But the more sensible side of me, the side that had ruled the roost for years and years and years now, told me it was good for me to get a clear visual of how different our worlds were. We honestly had nothing in common. Last year he’d been voted New York’s most eligible bachelor. I’d been thrilled when my raisin bread won honorable mention at the county fair. He did red carpets. The closest I’d ever come to a red carpet was the welcome mat we’d had growing up. It had started out red, then quickly faded into a dusty burgundy, then dark gray as the years went by offering not so much as welcome as a warning—we did not keep a tidy house.
This chance encounter between Colt and I was random and fleeting. Tomorrow, he’d fly back into his fancy jet-setting world and I’d keep right on keeping on in Redwood Bay. Tempting as the man was—and lord he was tempting—I wasn’t the slam-bam-thank you ma’am type.
It was kind of liberating. I had no expectations from him. I knew who he was and this wasn’t the start of something special. This was not a Nicholas Sparks movie. This was one night of fun.
And I wanted a night of fun. I had a good life, a satisfying one and I felt proud of what I’d accomplished. But I also felt a lot like that old tale about the little Dutch boy who plugged the leak in a wall with his finger. It stopped the leak, but then he was stuck standing there, fighting disaster with just his finger. Until another leak sprung and he had to contort to cover that one up as well, getting more stuck. I’d been plugging up leaks my whole life, cooking dinner for my younger sister and brother, driving around in a rusted-out 250,000+ miles car, finding affordable quick fixes for unreliable ovens in my store.
I wanted tonight, my escape from reality. One night in a fabulous red dress with a heart-stoppingly gorgeous man. I was going to make the most of it.
§
The limo arrived at my house at 3:59 p.m. Evan used to bike over to my house, sweaty, at unpredictable hours, sometimes asking to use my bathroom for a shower before we headed out. Or just stayed in.
Colt knocked at four o’clock sharp with a dozen roses in his hand. He didn’t say a word when I opened up the door. He just looked at me, his mouth slightly open, his eyes growing dark and heated.
“Hi!” I laughed for no reason, flustered. I was glad I was wearing that sexy red dress, but for a woman used to covering up, I felt pretty much naked. And the way he was looking at me didn’t exactly change that feeling.
“Thank you so much!” I moved to take the roses since he hadn’t said a word nor moved a muscle. Had I paralyzed him with my dress? “I love roses.”
“You look…” He spoke slowly, licked his lips and gulped, then trailed off as if his powers of speech had been severely impaired. Tee hee. I knew I was blushing but, honestly, I kind of loved it. He’d done it to me several times over the past 24 hours. Now it was payback time.
“Who are you?” My sister Zoe appeared, looking sleepy in sweats and a T-shirt.
“Oh, this is Colt.” I introduced them, explaining she was my sister but not giving him any explanation whatsoever. What should I call him? Friend? Date? Business adversary? “I told you I was going out tonight.” I’d left her a message but she never listened to them.
“What about dinner?” she asked, grumpy, looking forlornly at the kitchen.
“There’s leftovers tacos from yesterday and there’s some grilled chicken in there, too. You could heat that up with some pasta.”
Zoe scrunched up her nose, then sighed. “Maybe I’ll just grab a slice before my shift.” She didn’t like leftovers.
Colt looked at her, confused.
“She’s working nights this rotation,” I explained, like a parent with a spoiled brat rushing to excuse the bad behavior by explaining she’d missed her nap. “She’s studying to become a nurse.”
Colt nodded, still clearly not impressed. I found a vase, filled it with water and stuck in the roses. Arranging them could wait for tomorrow. I wanted to head out.
The two of them eyed each other warily while I spoke nonsense about the weather and then grabbed my wrap—light and gauzy as Hannah had allowed—and a small clutch.
“What time will you be home?” Zoe asked. I didn’t know why she cared. Her shift didn’t end until seven a.m.
“Late,” Colt answered for me, opening the door.
A driver opened the door to his limo and I had to giggle. So many doors being opened for me. And then we set off, heading out of town.
“Where are we going?” I peered out the window as if looking for a clue.
“You’ll see.” He stretched out an arm along the back of the seat. We weren’t touching, but I could feel his body heat. He was a big man but not too bulky, exactly my type. I bet he had abs of frickin’ steel. He asked me about my day and I told him, leaving out the part about googling him. Once I mentioned leaving early and letting Shelly close up, I started getting nervous.
“Maybe I should—?”
“Only double-check if it’ll set your mind at ease. I don’t want you distracted tonight.”
“You want my full attention?” I asked, smiling at his arrogance and putting down my phone. I didn’t need to call.
“You’ve got mine.” He gazed down at me with heated admiration, leaning in to give me a light kiss on my cheek. “You look incredible.”
“Thanks, Hannah helped me find a dress.” I played a bit with the material along my legs, enjoying his attentions but still self-conscious.
“I’m eternally grateful to her. But it is going to make my plans for tonight more difficult.” He dropped his hand to my bare shoulder and gave it a light caress.
“It is?” What did he have in store that a dress would complicate? Horseback riding? Paragliding?
“I don’t know how I’m going to keep my hands off you during an entire dinner.” He brought his face to my hair and nuzzled me, breathing me in. It left me breathless, how he savored me.
And I became even more breathless when the limo pulled into a private airport and up to a small plane.
“What are we doing?” I asked as the driver parked and hopped out to open my door.
“Going out for dinner.” Colt gave me a satisfied smile.
“Where are we going out for dinner?”
“San Francisco.”
“What?” I’d been down there exactly once, on an ill-fated road trip with Hannah and two other friends. Our car had broken down an hour south of Eureka so by the time we’d reached S.F. we’d already blown a chunk of our money and time. We stayed two nights, crashing on couches of a friend of a friend’s friend, wandering around the Mission District and heading to parties. Everyone seemed to work at Apple, Facebook, LucasFilm or Pixar. They were happy to say where they worked, but then even more happy to inform you that they couldn’t tell you what they were working on. Top Secret.
“There’s a restaurant in SoMa I want to take you to.”
I swore under my breath. He hopped out and made it around to my door before I’d even moved a muscle. He wanted to fly us down to San Francisco for dinner? I couldn’t even process it.
I took his hand and he led me over and up the stairs to a small plane. The interior looked more like an upscale conference room than a commercial airliner. No rows upon squished rows without even enough room to flip down your tray table, this plane had some large leather chairs, a couple of tables, plus a sofa and widescreen TV.
“Wow!” Now I was nearly speechless.
“You OK with flying?” he asked, perhaps misinterpreting my shock as reluctance.
“No, I’m fine with flying. I’m just…” I gestured around at all of it, like something out of a movie. “I can’t believe you want to fly us to another city for dinner. It’s so Fifty Shades!”
The second I said it I covered my mouth and blushed, furiously. Not the association I’d meant to make, not aloud anyway, with visions of bondage now dancing above our heads.
“Fifty Shades?” he asked, clearly enjoying the reference. “Sounds good to me.” He took my hand and led me
toward the couch. He greeted the pilot and asked a few questions that seemed somewhat technical. I knew nothing about planes, and I guessed most other passengers wouldn’t know about the quality of shock absorbers, either.
“I have my pilot’s license,” he explained after the pilot headed to the cockpit. He poured us each a glass of wine. “Makes things easier. We don’t need a co-pilot up front.”
“All right then.” Was there anything he couldn’t do? I took the glass of wine from him and we toasted to the evening. I had a feeling it would be like no other.
CHAPTER 7
Colt
I’d never seen a woman look more enticing. The way that red dress wrapped around her, revealing, tempting, promising more within. It was hard to keep my hands off of her.