Her Favorite Rival by Sarah Mayberry Page B

not...?”
    “Since I had my period last week, I’m thinking no,” Megan said.
    “Don’t some women still get their periods even though they’re pregnant?” Audrey asked.
    “I don’t feel pregnant. I feel hungry.” Megan took a big bite from the muesli bar.
    The boarding call came over the speaker and they both stood, pulling their passes from their handbags.
    “If we’d been smarter, we would have coordinated our check-in so we’d be sitting together,” Megan said.
    “That would have been smart. Want to bet we’re on opposite ends of the plane?”
    They compared cards and discovered they were several rows apart.
    “Figures,” Audrey said.
    “Exactly. If we hated each other, they’d sit me in your lap.”
    They gathered their bags and walked the small distance to the gate. Audrey was seated closer to the rear of the plane than Megan, and she bid her friend farewell as she continued up the aisle.
    She spotted Zach as she drew closer and closer to her row. He had the window seat, but the seat beside him was empty. The aisle seats both before and after his row were empty, too. She glanced down at her boarding pass. She had an aisle seat.
    She held her breath as she drew closer, counting down the rows. Huh. She was seated in the row behind Zach. Bummer.
    He glanced up from whatever he was reading and made eye contact with her.
    “Afternoon. Braced for paradise?” he asked as she shuffled past his row.
    “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
    She was very aware of him watching her as she opened the overhead locker and attempted to stow her bag. It was already very full, however, and the only way to get her bag in place was to slip it in behind someone else’s. She was straining on tiptoe, conscious of her shirt pulling free from the waistband of her trousers, when Zach slid out of his seat.
    “Here, let me.”
    Before she could object, he was behind her, reaching for her luggage.
    “Up the back, yeah?” he said.
    They were standing so close—her back to his chest, her backside brushing his hips—she felt his words ruffle the hair near her ear. If she turned around, her breasts would be pressed against his chest. She’d only have to lean forward an inch, maybe two, to kiss him.
    His body moved against hers as he pushed her bag into place. Desire washed over her like warm, sticky toffee. She closed her eyes, trying to quell the longing rising inside her.
    How long had it been since she’d had sex? Really good, earth-shaking sex, the kind that made a woman forget her own name?
    Too long. Way too long.
    “There we go. Sorted.”
    One minute Zach was behind her, the next he was gone, sliding back into his seat. She blinked, feeling distinctly robbed. Having him rammed up behind her had been the most fulfilling sensual encounter she’d had all year.
    Then she remembered where they were, and exactly how many of their colleagues were seated around them right at this minute.
    Dear God, and she was standing in the aisle, gasping like a landed fish, her face warm, her blouse untucked.
    She shut her mouth and hastily retucked her blouse before dropping into her seat.
    “Thanks for that,” she said belatedly.
    “Not a problem,” Zach said casually.
    She stared at what she could see of his profile through the gap in the headrests. He sounded very calm, while she felt as though she’d just stepped out of a Turkish sauna. Was it possible he could have this effect on her yet be immune to her himself?
    A middle-aged woman stopped beside Audrey and gave an apologetic smile. “That’s me,” she said, pointing to the window seat. “Sorry to be a pain.”
    “All good,” Audrey said, unclipping her belt and standing to let the woman take her seat.
    She couldn’t stop herself from glancing at Zach before she sat back down and saw that he was reading his way through a very familiar-looking document.
    “Is that ours?” she asked, leaning forward to get a better look, even though she knew the smartest thing for her to do