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he wasn’t senior, and the lines he was awarded were usually awful—short hops, crappy layovers, working weekends. Branch was a retired air force colonel and had only been flying commercially for three years; he was still a first officer and not even a senior one. Dixie ended up working a lot harder than she had to just be able to spend time with him.
    Fortunately tonight was a rarity—a long New York City layover. A nice birthday present in itself.
    There was one minor complication—Branch wasn’t divorced yet. He was separated, though, and when the divorce was complete, which he had warned her wouldn’t be real fast, he wasn’t going to relocate to Phoenix for a few years. There were still a couple of kids at home. So it wasn’t perfect, but it was damn close.
    Nikki was worried. “I don’t know, Dixie. He’s got that look. Like he’s been around.”
    â€œWell, darlin’, he’s not the only one,” Dixie had replied with a laugh.
    â€œIt’s different with you,” Nikki said.
    Dixie didn’t have to ask why. Nikki knew as well as she did that she never left a man she’d slept with. She was completely devoted. Completely naive, too. She fell fast, hard and completely.
    So why hadn’t she married at nineteen? It was all she’d ever wanted. From her first real date, Dixie had never stopped thinking church bells and altar. But time and the number of men she’d been through had too often left her brokenhearted and lonely. There was always a guy, even when she wished there wasn’t. Men rushed to date her, to get her into bed, to take her on trips and buy her nice things. And then, whoosh —they were gone as fast as they appeared. She was thirty-five years old, had eleven tennis bracelets of varying value, when all she’d really like to have was a husband and baby.
    â€œMaybe if you wouldn’t jump into bed with them so fast…” Carlisle had suggested as gently as possible.
    â€œI try to wait,” Dixie told him. “But I fall in love, they swear it’s forever, and then—”
    â€œWell, at least you’ve gotten some nice jewelry out of it.”
    But she’d so much rather have a husband. Well, she’d been with Branch for six months, which was a bit of a record for Dixie.
    He could have been put off by the number of men who had come before him, but he accepted her as she was. “How can I expect a woman as beautiful as you to be a virgin till she’s thirty-five? So long as you’re mine now, I’ve got no real complaint.”
    â€œI’m yours,” she was quick to assure him. And it wasn’t just pillow talk—she was.
    She checked the inbound flights on the screen and saw that the one she was waiting for had finally landed. Pulling her cell phone out of her purse, she pecked off some numbers.
    â€œWell, darlin’, you gettin’ tired of waiting for me?” he drawled.
    â€œThere’s a rumor floatin’ around that it’s some tall Texan’s birthday today.”
    He chuckled. “You got somethin’ for me, ma’am?”
    â€œI might be able to rustle something up,” she said. “Tonight. In New York.”
    â€œMmm, that sounds delicious, darlin’. See you on the plane.”
    Branch had had a layover the previous night and Dixie was hooking up with his trip here in Phoenix. Cockpit crews and cabin crews rarely flew full schedules together. The cabin crew that had been on this trip since yesterday was getting off in Phoenix, and a new set of flight attendants would go with the pilots to New York.
    At least it was New York for Branch’s birthday and not somewhere like Buffalo or Des Moines. Dixie wanted to be able to take him to a posh five-star restaurant later…if he’d let her out of bed long enough to go eat.
    They weren’t ridiculously secretive about their relationship, but they did play it cool