Page 43 of Tell Me Something

After undoing the bow and paper, I saw the brand new iPad. “This is very nice, but—”

“Not at all unselfish. Open it up. I had them charge it, and then this morning I added some apps for you.”

Taking it out of the box, I found five different types of Angry Birds. My face broke out in a smile. “It’s very thoughtful of you. Thank you.”

He looked pleased with my acceptance of the gift. “Here’s where you connect to wireless in settings. When we get on the plane, you can hook up to the Wi-Fi network. And here is the instant messenger feature. You can put in your email address and set it up for personal use.”

“I can’t wait to get the Kindle app. My mom had one in the hospital. Reading helped to pass the time when she was there for her treatments.”

“What happened to the Kindle?” He surprised me with the details he picked up on.

“I gave it to an older gentleman who was there the same days as my mom. He didn’t have visitors, and he was really grateful for it.”

Something flashed in his eyes, but it was gone by the time he got up.

“Let’s get boarded and get home. You have lots of Angry Birds to play.”

I WAS SEATED one row in front of Josh. With happy couples or business associates in the other pods, there was no trading this time around so that we could sit next to one another.

Once I settled in, I waited until we were in the air to take my backpack to the lavatory and change into my yoga pants and sweatshirt. Opting for pigtails in order to get a reaction out of Josh, I came out and went down my aisle. After putting my bag away, I looked over and gave him a little smile, then sat back down, enjoying the way his eyes had tracked me.

After lunch, I wondered if I should try to sleep or watch a movie and was unprepared for Josh’s face suddenly next to mine.

“Hi,” he greeted, grinning.

Turning, I grinned back. “Hi.” He was so unbelievably adorable. It was all I could do not to act giddy like a teenager with him kneeling down next to me.

“Could you do me a favor? Turn on your wireless and hook up your instant messaging on your iPad.”

“Uh, okay, sure.” I watched him return to his seat, feeling curious as I logged onto the Wi-Fi and then set up my instant messenger with my personal email account.

It wasn’t long before I received my first message from The Gambler.

How appropriate, I thought, smiling.

“Hi.”

I changed my nickname to something other than my email address and settled on Peaches,hopeful he would remember the reference to the way he’d said I tasted.

“Hi back.”

“Nice nickname. Your yoga pants are torture again, by the way.”

“Oh yeah?”

“You had every man in first class watching you stretch up to put your backpack away, so yeah.”

Hmm. Was he a little bit jealous?

“You up for playing a game?”

“Angry birds?” I quipped.

“Eyes Rolling. No, something a bit more personal…”

“I’m intrigued…”

“This game starts with yes or no answers. Do you want to play?”