The escalade plant stood out among the cars outside the arrivals gate at the Calgary airport.
Oh come on.
Her sister’s fiancé had a PhD in plant science. He was taking this doctor-title-privilege thing a little too far. According to her mother, Dr. Tom Hardy turned pale at the mention of blood and bore no resemblance to the sexy hunk of an actor with whom he shared a name.
As usual, she disagreed with her mom.
The man standing outside was not what she’d been expecting — tall, muscular and wearing an Edmonton Elks hat, a handsome football fan with great taste in teams.
Natasha gripped the handle of her carry-on.
May as well get this over with.
She steeled herself for the bitter Alberta winter as she stepped through the revolving door. She intended to be in Banff for exactly 48 hours and… 18 minutes. And even that was too long. Being the maid of honour at her sister’s impromptu wedding was by obligation only.
She forced a polite smile as Tom turned toward her. “Hi Tom, I’m Natasha.”
His eyes held a hint of confusion, but he extended a hand. “Hi.”
Good, he wasn’t a hugger. Neither was she.
Accepting his hand, she noticed the tattoo sleeve disappearing under his coat.
Weird. Her sister hated tattoos.
“Something wrong?” Tom asked.
“Nope,” she said quickly. “Nice to meet you.
I’ve heard a lot about you.” Though she must have only been half-listening because she couldn’t remember her mother mentioning a dangerously sexy dimpled chin.
Noah studied the cute blonde woman but, despite racking his mind, he had no idea who she was. But she seemed to know him. Or at least she thought she did. “You’ve heard a lot about me?”
“Yes.”
“Give me a ‘For instance.’”
Clearly, she had the wrong vehicle and the wrong guy.
“Oh… OK. Well, Amber said you’re a botanist. You two met when you gave a lecture on hydrangeas at the botanical gardens — and that’s where you proposed two weeks later.”
She was mistaking him for a botanist?
“Do you think two weeks was too fast?” She gave a dismissive wave. “You know when you know, right?”
She didn’t believe that romanticism any more than he did. He had to tell this pretty little thing she had the wrong chauffeur and get out of there.
She looked at the unpleasant snowstorm spiraling around them and shivered. “We should probably get on the road.”
Was she in a rush to be somewhere?
Or in a rush to get something over with? He hesitated.
Do the right thing for once and tell her the truth!
“Yes. Right, hop in.” Once the words escaped him, there was no pulling them back.
He slid her suitcase into the backseat, before climbing into the SUV. “Ready?” he asked.
Last chance to realize he wasn’t Tom. The silent warning was unfair but so were those long eyelashes and pretty pink lips.
Jennifer Snow is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of over 35 romance and thriller novels. Publishing with Grand Central, Harlequin, Berkley and Thomas & Mercer, she has over 10 years of experience crafting stories that connect with readers worldwide. Her books have been translated into five different languages and have been optioned for film and television. She has won the Booksellers’ Best Award and has received starred reviews from Publishers’ Weekly. She is known for her romantic comedies and female-driven dramas for TV and film. She’s also written true-crime and thriller screenplays as work-for-hire assignments for various production companies.
This article appears in the December 2021 issue of Edify
