by Kira Archer
Nash frowned. “I’m not.”
“You’re sitting here stressing over how she’d do on the ranch. You’ve never even dated. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“You’ve just been trying to talk me into how it could work.”
Chase shook his head. “I’ve been trying to get you to realize that just because it’s only been a day doesn’t mean you can’t have real feelings for this woman. That doesn’t mean you have to plan out the next fifty years of your life with her.”
Nash shook his head. “I don’t know what it is about her. I guess when I picture her, I just picture her on the ranch.”
Chase laughed and clapped him on the back. “Damn bro, you got it bad.”
Nash chuckled along with him. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“What can I do? She’s about to fly off to some island for her friend’s wedding, and when she gets back she’ll go home to North Carolina.”
“So go stop her.”
Nash looked at his brother, shocked. “What?”
“You heard me. Go stop her. Or hell, better yet, go with her. A nice vacation on some tropical beach with a woman who drives you wild sounds a hell of a lot more fun than sitting at some boring graduation.”
“But…I can’t do that. I came to watch you graduate.”
“I’ll send you the video,” Chase said with an exasperated grin.
Excitement built in Nash’s gut. Maybe it didn’t have to be good-bye. Iris was definitely not like Allison. And it was completely unfair to assume what she’d be like on the ranch or anywhere. He loved that Iris was full of surprises even though he wasn’t…usually. And Chase was right. He was getting way ahead of himself. They’d never even talked on the phone yet. They could at least start there and decide if they wanted to continue. One step at a time. Who knew, maybe they could handle the long-distance thing for a while? And maybe she would love life on the ranch. She’d pretty much spent the last twenty-four hours amazing him. And in the meantime…yeah, lying on the beach with her really did sound incredibly nice. But, he couldn’t just ditch his little brother…
“Yeah, you can,” Chase said.
Nash frowned. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to. You have that guilty but-I’m-his-brother-I-should-stay-and-be-supportive look on your face.”
“That’s an actual expression?” Nash asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“On you? Yes. One you wear frequently. So knock it off. I’m twenty-two. I’ve got a degree and my own life to live. We can celebrate later. Stop worrying about me and about some distant future and about the million things that might go wrong. Just focus on what you want right now, and go get your girl.”
Nash glanced at one of the screen displays. “Shit. Her plane is already boarding.”
“Then we better hurry.”
“We?”
“You think I’m missing this? Besides, you might need someone to run interference for you.”
Nash opened his mouth to argue again but Chase held up his hand. “Her plane is already boarding. Do you want to argue, or do you want to catch her before it leaves?”
Nash stopped wasting time and stood and Chase handed Clyde to him. “And for the love of God, get yourself some decent luggage.”
Nash laughed and pulled his brother in for a strangling bear hug. “I love you, you know that?”
Chase pounded his back. “Yeah, I know that.”
Nash pushed away, patted his brother’s face. “I’m proud of you, little bro.”
Chase laughed and shook his head. “Right back atcha, old man. Now let’s go.”
Nash still felt guilty for ditching his brother. But the exhilaration filling him at the thought of seeing Iris again drowned out anything else as they took off running through the airport. He just hoped he wasn’t too late.
Chapter Eighteen
Iris flopped into her seat on the plane, her throat tight with tears. She wasn’t going to give in to them again. She’d cried too much over a man she barely knew. How insane was it to feel this…empty after just one night with the guy? Like there was some gaping hole in her chest that would never be filled.
Surely, part of it was just that they’d had one perfect night, no day-to-day relationship mess to get in the way. If they actually dated and had to deal with wet towels on the floor and toothpaste tubes squished in the middle and someone chugging straight from the milk jug in the middle of the night, he’d get tired of her real quick, and she was sure he’d have irritating habits, too.
But she couldn’t imagine any habit being so irritating that her heart wouldn’t skip a beat whenever he touched her. Or keep her head from spinning when he kissed her. Or keep her from laughing at his antics. Or keep her from wanting to stay up until the early hours just talking to him. She’d never enjoyed talking to anyone as much as she had to him. Or just sitting in silence. She didn’t think she’d ever sat with anyone and just enjoyed being with him. No talking, no sex…nothing except being together (not that the sex hadn’t been great because oh my God, mind-blowing). She’d dated a lot of guys in her twenty-eight years, but she’d never been that comfortable with anyone else before.
And she’d just walked away from him. Forever.
Iris groaned and pulled out her phone to call Lena. She needed a little BFF attention. This called for some FaceTime action. Lena’s bubbly, cheerful little face always perked Iris up when she was down.
Lena clicked on, her brilliant smile immediately fading once she caught sight of Iris. Okay, maybe not such a great idea to FaceTime. Iris had forgotten how well Lena could read her.
“What’s wrong?” Lena asked.
Iris shook her head. “Nothing. Just boarded the plane. Waiting for takeoff. Didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“And does that have anything to do with that hunky cowboy you hung up on me for?” Lena’s tone was playful, but her eyes were still creased with concern.
Iris tried to keep her face neutral. She’d never been the type to wallow over a guy, and she certainly wasn’t going to go all crybaby for a guy she barely knew and wasn’t going to see again.
A shard of pain pierced her heart but she tried to ignore it. “Naw, that was no big deal. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about him. What’s going on with you over there? You hook up with that gorgeous guy who pulled you out of the pool yet?”
Lena blushed but shook her head. “Don’t even try it, Iris. I can tell you’re upset. What happened? Was the cowboy an ass?”
Iris’s throat grew tight again, and the tears filling her eyes blurred Lena’s face.
“Oh my God, Iris. What’s going on?” Lena asked, her eyes round with shock and concern.
Iris released a long breath and gave in to the emotions raging through her, managing to squeeze out the whole story, though how much Lena understood between the tears and her voice that was suddenly three octaves higher than usual, Iris didn’t know.
She must have understood enough because the sympathy shining from Lena’s face brought on a fresh wave of tears. Iris dug through Sloane, looking for her tissues, until she remembered that she’d given them to Nash in the planetarium. Which did not help with the tear situation. She dug further until she found a clean sock she could wipe her face with.
Lena listened calmly and quietly until Iris got the whole story out. Then she said, “Well, shit.”
That startled a laugh out of Iris. “Yeah. You can say that again.”
Lena blew out a puff of air. “Well. What are you going to do about it?”
Iris frowned. “What do you mean? He’s gone. His brother probably picked him up already and they are off to wherever, and I’m sitting here on the plane. It’s over. Done with.”
“Only if you want it to be. And from where I’m sitting, it doesn’t look like that’s what you want.”
Iris’s throat grew tight again but she swallowed past it. “It doesn’t matter what I want. Sometime
s things just aren’t meant to be. We live on opposite sides of the country. Long-distance relationships never work. I learned that one the hard way, remember?”
“No. What I remember was that you were in a relationship with a total asshole who would have cheated on you and broken your heart no matter how far away he lived. Geography doesn’t matter to guys like that. And it doesn’t matter to the good ones, either. If this Nash is as wonderful as you seem to think he is, he doesn’t sound like the type who would ever purposefully hurt you, no matter where he lived.”
“Yeah, okay, well then, what if it does work out? Then what? He can’t leave his ranch, so I’d have to move up there.”
“Yeah. And?”
“He lives out in the middle of nowhere. You really think I could be happy leaving everyone and everything I love, especially you and Tyler, to go live on some ranch somewhere?”
“If you loved him, then yes, I think you’d be very happy. But you’re getting kind of ahead of yourself there. Why worry about something that might not even happen?”
Iris bit her lip, afraid to voice the thoughts running through her head. Lena sat waiting, though from the look on her face Iris was pretty sure Lena already knew what she was thinking.
Finally, Iris released a groaning sigh. “Because…I think it might actually work out with him, and that’s terrifying.”
Lena smiled. “I know the feeling. But it could also be really wonderful. If you give it a chance.”
“You think?” Iris held her breath, excitement and fear racing through her, until her head spun. She wanted Nash. No denying that, even to herself. She wanted him so badly she ached for him. And not just because of the sensations he created in her body but because of how he made her feel. She’d always tried to live her life to the fullest, but somehow she’d never really felt alive until she’d met him. She just hadn’t known what she was missing. Now she did. And it wasn’t something she wanted to live without for the rest of her life.
“Yeah, I do,” Lena answered with a smile. “You want my advice?”
“Always,” Iris said, returning her smile.
“Go get your cowboy.”
The words sent happy excitement zinging through her, like a kid on Christmas morning who knows there is a pony waiting for her under the tree.
A tinge of guilt wormed its way in. “What about you? I’m supposed to be out there helping you, and watching Oz get married.”
Lena waved her off. “Oz will understand, and don’t worry about me. The hotel has day care. I’ll be fine.”
Iris sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay.”
Lena’s face erupted in a huge smile. “Go get him!”
“Okay!” she said, her smile echoing her friend’s. “I gotta go! Love you!”
“Love you, too, crazy woman.”
Iris shoved her phone into her pocket. She hesitated for just a second. The promise of gorgeous weather and an exotic vacation with her best friend was tempting. And uncomplicated. But treehouses and a dusty ranch sounded so much better. As long as Nash was there.
Yeah, it was far too soon to know if it was going to be the real deal, but she’d never connected with anyone the way she did with him. That was worth something, right? Worth giving it a shot. It didn’t even have to be long-distance. She could move…maybe. She could find a job near him. There was always a need for nurses. If things got to that point.
Decision made, she grabbed Sloane. Now all she had to do was try and get off the plane and then find him. In Miami. Piece of cake, right? She pulled out her phone to text him, her heart hammering in her chest. What exactly did one say in a situation like this?
She had no freaking clue. She went for short, sweet, and to the point.
I’m getting off the plane. Are you still here?
She waited. And waited.
No response.
Disappointment and hurt flooded her, but she tried to push it aside. There were a lot of reasons he might not answer right away. Maybe his text notifications weren’t on. She’d never heard it go off the whole time they were together. Maybe she should call him.
Her hand shook as she tapped the screen to dial his number, but she took a deep breath and held the phone to her ear.
It went straight to voicemail.
She put her phone down, staring at it, completely unsure of what to do. Had he rejected the call? Or was his phone just dead? That was a good possibility. It’s not like they’d been sitting around charging their phones all night. Hers was almost dead, too.
So…now what?
Take it as a sign she should just go to the wedding and forget about him? Or head for the exit and hope his brother was late picking him up and that he was still here?
She sighed deeply. She’d wonder her whole life if she didn’t go for it, no matter how things turned out. Which meant she needed to get off the plane. If they’d let her.
Only one way to find out.
…
Nash and Chase raced through the airport, tickets to some place Nash hadn’t even caught the name of clutched in their fists for the sole purpose of getting through security. Their only piece of luck was hitting a line that only had three people in it. By the time they got to the barrier, they’d stripped anything containing any metal and dumped boots, shoes, belts, and even Nash’s hat in the bins and shoved them through the x-ray conveyor belt.
Nash waited for exactly half a second on the other side of the barrier, anxiety clawing through him until his skin crawled, before he decided he couldn’t wait for the bins to come out the other side. Chase apparently agreed with him because the second his brother came through the barrier he shouted, “Let’s go!” and took off at a run, bare feet slapping against the tiles.
Nash pulled ahead of him, his socked feet slipping and sliding, but they didn’t ease up even with the shouts of the security guards echoing through the airport. They skidded to a stop in front of her gate, Nash sliding a little farther than he meant to. He tried to turn in mid-slide, pulled a crazy Scooby-Doo move, and managed to launch himself onto the carpeted bit of the waiting area.
The gate attendants stared at them, their mouths hanging open. A golf cart of security guards bore down on them from one side, the gate attendant was on the phone calling for more, and another guy was already heading to the gate doors. The plane, and Iris, sat just a few feet away. Chase was already arguing with the lady at the counter, waving his ticket at her and insisting they just needed to talk to someone on the plane. She just yelled louder for security.
The golf cart with two pudgy, retiree-looking guards pulled to a stop and shouted at Nash. Nash’s heart pounded. What am I doing? But Iris was on that plane. It was now or never.
“Chase!” he shouted, just as he rushed the door.
“I gotcha, bro!” Chase said, not missing a beat.
Chase blocked the gate attendant at the door, pinning him long enough for Nash to get through. He knew he didn’t have much time. He rounded the corner of the ramp, and the flight crew was already at the door, waving their hands frantically to try and keep him from entering. Rules and authority be damned. He put his shoulders down and barreled his way through.
“Iris!” he called as multiple hands dragged him down to the ground.
This was not going to end well.
…
Iris jumped out of her seat. “Nash!” Her heart pounded in her throat. She craned her head around her seatmate, trying to see through the press of uniformed bodies at the door of the plane.
Then he called her name again, and she didn’t hesitate. “Sorry,” she called as she climbed over the poor guy next to her.
A flight attendant hurried toward her, grabbing her arm to keep her from getting near the mass of writhing bodies at the plane’s entrance. Nash managed to squirm loose enough to get his head out of the dogpile and caught sight of her.
“Iris!” he called again, his face splitting into a huge grin.
She slapped her hands over her mouth
to keep a hysterical laugh from escaping. “What are you doing, you crazy man?”
“I don’t want you to go!”
Iris shoved the attendant away from her and pushed her way up the aisle. “You couldn’t have just called me?”
Whatever his answer was got lost in the shouts and press of security. They finally hauled him to his feet. His hands were zip-tied behind his back and a burly sky marshal heaved him toward the door.
“Wait!” she yelled, running down the aisle.
“Stay back, ma’am. We’ve got the suspect contained. You need to return to your seat.”
“He’s not a suspect; he just didn’t want me to go.”
One of the flight attendants smiled dreamily, and Iris resisted the urge to giggle. Her cowboy was certifiable but, holy shit, it was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her. EVER. For someone else it would have been amazing. But for Nash…he’d just broken about every rule there was to break in the airport rule book, and he’d done it for her. Her heart was so full of happiness and pride, it was going to burst.
She used Sloane to push her way around everyone, squeezing through the press of people at the door. She didn’t think they even noticed that she’d deplaned. She caught up with Nash and his group of guards just outside the gate doors.
“Wait!” she called out.
“Ma’am, you need to stay back.”
“No, you don’t understand. He’s not dangerous. He just wanted to see me.”
They weren’t having it, though. Nash had forced his way onto a plane. He was in for one major time out. They didn’t object to her tagging along, though, thank God.
Fifteen minutes later, Iris found herself in airport jail sitting between Nash and a goofily grinning man he introduced as his brother Chase…who was also zip-tied and barefoot.
“Where are your shoes?” she asked. “And your hat?” she gasped.
Nash shrugged. “Back at the security checkpoint, I guess.”
She shook her head, dropped Sloane to the floor, and clambered up on his lap, her legs straddling him. She took his face in her hands. “You left your hat behind for me?”
“I guess I did,” he said with a slow, sexy smile that hit her right in the gut and made her want to cry that they couldn’t have a few moments of privacy.