Excerpt: Through Her Eyes

Alex closed his eyes and try to connect to his heart, get it to settle down and stop tryng to beat a way down from his body using the route through his throat. He was just rebounding, he was sure. It wasn't that long ago Laura had injured him a bit and now here was this beautiful, sweet, innocent girl that apparently thought she was a bad ass. Of course his mind was decieving him. It was nothing more, though. She was just amusement for a long plane ride.
"Are you okay?" Isabel asked, mixing laughter and what he assumed was fear she didn't want him to hear in her voice. "Did I just scare you? Because seriously, my James Bond act gets to many many people. You shouldn't feel offended or like you're any less because I creeped you out," she finished with a laugh.
Alex managed to dribble the water he'd been drinking down his shirt. "Yup. You intimidated me there, that's exactly it." His heart wasn't responding. He tried to control his eyes, tried to move them away from her and from those clear green eyes that held no secrets back. He didn't succeed. This didn't make sense. He was in love with someone else. Even when he'd been with Laura he'd known he was in love with someone else. And now, another girl?
"Well, it's okay. Except for the dirty rich part you don't seem like that bad a person so I won't go all secret agent spy on your ass. For now. I mean, unless, you don't do anything like sell illegal stuff and that's how you got rich, do you? I mean, because that would be bad. But totally awesome. Then I could go and solve the mystery and send you to jail. Which would be cool. Well, except the jail part because you really do seem like a nice guy. But the rest of it. Like having my picture in the papers. Uhm. OK. I think I'll shut up now before I make more of a fool of myself now," Isabel finished with a flush. Alex watched her as she talked, and now as she leaned back against the seat with her arms crossed over herself in a protective gesture. She seemed to be berating herself.
"No. No illegal stuff as far as I know. Though... I do have this addiction... I mean...." he let his voice trail off, watching her. He needed to make her laugh again. Isabel perked up, leaning in close to him as if they were about to share the greatest secret in history. Alex picked up her scent, a mixture of vainilla and mint and something else – something unique to her, and felt his senses closing off. His brain shut off. No. Wait. He'd been about to say something. He blinked a couple of times and remembered. "Yeah... I'm addicted to... uh.... cotton candy," he ended lamely, not even managing to keep suspence in his voice.
Isabel hit him gently, giggling at the same time. "Unless the tooth fairy is setting up a special tooth rotting investigation agency, I hardly think you're in trouble. If she is, though, I'll totally enlist and bring you down. So, beware. I'll be watching you," she said in a goofy old movie voice, pointing from her finger to him.
Alex relaxed. They were less than an hour away from landing and it hadn't even seemed like half an hour. So much drama, all in one plane ride. What would happen once he got off the plane? Would he keep thinking about her the entire holiday? Especially when everything around him was going to be a reminder of love and all he had lost. No. Of course he wouldn't think about this nameless, silly girl from his plane trip. He'd think about Laura. Wouldn't he?