Just A Kiss

by Elks, Carrie

  “You clearly don’t remember my mom’s cooking. It’s you who’ll mind it.” Lucas grinned. “Remember the Christmas she forgot to defrost the turkey?”

  Breck swallowed. “Yeah, I do.” He remembered it all too well. He would never forget that Christmas.

  “Oh shit,” Lucas said, realization crossing his face. “I didn’t mean…”

  “It’s okay.” Breck smiled at him. “Old history. We don’t need to talk about it now.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay spending a holiday with us?” Lucas asked. “I don’t want to upset any of you.”

  “It’ll be good,” Breck said, his voice firm. “Let’s make some new memories and forget the old ones.” He hadn’t come all this way to turn his back on his fears. He was going to face them head on.

  Even if they hurt.

  “Okay then, that’s sorted.” Lucas grinned. “You’ll make Mom really happy. Thanks, man.”

  “No worries. What are your plans for the rest of today? Do you have time to grab some coffee? I was going to head over to Déjà Brew to meet Ember. Wanna join?”

  “Sure.” Breck nodded. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  “Hey, guys. What can I get you?” Ally smiled at Breck and Lucas across the counter. On the far side, her boyfriend Nate was talking to his teenage daughter. It made Breck grin to watch as the kid tied him up in verbal hoops.

  “Two flat whites, please,” Breck said, handing over his card.

  “Hey Breck, hey Lucas.”

  He turned to see Rachel walking through the door with Ember. The two of them were carrying a pile of bridal magazines. Breck raised his eyebrow at Lucas who shrugged.

  Why did he have the impression this was a set up?

  “Hey,” he said, raising his hand at them. “How’s it going?”

  “Good. Just doing some research,” Rachel said, holding up the pile of magazines.

  “Can you add their orders to my tab?” he asked Ally.

  “Sure.” Ally nodded. “What do you guys want?” she called over to the girls.

  “A cappuccino please,” Rachel answered quickly.

  “Make that two,” Ember added.

  “You didn’t tell me we were going to be wedding planning,” he said to Lucas with a grin. “If I’d known I would’ve brought my own magazines.”

  “It’s not that kind of wedding,” Lucas said, winking. “And anyway, I didn’t know you could read.”

  “He probably just looks at the pictures.” Ally grinned, clearly enjoying the banter. “You guys go and sit down, I’ll bring your coffees over when they’re ready.”

  “Table service?” Lucas asked. “Whatever next?”

  “I wouldn’t want you to miss a moment of the wedding planning.” Ally said, a twinkle in her eye. “Now shoo.”

  When they sat down, Ember looked up from the magazine she was thumbing through. “Did you pay the deposit for the band?” she asked Lucas.

  “Yep.” He nodded. “And I sent them the list of songs we wanted them to play, like I promised.” There was a teasing note to his voice. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We got this covered.”

  “Thanks to Caitie.” She sighed. “She’s been a godsend. I swear, every morning I wake up to an email saying something else is handled. She’s like some kind of Wedding Angel.”

  “Maybe she should become a wedding planner,” Rachel said. “Sounds like she’s good at it.”

  “She wouldn’t have the time, would she?” Breck asked. “Not with her business being as successful as it is.”

  “Oh do you know her well?” Rachel asked, tipping her head to the side, her brows knitting together. “I didn’t realize.”

  “We all grew up together,” Lucas told her. “Breck and his brother spent as much time at our house as they did at their own when we were kids.”

  “There you go,” Ally said, sliding a tray on the table in front of them. “Two flat whites and two cappuccinos. Anybody need sugar?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “In that case, enjoy.” She smiled at them. “Oh, Lucas, when you get a chance, Nate wanted to ask you something about his suit.”

  “Sure. I’ll go and speak to him now.” Lucas stood and grabbed his coffee cup, taking a mouthful of flat white. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Oh, guess what?” Ally said, turning to Ember. “I think I found the perfect wedding gift for you guys. Wanna look? It’s on the laptop in the kitchen.”

  “Sure,” Ember agreed. “What is it?”

  “You’ll see. I haven’t ordered it yet, in case you don’t like it.” The two of them headed to the kitchen, leaving Breck alone at the table with Rachel.

  “So…” she smiled at him. “What are your Thanksgiving plans?”

  “My dad and brother are flying in from Boston for a few days.”

  “That’s so nice. Thanksgiving’s always a good time to be with family.” She pressed her lips together. “My folks are going to be in Hawaii.”

  “I’m really sorry to hear that. Can’t you join them there?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t get enough time off. Only a couple of days and then it’s back to school.”

  “Oh right. I’d forgotten you were a teacher.”

  “Yeah, it’s one of the pitfalls. On the plus side we get a lot of time off in the summer. It almost makes up for it.” She smiled. “And Lucas’s mom has invited me to Thanksgiving which is nice, so I won’t be on my own.”

  Breck bit down his dismay. “Oh right. She’s invited us, too.”

  “She has?” Rachel’s face lit up. “That’s great. I’ll see you there.” She took a sip of her cappuccino. “I was scared I was going to be the only single person there. It’ll be much easier if you’re there, too.”

  “I think Caitie’s coming in. She’s single,” Breck pointed out.

  “Oh yeah. So she is.” Rachel pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “I was going to ask you something, actually.”

  “You were?” Breck glanced over her shoulder to see if Lucas had finished talking to Nate yet, but they were still deep in conversation. He shifted in his seat to get comfortable.

  “I don’t know if Lucas and Ember have officially decided who’s walking down the aisle with who, but I was hoping you’d escort me. With us both being single and all.” She tipped her head to the side. “We could do each other a favor.”

  Breck felt cornered. “Griff and Jack are groomsmen, too,” he said, trying to find a way of letting her down gently. “I’m not sure what any of us are doing yet.”

  “Griff can walk Caitie down,” Rachel said, shrugging. “And Jack can escort Ember’s mom, since her dad isn’t around any more.” She gave him another smile. “Come on, it’ll be fun. I promise not to trip over my dress.”

  Why did his throat feel dry at the thought of his friend walking Caitie down the aisle? It didn’t matter who went with who. It didn’t mean anything – weddings were just rituals, after all.

  “I…”

  “Who’s tripping over a dress?” Ember asked, joining them back at the table. “Not me I hope.”

  Rachel shook her head. “I was asking Breck if he’d be my escort at your wedding. I know him better than Jack and Griff, after all.”

  Ember beamed, oblivious to Breck’s discomfort. “Oh that would be lovely. Thanks, guys. That gives me one less thing to sort out.”

  “See?” Rachel said to him. “It’s meant to be. We’ll need to get together to talk about the first dance, though.” She glanced at Ember. “Have you chosen it yet?”

  “God Only Knows by the Beach Boys.” Ember raised her eyebrows. “It was Lucas’s idea.”

  “I love that one. It’s the perfect beat to dance to, don’t you think, Breck?” Rachel leaned forward, catching his eye.

  About three years ago when he was working on a hotel in the Catskills, Breck had been driving home one night down the dark, winding roads, when his headlamps had caught a deer standing right in the middle of the b
lacktop. The deer had frozen still, unable to save itself from the incoming truck. He’d had to swerve to avoid it.

  Right now he knew exactly how that deer felt. Rachel and Ember were staring at him, their expressions as bright as those headlamps. And he had no idea how to get out of this.

  “Yeah.” He let out a lungful of air. “It’s all good.”

  Rachel grinned. “Great! Maybe we can get together and talk about it some time. I’ll call you. There’s a place in the hills that serves a great lunch. We could go there.”

  “Okay.” His chest tightened. “That would be fine.”

  It was only for one day, right? Two if you counted lunch. He could do it for his friend, the way he knew Lucas would do it for him.

  It wasn’t as though Rachel was an ogre. She was a perfectly nice woman who was friendly, kind, and full of bubbly energy. So what if she didn’t make him feel the way Caitie did. Maybe that was a good thing, because god knows he didn’t like feeling so out of control.

  Like he said, it would be fine.

  So why wouldn’t the knot in his stomach go away?

  12

  “So, I’ve got something to tell you.” Harper pulled the strap across her lap, clipping the buckle in. Harper’d chosen the window seat, leaving the middle free for Caitie. She sat down beside her, sliding her phone and book into the pocket on the back of the seat in front of her. They were almost the last to board the plane; the flight attendants were already doing their final checks, pushing up trays and blinds as they tried to make themselves heard among the din of the full-to-bursting airplane. Caitie looked around, noticing the businessmen mixed in with noisy families, their faces lit with anticipation. Everybody needed to be somewhere at Thanksgiving.

  “Is this a guessing game, or are you going to tell me?” Caitie grinned. She was amused at the anxious expression on her friend’s face. Harper never worried about speaking her mind.

  “I’m not flying back on Saturday like we’d planned.”

  “You’re not?” Caitie frowned. “Are you leaving earlier? Don’t you dare leave me to a Russell family Thanksgiving on my own. Not when it’s the first one I’ve been to in years.”

  “No, I’ve extended my ticket. I have a few meetings in L.A. next week, so I won’t fly back until next Friday. That’s when your return flight is, right?”

  “Yeah. I’ve got that big presentation in L.A. next week.” The pitch Caitie had been working on for months was finally coming to fruition. The choice was between her and another company, and the theme park owners wanted both of them to present their bids in person. “But why do you have meetings?” Caitie looked at her friend a tad confused.

  “I’ve got a meeting at a studio. They have some vacancies in the costume department.”

  “In L.A.?” Caitie shifted in her seat, a grin spreading across her lips.

  Harper nodded, her eyes full of excitement. “Yes,” she squeaked. “The head of the department was in New York a couple of weeks ago and saw my designs off-Broadway. She emailed me, and I thought why not call her since I’ll be in California for Thanksgiving.” She widened her eyes. “I never thought she’d say yes to meeting up.”

  “That’s great,” Caitie said, leaning forward to hug her best friend. “I never thought you’d consider giving up theater work, though.”

  “Nothing’s guaranteed. I just want to have some options open, since we both know you’re going to win this theme park contract.”

  “We do? I wish you’d tell my nerves.” Caitie sat back, letting her head fall against her seat. “I’m not going to be able to sleep all week. Every time I look at the presentation I see something wrong.”

  “You’re going to be great,” Harper said, taking her hand. “You’ve got this, honey. I can’t think of anybody better to revamp their holiday offerings. Your ideas were amazing when I saw them.”

  Caitie wasn’t so sure. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this anxious about a contract. But this wasn’t her usual movie or event. This was big. It meant having to dedicate all her time to the one job, while Felix, her assistant, ran the rest of her business. It was going to take some getting used to.

  Their plane taxied to the runway. The flight attendants made their way down the aisle, running through the safety information. As soon as they were seated and the plane sped up for takeoff, Harper turned to her again.

  “Imagine if we both end up in LA. Wouldn’t it be great?”

  Caitie couldn’t help but smile at her. It was impossible to imagine her life without Harper. They’d been there for each other through thick and thin. She was lucky to have her.

  “It would be amazing.”

  “We could get an apartment with a pool. Imagine how much better we’d both look with a suntan.” Harper grinned. “Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

  Caitie laughed. “I can’t imagine you with a tan. And I won’t be going near that imaginary pool in our imaginary apartment.”

  Harper wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, yeah. I guess a beach house is out, too?”

  “Yep.”

  “Ah well. An apartment in L.A. will be fine. We’ll still have year round sun.”

  “There’s just a little matter of us getting our contracts,” Caitie pointed out. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, but my competition is huge. There’s no guarantee they’ll go with my proposal.”

  “Even so, there’s plenty of work out there for both of us,” Harper said with a shrug. “We could move out here anyway. You’ll still have Felix in New York. It’ll be fine.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “And there’s a little matter of Breck,” Harper added, her eyes twinkling. “Another good reason to move to California.”

  Caitie blinked. Harper hadn’t mentioned Breck since the disastrous phone call last week. Not that either of them had the chance to talk very much. Caitie had been working late every night on her proposals, and Harper had been finishing her Etsy orders.

  “Breck?” she said, her voice weak. “What does he have to do with it?”

  “He’s in Angel Sands. Which as we both know is only a couple of hours from L.A..”

  The seatbelt light went off, and Harper released hers and leaned forward. Sitting on Catie’s right was a businessman who was doing his best not to listen to their conversation.

  “But that doesn’t mean anything,” Caitie told her. “He’s a friend, that’s all.”

  “He was the love of your young life, Caitie. The one who got away. Don’t you think you should work out if there’s still something between you?”

  “There isn’t.” Caitie shook her head. “He sees me as Lucas’s little sister. Someone to be friends with and take care of.” She wished it was different. That her heart didn’t ache every time she thought of him.

  “Are you sure?” Harper sounded disappointed.

  “Yeah. He was like another older brother to me growing up. He’d tease me the same way Lucas did, and he’d take care of me in the same way, too. There’s nothing more than that between us. I just need to get used to it.” And she would. As soon as her heart realized the truth.

  “God, he really did a number on you, didn’t he?” Harper tipped her head to the side, her eyes soft with compassion.

  “It wasn’t his fault. It was a childhood crush. He didn’t even know I had it. He didn’t encourage it, didn’t tease me over it. I just sat there and suffered in silence.”

  “Until you kissed him,” Harper said.

  “Yeah. And wasn’t that a weird thing to do? Creepy even.” Caitie grimaced. “I’ve no idea why I did it.”

  “It’s not weird. You were in love with the guy.” Harper folded her arms across her chest. “I for one think you did the right thing.”

  “I think it was more than that,” Caitie admitted. “His mom had died and I could see he was full of pain.” Caitie took a deep breath, remembering that Christmas. “I wanted to make things better. I only went in his room to check if he was okay, and there he was laying in bed. I walked over to
check if he was breathing, and that’s when I felt the urge to kiss him.”

  Harper’s eyes sparkled. “That’s so romantic. Tell me more.”

  God, this was embarrassing. Even if Harper didn’t think so. “The curtain was partially open,” Caitie continued, her voice soft. “There was a shaft of moonlight across his hair, making it look golden. I reached out to touch it, and it was so soft. I thought I’d woken him up, he murmured something before breathing out. But when I looked, his eyes were still closed.”

  “Is that when you kissed him?”

  Caitie nodded. “I was only going to kiss his cheek. I leaned down, ready to press my lips against it, and he turned his head to face me.” She blinked. “The next thing I knew, I was kissing him.” Soft lips. Even softer breaths. And for a moment it felt as though he was kissing her back, his mouth moving beneath hers. It sent a spark of electricity down her body, shooting through her legs and making her toes curl.

  It was delicious. And she could still remember every moment of it.

  “Are you sure he was asleep?”

  “Yeah. He still had that rhythmic breathing going on. That’s when I realized what a creep I was. So I scurried back to bed, and I must have been exhausted because I didn’t wake up until late the next day.” She took a sharp inhale. “By morning, him and his brother were gone.”

  “And you’ve never loved anybody since,” Harper said softly.

  “I know how stupid that is.” Caitie tried to smile. “Believe me, I think I’m an idiot, too.”

  “It’s not stupid. It’s beautiful. And if you don’t tell him how you feel I’m going to cry myself to sleep. Caitie, maybe this is destiny. Meant to be. You need to be brave and put yourself out there.” She leaned back in her seat, a smile on her face. “And if you don’t, maybe I will.”

  * * *

  “Lucas said he’d meet us in the pick-up zone,” Caitie told Harper, as they pulled their suitcases through the airport exit. “He didn’t want to try parking. It’ll be even crazier than normal with it being Thanksgiving and all.” There hadn’t seemed much point in renting a car when they were staying with family all weekend.