Nobody Does it Better

by Samantha Chase

  “I’m not flying to Denver, Ryder,” she said in a rush of words.

  “Don’t worry,” he told her. “We’re not going anywhere today. We’re going to go rest and just try to recover.” Looking around, he saw all of their luggage was with them and was relieved to see it being loaded into the trunk of the car.

  Carefully, he helped her into the back seat. “We’re staying at a place not too far from here and we’ll talk about travel arrangements once we’ve both had a chance to calm down, okay?”

  She nodded, but immediately reached for his hand and pulled him in beside her as if she needed the connection to him. “That’s fine. It’s fine,” she said quietly. “Just…no flying.”

  There was no way he was going to get into how long of a drive it would be for them to get to Denver so he just nodded.

  When they pulled away from the airport, the list of things he still had to do ran through his head. There were arrangements to be made for the plane and any repairs it was going to need, getting his pilot here, finding a way to get to Denver, and getting settled for the night. As they drove, Ryder noticed the lack of…everything. It was like they were literally in the middle of nowhere and he had to wonder how they were going to get through the night.

  It took twenty minutes to get to the motel, and the only place he spotted to eat was a diner. Fortunately, it was directly across the street from the motel, but neither looked promising.

  Before they got out of the car, Ryder looked over at Peyton and asked, “If you’re not comfortable with any of this, I can get us on a flight out of here tonight.”

  “Ryder!” she cried with indignation.

  “I know, I know,” he quickly interrupted. “Believe me, it’s not ideal for me either, but this…I’m not sure staying here is the lesser of two evils.”

  “I realize it’s not the Ritz, but…how bad can it be for one night?”

  Famous last words…

  Not five minutes later, Ryder knew exactly how bad it could be for one night.

  “What do you mean you only have one room available? There’s no one here!” he yelled.

  The young kid behind the desk didn’t look the least bit offended. “Sorry, but…the motel’s under renovations and we only have two rooms that are finished. One of them already has a guest staying in it.” Then he smiled. “Lucky for you, you’ll get to be the first ones to use the other room!”

  He wasn’t feeling the least bit lucky right now and when he glanced at Peyton, he saw she was taking the news much better than he was.

  “I’m sorry, Lucas,” Peyton said sweetly as she stepped up to the desk. “We’ve had a rough morning. Our plane almost crashed on our way to Denver and we’re kind of stuck here in town for the night.”

  The kid–Lucas–who had to be about eighteen, leaned forward and looked like he was about to take Peyton’s hand in his. “Oh, man, that sounds scary! What are you going to do? How are you getting to Denver?”

  “We’re not sure yet,” she replied. “All I know is that my nerves are a little frazzled and I’d love to get settled in our room.”

  Lucas turned and grabbed a key–an actual key–from a peg on the wall behind him and handed it to Peyton. “It’s room 110. You step out the door and go to your right and it’s all the way at the end.”

  “You are a lifesaver, Lucas.” Taking the key from him, she smiled. “Oh, one more thing. I’m starving. Is the diner the only place close by to eat or is there maybe someplace that delivers…?”

  “The diner is your best bet. Their burgers are legendary! Jimmy’s Pizza will deliver but they don’t open until five so…”

  “Got it. The diner for lunch and maybe pizza for dinner. Thanks, Lucas.” Turning toward him, Peyton smiled. “You want to put this on your card or mine?”

  What he wanted was to find somewhere else to stay, but clearly that wasn’t happening, so he paid for the room and followed Peyton out the door.

  Neither spoke as they walked down the sidewalk to the end of the building. In his mind, Ryder tried to imagine what a small town in the middle of nowhere considered renovated. He pictured perhaps fresh paint on the walls and maybe new bedding, but for everything else to remain woefully outdated. Standing behind Peyton as she opened the door, he braced himself for disappointment.

  “Oh my God,” Peyton murmured, and Ryder knew this was possibly the final straw for them today. “This is amazing!”

  Wait…what?

  Following her into the room, he had to admit he was…pleasantly surprised.

  There was a king-sized bed with floating night stands on either side and the wall behind it was covered in a bold geometric wallpaper in blue and gold. The furnishings were mid-century modern and the room had an overall vintage vibe.

  It wasn’t nearly as offensive as he would have imagined.

  The room still smelled like paint, drywall, and cleaning products, and it instantly had him relaxing. The carpet was new and as he walked around the room, he spotted the smart TV and minibar. Seriously, he couldn’t find a thing wrong with it.

  “This is very retro-chic,” Peyton said as she put her purse down. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but this is seriously the highlight of the day!” Looking over at him, she laughed. “The way things were going, I was expecting to walk into a room that hadn’t been touched since the seventies, but this is amazing!”

  Then she sat on the edge of the bed and bounced, and Ryder had to force himself to look away.

  “Memory foam!” she said happily. “Oh my goodness! It’s so comfortable!”

  “Um…” Rather than focus on her sprawled out on the bed, he set their luggage down in the corner of the room. “So, uh…are you hungry? Want to go across to the diner?”

  She fell back on the bed and Ryder stifled a groan. “I know I’ll feel better once I eat something, but I feel like my limbs are made of lead right now.” Turning her head, she looked over at him. “Any chance you’d be willing to go over and bring some food back here?”

  After what he’d put her through today, he’d go out and hunt for food if she wanted him to.

  “Of course,” he told her. “I’m not sure what they have, but…”

  “Bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke, please,” she said, kicking off her ankle boots. “Thank you!”

  Ryder envied how relaxed she looked and wished he could feel the same, but he knew this tension was going to be with him for a while.

  Walking across to the diner, he was again surprised by how neat and tidy and retro it all looked. He was greeted by three different waitresses and when he glanced at the menu, he saw plenty of items that appealed to him–far too many for just lunch and considered talking Peyton out of pizza delivery for dinner and simply coming back here.

  “What can I get for you?”

  Looking up, he noticed her nametag said Janet and smiled. “Hey, Janet. Can I please get two bacon cheeseburger deluxe platters to go with two Cokes, a slice of apple pie, and one of those giant chocolate chip cookies?”

  “You got it!” she said, smiling warmly at him.

  While he waited for their food, his mind raced with the events of the day.

  Reckless. Egotistical. Stupid. Yeah, that pretty much summed up his thoughts about himself. It had been a long time since he did something like this, something to impress a woman that went so horribly wrong. Not only could he have killed them both, but he was never going to forget the look of sheer panic on Peyton’s face even before they stepped foot on the plane. Looking back, he knew he should have changed plans right then and there. At the very least, he should have called his pilot and had him come and take over just to put Peyton’s mind at ease. Instead, he’d charged forward because he believed he was in the right.

  And he’d never been so wrong.

  Groaning softly, he sat at the counter and tried to think of how he was going to get them to Denver with the least amount of trauma. Driving was the obvious answer, but it truly was a long drive and he was not a roa
d trip kind of guy. However, if that was what it took, then he was going to have to do it. They were still going to miss the first day of the show no matter what, so he supposed it was the way it was going to go. Deep down, Ryder knew he could get on a commercial flight–or even on a larger chartered plane–and be okay, but he didn’t think the same could be said for Peyton.

  And then they were still going to have to figure out how to get back to Magnolia Sound when the show was over. There was no way he was going to waste two or three extra days driving, so…they were going to have to figure something out.

  But as he went to open their motel room door fifteen minutes later, he still had no idea about any of it.

  “Here, let me help you,” Peyton said when she spotted him. She had changed into an outfit similar to the one she’d worn at her home that night–yoga pants and a tank top with tiny straps.

  It’s like she’s trying to torture me…

  “This little table and chair set might make a tight fit for all this food, but the thought of eating on the bed just seemed wrong.” She went about setting up their food, completely oblivious to the fact that he was uncomfortable. Then she smiled up at him. “I think you can lose the jacket and tie, don’t you?”

  “Um…sure,” he muttered, slipping his jacket off as he walked over to the closet to hang it up. His tie followed before he unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves. It didn’t do much to help him relax, but it definitely would have looked ridiculous for him to stay so formally dressed.

  Peyton was already seated and munching on a fry when he sat down. “So?” she asked. “How was it? Did you hate it? Should I be leery of the food? Although…I have to admit, it smells so damn good that maybe I don’t want to know.”

  “Trust me, you’re safe,” he said with a small laugh, reaching for a fry for himself.

  “Well, you told me that this morning and look what happened.”

  She wasn’t looking at him as she said it, and her tone was light, but it pretty much gutted him.

  Reaching across the table, he took one of her hands in his. “You have to know how sorry I am,” he began gruffly. “In all the chaos once we were on the ground, I realize I never apologized to you. I should have taken your concerns seriously before we even left the ground. There’s no way I can ever make it up to you or even apologize enough, but…you have to know how awful I feel about the entire thing. I never should have put you in that position.” Pulling his hand back, he raked it through his hair as he let out a long breath. “Hell, I realize now just how unprepared I was, and it would be one thing if it were just me on the flight. I had no right to bring you along.”

  The whole time he spoke, she slowly ate another fry.

  Damn. This was harder than he thought it would be.

  “I don’t know what happens from here,” he went on. “Not just with our transportation, but between you and me with our working relationship. If I were in your shoes, I know I wouldn’t trust me. I’ve never endangered anyone before and I can’t believe I was foolish enough to do something like this now.”

  “Ryder, did you intentionally fly into the turbulence?”

  Was she crazy? “It doesn’t work like that.”

  “Exactly,” she said plainly. “I’ll admit that I was terrified when I saw the plane this morning and even more terrified when you told me you were the one flying it.”

  “Oh God…”

  “But,” she quickly interrupted. “It was my decision to stay on board. Granted, I did search for other flights before we took off and there weren’t any, but I could have left if I wanted to.” With a patient smile, she reached over and took his hand again. “It was the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life and if I keep thinking about it, I know I’ll freak out, so…can we just…not talk about it?”

  If only it were that simple…

  “Peyton, you have to realize that it’s going to come up. We still have to get to Denver and then all the way back to Magnolia. The topic of transportation can’t be avoided forever.”

  With a shrug, she picked up her burger and took a bite, moaning with pleasure.

  Yeah, she was going to be the death of him. Rather than obsess about it, Ryder opted to pick up his own lunch and try it. They ate in companionable silence because the food was that good. Other than random comments about just how good it was, they were both focused on their burgers and fries. It wasn’t until they were done that he mentioned the dessert.

  “I’m not saying we have to eat it now, but there’s a slice of pie and a giant cookie in that white bag.”

  “Ooh…what kind of cookie?”

  “Chocolate chip.”

  Her smile was radiant. “I’m beginning to think my cousin gave away all my favorites to you. That basket this morning was absolutely amazing. I’m kind of bummed that it spilled all over the floor. I only had the muffins before everything happened.”

  “I promise to send you a replica of it when we’re back in Magnolia.”

  Standing, Peyton stretched and cleaned up their mess. There was a trash pail outside their room and she took everything out there before coming back in and sitting on the bed. “So…do you think we should have looked into getting a rental car and starting the drive today?”

  His bark of laughter was the first response, and when she looked offended, he instantly sobered. “Peyton, after the morning we had, I didn’t think it was smart to try to drive anywhere. I realize this is going to cost us the first day of the show because it’s an eleven-hour drive to Denver from here, but…” He shrugged.

  Collapsing back on the bed, she sighed loudly. “Damn. I didn’t realize it was that long. Then again, geography really isn’t my thing.” Turning her head, she looked over at him. “So what can we do?”

  Ryder was still sitting at the small dining set by the window and tried to think of a reasonable response. “I…I guess we go online and see about renting a car for tomorrow and getting as early of a start as possible.”

  “And what about the plane? You know, your plane?”

  “I’ve got some calls to make about it. Someone’s going to inspect it today to make sure there’s no damage and then my pilot will come and fly it back to North Carolina.”

  “Oh.”

  “As a matter of fact, why don’t I get started on that,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I’ll just be outside and…”

  “You don’t need to leave the room. I’m going to pull out my laptop and do some work too so I promise not to disturb you.”

  “I was actually afraid I was going to disturb you,” he said with small laugh.

  “Well…you do you and I’ll just be over here doing my thing.”

  For an hour, Ryder made one call after another. He set up his laptop on the table and made notes about the mechanic who was going to look at the plane and made arrangements for his pilot to fly in to take it home. It killed him to do it, but…he couldn’t put the full blame on Peyton. The thought of getting back on the small jet didn’t sit well with him, either.

  There weren’t many car rental locations nearby. He studied their options and then the route and he thought maybe this was the universe’s way of saying they shouldn’t go to the trade show. He had no idea why, but…it seemed like an awful lot of bad luck was following them.

  Turning, he saw Peyton climb from the bed and stretch before she padded over toward him, smiling. “I can’t concentrate on anything,” she told him.

  “How come?”

  “It seems my mind can only focus on one thing and…I’m not proud of it.”

  His mind instantly went to the night they kissed, and he secretly hoped that’s what she was referring to. She was a living, breathing temptation, and that clingy little outfit had been driving him mad for weeks now.

  As she got closer, her smile turned a little…impish. “It’s probably going to sound naughty, but…”

  “But…?” he croaked, starting to sweat.

  “The temptation is too
much. It’s crazy and I know I shouldn’t, but…”

  “Peyton, I…I feel the same way,” he admitted as he stood.

  “Oh thank God,” she said with a laugh. “I kept telling myself I should wait to eat the cookie because lunch was so filling, but that bag is just sitting there mocking me!” Stepping around him, she grabbed it and pulled the cookie from it.

  Food? She was thinking about food? Was that all she thought about?

  “Do you want the pie?” she asked, holding it out to him.

  Taking it from her hand, he tossed it on the table, much to her wide-eyed dismay. “No.”

  “But…you just said…”

  Ryder took one step toward her and then another until they were practically toe to toe. “I didn’t realize you were talking about food.”

  Frowning, she stared up at him. “What did you think I was talking about then?”

  It would have been easy to simply grab her and kiss her like he had that night at her house, but that wasn’t how he wanted it to be with them. It was important for him to know that Peyton wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  Slowly, Ryder reached up and caressed her cheek. “I thought you were talking about…this. Us.” Swallowing hard, he never realized how awkward this could be. If she wasn’t interested–or worse, was offended–then the rest of this trip was going to be hell. But he needed to know if he was alone in this, if he was the only one fixated on this attraction that was growing stronger by the damn day.

  “Ryder, I…” she began softly, pausing briefly to bite her lip. “I’m not sure what to say.”

  So he was alone in this. He misread all the signs.

  Peyton Bishop was hell on his ego and making him second guess every instinct he had. But when he went to move his hand away, he felt Peyton grab onto it tighter and hold it against her skin.

  “I thought you regretted kissing me that night,” she said quietly, beautiful eyes scanning his face. “You said it was a mistake.”