Fighting Perfection (The Perfection Series Book 2)

by Guimond, Heather

  “Don’t call me Kitten.” I said automatically. “Well, now I have no idea what it could be, but I’m scared shitless.”

  He pulled me in tight and kissed the side of my head. “Don’t worry, Mimi. You’ll always be safe with me.”

  I turned to look up at him and saw the most serious look on his face I’d seen yet. I felt a frisson of desire flow through me. I leaned in and touched my lips to his tenderly, wanting to let him know his words had touched me but not having the voice to say it. He pulled me even closer to him and kissed me back deeply. Our tongues met and danced with each other sensually. Gone was our normal urgency, this was something slow and tender. He softly stroked my back as he gently nibbled on my lips before sliding his tongue back in my mouth to kiss me thoroughly once again. I moved to straddle his lap, but he brought me to a halt.

  “If we go any further, we’ll get carried away and I won’t leave, and very likely Laurel will either miss her flight or be taking a cab. We don’t want that.”

  “No, she would not be happy with either.”

  “Then let me kiss you just one more time, and then I’ll go. What time are you taking her to the airport in the morning?

  “Her flight leaves at ten so she needs to be there by eight. I figure I’ll be back home by nine.”

  “Okay, this is what I want you to do. After you come home, make sure you eat a good meal, then take a long nap.” I’ll pick you up around six p.m., and we’ll get going on our next adventure.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me teasingly.

  “Yes, Sir!” I said with a little salute.

  “That’s my good girl. Now kiss me so I can leave a happy man.”

  While we were on our way to the airport the next morning, Laurel spoke up. “I really liked James a lot,” she said. “I can see why you were unwilling to stop seeing him. I think he’s exactly what you need right now. He’s fun and exciting and clearly adores you. Just the way he looks at you makes that evident.”

  “How does he look at me?” I asked, puzzled. I’d never caught him giving me any particular kind of look, unlike Justin who sometimes got this wistful-looking stare.

  “He looks at you like you’re the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen. Haven’t you noticed him just staring at you when you’re together?”

  “Um, no. He looks at me like a normal person.”

  “I did notice he’s discreet about it, but next time, try to get a glimpse of him from the corner of your eye. You’ll see what I mean.”

  I thought I’d do just that tonight assuming whatever we were doing gave me the opportunity to do so.

  As we were saying goodbye in front of the terminal, Laurel insisted I come visit her before the end of the year. I figured I’d have time over the winter break from school so I promised to make plans with her sometime closer to the holidays.

  Before she turned to go inside, she gave me a long look. “Whatever you do, Mimi, make sure you have that conversation with Justin soon. You don’t want to really hurt him.”

  “I don’t plan to hurt him. I am going to see him Wednesday unless he cancels again.”

  “If I were you, I’d do it earlier. Like tomorrow.” With that, she gave me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek and strutted inside the terminal.

  On the drive home, my thoughts were filled with Justin. It wasn’t going to be easy letting him down, not only because I didn’t want to hurt him, but also because of my own feelings for him. Yes, they were confused and jumbled up with his connection to my past, but I did feel more for him than just friendship, I believed. However, it was important that I stop things now before we went too far, and I really made a mess of it. It made me sad, but it was far better than the conflicting emotions and guilt I’d been carrying around for the last few months.

  I arrived home and followed James’ instructions to the letter. I wasn’t sure what constituted a good breakfast in his eyes, but I opted for nutritious and had some yogurt and berries, sprinkled with some tasty granola. Feeling satiated, I wandered into my room and laid down. I was out within minutes.

  I awoke to my phone ringing on the nightstand next to my bed. I couldn’t believe that I had slept until twelve-thirty. Well, he did say he wanted me to take a long nap so mission accomplished.

  I looked at the display on my phone and saw that it was Justin calling. I answered quickly, wondering if he was already calling to cancel on me for Wednesday.

  “Hi Justin,” I said, my voice slightly hoarse from sleep.

  “Hey Peaches. I wanted to call and wish you a belated happy birthday. I would have called yesterday, but I figured you were busy with Laurel and didn’t want to interrupt. Did you guys have a good time?”

  I gave him a rundown of our day, but leaving James out of the story. I wasn’t trying to deceive him, I just didn’t want him to feel bad when I had already told him I had plans with James that night.

  “That had to have been Laurel’s idea, the indoor skydiving. I’m surprised you did it.”

  “Believe it or not, it was my idea! I wanted to do something adventurous to mark my thirtieth birthday, and that’s what I came up with. I’m sure it’s a pale imitation of the real thing, but I haven’t gone totally crazy yet. I’m still timid at heart.”

  “I wouldn’t quite call you timid. Just…overly cautious.” He laughed, and I did along with him.

  “I’ll have you know I resemble that remark.”

  He laughed again. “So what are your plans for this afternoon? I thought maybe we could go grab some lunch before you go out tonight.”

  I felt very uncomfortable and put on the spot. I didn’t want to have James being a sore subject between the two of us, but I couldn’t be cavalier about tossing his name out to Justin.

  “You know that normally I’d love to, but he’s actually picking me up this evening so I need to get ready. Is your work schedule overloaded for tomorrow?”

  He cleared his throat, and I squeezed my eyes closed feeling like a real jerk. “I can always make time for you, Peaches. Why don’t we plan on noon?”

  I agreed and we ended the call shortly after with me feeling awkward and unhappy. I was dreading the conversation I needed to have with him, but Laurel was right. I couldn’t put it off. It had to be the next time I saw him.

  I had no idea what James and I were doing that evening so I called him before I made the same mistake I had when we went trapeze flying. He let me in on a bit of the surprise telling me we were going to his favorite restaurant for dinner, and I should dress up for it. With that in mind, I went to my closet and immediately started fretting over what to wear. Not finding anything that suited my liking, I decided to take a quick trip to the mall to find something appropriate.

  After searching a few stores, I finally ended up deciding on a dramatic, sleeveless, ecru evening dress that had a deep V-neck and pearlescent beading in an intricate pattern all over it. Matching it with delicate bronze sandals and matching beaded evening bag, I was all set.

  By the time I left the mall, it was four-thirty. I’d have just about an hour to get ready once I got home. I cursed myself for taking so much time shopping. I wanted to look my absolute best, and normally I languished over getting ready, making sure every detail was given due attention. I rushed into the house, laid my purchases on my bed, and dashed into the shower. I washed my hair as fast as I could and gave myself a good scrubbing with the loofah as quickly as possible. I spent the majority of my shower time shaving my legs. I just had this thing about smooth skin.

  I also agonized over how to wear my hair, but in the end I opted for simplicity on my part and left it to curl naturally then pumped it up a bit with a small bit of hair mousse.

  Just as I put on my dress, the doorbell rang. I ran to answer it without putting on my shoes.

  I opened the door to another mouth-watering sight of James in a suit. This time, he was dressed in a black suit with a French-blue dress shirt and a tie striped with silver and dark gray with thin threads of blue that matched his shirt. For be
ing as casual as he normally was, he sure cleaned up well. I felt that familiar desire rise up within me as I looked him over head to toe.

  “You better stop looking at me that way, Kitten, or we aren’t going to make it out of here again,” James said by way of greeting.

  I gulped and stood back to let him in, giving myself a mental face-slap. “Come on in if you dare,” I teased. “I just need to get my shoes on and put my essentials into my handbag.”

  He grinned at me wickedly and stepped across the threshold. He grabbed hold of my waist and pulled me in for a quick kiss. “You look stunning as ever, Mimi,” he whispered against my lips.

  “As you can tell, I approve wholeheartedly over your looks, too,” I purred back at him.

  He turned me around and swatted me on the butt. “Go finish getting ready. The afternoon light is fading, and we need to get going if we’re going to make our reservations.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I told you, my favorite restaurant. Well, fancy restaurant here in California. Now get moving.”

  James had us on the road in no time flat. We were headed toward the coast so I assumed we would be dining at some restaurant overlooking the beach. Imagine my surprise when we arrived at Santa Monica Municipal Airport. We parked near a hangar where several small planes were lined up out front. James came around the car and opened my door for me, then escorted me to a white plane with a yellow and black striping pattern over the doors, body, and tail of the aircraft.

  “This is a Cessna Skyhawk. She’s beautiful and brand new. I leased her for our adventure,” he said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

  “Where the hell are we going that we need to fly there, James?”

  He laughed. “Don’t worry, Mimi. I’m going to take you for the ride of your life.”

  “I thought you’d been doing that since the day I met you.”

  He paused and gave me a serious look that I couldn’t interpret. The he cleared his throat.

  “We’re not leaving California but just taking a trip up north. Our flight will only be about an hour, but it’s much more convenient than driving four hundred miles just for dinner.”

  “You know, there are many nice restaurants around here we could have gone to,” I said with some trepidation.

  “Then I wouldn’t be able to show you my favorite, or…” he looked bashful for a moment, “show off a little bit for you.”

  I grinned. “It’s the showing off part you really want to do, isn’t it James?”

  “I so totally do, Kitten. I have to use whatever is at my disposal to make an impression on you that lasts.”

  “Don’t call me Kitten. I don’t suppose there’s any way out of this trip, is there?”

  “What happened to your newfound spirit of adventure? This is going to be a great trip! I assure you that you are entirely safe.”

  “Because it’s you, I’m going to take you at your word and go along with this plan. Just let me state for the record that if we go down, I was mildly concerned.”

  “I can go along with mild concern. I think most people are mildly concerned whenever and however they fly,” he said opening the door for me and waving me inside.

  I climbed into what I can only describe as luxury for such a little plane. The interior was a beautiful cream leather with two seats in the front and two in the back. The instrument panel was filled with two small screens, several dials and switches, and two steering thingies James said were called yokes. He took his seat and went through his pre-flight check. I sat there calmly strapped into my seat. For as much as I ribbed James about being hesitant to fly with him, I actually had absolute faith in him. If the U.S. Navy trusted the man with a plane worth millions of dollars, then I was sure he could fly this little puddle jumper with no problem.

  After filing his flight plan, he navigated us toward the runway.

  “Santa Monica, Cessna Niner Niner Three Five Zulu requesting take-off,” James spoke into the headset. I assumed all must have been okay as we moved forward to the long strip of road that would lead us to the heavens. Well, hopefully not Heaven, per se.

  Soon we were taxiing down the runway and as James pulled back on the yoke, the plane lifted into the air. I felt my stomach do that little flip thing, and my throat felt tight. I tried to discreetly grip my seat, but I think he noticed. I don’t know how high we climbed, but I figured ignorance was bliss. If I didn’t know how high up we were, I wouldn’t know how far we could fall, right?

  Before long, I relaxed and James turned to me with a smile. “How was that, Kitten?”

  I swallowed hard and replied with a sweet smile, “Not that bad. Maybe you do know what you’re doing after all.”

  “Yeah, for my first solo mission, I think it went pretty well.”

  I just looked at him with a raised brow. “Aren’t you the cute one?”

  He winked at me, then looked at his control panel. “We’re in for a nice flight. We’ll be there in just about forty-five minutes now so ease back and enjoy the view.”

  I stared out the windows of the plane and watched the sun as it hung lower in the evening sky. It was still fairly light out at seven p.m., but you could see it was waning. I imagined flying at sunset would be phenomenal, way better than our simulated sky dive. Nevertheless, being up at that elevation at near twilight was spectacular and romantic. Just then, James reached over and took my hand. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye just as Laurel had suggested. Sure enough, he was looking at me with this soft expression. I turned to him and smiled.

  “You look like an angel with the sun coming through the windows and turning your hair into a silvery blonde,” he whispered. I nearly melted into a puddle on the floor. I wanted to make a joke, to bring things to a less intense moment, but I resisted the urge. I was no longer that young woman who nearly died of embarrassment when given a compliment. I was a thirty-year-old woman who was accustomed to being admired. So I pretended, anyway.

  I smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek. He turned his head and planted a warm, soft kiss on my lips. He smiled and looked at me again with that mixture of admiration and awe, this time open for me to see, then turned back to his instruments.

  The flight was smooth as James predicted. We arrived at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Municipal Airport just before eight p.m. There was a town car with a driver waiting for us. As we climbed in, I again asked where we were going.

  “I suppose I can put you out of your misery now. We’re going to a small restaurant at a winery nearby. We’ll be there within half an hour.”

  At the word winery, I began to panic. I did not like wine. The only one I had ever found palatable was a Riesling. I didn’t know enough about wines to know what paired with what. James had gone to so much trouble to arrange a lovely and romantic night for us, I didn’t want to ruin it. I’d just have to choke down the stuff and try not to grimace. I sure hoped I could pull it off, although I had strong doubts.

  We arrived at the St. Francis Winery and Vineyards in time for the eight-thirty reservations James had made. The restaurant was cozy and intimate with antiqued beige walls and a wood-beamed ceiling with matching trim and doors. A large fireplace added to the ambience. It was summertime, but Northern California is known for its cooler temperatures so the fire was not overwhelming. We were seated, and I was puzzled by the menu in that there were no choices. James explained it was a wine pairing, and with each of the five courses on the menu, you sampled the wine they selected to go with it. I was filled with a mixture of apprehension at my dislike for wines and mild excitement that maybe, just maybe, I might find something I liked with the variety we’d be offered.

  “Why do you look frightened, Mimi? You look worse than you did during take-off,” James observed.

  I put the menu down on the table and sighed heavily. I had no choice but to come clean. “I really appreciate all the trouble you’ve gone to tonight and so far everything is lovely—perfect in fact. I have to admit to you though, I
’ve never cared for wine.”

  “Oh God, poor Mimi.” He laughed. “I should have tried to feel you out for your preferences before making these plans. I pulled out my fanciest moves to celebrate your birthday and look what happened.”

  I laughed with him, my disquiet instantly easing. “I will give it a go. I’ve always hoped to find something I liked but apart from one, I haven’t been successful so far.”

  “Well these wines are perfectly paired to complement the meal so maybe you will find it to your liking. One flavor enhances the other.”

  “Let’s keep our fingers crossed, shall we?”

  He gave me a winning grin just as our first course was served.

  I tried so many wines that night I couldn’t keep them straight in my head. James had been right, they really did enhance the flavors in the dishes they served. However, the one that appealed to me the most was the port they served with dessert. It was just so soft on my palate, slightly sweet and delicious. I felt better that I had found things I could tolerate, but I didn’t think for a moment that I’d ever become a wine snob. I’d be sticking with my Dirty Martinis for the duration.

  The town car was waiting for us just where we’d left it, and we settled into the backseat for the ride back to the airport snuggling close together, my head on James’ shoulder and his arm around mine.

  “Thank you for the lovely evening, James. It was marvelous.” I said, placing a tiny kiss under his ear.

  “It’s not quite over yet, Kitten,” he said as he reached into the breast pocket of his coat.

  “Don’t call me Kitten,” I mumbled as I watched him withdraw a slim, rectangular object wrapped in gold foil and ribbon.

  He handed it to me and whispered, “Happy Birthday, gorgeous.”

  With slow deliberate movements, I began to unwrap the package. I wanted to save the paper, it was so pretty.

  James immediately pulled the package from my hands. “You do not open gifts like an old lady, Mimi. You do it with enthusiasm!” He remarked, ripping the paper to shreds.