...Stephan glanced over his shoulder at Shanna, who was in the back left seat of the four-seater Piper aircraft. She was looking pretty green right about now. He fought the urge to smirk. His first instincts had been right. The wind was blowing in one of heck of a nor'easter. The temperature had dropped dramatically and the small plane was not only bouncing between wind shears like a ping-pong ball, it was damn cold.

Shanna shrugged his red wool serge closer around her neck. He’d forgotten to take it to the tailors this morning and by the time he realized it was still in the back seat of the car, it was too late to call someone to pick it up. He simply packed it in the back, along with the other bags. He was glad now that he’d brought it along. Not only was it nice and warm, Shanna looked good in red.

“What are you smiling at?” she snapped.

Stephan composed his face once more. He hadn’t meant to let his emotions slip out. “I was just thinking what a cute Mountie you’d have made, if you’d chosen to go into our side of the law.”

She looked down at her “blanket,” then back at him. “Too short. I checked the requirements when I first looked into law. I really did think about becoming a cop. Besides, I was extremely short-sighted and I’d never have passed the admissions physical, even if I’d miraculously grown another six inches.”

Stephan cleared his throat and looked out the window into the darkening clouds. “Yep, size matters.” He turned and caught the grin of the pilot. Stephan grinned back.