by Emerson Rose
“Am I going to have to carry you onto the plane Ms. Deardon?”
My stubborn streak decides to make an appearance, thank God; I was starting to wonder where it had gone.
“Absolutely not, I’m fine. Let’s go.”
“Spunk, I like that.”
I follow him to the plane where he opens the door for me. I look inside and back at Beau, who is watching me intently. “I’m sitting up here?” I say pointing to the passenger seat next to the pilot’s seat because honestly I don’t see anymore seats. He looks down the length of the plane, “Yeah, unless you want me to tie you to the top.” He shrugs at me like it’s my choice.
I take a step back, “It’s so small.”
“Yep, two seater, let’s go princess this man’s gotta eat.”
Breakfast, oh yeah, he does need to eat. I step forward ready to hoist myself up when I feel his hands around my waist, like the other night when he pulled me from the mud. He lifts me into the seat, as if I’m as light as a feather, and buckles me in so tight I start to worry about his pilot skills again. “You afraid I’ll fall out?”
“No, I’m using this as an excuse to be close to you.” His admission comes with no shame and a smile. Then he closes the door and rounds the plane to take his place in the pilot’s seat. I watch him flip switches and adjust his headset and realize just how much this man enjoys being in control. It’s his thing, like talking to animals is mine.
We all have our strengths and talents. From what I have learned in our small amount of time together Beau’s include being a leader, a rescuer and he enjoys being in control. So far I have benefited from all of the above.
My heart is beating like Polynesian hula drums as I grip the sides of the small seat. I look around for my purse for no other reason than to burn off some nervous energy but I don’t know where he has put it and the plane is now too loud to ask.
We turn to head down the runway, that cuts straight down the center of the West pasture, which if I remember correctly is named King Lear by his Shakespeare loving mother.
There was a rumor that went around school that his mom was a little crazy for naming their pastures after Shakespeare’s most calamitous works. But I heard Beau mention Othello when he took a call from his father the other day and realized the rumor is true.
If I live until breakfast I’ll have to remember to ask him why. I rest my head against the back of the seat and wish I hadn’t had such a large cup of coffee. Now along with my fear of flying I have to pee and I have the jitters, great.
The drums in my chest pick up the pace as the plane shoots down the runway and launches us into the sky. It’s not as bad as I anticipated he’s actually a very good pilot just like he said. The takeoff wasn’t as loud and rattly as I thought it would be and as soon as we hit the air things smooth out and it’s quiet but for the sound of the engines.
I’m staring wide eyed out the passenger window still gripping my seat when I feel his hand on my arm. I turn in time to catch him glancing at me, he’s smiling a told ya so smile and I half roll my eyes and bob my head from left to right admitting he is right.
He laughs, not a chuckle. This was a full on warm-hearted shoulder shaking laugh. If I weren’t falling for him yet, that laugh would have sealed the deal. The glorious sound came from deep in his chest. It was genuine and hearty but more than anything else, it was sexy.
I didn’t know joy could be such an aphrodisiac. The way his full lips stretched over his perfect white teeth and his tanned skin crinkled around his eyes, it gave me brain fog. He even had to bite his lip to stop himself when I imagine he was worrying about my ego.
He didn’t need to worry I would gladly let him take pot shots at me all day, if it meant I could hear that laugh. His light mood lifted my anxiety and I giggled a little myself. He slid his fingers down my arm and pulled my white knuckled hand off the seat cushion to hold it in his.
It’s like he is syphoning all of the anxiety I had about flying from my body and replacing it with excitement. I sit up, his fingers laced with mine, and I look out at the horizon and take in the beauty of Montana from the air. It’s breathtaking, from the sprawling prairies to the white snow tipped mountains it’s like heaven on earth.
“It’s so beautiful.” My voice is airy and full of appreciation for the nature before us.
“Not as beautiful as you.” His words don’t register at first. I’m so enthralled with the scenery it takes me a few seconds to catch up.
“What?” The word shoots from my mouth and I regret it as soon as it’s out there. How dense can you be Charlotte? The man just complimented you, say thank you or blush or something, anything but ask what.
He smiles in amusement and lays my hand in my lap so that he can maneuver the plane to the left, but fully aware that he caught me off guard, he doesn’t repeat the compliment.
“Um, where are we going?”
“Belfair, their French toast is to die for.”
Belfair is a five star hotel in Cascade Montana near the base of the little Wolf Mountains. I’ve heard of it but I never dreamed of going there. It’s a little hoity toity for our family, but then again the Super Eight is hoity toity for the Deardon’s now.
“You can’t have French toast.”
“Okay mom, thanks.” He play punches me in the arm and I realize how stupid that sounded. He’s been diabetic his entire life, I’m sure he knows what he can and can’t eat. “You’re right, I can’t have it but I thought you might like it. I took one bite of my mom’s one time and had to up my insulin dose.”
“I don’t want to tempt you, I can eat something else.”
He is quiet and I look over to see why he isn’t responding. Every muscle in his face is working hard to suppress a smile and his eyes are twinkling. What is wrong with him?
Then I think of my comment and remember how men’s minds work. I reach out and give his shoulder a shove, “You’re terrible.”
His eyes widen and his mouth falls open, “What? I didn’t say a word.”
“You didn’t have to, I can see you twisting up my innocent words into something filthy.”
He shrugs, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay Mr. Pervy. How long until we get there?”
“Five minutes, give or take a few.”
We’re almost there. I made it. I didn’t die and that’s a good thing because without Beau and I, my family would be lost. I’m anxious to get to the hotel and find out how he plans on dealing with his father. I can’t imagine anything that would make Mack Hill voluntarily help a Deardon, not one single thing.
10
I’m a jerk, but she still likes me.
Beau
Charlotte smiles with relief when the wheels touch the ground in the sleepy town of Cascade Montana. I want to make her smile like that everyday forever.
That thought shocks the hell out of me.
Women are nothing but a memory past the sunrise. I prefer my conquests leave my bed right away when I’m finished with them but that’s not always possible when you live on a sprawling ranch with unpredictable weather and black as night nights. I’m not a monster. I don’t want a woman getting lost on unfamiliar roads or freezing to death in the winter when her car breaks down. On occasions like those I’m willing to share my bed until morning but as soon as my eyes open I’m making sure she gets home.
I’m convinced the term no strings attached was coined for me in particular.
But with Charlotte its’ different, I would never consider her a conquest or another notch on my bedpost. She has an alluring innocence about her that makes me want to treat her carefully. It isn’t that she is weak or fragile, she’s spunky and intelligent and independent but the sign hanging out front definitely says handle with care.
“You ready for the best breakfast to ever grace your mouth?” I ask her when we pull away from the airport in our rented Subaru. Her stomach growls loudly at the exact moment I ask her this question and we laugh. Things
are going well so far, I was a little worried when I learned she’s afraid of flying. We got through it fine and she even seemed to enjoy herself after a while until we were about to land and she could see some of the devastation on the ground left by the same tornado that took her home.
Cascade suffered some minor damage but the surrounding areas were much worse like Charlotte’s ranch. When she wondered out loud about the distance a tornado could carry debris and asked if I thought if part of her ranch could be down on the ground here, I knew we had to switch our focus. Her voice was full of the sadness I heard the day I found her sitting on her truck surveying her families land, the day she went to say goodbye.
“I think that’s a yes. How far is it to the hotel?”
“Not far, about ten minutes, you gonna last?”
“I’m a poor college student remember? I’m used to coffee for breakfast, or on good days, I eat a bowl of cereal.”
“When you come home that’ll have to change. You can’t work all day with animals on the ranch with a cup of coffee in ya.”
“I know, I miss my mom’s big country breakfasts believe me. She makes the best scrambled eggs, they’re all fluffy and perfect, and oh, her bacon, my god her bacon is to die for. It’s thick cut and crispy and the whole house smells of maple and bacon.” She moans at the thought of her mother’s breakfast. My cock twitches in response to the sexy sound and my mind begins to wander to places far from food.
“Did she teach you how to cook?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Maybe someday you can make one of her famous breakfasts for me?”
She glances at me and back to the road stretched out in front of us.
“Maybe.”
Her answer is light, but I think she understands my insinuation that there will be a day when she will wake up in my bed hungry for breakfast and better yet hungry for other things.
“You want to listen to music?”
She worries her lip and thinks. It wasn’t a thinking kind of question. “A simple yes or no will do.”
“No. I’d rather talk about your plan.”
“You don’t want to wait until we eat first?”
“No, I’d like to talk about it now.”
“Okay, shoot, what do you want to know?”
“The obvious first, how are you planning on convincing your dad to let my parents live on your land?”
I shake my head. “You weren’t listening yesterday were you?”
“Yes, I know you said the land will be theirs but what are you going to tell your dad?”
“I’m not going to tell you exactly, all you need to know is the land will legally be theirs and everything on it, including the house, when all is said and done.”
“What do you mean, you’re not going to tell me exactly?”
“What I mean is, I have it covered and you don’t need to worry about the details.”
“I do worry about details though, it’s kind of my thing. So, it would make me feel much better if you would tell me.”
I sigh and adjust in my seat. I don’t want to tell her that I’m planning to blackmail my father with something from our past to get his signature on the deed to that property. First of all she would refuse it if she thought it was going to make a rift between my father and I, which there is already. And second I don’t want to get into details about my ammunition; it doesn’t paint a very pretty picture of my dad.
“This is why I wanted to wait until after we ate breakfast. You’re hungry and it’s making you cranky.”
Her head jerks back and she cocks it to the side looking at me like I’m full of shit and she would be right.
“You don’t know how I am when I’m hungry, you don’t know me at all. Incidentally that’s another thing I wanted to talk about. Why are you willing to stick your neck out for us?”
“I don’t need to know your deepest darkest secrets to know you’re hungry Charlotte. And I’m doing this because I like you, and your family could use a leg up right now, simple as that.”
“You like me how?”
“I don’t follow, what do you mean?”
She huffs and that tiny show of frustration is so incredibly sexy it makes me want to pull over and kiss her right here and now.
“I mean do you like me as a friend, a co-worker or a woman?”
“Um, how about all of the above?” I ask confused by this supposed clarification.
“Beau, what I’m trying to say is, are you asking for something intimate in return for this land and house? Because I’m not for sale unless you have an animal that requires a vet.”
Now I’m insulted. I steer the SUV onto the shoulder and put on my emergency lights because this is an emergency.
“How have you taken a kind act of generosity and twisted it into me wanting you to prostitute yourself for a house and land?”
Her big baby blues went wide the moment I pulled off the road, and now her mouth is hanging open so wide I gently hook my finger under her chin to close it.
“I… I don’t know. When you put it that way it sounds really bad. I just want to be sure you’re not expecting anything from me that’s all.”
“It sounds bad because it is bad. Do I look like the kind of guy who needs a prostitute?” My hand is still cradling her chin and I grip it firmly with my question.
“No, that’s not I mean.”
“Well that’s what it sounds like.” Her hand comes up to my arm and I loosen my grip on her face.
“I just wanted to be clear that I have nothing to give you in return for your generosity. Not money, not time, not…”
“Sex,” I finish for her.
I still have ahold of her chin but her eyes dart away.
“Charlotte I do not expect anything in return other than your services as a veterinarian on my ranch. That’s it, no other strings attached. That being said I do like you and I might want to take you to dinner sometime but I don’t expect you to put out after said dinner.”
“Okay.”
“So, we good?”
She nods, “I’d like to hear you say it.”
“We’re good.”
“That’s better.” I slide my hand up her jaw and tuck a few wayward curls behind her ear while I hold her gaze. “You’re beautiful Charlotte Deardon, not very smart, but beautiful.” Her mouth falls open again and I laugh, she’s so easy to mess with.
“You’re a jerk.”
“But you like me anyway. Come on, I’m starving.” I put the vehicle back into gear and pull away from the curb onto the nearly deserted road right into the bright sun. I switch on the radio to the local country station. After a few miles she starts to hum along with the music until we arrive at the Belfair.
11
French toast anyone?
Charlotte
I feel like an idiot. Beau thinks I’m an idiot. I’m pretty sure I am an idiot.
I all but called him a pimp when I questioned his intentions today. He’s a nice guy trying to do something nice for my family and me and I accused him of wanting to have sex with me. All the stress is making me nuts. I need to try and relax and enjoy this breakfast away with Beau and make him see I’m not bat shit crazy.
Inside the foyer of the Belfair I stand in awe of the grandest staircase I’ve ever seen. It’s as wide as the room at its base splitting half way up into two side staircases that lead patrons to what I can only imagine are luxurious suits. A thick red carpet with gold trim runs up the center of the stairs. I follow it up and gawk at an enormous crystal chandelier hanging there, sparkling as if someone just cleaned each of the hundreds of sparkling pieces of glass this morning, and maybe they did. This is the kind of place that has hundreds of staff members on the payroll solely to keep it pristine and glowing.
“You like?”
“I love,” I breathe, frozen in place like a small child in a huge toy store for the first time.
“Maybe we can come and stay here sometime, you know, in exchange for me giving your p
arents land and a house.” He lightly spanks my ass before taking my hand and leading me behind the stairs to the restaurant. I should balk at having my behind swatted but I don’t. I liked it.
“You’re never going to let me live that down are you?”
“Nope.”
I groan on our way to the hostess stand, which is more like a giant wooden bench where a judge would sit in a courtroom, than a simple hostess area.
The room is buzzing with activity, waiters dressed in black slacks and crisp clean white shirts with long black aprons tied around their waists, families eating, business people having coffee and now Beau and I.
I suddenly feel underdressed in the impressive formal dining room but I forget the second Beau releases my hand and slides it around my waist pulling me against him.
“We have a reservation under Hill,” he says to the hostess. She does a quick head to toe of Beau, that is probably only noticed by me, and looks at her reservation book that resembles a giant Bible.
“Oh yes, here you are Mr. Hill, wonderful to have you here again. Let me take you to your table.” She’s nauseating with her sugary flirtatious tone and wide perfect smile. I have nothing to be irritated about. I’m not with Beau like that and I have no claim on him even though his body language is saying otherwise.
He smiles down at me right before he guides me through the tables, following the hostess, with his hand burning the small of my back through the light material of my jumper. He pulls out a chair when we reach our table for me to sit and again I am stunned into silence by the beauty of the hotel.
The entire back wall of the restaurant is made up of glass windows with crisscrossed heavy wooden panes. The windows overlook a lake that is surrounded by mountains and the gorgeous Montana sky.
Our table is situated right in the center of the windows easily making it the best table in the house.
“Your waitress with be right with you Mr. Hill, enjoy your breakfast,” the sexy hostess says without a nod in my direction at all. The way he casually dismisses her with a polite thank you makes me all tingly inside.