by Brynn Paulin
Kelly and Chip quickly introduced themselves, and we got them settled in the back. “Do you need some water or anything?” Maisie asked as I pulled back onto the road from the shoulder. Both surfaces looked identical.
“Maisie,” I interrupted. “Put on your seatbelt, okay, baby?”
“Oh right.” She snapped it on then handed back one of the plain bottled waters. I followed Chip’s directions, going at snail’s pace. I breathed a sigh of short-lived relief as we got to the exit then made it to the main road. Which was as awful as the highway had been.
“Turn right,” Chip said. “It’s just a quarter mile that way, on the left.” Kelly, who’d been relatively quiet until now, moaned. I knew she’d been having contractions based on her breathing and the gasp she’d take when one started, but this was the first loud sound she’s made.
“Oh God,” she cried and turned her face into Chip’s chest. “I think the baby’s coming.”
Oh please, please, please don’t have a baby in my car, I prayed.
Maisie twisted in her seat. “Here, squeeze my hand. Chip, you should probably check what’s happening there. This stuff can move fast.”
“Check what?”
“Chip,” Maisie said, her voice calm as if soothing a wild animal, while Kelly reached over and grasped Maisie’s fingers. “Look to see if the head is coming.”
“Are you a doctor?” he asked.
“Premed.”
“Can you come do it?”
I shook my head, vehemently yelling no inside. “She needs to stay put. It’s too dangerous for her to be going over the seats. Just look, man.”
There was a shuffling and more moaning. I didn’t look to see what was happening, not wanting to see a part of his wife that I’d be pissed if someone saw.
To my eternal relief, I saw a blurry red-and-white hospital sign up ahead through a wash of snow. The crossover slid slightly as I tested the brakes. Okay, so not just snow. It was all ice underneath. Taking my foot from the gas, I let the car slow naturally, the carefully navigated into the parking lot and over to the emergency doors. Throwing it in park, I ran around to help Chip.
“Good luck! Merry Christmas!” Maisie called.
I handed them their bag and smacked Chip on the shoulder. “You’ve got this.”
I didn’t know that he had this, but it seemed the right thing to say.
“I don’t know how to thank you. You saved us.”
Not knowing what to say, I gave him a half smile. “Go be a good dad.”
“You did good,” Maisie said as I climbed back in the car.
“I just did what needed to be done.”
“But a bunch of cars before you didn’t. You’re still sort of a good guy.”
Sort of? Somehow, I needed to figure out how to win with this girl.
“I don’t think we should drive anymore today. What do you say we find a hotel with a restaurant and stop for the night.”
She looked around, biting her lip. “I’d say it’s a really good idea.”
Chapter Three
~Maisie~
It took another hour to find a place. Ira had insisted on driving in the direction we’d been initially travelling and I searched for hotels on my phone. There was nothing close to the hospital, which really had been in the middle of nowhere, and the first few hotels with dining were all full. At this point, I was ready to take anything we could much on junk food all night and find a decent breakfast in the morning.
Just as I was ready to give up, I found a place. The room had one king bed, but it was the only one left. And, yes, their restaurant was open and running for the next few hours.
Excited, I reserved the room.
“It’s still twenty-five miles,” I told him. “Sorry, that’s closest.”
“It’s fine. Thanks for finding a place.”
He sounded…sad. Maybe defeated. Was he just tired? Driving like this, fighting the snow, tense the whole way was exhausting. I’d driven in these conditions more than once back home.
“Are you okay?” I asked. I longed to reach out and tough him, to lay my hand on his thigh like I used to. To connect. To reassure. Maybe anchor myself. Being a passenger in the storm was pretty harrowing, too.
“Me? Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. But did they just say the room has one bed?”
“It’s all they had.”
“It’s okay. It’s just, I know you’re not ready to forgive me or even talk about what happened. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to share a bed with me.”
Well, he would be wrong there. I wanted to sleep with him, I just wouldn’t. We were at odds but my body still reacted to the lover she knew—the only one she knew.
“It’s a king. I’m pretty sure we can manage.”
“If you say so.” He didn’t sound convinced. I wasn’t. But if we gravitated across the mattress to each other, so be it. I was the injured party here. If I said it was okay, it would be. And if I ended up in his arms in the morning, I’d enjoy it until he woke up and started apologizing. Maybe that was setting him up for failure, but I promised myself here and now, I wouldn’t act mad if it happened.
Perhaps my mom was right. Ira and I could be friends with benefits. Okay, she hadn’t suggested we sleep together, but a girl can get ideas.
“I can ask if they have a rollaway,” he offered after a few more miles.
I rolled my eyes. He didn’t see. All his focus was firmly on the road, but the annoyed sound I made might have tipped him off.
“We’re adults. We can handle it.”
“We’re adults with history.”
He was right. We were adults with history who used to sleep over at each other’s places all the time. It was how I got custody of the sweater. It didn’t matter how we went to sleep, we always ended up wrapped together, with him half on top of me like he was using his body as a shield or something.
My stomach growled, giving me a good opening to change the subject. “I sure hope we get there soon and get checked in fast. I’m about Bugled out.”
“I have some nuts.”
Yes, he did. And…I was apparently a thirteen-year-old boy.
“I kind of want a burger. Or chicken or something. Besides the car snacks I’ve only had some fruit today.”
We didn’t say much after that, and the drive seemed interminable. It was an hour-ish, I mean twenty-five miles driven at twenty-five mph. I was premed. I could do math. Check in was easy other than the bickering over who’d pay. Ira won. He had a job; I had loans and work study.
“Go get us a table,” he said, handing me one of the room keys. “I’ll go drop the bags off.”
Walking into the restaurant, I knew Ira was just going to hate this. It was like the diner that Christmas exploded on. There was tinsel everywhere. At the moment, piped music played an 80s holiday hit. All the tables had little wood trees on them. There were stocking on one wall, a big tree in the corner, garlands decorating the backs of each booth seat.
“Have a seat wherever you like,” the server called. I grabbed a booth within eyesight of the arched entryway, so Ira could see me.
I pretended to study the menu as he walked in. The look of horror on his face…
“What the hell with this place?” he grumbled. “It’s so…” He shuddered.
“It’s probably a good thing we broke up then,” I commented. “I happen to like all things Christmas. When I have my own place, I intend to decorate.”
“Not like this.”
“Yeah, it is a little over the top.”
“Can I get you anything to drink?” our waitress asked, arriving at the table. I struggled not to laugh and turned wide-eyed to Ira, whose lips were pressed together. The woman was dressed in green with red trim. With green tights, pointy shoes and a three-point hat. An elf. I thought it might push Ira right over the edge into Christmas coma.
“Coffee, don’t you think?” I said, trying to cover so she didn’t think we were insane. “I’m still freezing. It’s so horrible outside.”
I nodded then looked at the waitress. “Can we order, too? It’s been a long day on the road.”
“Oh sure, hon. I’ll bring your some bread out, too.”
Though I’d said I wanted a burger, I ended up ordering a chicken-pasta dish. And Ira followed suit.
“I checked the weather while I was on the elevator. This storm is supposed to pass by the middle of the night. With the road crews out, we should be able to go by mid-morning.”
“Okay. So why do you have so much stuff in your trunk? It looked like you barely had room for my suitcase.”
“Oh, yeah, well. Most of my things are in storage, but that’s the stuff I keep on hand.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What does that mean? You have an apartment in Denver? Don’t you?”
“I did. They just transferred me back to Seattle.”
“When?” If he said he’d been back for months and he hadn’t come to resolve this thing between us until now, I would kill him. At very least, maim him.
“Two weeks ago. I don’t have a place yet.”
That wasn’t much better. “And I’m just finding out now?”
“We…broke up. As much as I wanted to barge into your life and declare you’re mine and only mine and no one else better think about touching you…”
And didn’t that idea warm me right up. My body certainly wanted him to do that.
“…I had to make sure you didn’t already move on. That I still could claim you.”
I sat back, resting my hands on my crossed legs and studying him. “Why did you break up with me,” I asked calmly. It was more serene than I felt; that was for sure. I wanted to scream and yell at him, but that would get us nowhere. I’d cried buckets of tears over this man and I needed to know why.
“I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“Breaking it off so you wouldn’t feel guilty about dating other women, in your new state?”
“I never wanted to date anyone. I’ve never wanted anyone but you, Maisie. I still don’t want anyone but you. But if me being alone and unhappy left you free to find someone and have a good future then I had to do it. It wasn’t fair of me to keep you tied to me when we couldn’t be together and I had no idea when we ever could.”
“Don’t you think you should have asked me? Found out what I thought about it?”
“I knew ten seconds after I left that I’d done the wrong thing.”
I opened my mouth, having so much to say about that, but the waitress came over with water, coffee and bread.
“My parents are actually out of town,” Eli told me when she walked away and I reached for a roll. “Since I was in Washington, they took a cruise.”
“What? Eli!”
“Driving you to Michigan was the best chance I had to get you alone and talk to you.”
“You’re making this trip for me?”
“I’m making it for us. Besides, I know how important family and Christmas are you. When I found out you were going to be stranded in Seattle, I made a split-second decision.”
“How did you know I was stranded?” I asked slowly. I had a suspicion I knew. He’d always been close to my family. My whole huge family. “My mom told you.”
“We still talk from time to time. Not really about you. I didn’t want to invade your privacy that way.”
I could have found that weird, but Ira and I had been together for seven years. My mom and dad considered him like another son. They might have been more upset than I was when things had ended between us.
“I can’t believe you’re driving me back to Michigan when you don’t even have a reason to go.”
And for the first time since he’d picked me up today, I got the look. Hot, devouring, making everything go warm and wet in my core and tightening my breasts with arousal. Thank God for this sweaters.
“I have a reason,” he growled. “I have a life or death reason.”
“Life or death?” I whispered.
“I don’t have a life without you. I don’t want to. And maybe that sounds pathetic, but whatever. I miss you.”
“You know, you could have tried: Maisie, I was a dumbass. I’m sorry.”
He took my hand, holding tight and taking a fortifying breath. A tremor went through me and after all this time, just having him touch me made the nerves jump in my belly. His thumb rubbed back and forth over the back of my hand and I almost moaned.
“Maisie, I was a stupid dumbass who thought he knew better than you what was right for us. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I wasn’t. I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry. I love you. Will you forgive me.”
“That’s a lot better than what I had,” I managed to say around the rock in my throat. “And yeah, I will.”
Some women might call me a fool for taking him back after he’d done that, but I knew Eli. If nothing else, he was truthful. If he told me he’d been miserable, I believed him. And I was tired of being miserable, too. I missed him so much.
“Don’t ever do that again,” I added. “Please. If I forgive you and take you back, you have to promise you won’t make a sweeping decision like this again. You can’t make choices for me.”
He shook his head. “I won’t.”
I nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay…”
I didn’t explain, just went to find our waitress. I couldn’t contain my grin when I came back. Slipping into his side of the booth, I wrapped my arms tight around his middle and hugged him while I pressed my face into his chest. I missed him so much.
“Here you go, hon,” our server said, bringing over the two packaged meals and a slip of paper. “Just sign here and you’re all set. Y’all have a great night.”
“What did you do?” he asked when she walked away.
Standing, I peeked inside the bag, finding cutlery, cheesecake and more bread, along with the food we’d ordered. “I want to eat upstairs. So I can kiss you whenever I want to,” I added, quoting one of the movies I’d made him watch a few dozen times.
Climbing to his feet beside me, Ira squeezed his arms around me. “I’m really liking this plan.”
I grinned up at him, sighing as his lips brushed chastely over mine. “So am I.”
About the Author
When it comes to books and movies, I have one rule: there must be a happy ending. After that one requirement, anything else goes. And it just might in any of my books. Expect the unexpected.
I love hearing from readers! Please visit me on my website at www.brynnpaulin.com or contact me at [email protected].
You can also stalk me on Twitter and Facebook.
Books by Brynn Paulin
Circle of Three
Boy Toys
Tempting Tamera
Beach Please/Cherish Cove
Light My Fire
Reclaiming Love
Beach Please
Just Beachy (Coming Soon)
The Bad Boys
Bad Boy Biker Boots
Bad Boy Bossy Pants
Daly Way
Belonging to Them
Plays Well With Others
Fill Her Up
One for the Team
Briar’s Cowboys
Roped by the Team
His Old Kentucky Home
Eye of Her Storm
Santa Secret
Mad About Her Cowboys (coming 2020)
Tradition Bound
On Your Knees
In His Chains
Cruentus Dragons
Dragons Blood
Blood Bought
Blood Mates
Taboo Wishes
Punished
Kidnap and Kink
Yuletide Greetings
Mr. Smith’s Whip
Dick Does Jane
Sybil Disobedience
Billionaire Club
Blind Date With the Billionaire
Billionaire Auction (co-author Tia Fannin
g)
Stranded With the Billionaire
The Billionaire and the Beast
The Problem With Billionaires
The Secret Billionaire (Coming Soon)
Malloy Brothers (with Dakota Rebel)
Billionaire’s Christmas Cruise
Billionaire’s Beautiful Runaway (Coming Soon)
North Springs
Stocking Full of Cole
Love Notes
Alek
Standalone Books
The Orgasmatron
Special Force
Wedding Jitters
Truth or Dare
Buried Secrets
Grave Destiny
Heart of Ice
Ménage
Two Plus One
Pride
Snows
Lynxed
Historical
In the Dark
Gay
His Old Kentucky Home
Taboo
Forbidden Obsession
Swapped