by Towne, L. E.
“God, you’re good.”
“You got mad, didn’t you? No, you shagged him?” There was a tiny pause. “You did both.” This last part, she said with certainty.
“Yes.” Az knew she was mulling over all the juicy details not told.
“Ah, I’m so proud. Tell me it was just as much fun telling him off as the sex was.” Az didn’t answer. “So, the sex was that good, huh. Well good for you. I’m so happy. Finally.”
“So glad I can make you happy, you damned little matchmaker.”
“I made no such match. That was all you, pining over him with that damned letter. No, all I did was give you a little nudge and look where you went—tumbling right into bed—which is what you wanted all along.”
“You are so full of it.”
“This is how I know I’m right, as soon as you say I’m full of it—I’m right on the money.”
“How’s the life in the UK?”
“Scotland’s good. Same as always. Nana says hello and that you’ll have to come visit. They’ve got a great pub in town, now. The barkeep’s a burly chap with ginger hair.” Az listened as her friend dropped into a deeper Scots accent. The result of hanging out at the pub or with Nana, she wasn’t sure.
“Didn’t you just get there?”
“Well, a lass has got to get the lay of the land, don’t you know? I plan to bring Nana next time. The lads can teach the fine art of darts.”
“You are going to hell, you know that right?”
“Ah, but think of those bad boys there, my darling. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re wrong.”
Mal laughed again, the bust out belly laugh that Az couldn’t help but smile at. She listened to her friend’s update on her family and then made her promise that if she found herself near London, she’d call the Worth’s house to check up on Eli.
“If Eli wasn’t such a doll, I couldn’t bring myself to go. I had to meet Kate too, ugh.” Mal sounded like she’d swallowed a toad. “God, what an insipid little thing. Speaks in this high-pitched Kensington dialect that real people can barely understand and before you ask, yes, she’s nice to Eli. She wouldn’t dare not to be. I’d take her out at her knobby little knees. Jonathan just beams when she’s around. God, what a stupid man. I’ll never see what you saw in him.”
Az smiled at her tirade. Once you wound her up, Mal was hard to stop, but she was grateful for the update from a different perspective. Eli had only been gone three days and the house felt empty without him. She looked at the time.
“Sorry to call you so early,” she said. Her friend snorted.
“No, you’re not. I was up anyway—have to be on the road this morning. I’m headed to Glasgow.”
“Well, thanks for looking in on Eli and…everything.”
“Az?”
“Yeah?”
“You sound happy.”
“I am.” They hung up and she realized that she was indeed very happy.
A-9
.
She wasn’t wrong about adoring fans. But the Barnes and Noble was a much bigger retailer than the indie bookstore he read for in Boulder and they were equipped to accommodate more people. A tiny bit of floor space was sectioned off for listeners and as Ross began to speak, more and more people wandered over, keeping the staff busy wrangling more chairs.
She had been caught in traffic and was late so Az didn’t get to speak to him prior to the reading. But he found her as he said he would and after the speech, she sat just to the side and behind him at the signing table. It was a great vantage point to watch him work. He greeted each person and chatted with them briefly prior to signing and handing them a book. The line finally dissipated after forty minutes.
“My plane’s at seven thirty. Can we grab a bite before I go to the airport?” he spoke to her as he signed the last book.
“It’s always food with you, isn’t it?” She teased.
His eyes lit up and he leaned toward her, speaking low into her ear.
“Not always. But we don’t have time for anything else. I mean, unless you want to try the restrooms of a Barnes and Noble?”
She leaned back to see his grin.
“And if I said yes?”
He turned to the green shirted staffer who was packing up books.
“Excuse me, your restrooms are where?” The guy pointed over his left shoulder and Ross looked back to find her giggling like some idiot school girl. But when he pulled at her, she protested half-heartedly and they managed to restrain themselves.
“Are you sure? Bookstore restrooms have to be cleaner than the airport’s.” He teased her on the way to her car.
“You think I’m going to have sex with you in an airport restroom?”
“I mean, I might be gone for awhile and—”
“I will miss you? I might languish and die without your studly self in my bed?”
“Yes.” He turned serious.
“I will miss you. It seemed there was never any time before, for us. And now, here we are, just finding each other again—”
“And yet, we’re on the road to another airport. I’m not letting you go again.”
“Then stay another night, call them. Tell them you can’t make it.” She was only half-joking, the thought of him leaving her created a darkness inside of her she’d rather not think about.
“Come with me,” he breathed.
“I can’t.”
“You have to admit. The sex is pretty good.” He’d leaned over the console, stretching his seatbelt to the max in order to nibble at her neck.
“Pretty good?” she glanced at him.
“Awesome. You’re awesome. I’m awesome with you. Come with me, we’ll do it anywhere you want. A real bed even. Cheyenne’s not that far. We can book you a ticket. You can fly home in two days.”
“This is so unlike you. Ross Berenger being all spontaneous.”
“It’s not spontaneous. It’s a very quick plan. I’ve been thinking about it since I left your house. Besides, what happened to that girl I knew—the fixer, where there’s a will, there’s a way, keep calm and—”
“I have no clothes.”
He chuckled. “You won’t need any.”
“I have a wedding to do this week.”
His hand ran up her leg, slipping between her thighs. His fingers were warm and solid against her. She was simultaneously turned on, pissed off, and grateful for the denim between them.
“Two days.” His tongue flicked out and grazed her ear. He knew she was considering it. “Azure, we’re just getting started and it’s been so long. I want. I want time. Time with you—in my bed, in my life. I want to hear everything you’ve done and thought and dreamed since I last saw you. I want to tell you all of that. You know it’s not just about sex.”
“As awesome as that is.” She covered his hand, interlaced the fingers and brought it to her lips. His index finger slipped into her mouth and she bit down, just a little. His chuckle low and seductive turned to a moan as she sucked the calloused skin where her teeth had been.
“Maybe you should find an exit.” He said roughly. “I’m in no shape to go through security, now.”
“You’re going to miss your plane.” She released his hand.
“Then say you’ll come with me.”
It was much more than just a quick trip to Cheyenne. The lack of plans, or clothes or plane tickets didn’t scare her. The idea of taking things further with him did. She didn’t say anything, still thinking about her choice and not making it until she steered toward long term parking instead of departures.
Getting through security is incredibly easy if you have no luggage. She did have the bag that held everything, but fortunately, no liquids, perishables, or weapons of any kind.
It wasn’t long before they were snuggled on the plane, the armrest between them pushed out of the way so his body touched various points along hers. It was an hour and half flight and he’d ordered two mini bottles of Jameson and a diet coke. She drank the di
et coke.
“So, Ms. Worth, tell me do you belong to the Mile High Club?” His smile flashed in the low light of the plane’s interior.
“Do you?” She sparred with him. Since boarding, they’d chatted politely until the engines revved up for take-off. Realizing the plane was half-empty, the person on their row moved across the aisle to a single. They were relatively private and Ross was never one to miss an opportunity.
“Now, that’s not fair. I asked first. But, I’ll go.” He drank some of his Jameson. “Yes, once—a long time ago—me and Dani.” He frowned. “I think I dislocated my knee.”
She laughed and realized his mention of Dani hadn’t been as painful as she thought it would be. They’d avoided the topic for two days now.
“I saw her on some cop show last month.” Az said.
“Yeah, she’s doing well.”
“You guys talk? Often I mean?”
He leaned away, surprised.
“No. Not at all. Last time I spoke with her was....hmmn, when I sent her the rest of her stuff. Maybe August of last year.”
“August? Wait. I thought that you’d just broken up.”
He smiled a little woefully and then squinted at her.
“Are you sure you want to hear this?”
“Only if you want to tell it.” She wanted to hear it regardless.
He settled in closer and stared at the back of the seat in front of them. They held hands under the tray table. His thumb rubbed a light path over the back of her knuckle.
“I was going—to California. I’d stayed behind to pack up the apartment. Thought I’d propose over the 4th of July, had a ring and everything. Just before I left, Jack came over with a bottle of really good Scotch. It’s a good thing he did.”
He told her then, of a face to face call from Dani—how she always forgot to lock her phone and it was a redial by mistake. It hadn’t been just a voice call, that would have been bad enough, but their phones were synced in a face to face i-chat. His voice was serious when he described seeing the other guy, naked behind Dani’s surprised look. How he’d hung up on her excuses. Her agent—and maybe every aspiring actress banged their agent in Hollywood, maybe it was standard, but he’d been a combination of stunned and relieved. He and Jack had put the scotch to good use.
“I suddenly had all this free time. Time that I had slated for moving and looking for other work in LA. I decided to use it to write. Remember all the concepts we talked about? About life and time and careers? You’re the inspiration for the book, you know.”
“Those ideas were all you.”
“Yes, but you were the one who convinced me I should write them down. Teach people my method of planning for the future. Did you not read the dedication?”
She’d purchased a book the day before, along with everyone else in the Boulder Book Store.
“Been kinda busy.” she couldn’t help her smirk. She’d been busy with him. “Haven’t gotten into it yet. And if I’d known, I’d have brought it with me. I love to read on planes.”
He squeezed her hand.
“I’m sorry about Dani.”
“I’m not. Sure, I felt the whole betrayed, jilted-lover thing, and it hurt. But when Jack told me I’d dodged a bullet, I realized that we hadn’t been a real couple in a long time. What was sad about it—was that she couldn’t tell me. That she was so unhappy, or that she’d given up on us.”
“Right.”
“In all fairness, we just weren’t right for each other. I was fooling myself.”
“Why didn’t you call me? Back then?” It had been last summer, barely a month after he’d told her he was getting married.
“Because I thought you’d gone back to Jonathan. That you were happy.”
“I never said that. I was going to tell you at the speakeasy, that Jonathan had moved out. We were separated.” Even though he was with her now, the utter desolation of that night came back to her. He felt her sadness and brought their hands up to his mouth, kissing her knuckles. “But then, you were getting married, and moving to California, so what was the point of telling you?”
“That was what you wanted to talk about.”
“Yes. After he moved out, I called you, left messages. But you never called back, so I thought…”
“I never got a voicemail.” He kissed her hand again, his voice soft and comforting in her ears. “When I realized, much later, I checked my phone, Dani must have erased them. Or there was a glitch or something.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now.” She kissed him, pulling away as the flight attendant approached to gather empty cups and cans. The young woman lingered just a bit over Ross.
“Is there anything else I can get you? Before we prepare for landing?”
“No thanks,” Ross barely glanced at her. Azure smiled into his eyes before watching the attendant shrug and head down the aisle. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “So before we get locked into our seats for the rest of the flight, you never answered my question. Are you a member of the Mile High Club? Or better yet, do you wanna be?”
She laughed and remembered a tidbit from her former brother-in-law.
“The originator of the Mile High Club was a guy named Phil, actually, I can’t remember his name, but he was a flight instructor and teaching a married woman to fly, or at least that’s what they went up for. When they crashed about 500 feet off the ground and were found naked, he claimed they’d lost their clothes in the crash.”
“You are a plethora of fun facts, Ms. Worth, but you’re evading my question.”
“Sorry. Yes, I’ve been inducted.” She pressed her lips together in the memory of her younger, more frivolous self in love with Jonathan. She didn’t want to think about Jonathan. Not when Ross was so close to her, his voice was sheer seduction, and he smelled like fine leather and oak trees in spring. “We wouldn’t want to risk another dislocated knee, would we? Not when we’ll be at a hotel in...” She looked at his watch. “Under two hours.”
“What if I can’t wait two hours for you?” She closed her eyes thinking about that. Before she could respond, his lips were just below her ear, mouthing softly into the curve of her neck. “Bet I could convince you.”
She was sure he could.
A-10
A lot of people think Colorado is western, and it is, but Denver has grown into an urban metropolis with an eclectic collection of people and culture. Cheyenne, Wyoming is the epitome of Western culture—like cowboy hats and rodeos-West.
In her black slacks and blazer, Azure felt enormously over-dressed and stuffy. Ninety percent of the people in the airport were wearing jeans, including Ross, and she found herself wondering what he’d look like in a cowboy hat.
“You’re wearing boots?” They weren’t exactly cowboy boots, but boots nonetheless, very manly, leather, square-toed boots with a small heel, which he certainly didn’t need.
“I like boots,” he replied. “Didn’t get to wear them much on the corporate circuit.”
“I never knew that about you.” He switched his bag to his other hand so he could pull her to him, an arm around her shoulders.
“I am full of surprises,” he murmured in his sweeter than sex voice.
Az turned toward him as they headed for the door.
“Me too,” she said, looking him in the eye. This stopped him cold, caught by her tone and her words. She laughed.
The hotel where they stayed had only six floors and Ross asked for a room on the top floor. Not knowing why, Azure hadn’t asked. She’d simply shrugged it off as one more tidbit about him she hadn’t known before.
“I wish this hotel had twenty floors,” he spoke as they waited for the elevator.
“Why?”
“Remember the last elevator ride we had together?” She frowned, thinking. The last elevator ride. It had been late. They’d spent the evening in a coffee shop. He’d told her about his mother’s cancer scare and noticed she’d taken off her wedding ring. Back at the hotel, when they’d gotten i
nto the elevator, he’d asked her what she was thinking and she’d kissed him. He’d backed her up into the wall and kissed her back. It never went any further than that. But now, remembering, she blushed and looked down at her feet as the doors opened. An older couple got in with them and pushed the button for the third floor.
“Do you remember?” He edged her to the back of the elevator and spoke softly, but she knew the other couple could hear. He didn’t seem to care. His hand came up to caress her around the waist and he looked straight into her eyes.
“You asked me what I was thinking,” she answered him with a slight shrug. He moved in front of her, his back toward the couple and the elevator doors which opened. The couple exited and Azure saw the woman glance back at them wistfully.
“Ask me what I’m thinking,” he whispered. Her eyes snapped back to him. His lips hovered so very close to hers. She didn’t get the words out, but soon she understood why he wanted twenty floors. Six were simply not enough.
The next day she’d bought him a cowboy hat. It was a deep brown felt, not too high or too much of a brim in the style of JR Ewing, but the kind of hat actual ranchers might wear. She’d found a Western store not too far from the book store where he was reading and she’d talked him into trying on hats.
He loved the hat. Wearing faded jeans, the same boots and a plaid shirt, he looked like a man who knew hard work and horses. It was very sexy and she couldn’t help but glow a little at the admiring glances from the women on the street as they walked to the restaurant. The Cattlemen’s Club served huge steaks with fixins, as they called them. Baked potatoes were spuds, and rolls were hardtack. The place even sported hat racks for all the dudes, tourists and ranchers. She doubted he’d ever wear the hat again, because there was no real occasion for it, but she was glad he loved it.
He kissed her in the elevator like the night before and kept a hand on her till they got into the room. He removed the hat, turning it brim up on the desk before pushing her toward the bed. They were undressed in a manner of minutes.