Realizing he’d only seen Harper beat up, I nodded. “The one and only.”
He scrutinized her, but not in the way a guy usually scrutinizes a girl. There was definite curiosity, but I wasn’t sure it was sexual. Still, as he continued to stare at her, I felt the need to say, “She’s off-limits.”
Jamie swung his gaze back to me. “Caleb says she lives in our building. I haven’t seen her.”
“Jamie,” I warned.
He held up his hands in a defensive gesture. “It’s not like that. I just …” His attention returned to my friend. “She’s striking. Do you … do you think she’d let me paint her?”
“I don’t see how that’s any different.”
Jamie’s brows pulled together. “It’s completely different. I never sleep with my models. The art is too important.”
There was so much sincerity and passion in his tone that I decided to believe him. “I … You would have to ask her but …” If Harper was even slightly interested in being an artist’s model, it would mean I’d inadvertently be connected to Caleb again. It was bad enough I couldn’t visit my friend at her apartment … “Maybe not now.”
Seeming to understand, Jamie nodded and I sank down into my stool in relief.
Awkward silence fell between us and I kind of wished he’d just leave. “Are you here alone?” I hinted.
His gaze sharpened in sympathy. “Caleb’s here.”
My heart rate, which had increased already in Jamie’s presence, instantly took off like a rocket. I searched the bar.
When I found him, I wished I hadn’t. He was sitting in the corner with a bunch of people, including Jen from his office, who was pressed up beside him on a bench. Whatever she was saying, Caleb was nodding.
I felt sick.
I was going to be sick.
Jamie cursed. “It’s not what you think, Ava.”
But I was already off my stool. “Tell Harper I’m outside. Don’t tell your brother I’m here.” Before he could argue, I was weaving my way through the crowd, trying to leave inconspicuously.
Then I waited nervously across the street behind one of the granite pillars of an office building. When Harper appeared a minute later, looking left and right with concern etched over her pretty face, I stopped hiding like an idiot.
“Harp!” I called.
She caught sight of me, waited for a gap in traffic, and jogged across the street. She immediately slung her arm over my shoulder and didn’t say anything as we began to hurry away together.
We were a couple of blocks away when she finally said, “You are way smarter than her.”
A surprised laugh burst out of me as I realized she must have seen Jen next to Caleb. If I didn’t laugh, I’d cry, and I’d already promised myself no more crying. “How could you tell?”
“He looked bored out of his mind.”
“Really?” I hadn’t noticed that. To be fair, I hadn’t noticed much in all my panicking.
“Oh, God yeah. When you were in the room, he watched you like a hawk. He looked at you like everything you said was fascinating. He was barely looking at her at all.”
Although this information hurt, I also craved it. “He looked at me like that?”
Harper nodded at me sadly. “He loves you. He might be too messed up in the head to do something about it, but I can’t hate the guy for loving you.”
That familiar burn started in my chest and I needed it to go away. “Can you hate him for not loving me enough? Because I can’t, Harper. I can’t hate him. You need to do it for me so I don’t look back on my life and regret him. Because if my best friend hates him, then he isn’t worth my regret.”
“I hate him,” she answered instantly and seriously. “He’s quinoa to me.”
Harper detested quinoa. Like, more than she hated most things. “I love you.”
“I love you back. Another beer? In a bar where there’s no quinoa in sight.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, clinging to my strength. “This city is big enough for the both of us.”
“It belongs more to you, though. He’s an intruder. He should really leave.”
My heart ached at the thought even though I wouldn’t be in this situation if he’d just stayed in Scotland. “He should. He can have Scotland. I want Massachusetts. I don’t think I’m asking for a lot.”
“Yeah,” Harper agreed enthusiastically. “He should go and take his little Mini-Me with him so you can visit my apartment.”
“Jamie wants to paint you,” I blurted.
Harper appeared stunned by this news. “What? Paint me?”
“You know he’s an artist?”
“Yeah?”
“He thinks you’re interesting.”
“Meaning he wants to get into my pants,” she scoffed.
“No, I actually think he really means he wants to paint you. Apparently he doesn’t sleep with the models because his art is more important to him than sex. From what I’ve gleaned about him, I think that’s true.”
“Well, whatever.” Harper shook her head, seeming a little dazed by the idea. “I don’t have time to be some guy’s model. Doesn’t he know I am a very important person?”
“I don’t think he got that memo.”
“I’ll slip it under his door. ‘Hey, weird Scottish dude. I make very important art too. And mine tastes better than yours so I win. Find another muse, Mini-Quinoa.’ ”
I burst out laughing, my love and affection for my friend pushing away the pain I felt at seeing Caleb. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Lucky for you, that’s something you’ll never have to know.” She stuck her tongue out at me playfully and skipped ahead. “Now let’s find a bar. There are many sorrows to be drowned!”
Isn’t that the truth, I thought as I hurried to catch up with her in my strappy heels.
Thirty-one
My carry-on suitcase bumped along behind me as I walked down the Jetway to the plane. The nice thing about flying first class—besides the more spacious seats and complimentary dining—was getting on the plane first. There were very few things I disliked more than waiting at a gate to board a plane. At least once you were on the plane you could get settled and crack open a book or put on a movie.
Not that I had been expecting to be getting on a plane at all. This was the second time in as many weeks that Stella had put me on one at the last minute.
The Monday after I saw Caleb with Jen Granton at the bar, I’d walked into the office to start my day only to be interrupted by Stella. She’d perched her pert ass on my desk and announced, “You need a distraction.”
I wasn’t going to lie. A distraction would be wonderful. “What kind of distraction are we talking about?”
“Chicago.”
“Chicago? The musical?”
Stella smirked. “No. The city.” She handed me a slim portfolio. “Calum Scotia. Banker. Divorced. Looking for a design overhaul on his penthouse apartment in the River North area. East North Water Street.” Her smile was smug. “Quite the property and quite the find.”
“How did he find out about us?” I asked, reading through the information Stella had collected on the potential client and what he was looking for.
“He’s friends with one of our Boston clients. She recommended us.”
“And you want me to go out there?” I felt my excitement build as I looked over the photographs of the property’s current condition. The design was about fifteen years out of date and very feminine. But the duplex had extraordinary views and stunning high ceilings and vast spaces. There was a lot of fun to be had with it.
“Yes. Tomorrow.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why such late notice?”
She shrugged. “He gave us late notice. He has a few other designers coming out to give him their pitch. I don’t want to lose out on this. We haven’t had work in the Chicago area in a few years.”
“Fine,” I agreed. In fact, it was more than fine. This was just what I needed right now. Althoug
h, I said, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle this design on top of everything else.”
“You’ll make it work.” Stella patted my hand reassuringly as she hopped off my desk to leave. “The best thing for you right now, sweet Ava, is to throw yourself into your career.”
I studied the portfolio again. This place would be worth the stress. “Okay.”
“I’ve booked you on a first-class flight leaving tomorrow morning at nine fifteen. Oh, and a suite at the Sheraton Grand. It’s not far from Mr. Scotia’s apartment.”
“That was presumptuous!” I called after her.
“I knew you’d say yes!”
And my boss is always right, I mused as I boarded the plane. I had a window seat, and whoever was sitting in the aisle hadn’t shown up yet, so I managed to get my luggage into the overhead bin without knocking anyone on the head. I winced at the memory and threw it away.
This business trip was a distraction, I reminded myself.
Settling into my seat, I pulled down my tray table and placed the portfolio with the photos and info about the client on it, along with a sketchpad. Keeping my brain occupied was of the utmost importance, and although I usually waited to sketch until I’d seen a space in real life, I decided to get a head start on my ideas.
Soon I was so lost in my drawings that I forgot where I was. The slight jolt of my chair filtered into my awareness and I realized the person sitting in the aisle seat had arrived. I didn’t bother to look up, but I felt their heat. As I sketched ideas for the kitchen, however, the tantalizing scent of a familiar cologne began to invade my senses and my pencil scratched to a halt on the page.
No.
Not possible.
Slowly, I think because I feared it was him, and feared that it wasn’t, I turned my head to the right and felt the breath knocked out of me at the sight of Caleb Scott sitting beside me. He stared at me with such tenderness and affection my lungs tightened with the ache of seeing it. Caleb wore his usual uniform of T-shirt and jeans, so all his tattoos were on display. I preferred him like this, I decided finally. The suits were hot. But this was the Caleb I first met, and the biker guy look suited him better than Armani. All the longing and loss I’d felt became so acute now that he was in front of me. Strangely, it hurt more than it did when I couldn’t see him.
“How?” I whispered, not knowing what else to say. I was so confused.
What was he doing here?
The corner of his mouth tilted up attractively. “I know a guy.”
I let out a noise of disbelief. “You know a guy?”
“I know a guy.”
That didn’t clear up my confusion. Caleb was here. Sitting in the seat next to mine. And I had no idea how he’d managed it. But more important for me to know was his reason for being here.
“Why?”
He reached out and took my hand in his, his thumb caressing my knuckles. “Because I can’t regret you for the rest of my life. I won’t.”
Shock, elation, fear, bafflement … I didn’t know what to feel. “What does that mean?”
“It means there is no Calum Scotia in Chicago.” He gestured to my sketches. “Just a Caleb Scott.”
“Oh my God …” I shook my head and squeezed his hand, cursing myself for not having worked that one out.
He grinned unrepentantly.
“Stella?”
Caleb nodded. “I didn’t know how tae do this. I was worried that if I even tried, you wouldn’t give me the time of day. So I remembered the last time I had you trapped.” He chuckled. “You couldn’t escape me on our flights. And Jamie has an exhibition in Chicago this week. I called Stella tae see if she’d help me and she agreed. She gave me your identification details and I booked us on the flight together. She came up with the Calum Scotia stuff.”
“I’m going to kill her.” I thought my heart might pound right out of my chest.
He tugged on my hand, his eyes darkening. “Does that mean you aren’t willing tae give me another chance?”
Hope began to build, swelling inside of me until I felt uncomfortably stretched by it. It was at once a wonderful and horrifying feeling. “Is this real?”
Turning toward me, Caleb took hold of my other hand and brought them both to his chest. I could feel his heart banging hard and fast against my palm. “I want tae be with you, Ava. Do you still want tae be with me?”
There was a part of me that whispered I should leave him hanging after the weeks of hell he’d put me through, but staring into his face—a face I loved—I couldn’t. “No more running away?”
“No more running away, wee yin. Never from you. And I am sorry I ever did.”
Recognizing the sincerity in his voice, I slid my hand up to cup his face, to feel the familiar prickle of his stubble beneath my palm, and I reached for him.
He reached back.
Our kiss was deep, tender, and filled with such longing.
It was also entirely inappropriate for the plane, but I didn’t care.
When we broke apart, we panted softly against each other’s mouths, and I felt tears of joy sting my eyes. “Is this really happening?”
“It’s really happening.”
“You hate flying,” I murmured randomly.
“Aye. But I have you tae distract me.”
Despite the euphoria and relief flooding me, my insides still felt shaky with uncertainty. Caleb seemed to sense it, pressing soft kisses along my jaw until he reached my ear, where he whispered, “You’re mine forever now, wee yin.”
I fought back the tears his words incited and tightened my hold on him. “And you’re mine.”
He drew back to look me deep in the eye and he nodded.
He was mine.
I smiled. Big and happy and I was rewarded with his grin. I touched my fingers to his lips and whispered, “You should do that more.”
“I have a feeling I’ll be doing it a lot more from now on.”
We gazed at each other, taking in every little detail of each other’s face, but the moment was broken when the flight attendant asked us if we’d like a drink. I asked for two glasses of champagne and made Caleb clink glass to glass. “We’re celebrating.”
“I can think of a better way tae celebrate than this.”
“Oh?” I knew that look on his face. He was going to say something dirty and I was going to pretend to be appalled all while he made my girly parts tingle.
His gaze smoldered. “We could join the mile high club.”
I glanced over at the curtain that hid the bathroom and galley. “Are you kidding?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“We can’t.” Everyone would hear us.
“Who is going tae know,” he whispered. “Hidden behind the curtain, everyone will think I’m just waiting in line for the loo. Instead I’ll be inside it with you. While you come very, very hard but very, very quietly.”
He reached out to put his hand on my knee and he caressed it, his palm pushing the hem of my skirt up slightly.
“I need you, Ava.”
All cheekiness had faded from his voice, leaving just raw, serious need.
“We shouldn’t.”
Hearing the change from “can’t” to “shouldn’t,” Caleb’s expression tightened. “We should.” His fingers slid between the gap between my knees, caressing my inner thigh, and my belly tightened.
“Caleb,” I whispered.
He leaned over to whisper in my ear, “One way or another I need you. Here or in there?”
I pushed away his hand, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. “In there,” I said shakily, my pulse rocketing at the idea of having sex in the bathroom of an airplane. I didn’t think the mile-high club was actually a thing!
Not too long later the flight attendant took away our glasses and the announcement came over that we were readying for takeoff.
Seeing Caleb tense, I reached for his hand again, bringing his attention back to me and not the plane. “I saw you with Jen,”
I said, knowing the controversial subject would definitely take his mind off everything but us.
Sure enough, he scowled. “Jamie told me. And I told you that there’s nothing between me and Jen. There was a whole bunch of us from the office in that bar. Jen just …”
“She squeezed her way in beside you, huh?” I tried to suppress my grin at his agitated expression.
“She’s a pain in the arse.”
I chuckled. “I’m sorry I got jealous.”
“I’m not.” His gazed moved lovingly over my face. “I wanted you back as soon as you walked away from me in the park. But I thought I didn’t deserve you for making you feel like you weren’t worth the risk. I fought with myself for two weeks and then when Jamie told me how you reacted tae seeing me, I knew it was now or never. There was a window between you loving me and resenting me and I couldn’t miss it.”
“Leo is just a friend,” I replied, thinking it best to clear that up too. “We bumped into each other that day at the park. That’s all that was.”
The muscle in his jaw popped as he clenched his teeth, his hold on my hand tightening a little too much. I squeezed it and he loosened his grip. “I dinnae like the way he looks at you.”
“Just friends,” I repeated. Then I laughed, suddenly remembering our first time on a plane together. “I never would have imagined us being here right now that first time flying from Arizona to Chicago.”
“No, me neither. But I was thinking about getting you into bed.”
“I never would have guessed that. You were so mean.”
“Hey, you were mean back.” His lips twitched, eyes dancing with mirth. “It only made me want you more. When you got up to go to the bathroom, I imagined following you in there.” His lips brushed my ear again as he said in that low, sexy voice of his, “I imagined you pressed up against the sink, your back tae me.”
My breath stuttered. “Is that what you’re going to do to me?”
I felt him shake his head before he drew back to look deep into my eyes. “I need tae look at you when we’re in there. You’re not just some sexy stranger now. You’re Ava.”
Suddenly the beep of the seat belt sign drew us out of our bubble and we realized we were up in the air. We shared a smile.
Fight or Flight Page 32