“Stacy got them a place too,” I answer, clearing my throat as I slip my phone from her hands again.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to just take your phone, I’m just kind of in shock right now,” she says, waving a hand toward my phone. “That’s a really nice place, please tell Stacy thank you.”
“I will.” Tapping out the thanks from both of us, I scroll back up to the other AirBNB that’s on the same street as the one Stacy got for me and Brinnah. When I get to it, I offer her the phone again and she blushes, waving it away.
“It’s okay, I believe you. I’m just glad they’ll have a place to stay too.”
“You think I’d just abandon them here at the airport?” I ask, only half-playing.
“Oh, God, no! That’s not what I meant, I just—”
“You were worried about them,” I finish for her and she nods, that pink flush back in her cheeks, and before I can stop myself, I lean forward to kiss her and at the last second manage to divert it into a kiss on one of her rosy cheeks. “You’ve always been a good person, Brinn. They’re good guys, thanks for caring about them.”
She looks stunned when I sit back, and I don’t blame her, but she doesn’t slap me so I’m counting that as a win.
“Um, here. Check out the BNBs, I need to use the restroom.” Awkwardly fumbling the phone into her hands, I try to get up before unbuckling my seatbelt and end up cursing under my breath as I toss it away and escape to the bathroom at the back of the plane.
As soon as I’m inside I lean back against the door and take a deep breath. That was probably too forward, too fast. After all, we just narrowly avoided a plane crash, but at least I managed to not kiss her on the lips… even though I really wanted to.
Dammit.
Her lips look so soft and based on how long we’ve been in the air I’m pretty confident that pink tint to them is natural, not lipstick. I can’t help but think about what kissing her would feel like and standing in the bathroom of my company’s private jet I somehow feel as awkward and nervous as I did when I was eleven.
It’s not like I thought about Brinnah every day for the last twenty something years, but she’s always been there in the back of my mind. Whenever I saw a woman with auburn hair like hers I’d always look twice just to see if I recognized her, but I never went so far as to hunt her down online. Even though I could have found her, because apparently her name never changed.
She’s never been married, and neither have I, but that doesn’t mean anything. Not really.
Yet… somehow this all feels like it was meant to be. I may not believe in destiny or fate or any of that stuff most of the time, but I can’t deny the strange set of events that brought my middle school crush into my company to give me a second-chance at connecting with her.
It would have been better if my plan had gone the way I wanted. A lighter, less pressure-filled situation to test the waters and see if we still mesh the way we used to… but that’s not even the question for me anymore. Talking with her for the last couple of hours has been as easy as breathing. Everything about her makes me feel good, and I can’t think of the last time anyone made me feel like this.
I don’t know if anyone ever has.
Which means I absolutely, unequivocally cannot fuck this up by thinking with the wrong head.
Brinnah
I think I’m dreaming, or hallucinating, or… something.
Nothing about today feels real, and I’m still trying to process all of it because it just doesn’t feel possible. I mean, what are the chances that the company I get assigned is the one where Flint ‘Flintstone’ Etheridge is the CEO?
My company deals with hundreds of other companies, and I’ve never been great at math but I’m pretty sure the probability of me ending up in that meeting today is somewhere around a million to one.
And then he invites me to lunch? Takes me on a private jet?
That would have been a day for the record books even before a freaking snowstorm tried to kill us and forced us to land. And… he said he missed me. Well, more accurately he called me beautiful and then said he missed me, which would have taken the day to epic before the kiss. But Flint Etheridge actually kissed me. On the cheek, but it still counts, and I can still feel it, and now we’re somehow going to spend the night together.
Holy shit, I’m going to spend the night in the same place as Flintstone.
I have to remind myself to breathe, but it comes out as more of a gasp, and Flint turns to look at me in the backseat of the car.
“You okay?” he asks, offering me his hand again, and I take it because I’m greedy, and while I’m doing everything I can to get my wild fantasies under control, I can’t stop thinking about what could happen tonight. “Brinn?”
“I forgot that you used to call me that,” I reply, clearing my throat before I sit up a little more in my seat. “I mean, yeah, I’m good, I promise.”
“Good, we’ll be there soon. Brinn fits you, by the way. For the record, I never liked that the guys called you ‘Grossy,’” he says, a grin spreading over his lips. “But I think the only reason they did was because they all had a crush on you.”
“No way, Greg was obsessed with Felicia,” I retort, and he laughs.
“Holy shit, you’re right. Okay, not Greg, but everyone else.”
“Including you?” I ask, and I’m ninety percent sure my face is actually on fire and my palm is sweating against his and he probably thinks that’s gross, but I can’t help it when I feel like I just bet my 401k in Vegas.
Flint is way too quiet for way too long, but I’m trying not to panic because he’s looking at our hands and his thumb is doing that rhythmic rubbing thing along the back of mine, but I’d really, really like him to talk.
Oh shit, what have I done?
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
“Yeah, that includes me, Brinn,” he replies quietly, and it’s another too-long moment before his deep brown eyes meet mine. “But I want you to know that I didn’t plan this, and if you want me to have Stacy find you another place then I can do that because I don’t want you to think, I mean I don’t want you to feel like you have to respond, or do anything, or shit…” Flint shakes his head and drops his gaze again. “This isn’t how I planned for any of this to go, Brinnah, I swear. I just knew when I saw you this morning that I couldn’t let you slip away again without at least seeing if…”
“Seeing if…?” I press, and my heart is pounding so hard I can hear it in my ears over the droning weather report on the radio. I have no idea if the two men in the front seat can hear us, but at the moment I don’t care, I need Flint to finish his sentence more than I care about privacy.
“If we still meshed.” Flint flashes that smile at me and it definitely has a flirty edge now.
I nod, mouth too dry. “Meshing is important.”
“Yes, it is,” he confirms, and glances out the window behind me. “Ready to go inside?”
That’s when I realize we’ve been stopped outside of a building for some time and I don’t know how long, but my head is spinning so fast that I don’t know if I should be embarrassed or excited or if I’m reading way too much into all of this. All I manage is a nod as I clumsily open the door beside me before Roy, the pilot, is able to get to it.
“You have the info you need, sir?” Joel asks, and Flint lifts his phone in the air as he joins me on the sidewalk, pulling his coat tight against the light snow.
“Got it right here,” he answers. “You guys get indoors and be safe tonight, okay? We’ll figure out what’s going on with the weather in the morning.”
“Yes, sir. Have a good evening.” Joel waves at us, and Flint rests a hand on the small of my back as I try to wrap my coat harder around me.
“I shouldn’t have worn a skirt today,” I grumble, because the wind is cutting through my legs like icy knives, but Flint just chuckles.
“I think you look fantastic, albeit cold.” He grins at me as he punches in the door code for the
building and the blast of heat has me rushing inside ahead of him, rubbing my hands together to try and warm them back up.
“You said there’s a fireplace, right?”
“I’ll get it going as soon as we’re inside, I promise,” he says, leading the way upstairs. Outside of the apartment, Flint punches in a code on a lockbox and gets the key. When he opens the door, it’s even more beautiful than the pictures made it look. Tall ceilings, a wide-open floor plan that flows from kitchen to living room where floor to ceiling windows let the light pour in, giving a fantastic view of the snow falling outside.
“Wow.” I’m barely aware of saying it out loud as I wander toward the windows to soak in the view. There’s a chill in the apartment, but it’s nowhere near as cold as outside, so I don’t mind it. “I can’t believe you just rented this place. I mean, it’s only been an hour or two.”
“Stacy always works magic,” he answers, joining me by the windows. “She definitely has good taste though.”
“The hotel at the airport would have been fine,” I say, glancing up at him. “But thank you, this is nice.”
“I’m glad you like it. Let me get the fire going, and then we can make something to eat.”
“Make something?” I ask, turning to watch him as he fiddles with the gas fireplace.
“Yeah, just go look in the kitchen to see if there’s anything you like.”
I’m giving him a ‘what the fuck’ look, but he can’t see it because he’s leaning into the fireplace to make sure the flue is open. “Um, Flint? This is an AirBNB, they don’t leave food here.”
“Trust me. Just go check the kitchen, Brinn,” he says, and I roll my eyes as I march into the kitchen and throw open the pantry door. I’m about to point out how empty it is when I realize it’s… not.
The pantry definitely isn’t full, but there’s brand new boxes of different things, and when I open the fridge I find more food. There’s even a wine rack with four bottles of wine on the counter, a loaf of bakery bread, and a bundle of bananas.
“Told you so,” Flint says right behind me and I jump before I turn around and smack his arm while he laughs.
“Don’t scare me like that.” Rolling my eyes, I wave a hand at the stocked kitchen. “So, how much did this cost?”
“What do you mean?” He’s peeking in the fridge now, and grabs a bottled water from the door, turning to offer me another. “Here. I love this brand because it doesn’t have a weird taste and the bottles are made from recycled plastic.”
“I’ve stayed in AirBNBs before, Flint, and none of them were stocked with anything more than the occasional condiment and salt and pepper if you’re lucky.” Taking the bottle from him, I hold it up as an example. “And they definitely don’t have your favorite bottle of water in the fridge.”
“I guess Stacy did it?” he suggests, and I laugh, leaning back against the counter as I take a drink.
“She really does take care of everything for you.” I raise a hand when he looks defensive, shaking my head. “Not that it’s a bad thing, I just think you should know this isn’t how it is when most people show up at a rental.”
“Well, I guess you’re lucky to be here with me and my long-distance magic worker, aren’t you?” he teases, and I’m about to say something smartass when he’s suddenly right in front of me.
In my personal space. In my very personal space.
There’s maybe six inches between us, and he’s got one hand braced on the counter beside me, which means there’s nowhere for me to go since I’m in a corner — not that I want to go anywhere. If anything, looking up at him has me wanting him to kiss me for real this time, and judging by the way he’s staring at my mouth and not my eyes, I think he’s got the same idea.
It would be our first kiss.
Something that should have happened over twenty years ago in the park during that damn game of spin the bottle that got ruined.
“Brinn?” The way he says my name has my skin buzzing. There’s a slight growl to it, and his voice is just a little deeper, and I really wish I didn’t have this damn bottle of water in my hand so I could pull him closer without it being awkward.
“Yeah?”
He reaches up to trace his thumb just under my lips, following the line of my jaw until he rests his hand against the side of my neck, and even though I just drank water my mouth is already dry again.
“Flint?” I whisper, summoning the courage to move my free hand to his button-down shirt, tugging on it lightly.
“Dammit,” he curses under his breath, and pulls back suddenly, plucking his shirt from my grip with the movement, and I’m left holding a water bottle with my heart tattooing the inside of my ribs while he faces away from me. He lets out a long breath and braces his hands on his hips, staring up at the ceiling, and I have no idea what to do.
That felt like a moment.
The way he touched my cheek, how close he was… I should have just made a move.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“I promised you lunch, and I’m sure you’re starving by now. Why don’t you go warm up by the fire and I’ll get something going.” He’s still facing away from me as he speaks, and I tighten my grip on the water bottle because I know I did something wrong.
I just can’t figure out what I did.
Embarrassed and a little nauseous, probably from a mix of the hunger and the humiliation, I manage to blink back the sting of tears as I brush past him and head into the living room. I choose the chair that faces the windows and the falling snow instead of the gorgeous man in the kitchen, because I’m pretty sure if I look at him again, I’ll either leave to find my own place to stay, or start crying, or both.
Flint
Idiot.
I’m a goddamn idiot.
I just told her in the car outside that I wasn’t going to expect anything from her, that she didn’t need to say anything back, and then I corner her in the fucking kitchen like some creepy asshole with a hard-on jutting against the front of my slacks.
Groaning, I glance down at the slowly fading erection and I hope that the cold from the fridge is chilling it out enough to stay down so I can try and pretend I’m more of a gentleman than I just was. All I can hope is that she didn’t notice.
Please give me that today.
I’m so caught up in feeling like an imbecile that I’m barely paying attention to the actual items in the fridge. I always wondered if Stacy did it, after all finding my particular brand of water in a fridge is odd, but I never wanted to ask about it and look like a fool.
Of course, right now I’d gladly look like a jackass in front of Stacy instead of Brinnah. Especially since I think she wanted me to kiss her.
Did she?
At the moment I don’t even trust my judgment. I was definitely thinking with the wrong head, and although everything about her seemed like she wanted me to, it wasn’t fair. She’s trapped in this damn city because of me, and I was so excited to have more time with her that I didn’t even think about how fucking creepy it would come across that I assumed she’d want to share an AirBNB with me.
Not to mention, there are supposed to be two bedrooms here, but I only see one, which is going to look even worse.
Plucking my phone out of my pocket, I send a quick text to Stacy asking about it before grabbing the chicken breasts from the fridge and some pasta from the pantry. I’m not an expert in the kitchen, but even I can pull off baked chicken and spaghetti.
I do search for a baked chicken recipe just to double check myself on the baking time and then I get to work. Once everything is cooking, I check out the wine and decide that it’s either exactly what we need, or a terrible idea, but I know that I want a glass for sure.
“Hey Brinn, do you prefer red or white wine?” I call out. “I’ve got chicken and spaghetti going.”
“Either is fine,” she calls back, but her voice is way quieter and she’s facing away from me without even a glance around the edge of the chair she’s buried herself
in.
I fucked up.
Gripping the edge of the counter, I resist the urge to punch it or the fridge because while I had no idea when I woke up this morning that I’d want anyone in my life, I know for a fact that I want at least a chance with Brinnah.
And I had a good plan.
Spontaneous plane ride, French restaurant to show her that I really do remember her, delicious food in a romantic atmosphere, evening flight back under the stars. No pressure, no creepy guy moves… just a solid start to a possible relationship.
Now I’ve probably ruined it.
Grabbing the bakery bread, I yank the bread knife out of the block and start cutting slices off to make some quick cheese toast as a side, then my phone buzzes with another text from Stacy.
It’s short, but it confirms what I expected: ‘The couch in the living room is a fold-out. Not a lot of options, boss. Sorry.’
Not two bedrooms then, two beds.
Somehow that’s worse, but at least Brinnah can shut the bedroom door. Lock it to keep out the creepy dude from her childhood. Dammit, dammit, dammit.
“Need help?” Brinnah’s voice makes me spin around with the bread knife still in my hand, and I instantly turn back to set it on the counter.
“Um, sure. Want to cut a few more slices of bread?” I offer, stepping away from the knife to be less creepy, but it’s not like there’s a lot of room in this little kitchen.
“Okay. Thanks for getting dinner started,” she says, taking up the bread slicing job, which leaves me without anything to do since the pasta isn’t quite done, and the chicken still needs about five minutes.
Wine. I should open the wine.
I have to check a couple of cabinets to find the wine glasses, but I’m lucky they’re on my ‘side’ of the kitchen so I don’t have to creep her out anymore, which shouldn’t even be an issue except I can’t control my dick.
Now everything feels so damn weird and I hate it, but it’s my fault.
I Have Lived And I Have Loved: A Charity Romance Collection Page 44