She'd been watching him, trying not to let him see that she was watching. The last thing she needed was to be wrong about who he was and be horribly embarrassed and considered a crazy stalker woman. But the man across the room looked too much like the photo she carried around with her and she just had to know for sure.
He'd been surrounded by other military men for nearly an hour now and Emma wasn't about to approach him. She had struggled all her life with introversion and being at this conference certainly wasn't helping to bring her out of her shell. Wondering once again why in the world her employer picked her to come, she kept her eyes trained on the man sitting at a table several feet away.
Emma had been nursing her own drink as too much would send her sliding under the table for a nap instead of dancing on top of one. Not that either of those options was very attractive. Sighing, she ran an hand through her almost shoulder length, soft brown hair and squinted her green eyes, trying to see how much beer he had left in his bottle. Surely, he'd go for a refill soon and then maybe she'd get her chance to approach him.
Her mind drifted back to why she knew a military man in the first place. A few years ago, after a particularly nasty break up with a long time boyfriend, her sister had been chatting about signing up for a email pen pal service for soldiers in the military. Feeling alone, but not in any way ready to start another relationship, Emma was intrigued enough to check into the program.
After signing up, she'd been matched with a man a few years older than herself. He wasn't stationed in a war zone, but was still far from home and looking for someone to chat with. It all started innocently enough, but eventually they both started opening up to one another. As the comfort and trust level grew between them, they exchanged photos of each other.
At first the photos were carefully edited to maintain a bit of privacy and security. Emma was a single woman conversing with a strange man, even if he was in the military and she felt that some caution was due. But the longer they were in contact, the more revealing and even risque the photos became, as did the the emails and chats . They'd even managed a few phone calls, although those were kept to light friendly banter.
Emma felt a slight blush at the memory of some of the photos she'd sent to Jason. She'd attempted to keep them tasteful and provocative, but he'd still seen more of her than was appropriate for a simple pen pal. The fact that she still carried one of him caused a deeper blush to tint her cheeks.
Their communication was nearly non-existent now. He'd returned to the states to a very busy, demanding job. His leisure time for chatting and emailing simply dwindled away. Emma had missed him horribly for a while, but had come to the conclusion that this was just the way things were going to be now.
Finding Jason here at this conference though was not something she had expected. But then again, she wasn't positive that it was him. All she needed was to get a glimpse of his name tag and she'd know for sure. It was driving her mad with the indecision of what to do with the information if it did indeed turn out to be him.
Did she introduce herself? Let him know who she was? Their last email exchange had been a couple weeks prior and neither of them had mentioned the conference. Emma simply didn't know what to do, but she had to know for sure if it really was him.
Her mind jerked back to the present when she noticed him stand and walk away from his tablet. He went to the bar for another beer before moving outside to lean against the hotel terrace fence railing, away from the crowds of people. He relaxed against the waist high fence, long legs out front and casually crossed at the ankle. As he leaned one hand on the railing, Emma felt drool pool in her mouth at the firm rippling muscles clearly on display, even in his conservative, dark-gray polo shirt
He had told her of his workouts and the daily runs he did to keep in shape. It had actually inspired her to start working out herself since she'd managed to put on a few pounds in the last few years. His body was big and firm, well muscled and very attractive. Remembering the photo, she recalled his brown hair with just a small sprinkling of silver at his temples and brown eyes that she'd stared into many times.
Finishing her drink, she carefully stood and went to the bar. Ordering a fresh one, she did her best to walk casually toward the terrace railing. As she passed him, Emma shot a quick glance at the name tag hanging from a lanyard resting on his casual dark gray polo shirt. The letters printed there in black clearly said, "McKinney, Jason."
Her stomach gave a fierce lurch and she nearly stumbled. That was Jason's name, this was really him. He was almost 6 feet tall, with wonderfully broad shoulders that were even more impressive up close. There was no longer any doubt of his identity, but now what did she do with the information?
Swallowing hard, she turned and leaned against the railing, completely at a loss as to what to do now. Tossing a quick look his way, she found him staring at her. There were the brown eyes she'd looked at so many times in the photos, looking so much better now in person. She could read the curiosity in his gaze and gave him a weak smile, her tongue tangling into a million knots.
He nodded to her and sent his own smile which caused all kinds of fluttery things to happen in her stomach. "Hi, nice crowd we have here."
His voice washed over her, sending tingles down her spine. Emma discretely cleared her throat before attempting to speak, afraid of simply croaking instead. "Bigger than I expected." She immediately berated herself for the ridiculous answer. Couldn't she have come up with something better than that?
His smile grew, little lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes causing the flutters and tingles in her body to increase to hard zings and trembling legs. He stepped closer to her and held out a hand. "Jason McKinney."
There it was. The complete and utter confirmation that this was her Jason. The man she'd fantasized about, stroked herself to orgasm over night after night. Her breath caught before starting back up rapidly and nearly out of control. She stared at the hand extended to her before automatically reaching for it.
He closed his fingers around hers and the heat shot straight to her center. She felt her panties grow wet and had a wild fear that he'd be able to smell her arousal. Licking her lips she took a deep breath. This was it, as soon as he learned her name, he'd know. "Emma Corman."
Jason's fingers tightened reflexively on her's, his eyes growing wide. "Emma?" he asked, incredulity filling his voice.
