by Piper Rayne
“Whoa.” Leo holds out his hand. “I’m fairly sure you don’t want me to have to talk with your boss. Teegan might be my ex-PR rep and yes, she’s my ex-girlfriend…”
Leo picked up the sledgehammer and took a swing. Ouch. Ex-girlfriend.
I miss whatever else he says, but she grabs her bags and heads over to Sam and the others.
“Thank you,” I say.
He shakes his head. “Don’t. The meeting’s over, you’re free to go.”
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Okay.” I pack up my belongings—better to leave while Sam is still here so it’s not even more awkward.
“Hey.” Leo comes up to the side of me. The smell of his cologne draws me to him. “Thank you for bringing up the jackets.”
I zip up my computer case. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re getting what you want.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?” I spin to face him, my forehead wrinkled.
“What do you want?”
My shoulders fall. “I’m afraid what I want—”
“Leo,” Sam calls out and Leo turns his head. “We’re going to head out.”
“I was just leaving, too.” I pull my bag over my shoulders and suck in one last big inhale of his scent. I walk over and shake hands with all of them, including the bitch who has the hots for Leo.
“Great to meet you, Teegan,” Sam says.
I smile, since my job is pretty much done now. “It was my pleasure.” I turn to Leo who is oddly close to me. “Leo. Good luck.”
He smiles and wraps his arms around me. We hold each other for what seems like hours, but is probably only seconds. I allow myself to sink into his strong grip, denying the urge to run my hands up and down his back or rub the short hairs on the back of his neck. “Thank you,” he whispers. “It’s never too late to go after what you want.” He pulls away and I blink back the tears threatening to fall.
I nod. “Bye.” I choke out the one word before I run out of the shop.
Once I hit the street, the tears fall and I hold my hand out for the first taxi I see and climb in, effectively putting Leo Vaughn and Canine Couture behind me.
I’m rolled on my side, tears staining my pillow. My door creeps open and I figure Sophie must’ve found her way in. The bed dips behind me and a frail arm wraps around my waist.
“I’m sorry, baby. Heartbreak isn’t easy.”
My mom smells like apples and for the first time in a while the scent of alcohol doesn’t linger around her.
I clutch her hand in mine. “Why am I so stupid? Why can’t I tell him I love him?” The sobs rack my body again and I shake my head.
“Aren’t we a pair? I believe in true love and you run away from it.” She’s so coherent.
I sit up and rest my back on the headboard. She’s dressed in my yoga pants and t-shirt, but at least she doesn’t have that stupid robe on still.
“Are you leaving?” I ask.
She nods, biting her lip just like I do. “Fred. He’s a fisherman in Maine. We’re flying out tonight.”
I grab a Kleenex and blow my nose. “How do you do it?” I ask. “Keep believing some soulmate is out there for you.”
She smiles and shrugs. “I can’t imagine a life without love. I haven’t been dealt the best hand or maybe I just don’t know how to pick ’em, but there’s nothing like having a man who loves you. Someone who wants to take care of you.”
“But—”
Her finger covers my lips. “No.” She shakes her head. “It’s true. Not everyone is the one. But I’ve never seen you act the way you have lately. Moping around, crying, going through a pint of ice cream every day.” She eyes me as if she watches my movements like I do hers. “My guess is Romeo is worth the risk of a heartbreak.”
I brush a tear off my cheek. “But what if it doesn’t work out? Then what will I do? I don’t want to go through that.”
She brushes a piece of hair behind my ear. “Oh, sweetie, seems to me you already know what it feels like to lose him,” she says in a soft, nurturing voice.
How on Earth is she the one who makes me realize that I have to try to win Leo back?
The doorbell rings and she jumps off the bed. “Take a chance, baby girl. Live your life. I should’ve never made you have to be the responsible one. I blame myself.”
I appreciate her words, but I know they won’t stop her from coming back when Fred turns out to be married or has three ex-wives looking for money.
“Good luck, Mom.”
She smiles her I-won-the-lottery grin and in her mind, I know she thinks she did. She’s an eternal optimist. I hope she’s right this time.
“You too, sweetie. Go get your Romeo, Juliet, and don’t think so hard about what’s coming down the line. Just take it as it comes.” She kisses my forehead and leaves the room.
I hear a deep male voice and then Sophie and then nothing. Seconds later Sophie runs into my room.
“What’s up? She’s gone. Let’s party!” She jumps on my bed, falling to her ass.
“Sophie,” I say and she turns to face me and then looks me up and down once and stops.
We share a look and she smiles.
“You’re ready?”
I nod. “I’m ready.” My heart lifts and I swipe the last of the tears off my face.
“It’s go time. Operation Get Teegan Out of the Doghouse with Doggie Man is on.” She flings herself off the bed. “Any ideas?”
I rack my brain, nibbling on my lip. “Yeah. One.”
31
Teegan
Who would’ve guessed that I’d have to get Jagger involved in my plan?
“Who is this douche?” Sophie asks with her phone to her ear. “I’m her best friend. My measurements?” She huffs. “I can’t wait to smack you.” She puts her finger in her mouth, gagging. “You like hitting, huh? Maybe we do have something in common.” She flirts and I shake my head. “Get your boy here in an hour and don’t tell him what the hell is going on.” She clicks the phone off. “I’m not sure about Leo now that I’ve talked to his friend.”
I shrug. “Jagger grows on you.”
“Like fungus,” she says, her face scrunched up.
“Help me, I’m not going to win Leo over in yoga pants and tank top,” I say.
She shrugs. “You really don’t have a choice, Tee.”
I turn to the five other men who are going to help me out here.
They all shrug. “Unless you’d like to flash all of us, ma’am, a dress isn’t an option,” one of the guys says.
“I wouldn’t complain. I can promise to shut my eyes,” another says while the third elbows him and laughs.
Men.
“Okay, so he’s been here before, he doesn’t have to go through the instruction, right?” I ask the main guy, Matt.
“Yep, just you will and one of us will have to be strapped to your back.”
“What?” I ask, not remembering that part from what I looked up online.
“You have to have so many jumps with an expert before you can go on your own.”
This news actually makes me a little calmer about jumping from a plane. “Okay. Can you hide me in the plane?”
“Sure, we’ll put you in the cockpit,” Matt chimes in. “He won’t know until we’re up there.”
“Are we sure he even wants you back?” the asshole who wanted to see my goods asks, his bigass boots on the table in the front of him.
“Yes, we’re sure, asshole!” Sophie says.
He holds his hands up in the air. “Just checking.”
Sophie shifts her stance into I’m-going-to-fuck-you-up mode. “Are you single?” she asks with attitude.
“Hell, yes,” he says with a smile.
“Surprise, surprise.” Everyone else laughs and then she puts her hands on my shoulders, looking me straight in the eye. “You have this, girl. No worries.”
I nod my head like she’s giving me a pep talk before I enter the boxing ring to get my ass
kicked. I inhale a deep breath. Ready. I’m ready.
“And remember if he doesn’t reciprocate, fuck him,” she adds.
I nod again. I probably resemble a bobble head right now.
We wait forty-five minutes and then a fancy car pulls up and I have no doubt it’s Jagger.
“Who the hell are you expecting? Chris Evans?” the asshole says.
“Take Teegan and Sophie to the plane.” Matt directs the jerk and another guy. “You two will be riding tandem with them.”
Great.
“I call asshole.” Sophie raises her hand and the guy’s eyes roam up and down her body. “Don’t even think about getting handsy,” she warns and points at him.
We run to the plane, the pilot already in the cockpit, pressing buttons and flipping switches. Our seats are behind the pilot and co-pilot on a two-by-two square with one lap harness.
I’m going to die. I’m going to die.
I might not be broken, but I’m going to be after this flight. My chest feels like there’s a boa constrictor wrapped around it.
“Relax,” Sophie whispers.
Twenty minutes later, Leo’s and Jagger’s voices come from the back of the plane.
“I don’t get why you were so adamant about this. I had to close the store and lock up Cooper.”
“You’re single now, live it up,” Jagger says and Sophie and I share an eye roll.
“I’ll be single tomorrow. It could have waited.”
“Oh, you don’t know that.” Jagger laughs and then coughs.
“Am I missing something?” Leo asks. He’s too smart for his own good.
“Other than some bro bonding time? No. We haven’t skydived in ages.”
“Too bad Vance couldn’t come.” I hear carabiners being clicked around.
“Domestication, I tell you. It’s killed the adrenaline junkie in him.”
“All the more reason we should have come tomorrow.” Leo is not letting it go.
“Jeez, man, I’m not feeling very special here. I mean I offer a day out with your best friend and I’m really not feeling the love from you.”
Leo laughs and my heart warms with the sound.
When I glance at Sophie I see her smiling, watching me. She silently claps her hands and stomps her feet in excitement.
“Sorry, man, thanks really. I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but no fish tacos after this.”
“Come on,” Jagger says like a kid whose parents just told him he can’t play video games.
“Nope.”
“Let’s get this going.” Matt’s voice comes in next and he claps his hands. Sticking his head in, he winks at me, pats the pilot on the shoulder. “Let’s get this bird airborne.”
The pilot puts up the okay symbol with his hand and the loud sound of the engine overtakes any conversation coming from the back.
Getting the literal bird’s eye view of flying isn’t exactly the best for me. I don’t have Leo’s hand either in mine or in me, which sucks.
I close my eyes, my head finding a spot between my legs as we speed down the runway and zoom into the sky. I push back all my scared feelings. He’s here, he’s on this plane with you.
Matt peeks in and taps my leg. I look up to find Sophie laughing and pointing at me.
One eye open, I glance out the window. Clouds and blue sky. I think I’m going to throw up.
“We’re ready.” Matt nods, silently asking if I’m going through with this.
I nod and he grips my hands. “Are you sure?” he yells.
I nod again, unable to speak. I stand up, grabbing the edges of the opening.
Why am I doing this? What a stupid idea. Why couldn’t I have shown Leo how I feel at sea level?
I’m in the doorway and Leo’s gaze fixes on me. Jagger reveals his perfectly white teeth with a big smile, hitting his friend in the thigh with his fist.
“Hi,” I say.
He stands, clipping his strap to a pole at the top of the plane, clearly a pro at this stuff, and walks toward me.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, grabbing my shaking hands. He grips them tightly in his and I take my strength from him.
“I’m scared,” I say loud enough for him to hear me over the plane’s engine. “I can’t deny that fact. I started therapy and hopefully she’ll fix me.”
He lets a small laugh escape. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”
I shake my head. “Leo, I’d rather jump into the unknown with you—where I’ll either land flat on my face or land safe and secure—than spend one more second without you.”
“You don’t have to jump out of an airplane,” he says, brushing his knuckles over my cheek.
“I do.” I nod my head a couple of times. “I want to prove it to you. You know better than anyone that my greatest fear is loss of control and that’s why I held back giving you my whole heart. I’m ready now. I can do it.”
He smiles, that smile that I love so much. The way he used to look at me before I let my own fear mess it all up.
“You look kind of pale,” he says, looking like he’s trying to hold in a laugh.
“I might be a tad nauseated, but it’s okay, I’m ready. I have to be strapped to one of these guys.” I nod toward the four guys, one already hooking himself up to Sophie. “I know you can go by yourself, but maybe we can go one after the other.”
“Strapped to one of them?” He thumbs back to the guys then pulls me into him. “You’re mine.” He glances back and Matt nods, already getting out of his harness.
Leo steps out of his and the two make the exchange. Leo uses his finger to tell me to turn around. He straps me to him and his lips land on my temple. “You sure about this?”
I nod. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
“Okay.”
The door opens and a cold rush of air flows in. My feet freeze and my lungs seize. Jagger nods to the guy running it and jumps off, spiraling out into the air.
Sophie and her partner do the same, Sophie giving me the ‘rock on’ symbol with her fingers before they leap.
Leo nudges me forward, his hands tight in mine. “You have to hold on to the parachute.”
I nod.
Then we’re in front of the door and there’s nothing in front of me but impending death.
“I changed my mind.” I put a hand on each side of the door.
Leo laughs behind me. “You can do this, babe.” I inhale a deep breath and Leo gradually unwraps my hands from the side of the door. Without any warning he pushes us out and we’re freefalling to the ground.
I scream as we somersault through the air and Leo pulls the parachutes, and the entire experience changes. We float to the ground and for a brief moment I only see the beauty below us, none of the danger. Leo guides us down, positioning us right where we need to land. He unhooks me and spins me around to face him, a huge grin on his face.
“You’re good. Happy? Safe?” He inspects my body head to toe.
“I’m perfect!” I wrap my arms around his neck and get up on my tiptoes to plant a chaste kiss on his lips.
“Yeah, you sure are.” He kisses my forehead.
“Thanks for pulling the parachute.”
He laughs. “Haven’t you realized? I’ll always be your parachute.”
I nod, a tear slipping from my eye. This time it’s not a sad one, but the happiest of tears.
His hand wraps around the back of my neck and he pulls me toward him, our lips crashing together like we were never apart.
Epilogue
Leo
This could go south. Really fucking fast.
Teegan knocks on my door and Cooper runs to it, his nails scratching on the hardwood as he tries to gain purchase. When he gets close he tries to slow himself down, but smacks right into the wall.
“Hey, bud, she’s not leaving us anytime soon, calm down.” I pat his head and open the door.
“Hey,” she says and crouches down, letting Cooper kiss her hello. She lets him sniff
her neck and lick her cheek now, but everything else is off limits. Somehow, he knows his boundaries with her.
She stands up.
“What about me?” I ask.
She kisses my lips, not nearly long enough to satisfy me. “I never forget you.” She steps in and stops. “Did someone rob you and only take half your things?” Her gaze takes in the condo and she spins back around to face me.
“No.” I grab the strap of her computer bag, dragging it down her arm and then placing the bag on the breakfast stool.
“Leo, what is going on?” There’s panic in her voice.
Ah, my little control freak comes out to play.
“Relax, everything is fine.”
She inhales a deep breath and waits for me to explain what the hell is happening.
“I love the fact you’re open to sleeping naked because you have no pajamas here. I don’t mind you using my toothbrush on the occasions you forget yours. I definitely don’t mind you wearing my sweatshirts to lounge around because the fact is you look fucking hot like that. I love the fact you clean my kitchen, do my laundry, and dust my furniture.”
She smiles. “Once a clean freak, always a clean freak.”
“Yes, but want to know what I can’t stand anymore?”
“What?” Her eyes crinkle and she scans the immediate area for some sign as to what it could be.
“The fact I have to get off my ass to answer the door for you.”
Her lips take a quick upturn. “What’s going to fix that?”
I swing a key in front of her face, hanging from a keychain that says, ‘I love dogs.’
“Taken.” She raises to her tiptoes, planting a kiss to my lips and pulling me down to her.
“That was easy.”
She steps back, kicking off her heels. “Are you suggesting that I’m easy, Mr. Vaughn?” Her fingers hover over the buttons on her blouse, popping one and then two open.
“Before we get to that…” My gaze slowly moves up and down her body and her breathing hitches from my stare.
“You’re denying me?” Another button gone and the black bra I made for her is revealed.