by Cole, Audra
“What do you think they’re gonna say about all this?” Lucas asked.
My heart burst into a frantic, machine-gun fire pace at the idea. Telling my family about Karena wasn’t something that had crossed my mind. Most guys probably couldn’t wait to bring their girlfriend home to show her off, and while I’d often wished for someone to be by my side when I was surrounded by the other couples in the room, I’d never even thought about introducing her to them the first time. My family could be great, but depending on the occasion, my parents had the potential to be volatile, pushy, or cold.
“Well, my mother will be thrilled. She probably won’t even wait for me to leave before she’s on the phone with half a dozen of her society friends telling them the news. My dad, on the other hand, will give me a lecture about how having a wife and family is a big responsibility, ya know, as if that hadn’t occurred to me. No doubt, he’ll follow up by reminding me how important my career is and that I can’t take my eye off the prize.”
Lucas laughed at my colorful—and horrifyingly realistic—description.
“Glad you can always find amusement in my suffering, old friend,” I teased.
“I wasn’t gonna order another round, but after that, I kinda feel like we should,” he said, when he caught his breath.
I nodded, “I’m game, but if we keep talking about my parents, I’m gonna need a helluva lot more than a beer.”
Chapter Thirteen: Karena
“I seriously can’t believe you’re doing this,” Becca said. She’d held her peace the entire drive to the airport, but when she brought her car to a stop just before the curb at the departures lot, she finally burst. Her eyes were wide with worry and her hands were trembling even more than my own.
“Becs, please, you’re gonna make me even more nervous!” I glanced out the windshield at the other passengers being dropped off in front of us, and my heart jumped higher up my throat, beating out a frantic rhythm.
“What if this guy is some kind of crazy person? Did you run a background check like I told you to?”
I laughed, some of the pressure releasing. “I thought you were kidding about that.”
The alarm on her face reached new heights as she stared back at me. “You didn’t? Oh my gosh…I don’t like this. Not one little bit.”
Two quick honks rang out from the car behind us, a not so subtle prod to get us moving up the line. “Becs, come on, we gotta go.”
Begrudgingly, she pulled forward and stopped. “I’m begging you. Please stay.”
“I have to Becca. I’m sorry.” I unlatched my seatbelt before my confidence took a nose dive. “I love you and I’ll text and call as soon as I land so you don’t freak out, okay?”
“Yeah, cause that’s gonna be easy to do from the trunk of some guy’s car…”
I laughed and leaned across the dash to give her a quick hug. “It’s gonna be fine, I promise. You have my permission to send in a SWAT team if you don’t hear from me by tonight.”
I hopped out of the car, grabbed my suitcase from the backseat, and waved to Becca before hurrying inside the Seattle-Tacoma Airport. It was close to nine o’clock in the morning, and there were crowds gathered at each check-in counter. I consulted the printout of the ticket that Colton had emailed to me, and found the right airline counter, joining the other impatient travelers as we trudged one by one through the roped off line.
I looked over my shoulder, out the glass doors, halfway expecting to see Becca’s car still holding up traffic on the curb outside. I’d deliberately waited until the night before my departure to tell her about my plans. She stayed up half the night with me, asking a million questions, before she resorted to begging me not to go. For whatever reason, she was convinced Colton was some kind of serial killer and that I’d fallen for his elaborate disguise and was going to be walking into a trap.
I sighed to myself as I replayed the conversation, wondering how much more freaked out she’d be if everything went well and I got home and told her I was giving myself two weeks to decide if I wanted to quit my job, move to Georgia, and get married.
That part still sounded insane even in the comfort of my own mind, and I wasn’t ready to share it with her yet.
Or anyone else.
“Next please!” I looked up at the agitated call, and spotted a customer service agent waving me over, a scowl on her overly made up face.
I hustled into action, dragging my suitcase behind me, and within minutes, I was checked in for the flight and being ushered towards the security checkpoint.
“No turning back now…” I murmured to myself, watching my suitcase glide away, down the conveyor belt. I squared my shoulders and then started towards the security gate, groaning at the never ending line.
* * * *
My travel to Georgia was like moving through an odd time warp. The individual minutes and hours passed agonizingly slowly, my mind a jumbled mess of nerves and anxiety, but by the time the plane landed, and the rest of the passengers were stampeding over one another to get off, it was as though it had all happened in fast forward.
Double time. No, triple time.
“Do you need assistance, Miss?” A brunette flight attendant asked, peering down at me as I remained in my seat.
That was a great question.
It would be a short walk off the plane, out of the gate, and then…what?
I’d mentally conjured hundreds of scenarios in my mind since accepting Colton’s offer to send me a plane ticket. I’d whittled it down to three possibilities:
First one was…we’d see each other and there would be zero chemistry. An utter flat line of desire.
And second, we’d see each other and the chemistry would be so hot, we’d immediately need to find a hotel room.
Last but not least, and probably the most agonizing, We’d see each other and it would be awkward as hell, like reliving every junior high crush in a painful, two-week experiment.
The flight attendant leaned closer. “Miss?”
“Sorry, no, that won’t be necessary. I’m all right,” I replied, leaning forward to grab my purse from under the seat. I tried to stand, before realizing I hadn’t unbuckled my lap belt. The flight attendant started to reach for it to help me, like I was some kind of child, and I batted her hand away. She bristled, offered me a sharp “good day,” and then strode down the aisle.
I breathed a sigh of relief when she was gone, thankful she hadn’t turned me over to some kind of airport jail.
Now that would have been a great first impression.
I rose from my seat, took my purse, and exited the plane without any further incident. I followed a large crowd towards the exit. With each footstep, my breathing was bordering more and more on hyperventilation. Before I rounded the final corner, I stopped and forced myself to suck in a long, slow breath.
“He’s just a guy, Karena. Get. It. Together!” I muttered to myself.
Even as I said it out loud, another part of my mind argued that it was bullshit. Colton Hawkins wasn’t just some guy. If he was, I wouldn’t be on the verge of a panic attack in the middle of the Columbus Airport, wearing skinny jeans, high heels, and a not-to-low, low cut top.
I forced my legs back into motion and brushed my loose waves back, over my shoulder. The crowd began to thin as the people who’d been ahead of me, started to veer off to greet their own welcoming parties. I darted my eyes back and forth, sweeping the area, and silently praying that Colton wasn’t secretly short and dwarfed behind the other people waiting for their family and friends.
My heart hammered all the more in my chest as another scenario—one I hadn’t even considered before—materialized.
He could have changed his mind altogether.
Just as I was about to spiral into a new depth of craziness, the person directly in front of me stepped to the side, and in a moment as dramatic as the parting of the Red Sea, less than ten feet away, there he was.
Every heart-stopping inch of his 6’3, broad shouldered
frame.
In the flesh.
Holding a perfect bouquet of stargazer lilies, and wearing an even more perfect smile.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
Well, theory number one could safely be scratched off the list.
“Hey there, gorgeous,” he said, taking sure strides to close the space between where he’d been waiting, and where my feet had stopped functioning.
This wasn’t real. He was far too perfect.
Colton extended the bouquet to me. “I think these are the right ones,” he said, referencing a conversation we’d had some time ago about flowers. I’d told him stargazer lilies were my favorite and that they reminded me of summers spent at my grandmother’s house.
I took the flowers and held them close. “They’re perfect. Thank you. That’s so sweet of you to remember.”
Colton nodded and pocketed his hands, as though without the flowers to hold onto, he wasn’t sure what to do with them. I studied his face, drinking in each tiny detail that I hadn’t noticed during our video chats. He was hands down, no competition, the hottest man I’d ever seen in my life. His jaw was chiseled and strong, dusted with an enticing amount of stubble. His smile was charming and sweet, but when his eyes came back to mine, there was a darker, richer tone, and his smile shifted, sending a bolt of heat straight to my core.
We remained spellbound with one another for a longer than normal moment. Only beginning to move, when a new crowd of passengers swarmed. Colton pointed in the direction we needed to go, before turning to lead me away from the crowd. He looked over at me as we walked, his sexy smile still driving me to distraction. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
I smiled up at him, memorizing how it felt to have him towering over me. “Me too.”
Colton maneuvered us through the airport with confidence, and I didn’t even notice the signs above us as he led the way. “How was the flight?”
“I honestly don’t remember much of it.” I laughed and ducked my chin to hide my warm cheeks behind my hair. “I was a little…distracted.”
Colton chuckled. “I’m glad to hear I wasn’t the only one going stir crazy.”
I smiled, relieved that we were in the same boat. He placed his hand on the small of my back, guiding me to an escalator that would take us to a lower level where the bags from my flight would be dropped off. His touch was so light, nothing more than a brush of his fingertips, but there was something about it that filled me with a sense of belonging. I was with Colton.
He paused when we reached the lower level and consulted an electronic sign that was scrolling through the baggage claim information. “Looks like we’re at carousel A3.” He led the way again, and I followed, doing my best to match his long strides. He walked like I imagined a soldier would, each footfall filled with purpose and confidence. Colton had never struck me as the arrogant type, but he possessed a solid, quiet confidence that had been evident over our conversations and video chats, but was magnified in person.
“So, what are we looking for?” He asked, coming to a stop by the long, winding conveyor belt. The bags were just starting to slide down the chute and circle around. The other passengers swooped in to nab them, before I could really get a good look. “Should I get a cart?”
I laughed and shook my head. “No, I’m not quite that high maintenance. I just brought one suitcase. It’s hunter green, black handles, and I have a bright blue ID tag on the front zipper—there it is!” I pointed at the flap of cloudy plastic strips that covered the chute opening, as my bag lolled down onto the belt.
Colton moved through the crowd and reached for the handles. I watched his back muscles as they came to life under the snug t-shirt that was clinging to his broad shoulders. I bit my lip as my body flooded with a delicious slow burning heat. Colton swept the bag off the line, and mocked that he was having a hard time lifting it. I laughed as he pantomimed that he was doing back breaking work to get the bag over to me. “Damn, girl. Here I was getting excited, thinking you were a light packing, get up and go, kinda girl.”
“Sorry, no such luck.” I grinned at him and shook my head. “I guess I just figured a strapping soldier would be able to handle it.”
He slapped a hand over his heart. “Ouch, right for the kill.”
I held out my hand. “You want me to get it?”
Colton gave me his signature half-cocked smile. “I can handle anything you throw at me, gorgeous.”
A shiver slipped down my spine at the way he lowered his voice and the sparkle of meaning in his eyes. I held his intense gaze as long as I could, but when my cheeks flushed at the batch of naughty thoughts my mind had crafted, I broke away and reached for the suitcase handle.
“I got it. Come on. I’m parked out this way,” he said. We started towards the doors he’d indicated, and walked in silence, until we reached the parking garage.
“I never asked what kind of car you drive,” I said absently as my eyes scanned the rows and rows of vehicles, wondering which one would be Colton’s. I hadn’t pegged him as a sports car kind of guy, but then again, boys and their toys was always something of a mystery to me.
“Car? No, no, no. I’m a truck man. Through and through.” He smiled over at me before gesturing up ahead to the right. “That’s us.”
A black Ford F-350 was wedged into the parking space, an oversized beast of a truck that looked hopelessly out of place among the sea of compact cars and crossover SUV’s.
“Impressive.” Even from a dozen feet away, I could see it was well maintained and looked freshly cleaned. “Is it always so shiny? Or was that just on my behalf?”
Colton laughed. “A little bit of both. I try to keep her looking good, but I’m not gonna lie, it’s a job that often gets pushed down the list. However, for you, I made sure to get it right.”
“Her?” I repeated, giggling.
Colton laughed but didn’t bother defending himself. He unlocked the doors, stashed my suitcase in the backseat of the cab, and then opened my passenger door, holding it open as I clamored up, cursing my skin tight jeans. When I was safely tucked inside, Colton jogged around the front bumper and easily swung into the driver’s seat. When he closed his door, the silence was deafening, and served as a momentary reminder of what it was going to be like for two weeks, Colton and me. All alone.
I sucked a deep breath in through my nose, smiling at the fresh, masculine scent of his cologne as it mixed with the interior of the truck that was a sweet blend of earth and trees. There was a pouch of air freshener in one of the cup holders, but I had a feeling, the smell was more of being a well-used truck that had seen lots of adventure and hard work.
“You ready?” Colton asked, his expression suddenly serious, conveying that he was speaking of much more than just the car ride ahead.
Our eyes met and I found strength in his deep brown eyes that were steady and sure. “I’m ready.”
He flashed a smile and turned the key in the ignition, bringing the beast to life with a loud roar of the engine.
Chapter Fourteen: Karena
“Here we are, home sweet home,” Colton announced, turning right, off the residential street, and up a short driveway that lay to the side of a small, white house. I peered past him to get a better look. I’d seen various rooms of his house, as they’d served as the back drop for our video chats, but had never seen the outside of his house. It was a small, no fuss, no frills kind of place. It was clean and tidy, a well-manicured lawn with some shrubs planted in beds on either side of the front windows. There was a small porch with a couple of wicker chairs, and an iron table between them.
Colton was watching me and when I realized my reaction was being gaged, I smiled. “It’s cute.”
“I know, it’s not some fancy, big city condo, but it’s home. For now, anyway.”
“I like it. Trust me, my apartment is nowhere near being deserving of a word like fancy.” I laughed and pushed out of the passenger door. Colton raced around and got the suitcase from the back seat b
efore I had a chance. “I gotta ask though, is it always so freakin’ hot here?” The walk to Colton’s truck had been short and I hadn’t fully appreciated just how sweltering it was. I knew Georgia would be a change from Seattle’s eternal rain, but I wasn’t sure I liked how sticky I already felt as we walked up the drive to the front door.
“I know it isn’t what you want to hear, but yeah, it’s pretty much always like this. At least in the summer,” he replied, smiling over at me after unlocking the deadbolt. “The good news is that there’s a manmade lake not too far from here, and it’s a good place to cool off. Plus, just about everywhere you go, there’s AC.”
As if to prove his point, he swung the front door open and a gust of chilled air met me as I stepped inside. “Ahhh. Much better.”
Colton chuckled and followed me inside, hoisting the suitcase inside. “I didn’t want to assume anything, so I set you up in the guest room,” he explained, leading the way across the living area. The layout was fairly open, a kitchen, dining space, and living room all blending together. His furnishings were classic and simple. Nothing was terribly high end, but it wasn’t shabby and run down either. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but for whatever reason, it all felt right. Comfortable. I followed Colton to a small hall that had three doors, one on each side, and one straight ahead. “Bathroom, my room, guest room, slash office.” He pointed at each door, labeling them one at a time.
I nodded, unsure of what to say. There was a part of me that had imagined Colton and I sharing a room, but now that I was in his home, the idea of us hopping right into bed was awkward. He was spectacularly sexy, and made me feel at ease, but even a small touch was enough to send me into overdrive, and I knew I wasn’t ready to cut straight to jumping his bones. No matter how distracting they were.
Colton opened the door he’d named the guest room, and set my suitcase inside the door. I followed him inside and looked around at everything, cataloging the details in my mind. There was an L-shaped desk in one corner that held a laptop computer, a few stacks of paper and unopened mail, and a printer. On the opposite side of the room was a twin bed with navy blue bedding. A nightstand was shoved against it, holding nothing but a lamp.