Her Winning Formula

Chapter 1-2

Lucas Tanner’s lungs stopped working at the sight of Felicity’s smile. It felt like being hit by a line drive to the solar plexus. Her whole face transformed when she smiled. She had been cute before, but now she was beautiful. Her words finally registered in his head. They were flying smoothly. Takeoff had been uneventful. “Thank you,” he said.

But she was already rummaging below her seat for her bag, paying no attention to him. “For what?”

So she was paying attention. “You kept me preoccupied with talking, and I didn’t notice takeoff.”

She didn’t respond, just opened up a massive textbook and began scribbling in a notebook. He watched over her shoulder and couldn’t figure out what the hell she was working on. An equation of some sort.

He was far from being stupid. Numbers didn’t scare him, but the complex mess Felicity wrangled boggled his brain. Weird that she would be working while on break. Judging by the weight of her bag, she had other textbooks as well.

“What class is that?”

“Experimental synthetic chemistry,” she answered without looking up.

“Why chemistry?”

“Why not? I like it. And my father is a chemist, so I’m guaranteed a job after graduation.”

He’d never met a woman who gave such short answers lacking in detail. “Can I buy you a drink?”

This caught her attention, and she faced him. “You don’t have to pay for drinks.”

“I know. I wanted to get your attention. You were doing a good job of responding instead of ignoring me, the way most of my students would, but you weren’t very invested in the conversation.” He reached over, his hand brushing hers in the process, and ran a finger over the equation she’d been working on. “You’re on vacation. You’re supposed to be enjoying yourself.”

She shifted uncomfortably and laid her palm over the work. “I enjoy chemistry.”

“Is that really work you need to do now? If it is, I’ll leave you alone.” He waited for a reaction. She stared at him. “Tell me about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?” She eased the cover closed on the book.

“Who are you meeting in Texas?”

“I’m supposed to be meeting my friend Layla, but her car broke down in Georgia. She has to wait to get it fixed.”

A beautiful, smart girl who was alone for at least a few days. What more could he ask for? Showing up with a sexy woman on his arm should definitely dissuade Becky from thinking he’d be interested in a repeat.

“I’m sorry to hear about your friend. Do you have stuff planned to keep you busy while you’re waiting for her?”

Felicity shook her head.

He leaned a little closer and caught her scent, something unique, not overly fruity or flowery, but it drew him in, making him want to bury his nose in her neck. “What perfume are you wearing?”

“Something I made.”

“You make your own perfume?”

She smiled again. “Chemistry major. I can create all kinds of fabulous things.”

“How?”

“My dad let me play around a lot as a kid. It’s all about finding the right mix of fragrance in the right amounts.” She held out her wrist. “For instance, this has a base note, or scent, of jasmine, and then I added middle notes of lavender and ylang-ylang.”

He held her wrist, rubbed his fingers over the pulse, and then lowered his nose to sniff. “Beautiful,” he whispered across her skin.

She carefully extracted her arm from his grasp.

He offered her his best let’s-get-to-know-each-other smile. “I have a proposition for you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing indecent. How would you like to go to the wedding as my date?”

She pulled back so quickly, she almost smacked her head on the window. “I wouldn’t.”

Maybe he’d misinterpreted her signals. They’d been weak, but he thought she was interested. After all, she’d abandoned chemistry for a conversation with him. “Do you have a boyfriend? If so, I wasn’t implying it would have to be more than a friendly date.”

“No boyfriend.”

Hmm…her reaction to a simple invitation struck him as odd. “Do you have some aversion to weddings or me?”

“Weddings. Definitely weddings.” Her eyes widened as she spoke.

It wasn’t much, but he’d take the ego boost. “Why?”

“There are so many people, and they want to hug you and crowd your space.” Then she added an eye roll. “And the ridiculous dancing.”

“Well, no one would hug you at this wedding because they don’t know you, and I won’t make you perform the chicken dance.”

Her brow furrowed in confusion. “You’re a good-looking guy. Why me? There are probably a hundred single women on this plane, at least ten right here in first class.”

“The truth is, Felicity, you’re pretty, and I’ve enjoyed talking to you. Anyone who can make me forget takeoff is special. I’d like you to be my date because the maid of honor is my ex.”

“So you want to make her jealous?”

“God, no. I want her to stay away from me. My soon to be sister-in-law keeps dropping hints that Becky is available if I want a second shot, which I don’t.”

Felicity held her closed textbook in a tight grip, looking eerily similar to how he’d held on during takeoff.

“You just said your friend is delayed and you have no other plans. Sitting in your hotel room alone isn’t much of a spring break.”

She bit her lower lip. “I don’t think so, but thanks for the invitation.”

With that, she flopped the cover back on her book and began working.

His determination kicked in. He knew neither of them would find a better deal. “What would it take for you to agree?”

She didn’t look up from her book. “What are you offering?”

“Free dinner.”

She glanced out of the corner of her eye. “Wedding food is always crap.”

“You get to drink for free.”

“Not much of a drinker.”

“What do you want then?”

She shrugged.

He checked his watch. By his estimation, he had another couple of hours sitting beside her. During that time he might come up with the right incentive to interest Felicity. He let her work on her equations while he checked his phone.

Without looking up from her work, Felicity said, “For someone who was worried about my unattended bag, you’re quick to break the rules to try to use your phone.”

He smiled and held the phone for her to see. “It’s in airplane mode. I have an app for texting. Still following the rules.”

Returning his attention to the phone, he saw he had at least twelve texts, not surprising since his family had expected him on an earlier flight. Obviously, none of them had bothered to listen to the voice mail messages he’d left. His original flight had offered him a free ticket if he agreed to be bumped. Although he had no plans for another vacation, one look at the desperate woman who really wanted to be on that plane, and he’d agreed.

The next flight, this one, had been delayed because of a late connection, which led him to Felicity. And his students thought karma didn’t exist. He shot off texts to everyone, letting them know he was in the air and would make it in time for rehearsal. Now all he had to do was convince Felicity to be his date.