’t have. A man she’d had and lost ten years ago. A man who only the night before had told her flat-out that he wouldn’t love her again.

Two days later Debbie was at the airfield. The place still looked ragged but the runway was open and planes were lined up on the tarmac, waiting to take weary passengers home.

She turned her back on the field and looked at the road leading to Fantasies. To where Gabe was. It seemed like years since she’d first arrived here, determined to have the vacation of a lifetime.

Now she was going home and so much was different. She’d found Gabe and lost him again. Her business had crashed and then risen like a Phoenix. She’d survived a hurricane and had had an epiphany much too late to change anything for the better.

Now, she had to leave, though she’d never wanted to do anything less. But in this, she was as trapped as she had been when Gabe had first captured her. She had to leave because he’d never believe she was staying for the right reasons.

Heck, she hadn’t even said goodbye to him. What would be the point? They’d already said everything.

A blurred voice came over the loudspeaker and Debbie listened to it with a heavy heart. That was her flight and she’d run out of reasons to stay on the island. Tearing her gaze away from the road that would lead her back to Gabe, she turned and headed for the boarding gate.

A half hour later the small commuter plane had its engines up and running for the short flight to Bermuda. From there, Debbie would catch her flight to LAX. Once home, she’d start trying to put Gabe behind her.

Again.

“I apologize, ladies and gentlemen.” The soft, smooth voice of a flight attendant carried over the plane’s loudspeaker. “There will be a slight delay in our takeoff time.”

“What now?” someone muttered.

A woman two rows up from Debbie started crying, the sound quickly escalating into a wail. Apparently nerves were still frayed from the hurricane.

The flight attendant forced a smile as the door behind her was wrenched open and said, “Someone else is boarding, it will take a few minutes to sort things out. I do apologize, but ask you to be patient.”

Debbie couldn’t have cared less. She stared bleakly out the small porthole window at the tarmac and the island beyond and tried not to think about all she was leaving behind.

“Debbie!”

She blinked, turned her head and stared up the long, narrow aisle. Gabe stood at the front of the plane, sweeping his gaze across the faces of the passengers until he spotted her. Then, with long, hurried strides, he headed to the back of the plane. Everyone watched him, spinning around in their seats so they wouldn’t miss a thing.

“Gabe?” She looked up at him as he stopped in the aisle beside her seat. “What’re you doing?”

“You’re getting off this plane.”

“No, I’m not,” she argued, and slapped at his hands when he reached down to undo her seat belt.

“You’re coming with me.”

“Stop this!” She snapped her belt shut again when he flipped the latch. Then he undid it again and she sighed. “What’re you doing, Gabe? Just stop, all right?”

“Miss,” one of the passengers, a tall guy with a sunburn, said from across the aisle, “do you need some help?”

Gabe shot him a murderous look and said quietly, “Stay out of this.”

“Gabe.” Debbie’s heart pounded hard in her chest and a sheen of tears blurred her vision. “You can’t make me leave this plane. Besides, haven’t we said enough? Haven’t we already hurt each other enough?”

All around her, her fellow passengers seemed to take a collective breath and hold it, clearly unwilling to miss anything. Debbie, though, could only stare into Gabe’s eyes, wondering why he was putting them both through a goodbye scene that could only cause more pain.

Keeping her gaze locked with his, Gabe deliberately calmed himself, then held on to her forearms and pulled her to her feet. “I’m not letting you go.”

“Gabe-” One wild, sputtering sparkler of hope went off in her bloodstream but she was afraid to nurture it.

“No,” he said, cutting her off and ignoring the interested crowd watching him. His gaze moved over her face and Debbie felt that look like a touch. “I thought I could do it. Let you go. Live without you. I thought that’s what I wanted. But the past couple of days have been hell, Deb. And knowing you were on this plane, about to fly out of my life forever, damn near killed me.”

A female passenger sighed heavily.

Debbie couldn’t spare the breath to sigh. “Gabe-”

“No.” He cut her off neatly. “Just listen for a minute, okay?”

She nodded, unable to speak anyway.

“Maybe you were right ten years ago, I don’t know anymore. Maybe we weren’t ready. But we’re sure ready now, Deb.”

“Are we?”

Looking down at her, he said, “Of course we are. You love me. And I love you.”

She blinked, smiled and felt a single tear slide down her cheek. “You do?”

“Hell, you know I do, Deb.” He lifted both hands to cup her face in his palms. “You’ve always known. Why the hell else would I kidnap you?”

That same woman sighed again, a bit more dreamily this time.

“Ten years ago, I asked you a question…”

“Yes…” She waited, wanting to hear him ask that question again. Now that she was ready for him. For the life they could build together, she wanted to give him the answer he’d expected so long ago.

“This time, I’m not asking,” he said. “I’m telling you. Get off this plane and marry me.”

“Excuse me?” Not exactly the kind of proposal most women dreamed of, but looking into his eyes, she knew it was exactly the right one for her. Not that she was going to let him know that.

“You heard me,” he said with a smile. Taking her hand, he turned and started back down the aisle toward the open door. “We’re getting married. Today. Now.”

Someone started applauding and a moment later others joined in. The flight attendant was smiling and a hearty cheer went up from the people on the plane.

Debbie stumbled after him. “At least let me get my luggage back!”

He stopped dead and Debbie plowed into him. But his arms came around her like steel bands and when he lowered his head to kiss her, bending her over double, she felt her heart do a hard gallop and everything else inside her go into a slow melt.

When he lifted his head, he winked at her. “Trust me when I say you’re not gonna need your clothes.”

Somebody whistled and the applause reached a thunderous roar as Gabe stood, tucked his arm around Debbie’s waist and lifted her off her feet. Then he looked at the plane’s passengers and said, “Give your names and addresses to the flight attendant. To apologize for the flight delay and to celebrate my marriage-” He grinned and gave Deb a quick kiss. “You’re all invited back for a week’s stay at Fantasies. On the house.”

As the celebration roared out around her, Debbie planted both hands at the small of Gabe’s back. She grinned and waved to everyone on the plane as he carried her off to their new life together.

A life where they would make every day a Fantasy.

Maverick by Joan Hohl

One

All things considered, she was a traffic stopper.

Tanner raised a questioning eyebrow at the breathtaking woman standing beyond the threshold of the apartment door he had just opened at the buzz of the doorbell.

“Mr. Wolfe?”

A tingle attacked the base of Tanner’s spine. Her voice had the effect of warm honey trickling down the length of his back. Her eyes were the color of brandy, her hair a rich, deep, glossy burgundy wine. Combined, they warmed him as if he’d imbibed the drinks themselves.

“Yes.” He was rather proud of the steady, almost bored sound of his voice, when bored was the last thing he was feeling. Hot, yes. Bored, no. He lifted one brow. She stood there, all five foot nine or so, slim and classically beautiful, dressed casually but expensively.