Read Online StrangersonaTrain by Erin Aislinn - Free Book Online Page A

eyes
darting over the empty compartment as panic began to create the familiar blunt
emptiness in her gut.
    “Wait! Porter!”
    Grabbing onto the sheet, she scrambled out of bed. She had
no time to throw her clothes on. She had to get the porter back before he went
too far. Holding the sheet around her, she cracked the door open and stuck her
head into the isle.
    “Porter!” she called after the man who’d already progressed
almost to the end of the car.
    “Yes, ma’am?” he said before he had time to turn. When he faced
her, he must have seen the desperation on her face because he hurried toward
her in long strides.
    “The man who’d brought lunch, have you seen him? Do you know
where he is right now?”
    He hesitated, looked away then back at her. His eyes
contained a strange expression that caused the blunt emptiness in her gut to
sink lower. She couldn’t turn back now.
    “Please, tell me.”
    The man nodded. “He was in the dining car five minutes ago.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Good luck, madam.”
    His tone betrayed the honesty of his words. He sounded as if
she needed luck but Charlotte didn’t care. She leapt to throw her clothes on.
While scrambling in the small space, she noticed the black gift box on the bed.
She’d totally forgotten about it and whatever was in there, she’d rather wait to
open it until she’d completed the one last thing she had to do. Once dressed,
she grabbed the box and took it with her.
    By taking a stranger to her bed, she’d risked rejection and
she’d prepared for it by making it perfectly clear, to him and to herself, that
she would be stepping off this train alone, free to say no to that awkward hope
that a man would ask to see her again. She never let herself be the type of
woman who waited for the phone to ring.
    None of that mattered one damn bit when she swung the door
open and ran toward the dining car. She’d gotten it all wrong. All these years
of building herself into a tough career woman had earned her the position to
make the ultimate decisions. She said yes or no. She issued rejections with as
much cool control as she gave approval. For a long, long time, she’d held onto
control so tightly that she’d forgotten why she’d wanted it in the first place.
    She had to tell him. It was her only chance. Almost giddy
with excitement, Charlotte burst into the dining car. Several people gave her a
bemused glance. No doubt she looked as crazed as she felt. The kind of clarity
that would make her do what she was about to do might actually be considered
insanity.
    She spotted him. And her heart froze over. His back was to
her and his arm was draped over a woman’s shoulder. Panting for breath,
Charlotte pressed a hand to her chest and shut her eyes against her clouding
vision.
    This wasn’t a big deal. She had expected that a man who
jumped so quickly into her bed probably didn’t wait long to jump into someone
else’s. She’d told him there were no strings attached, that she’d wanted him
only between the sheets. No, it most definitely wasn’t about him sleeping
around so much as it was about Charlotte not being able to tell him the truth
she’d finally realized when she’d found her bed empty in the morning.
    Forcing herself to take a deep breath, Charlotte pushed back
her shoulders and opened her eyes. The bluest, most expressive eyes were
staring at her. Her knees knocked and she swayed. When he grasped her shoulders
to steady her, his strength reminded her of what they’d shared.
    A new emotion swarmed her as it slowly sank in that her
lover had not been the man with the other woman. He stood right in front of
her, his disarming attention so fully directed at her that she had to admit
what she felt.
    Terror. Sheer, undiluted terror.
    “Hi.”
    Her voice vibrated with fear. Her whole body shook with
adrenaline.
    “Hi,” he said, squeezing her shoulders in reassurance.
    Damn, he must have felt her trembling. Thank god he made no
notice of it. Not that