Dreams Collide: Collide Series Book 2

by Kristina Beck

  As I approach the market, I see Tina and Mom. No need to call them. They’re standing in front of a tourist shop with tons of cuckoo clocks. Hands full with bags. I guess they either had fun shopping, or I took too long. Tina looks into the display window and points at something. I sneak up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. She jumps and squeals at the same time.

  She wraps her arms around me. “Hey there, handsome. How did it go?” She sweetly pecks my lips.

  I look at both of them. “I have no idea. One second I think it went well, and then I doubt myself. The producer and I couldn’t agree on a couple of things, which could kill the deal. Let’s see what happens. Time to stop thinking about it. We’re still on vacation.”

  Tina squeezes me tight. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks.” I take her bags from her. “Did you find a clock for Lisa?”

  “Yes, and I bought something for Dad and Beth. I’ll show them to you when we get back to the house.”

  “Did you see the flower section of the market?”

  “Yeah. You can get every kind of flower there. Types I’ve never seen before. Especially purple ones. The entire city of Freiburg is spectacular. I avoided walking near the little canals. No need for soaked sneakers again. Claire and I are stuffed from all the ice cream we ate.”

  “Mom, you finally met someone who likes ice cream just as much as you do.”

  Mom glances at Tina with a smile. “It’s about time. It’s like pulling teeth to get Gerry or his dad to go for ice cream with me.”

  I drape my arm over Tina’s shoulder. “Let’s walk around the market and buy some food for tonight. Dad’s in charge of buying the meat. I need to get back soon so I can prepare some marinades that need to sit for a while.”

  Mom steps to the side, away from the crowd. We follow her. “Gerry, let’s take her to Kastaniengarten first. She needs to see the view overlooking Freiburg and we can have one quick beer.” She nudges my elbow. “Then we can go shopping at the market.”

  I can’t say no when two beautiful women stand there with big smiles on their faces. “All right. One beer. I think I deserve one after this meeting.”

  I pull on Tina’s waist and tuck her under my arm.

  She turns to Mom and says, “Did Gerry tell you about my allergy to currants?”

  “Hey!” I tickle her side and whisper into her ear, “Just for that, you’re getting punished later.”

  She yanks on a belt loop on my pants. “Is that a promise?”

  “Is what a promise?” Mom interrupts as she looks over her shoulder.

  “Nothing important.” I squeeze Tina’s ass when Mom’s not looking. “Always causing trouble,” I whisper again and nip her earlobe.

  Chapter 38

  Gerry

  I grab my black leather jacket off a hanger. “I have a couple of surprises for you today, since we fly home tomorrow. We wouldn’t have been able to do them if the weather wasn’t nice this afternoon.”

  She looks up at me like I’m a giant next to her. “You spoil me. Give me a hint.”

  “Luft.”

  “Gerry.” She swats my arm playfully. “English, please. It’s exhausting after hearing different languages nonstop this week.”

  “Sorry. I know it’s not easy to be around people who you don’t understand. But when we get to our secret destination, I’ll tell you what I said.” I peck her on the lips.

  “Let’s go to the garage,” I say as I take a set of keys off the table next to the front door. “I need to get something for today. I bought it when I received my Michelin star. When I moved to the US, I had it stored here. I didn’t want to sell it, even though I never had time to use it.”

  When the garage door rises, she peeks in, and her face lights up. “No way.”

  “Way.” I glide my arm toward it. “Say hello to our transportation for the day.”

  She points at it. “We’re driving a motorcycle…riding that today?” She bounces from foot to foot. “You never mentioned you had a motorcycle.”

  She drags her fingers along the soft black leather seat. “It’s so clean and sparkly.”

  “My dad cleaned and polished it for us while we were out yesterday.” I push the motorcycle out of the garage.

  “I know you told me you wished you could ride one. We got interrupted or something, so I didn’t have the chance to tell you I had one.” I go back in the garage and fetch two helmets off a shelf. “Sorry. I don’t have a purple helmet.”

  “Ha-ha. Black is fine.”

  I place it on her head and secure it. “Damn, you look hot as a biker chick.”

  She crinkles her nose and looks down at her jacket. “With a denim jacket instead of a leather one, I don’t think so.”

  I put my jacket on and secure my helmet.

  “Now look who’s the hot one in all black.” She fans herself.

  Once we’re ready, I show her how to get on the motorcycle and explain how to ride as a passenger.

  I wrap her arms around my waist. “Do you understand how to sit and what to do when we go around curves?”

  She nods her head. “I’m focusing more on my arms being wrapped around your tight waist.”

  “No holding on to anything lower than this, or we’ll end up in the hospital. Anything below can wait for tonight. So behave.”

  Mom comes out of the house just as I’m ready to start it. “Let me take a picture of you two. Give me your handy.”

  Tina giggles.

  Time ticks by. “That’s enough, Mom. Twenty should do the trick.”

  She hands me my phone. “I need to take so many because you can never take a serious picture.” She nods toward Tina. “He’s always been the clown of the family.”

  “You should see how many selfies we took during the last month. Most of them were deleted because Mr. Cool Rider over here couldn’t act normal,” Tina adds.

  “Now get out of here. Have fun. I know I would if I were going. Be careful.” She waves and walks back into the house.

  “She knows where we’re going?” Tina says.

  “Yes. She helped me plan it.”

  “I’m so excited. Let’s go,” she says as she squeezes me tightly.

  We take the scenic route, called the Wine Street in English, which connects the vineyards and the Black Forest. Several tractors pulling massive barrels of freshly picked grapes slow down traffic. It’s hard to pass them on this curvy road. I don’t mind taking it slow though. Having Tina’s arms wrapped around me is more than I could’ve asked for. Right now, I don’t care about anything other than us. I dread flying back tomorrow because I know reality will kick in. Will we be able to handle it?

  She tugs the side of my jacket and then points in the distance. There’s a rainbow-colored hot-air balloon rising over the trees. I pull over and turn off the engine. We remove our helmets after we get off the bike.

  Her long locks pool wildly over her shoulders. “I’m sweaty from the helmet. I can’t imagine what my hair looks like.”

  She points again with enthusiasm. “Look. Look. There’s two more rising from the trees. They’re so close. Let me take some pictures.”

  “You’re obsessed. You must’ve taken at least two hundred pictures this week.”

  “Probably more than that. I need to take advantage, since I won’t be back here anytime soon.”

  I get back on the motorcycle. “Want to go check them out? I think we’ll pass where they’re taking off from.”

  Her helmet’s on with lightning speed. She swings her leg over the back like a pro. “Let’s go. Fast.” She squeezes my stomach so hard, it’s like she’s giving me the Heimlich maneuver.

  I grin ear to ear. If she’s already freaking out, I can’t wait to see her face when she sees what I have planned.

  Chapter 39

  Tina

  Every day this week, I’ve thought this trip couldn’t get any better. But we always end up doing something else that blows my mind. I’ve never seen a hot-air ba
lloon so close before. We gradually drive into a valley clear of trees.

  Several hot-air balloons are still on the ground in the distance to the right. He turns off the road in that direction. As we move closer, I think he’s just going to drive right by. But then he turns and drives to the balloons. He stops and motions for me to get off.

  “Do you want to go closer and watch?”

  I smile in delight. “Really? Of course I want to.”

  He takes my hand and walks us closer to the balloons, and then a little closer. I watch people attaching the balloons to the baskets. We stop to watch one take off not too far from where we’re standing.

  A man walks up to Gerry and they shake hands. “Hey, Henrik,” Gerry says in English. “I’m glad the weather worked out for us today. This is Tina.”

  He shakes my hand. “So you’re the lucky passenger today?”

  I think I’m going to pass out.

  My head swivels to Gerry and then back to Henrik. “Did he…did you just say what I think you said? Are we riding in one?”

  Before either can even answer, I jump on Gerry and kiss his cheek. I almost knock him over. “This is awesome. I can’t believe you did this.” I let go but wish I could hang on to him forever.

  I squeeze Gerry’s hand. “You’re coming with me, right? There’s no way in hell I can go up there alone.”

  “You aren’t going without me. Believe it or not—I’ve never done this before either. I planned to a couple of times, but the weather always ended up bad. We’re lucky.”

  “The balloon is ready to go. Follow me,” Henrik says.

  I wrap my arm around Gerry’s waist while following Henrik. “I can’t believe you did this. Do we really have to go home tomorrow?” I pout.

  “I don’t want to think about it, but we both have jobs to get back to. Let’s not worry about tomorrow and just enjoy today.”

  I’m afraid to think about how our relationship could change with one sentence from Gerry. That he got the show.

  The balloons are enormous when you’re right next to them. Henrik opens the basket door. Gerry lets me in first. It’s like I’m Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

  Other balloons have more people in the baskets.

  I search around to see if other people are walking toward our balloon. “How many more people are we waiting for?”

  “None,” Gerry responds with a smirk.

  My heart and brain can only take some much in one day. “We have this balloon ride to ourselves?”

  Henrik and Gerry laugh at the same time.

  “I’m sorry.” I cackle then take a deep breath. “This is an exciting moment for me. I can’t help it.” My heart beats in my ears. “I’m like a kid in a candy store.”

  Gerry wraps me in his arms and whispers, “I want to make you smile like this every day. It’s worth all the money in the world.”

  He’s too good to be true. I’m happier than I’ve ever been.

  I get the fright of my life when a loud swoosh of fire is ignited by a massive blow torch.

  “Ready to go?”

  Gerry gives Henrik a thumbs-up.

  Henrik explains how the balloon is controlled by the hot air created by the flames. The balloon has to stay hot to stay afloat.

  We ascend higher and higher. I have a death grip on Gerry and refuse to look down. “How safe is this? What if something goes wrong? Are there parachutes?” An excessive amount of adrenaline pumps through me.

  He points to the torch. “There’s double of everything. If something breaks, there’s a backup.”

  That helps me relax a tiny bit. Well, not really.

  “Why is there no wind?” Gerry asks Henrik.

  “The balloon travels as fast as the wind. That’s why we don’t feel it.”

  I move to the other side with tiny steps, afraid I’ll shake the basket. I’m in awe of the view. The French Vosges mountains are so clear, I feel like I could reach out and touch them. It looks like the sun has dusted the trees with vibrant gold and orange sparkles. Rolling hills of vineyards hide between patches of forest.

  Every few minutes, Henrik blasts the torch to keep hot air in the balloon or to make us climb higher. My stomach churns from fear and excitement.

  “Don’t worry. We’re at our peak. Just look around and enjoy the ride.”

  Gerry wraps his arms around me from behind. “Having fun?” He nuzzles into my neck.

  I turn around in his arms and place my hands on his chest.

  “I’m so glad this worked out for us today. Do I get brownie points again?”

  “You have no idea what this day means to me. Or this whole week. I can’t thank you enough. For the first time in years, I feel alive and completely at peace with myself. There’s so much I want to say, but only certain words come to mind. I’ve never said them before.” Just say it.

  We stand in silence with only the whistle of air passing by us. Our eyes on each other, not the scenery. Forgetting Henrik is on the other side of the basket.

  “I—” My voice cracks, and my eyes tear.

  “Say it, Tina,” Gerry pleads softly while his thumb strokes my cheek. “Please let me hear you say it.”

  I close my eyes to gather the courage I need. They flutter open and stare into his golden eyes of fire. “I love you. More than I ever thought I could love a person. I never dreamed my life would change so beautifully the minute I met you. It’s not because of all the surprises these past weeks. It’s because of you as a person. In a short amount of time, you have become a permanent part of my life. Part of my heart. You’re gentle, kind, selfless, passionate, beyond sexy. You make me laugh more than anyone else. No one has ever cared for me the way you do. I’ve never been in love before, but I’m so glad when the time was finally right, I fell in love with you.”

  He tickles me with his soft lips against mine. “There’s nothing better than to hear those words come out of this sexy mouth of yours. Every time I’ve seen you, those three words wanted to flow out of my mouth, but I held back. I was afraid to scare you. But now I can.” He pulls me in his arms and whispers, “Ich liebe dich auch. I promise I’ll love you forever. Not one day will ever pass when you’ll have to question my love for you.”

  We watch the view with me tucked under his arm. Henrik points out landmarks, but I don’t care. I’m in love with Gerry and he with me, and I finally believe I deserve it. I’m not only flying high. I’m flying high in heaven with the man of my dreams.

  Chapter 40

  Tina

  My magic mirror didn’t make me feel like the prettiest girl in the world when I left for the office this morning. My lower face is inflamed from Gerry’s scruff. We had a last minute make-out session after we arrived back at my apartment from the airport. The time adjustment coming back from Europe is easier than going.

  I turn my face right to left as I stare at myself in the ladies’ room mirror. At least I have no marks on my neck. Peggy laughed when she saw me, knowing exactly why I look like this. I want to hide somewhere. I walk back to my cube with my hand casually over my mouth.

  My coworkers pounced on me as soon as I arrived, asking me how my trip was. But most importantly telling me more rumors are going around about opening a California office. They say Thomas has been bustling around the past days. Strangely, Thomas sent me a calendar request for a lunch meeting today.

  “Ready?” Thomas says.

  Speak of the devil.

  “Yep. Just waiting for you. Do you even have time? You’ve been so busy this morning.”

  “Everything’s good. Let’s go. I only have forty-five minutes because I have a meeting scheduled.”

  A few minutes later we sit in a café I’ve never been to before. I order a turkey sandwich the size of a football. Leftovers for tonight.

  “What happened to your face? Sunburn gone wrong?” He chuckles.

  Now my face stings even more from blushing.

  “I tried a new facial lotion. I guess I’m allergic to that too. Not my b
est couple of months when it comes to trying new things.”

  “How was your trip?

  I beam.

  “By the look on your face, I guess it was great.” He smirks with mustard on his mouth.

  The next few minutes go by with him asking me questions about my trip and how I liked it there.

  “I told you how beautiful Germany is,” he says with mustard now in his beard.

  He’s a great manager but such a disgusting eater.

  He relaxes back in his chair, his arms resting on his belly. “Let’s talk about something else. There seem to be rumors going around that an office is being opened in California and some employees from this office will be given the chance to transfer there.”

  “I’ve been told something of the sort, but my source said it was heard by the water cooler. You know what that means. It’s like playing the game Telephone.”

  His eyes dart around the café as if we’re being spied on. “Keep this confidential.”

  Holy shit. Is he going to ask me? I swallow hard and nod. My palms are sweating. They never sweat. At least I don’t think they do. That would be gross.

  “The rumor is true. Management has asked me to name five people who are the most innovative and, most of all, willing to relocate.”

  My neck is so extended I feel like E.T. I need to hold on to the edge of the table.

  “I’d like to nominate you as one of the five. Would you be interested in relocating?”

  I can’t believe it! I think I’m going to wet myself.

  “You may be new compared to the others, but I’ve seen some incredible ideas come from you, and you’ve dealt well with complicated challenges and requests.” He looks at the clock on his phone. “Is this something you’d seriously consider?”

  This is a no-brainer. “Absolutely,” I blurt out. “I’ve always wanted to live in California.”

  Gerry.

  “I’m glad to hear that. You were the first person I wrote on the list.”

  I press my hands on my twitching legs to stop them. I’m going to twitch out of this café if they don’t.