Incognito

“How about this one? Have Fun Flying? Flying with No Fear?” He picked up another book. “How about—” Aidan went silent and Lily turned to look at him. He was holding the copy of—

“The Ten-Minute Seduction,” he read. “This looks interesting.” He flipped through the pages.

“It—it’s not what you think,” Lily said. Frowning, she reached out and took the book from him. “What do you think?”

“That this wasn’t all just a spontaneous experience? That you got on this plane determined to seduce someone and I just happened to be close at hand?”

Lily searched for a way to make him understand. He wasn’t some lab rat in her bizarre sexual experiment. “It—it’s my book,” she said.

“I know that. It was in your bag.”

“I mean, I wrote it. It’s mine. I’m…”

“You’re Lacey St. Claire?”

“Yes?” She opened the book and pointed to the notes she’d made in the margins. “See. I was just making some notes, in case it goes to a second printing.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “I was seduced by the woman who wrote the book on seduction?”

“Yes?” she replied. “Actually, I think you seduced me.”

“No, I’m sure it was the other way around.” He paused. “And you do this often?”

“No!” Lily said, unable to let that pass. She might be pretending to be a seductress, but she wasn’t a slut. “No! Never. I mean, I’ve been with men, but I don’t make it a habit to seduce strangers.”

“So, I was the exception, rather than the rule?”

“Yes,” Lily said, thankful that he was finally beginning to see the truth. “Most of what I’ve written comes from scientific studies, not from experience. It’s all basic physiology, the attraction between men and women.”

“Scientists do studies on seduction? Hell, I definitely would have chosen that for a major in college had I known.”

“The study of human sexuality is a very important field. Behavior can be instinctual and reactions predicted.”

He took the book from her hands and examined it closely. “So what’s your real name? Lacey or Lily?”

“Lily. Lacey is my pen name. To protect my privacy.”

“Yeah, I can see why. Ten minutes. Most guys only need two or three before they’re ready to go.”

“You’re angry?”

He shook his head, frowning as he read the back cover copy. “Confused would be a better word,” he said. “Maybe a little…disconcerted.”

Lily took his hand. “Don’t be. I don’t have any regrets. Do you?”

“You’re the expert on seduction. You’ll have to tell me how I measured up.”

“No!” Lily said. “It’s just a book. Authors write about vampires and witches and monsters, but they’ve never seen them. You’re the first man I’ve actually…seduced.”

He took a moment to consider her confession, then nodded. “I guess most men would appreciate a woman who has some book smarts when it comes to sex.”

Lily nodded. “Men have techniques for seducing women, right? And they’re written down in all those men’s magazines and how-to books. Why shouldn’t women have the same advantage? It’s only fair.” She gently pulled the book from his hand and tossed it back into her bag.

“You’re right.”

By the time they finished their discussion, Lily realized that the turbulence had stopped and the plane was now flying smoothly again. She took his hand and wove her fingers through his. It seemed quite natural to maintain the contact, but she had to wonder why she felt it necessary. In a few more hours, they’d be saying goodbye to each other. And then she’d never see him again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I’m afraid I have another bit of bad news. We’ve got fog rolling in over JFK. The airport has just been closed to incoming flights. Because of our fuel situation, we’re going to be diverted inland to Hartford, Connecticut. Once the fog clears, we’ll get you back on your way.”

Lily heard a communal groan go up from the passengers in tourist class. She looked over at Aidan and he shrugged. “The only time fog is dangerous is when you try to land in it, so we’re safe.” He glanced around the cabin. “I think I need a drink. Do you want one?”

She watched him as he spoke to the flight attendant. For some reason, he found it necessary to be overly charming, as if he were trying to punish Lily for the secrets she’d kept.

Maybe this was for the best, she mused. She’d had her fun and that was the end of it. There would be no thought of making another trip to the bathroom or of carrying on after the plane landed.

Lily fought the urge to grab the book again. Though she knew it by heart, she couldn’t recall a chapter on how to deal with the aftereffects of an anonymous seduction. Could she separate her memories of the act itself from thoughts of Aidan? She brushed aside a tiny twinge of regret.

It wouldn’t do to second-guess her decision. What was done was done. And she’d gotten exactly what she wanted from him—a fantasy fulfilled.

But suddenly, that wasn’t enough to satisfy her. Now, she wanted more.

THE SUN was already up by the time they landed in Hartford. The airline had decided to let the passengers disembark while they waited for a new flight crew to arrive in Hartford. Once the weather cleared, they’d take off again for New York. Aidan grabbed his bag from the overhead bin, then stepped aside to let Lily pass.

It was early morning and he was drunk. He’d spent the last hour of the flight drinking Jack Daniel’s and water while he tried to figure out just what the hell Lily Hart was up to. She didn’t seem like one of those mercenary women he was always trying to avoid, women who set their sights on a man then did anything and everything required to possess him. What had happened between them seemed perfectly natural, just two people discovering an overwhelming attraction and acting upon it.

But maybe that’s what it was—acting. Someone so schooled in the art of seduction could make a man believe anything she wanted, right? Was any of it real? Her fear of flying, the way her hands trembled as she touched him, the claim that she’d never made love on an airplane. Maybe he’d been played.