Perfect Kisses

by Maine, Miley

  * * *

  Logan was waiting for me when I got off the phone.

  “Well?”

  “That went better than I expected.”

  “Your mom didn't lose her mind?”

  “She accepted my explanation fairly calmly.”

  He tugged me toward him. “I'm impressed. You had to tell her that you stayed with a strange man all alone for days.”

  “I deliberately did not mention the broken arm or the terrorist attack.”

  “I think that's probably for the best. Maybe tackle one thing at a time.”

  “That is my plan.”

  “Can I ask you something? It's kind of personal.”

  “We’re dating now. So ask away.”

  “Just don't answer if you think it's too intrusive.”

  “When have you known me to do things that I didn't want to do?”

  “That's a really good point.” She laughed. “But there has been a time or two.” She pointed at me.

  “Prove it.”

  I started naming all the things he had done for me, starting with chopping down the Christmas tree. The list went on and on.

  “You're not fighting fair. All of those things are for you.”

  “They still count.”

  “So what's your question?”

  “Oh. Are you independently wealthy?”

  “I am. How did you know?”

  “So many reasons. When I met you, you lived in a pretty nice cabin on an expensive piece of land. You had a top-of-the-line snowmobile and a top-of-the-line pickup truck. You didn't seem to work much, and you didn't seem to want customers either. When you did work, you flew a really nice plane.”

  “As I’ve said, you are very observant.”

  “It's not rocket science.”

  “You wouldn't believe that some people don't notice.”

  “Anyway. I grew up around wealthy people. Surgeons, lawyers, investment bankers. And, people with trust funds.”

  “The government agency I worked for pays well. It would have afforded me a comfortable lifestyle anywhere in the world. But not extravagant. I do have a trust fund.”

  “That makes so much sense. I have a trust fund too.”

  “Do you have a lot of restrictions?”

  “No. My money is paid out like dividends. There are no conditions. Is yours conditional?” I asked him.

  “No. My grandfather painted it over and he was still alive. He thought I was responsible enough to handle it without a lot of oversight.” Some of my friends had extreme conditions on their trust funds. They had to maintain a certain GPA, live in a certain place, or attend a certain college to get their full payouts.

  “That's exactly how my parents are. But my sister may have a harder time not spending all her money at once. She's a lot more impulsive.”

  34

  Logan

  For the flight to Arkansas, Bethany wore a flannel shirt with a feminine plaid, and she’d unbuttoned the cuffs so they rolled up over her cast.

  The flannel shirt was cut in a way that showed off the hourglass of her waist, and she had on fitted jeans with rips in the knees. I wanted to grab her little round bottom in those jeans, but if I put my hands on her now, we’d never make it to her house.

  Bethany’s house looked like something out of a storybook. It had character. It was a large two-story red brick surrounded by oak trees. In the front window, the curtains were pulled back to reveal a formal dining room. Through the glass, I could see a large Christmas tree. Its yellow lights twinkled.

  “It was built in 1930,” she said. “My parents remodeled but they tried to keep it authentic.”

  I dreaded meeting her parents. They sounded too much like mine. Obsessed with money and appearance. Shallow and self-centered.

  I nodded but didn’t comment. I remembered Bethany had a hand in the Christmas decor, so I figured I needed to keep my judgments to myself. I didn’t degrade anyone's hobbies. God knows I’d had plenty of frivolous ones over the years.

  I had never gone through the ‘meet the parents’ evening before. Because of my job, I’d never been able to get close to a woman before. Now I was meeting Bethany’s parents after only knowing her for a week. I couldn’t imagine that they’d be particularly excited to meet me.

  “Mom, this is Logan. Logan, this is my mother.”

  Her mother was attractive. She looked a lot like Bethany. She was dressed in a green party dress. She walked right up to me, beaming. She didn’t look pissed off, or hostile or even suspicious. She opened her arms. “I'm sorry if you're not a hugger. I am a hugger and I want to greet my daughter's new boyfriend.”

  This was a far better welcome than I had expected. It was a far better welcome than I deserved. If this woman knew how close I had come to failing to protect her daughter, she might not feel the same way. but I was not going to be the one to ruin the moment.

  After she squeezed me, she stepped back and patted my shoulders.

  “It's very nice to meet you.”

  Bethany's father was next. He was tall but still lithe. He stuck his hand out. “Thanks for bringing her home. We weren't sure what we would do without her for Christmas Day.”

  “I'm happy to sir.”

  “You don't need to call me sir. Just treat my little girl right and we'll be fine.”

  “I plan to do my best.”

  A small boy came barreling down the staircase. “Bethy! You are home!” This must be her younger brother. He grabbed Bethany around the waist and squeezed her. Then he turned his face up toward me. “Is it true you have a plane? Will you take me for a ride? It's really pretty over Pinnacle Mountain. It looks like a volcano out by the Arkansas river. We could see it up close. If you flew.”

  “We’ll have to ask your mom about that.”

  “Mom! Can I fly with Logan?”

  “Calm down. That's something we'll have to discuss later. We are not going to make him shuttle us around on Christmas Day.”

  Secretly I thought that might be a good plan. It would be better than staring at each other awkward late during Christmas dinner. But thankfully Bethany’s parents were far better than I expected. They were certainly a lot better than mine.

  “Where is your plane?”

  “It's the airport. With all the other planes.”

  “Cool!” He shouted.

  A teenage girl came sauntering in that room. Just like Bethany's mother, this girl looked a whole lot like Bethany. The only difference was the surly look she had on her face. “You sure didn't waste any time finding a new boyfriend,” she said.

  Bethany’s mouth went flat. She marched toward her sister. “Merry Christmas to you too.” She leaned in closer to her sister, but we could still hear her.

  “Do you have any idea what Winston did to me?” she hissed.

  “No. Mom wouldn't tell me. She only said that you broke up.”

  “Winston cheated on me. And he lied to me.”

  Now her sister looked upset.

  “Not that isn’t any of your business who I date. But you could try to be happy for me.”

  “I didn't know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude. I just thought you and Winston would be together forever.”

  “I’m not sure why you're so interested. You barely said two words to Winston over the last five years.”

  The teenager shrugged. “He's cute. And he seemed nice enough.”

  “He had good manners. Except for the part where he cheated. That was not very mannerly of him.”

  I had to hold in my laughter.

  My phone chimed, distracting me from Bethany’s sister’s rant. There was a name I hadn’t expected to see -- my brother’s. He had texted me a simple message.

  Merry Christmas.

  I would not be speaking to my parents. Nothing good could come of it. But my brother and I had been close at one point. If I could come to terms with Christmas again and patch up my relationship with Cameron, then maybe I could talk to my brother again.

 
What was the worst that could happen? We could hang up on each other and never speak again. And we already weren't speaking. I had one of the riskiest jobs on the planet for over ten years. And before that I flew planes for the military. I could call my freaking brother.

  I stepped outside onto Bethany’s front porch. The sun was out now, and it was already fifty-five degrees. It was steamy compared to what we’d left behind in Utah.

  I picked up the phone. “Hey William.”

  “Logan? Is that you?”

  “It's me.”

  “Where are you? Nepal? Hong Kong? Taipei?”

  “Nowhere close. I'm in Arkansas right now but I've been in Utah.”

  “Hell you're practically next door when you're in Utah. We should get together.”

  “Yeah. That would be good. I have someone I'd like you to meet.”

  I sat down on Bethany's red brick fence. This was a really weird fucking Christmas. Good. Really good. But weird.

  * * *

  To take a break from her family, I took Bethany out for a drive, while she pointed out all her favorite spots in Little Rock. Nothing was open because it was Christmas Day, but she pointed out the bridge where she’d biked, the river market, and Pinnacle Mountain, the place her brother said looked like a volcano. And he was right.

  “It’s not the same as Utah, but it’s pretty cool for hiking.”

  “I can’t wait to see the top,” I said.

  “So that’s not too extreme for you?” she asked, nudging me in the ribs.

  “Ha. I think we know who gets into scrapes on mountains. And it’s not me.”

  I told Bethany about my brother, and of course she was supportive. She even proposed having him meet her parents.

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said. “He’s trying. But he’s got a track record of being a real horse’s ass.”

  There was something I wanted to talk to her about. Something more pressing than my brother.

  Us.

  “How do you want to proceed?” I asked her. Until this last year, I’d been a planner. My plans were often disrupted, but I’d had them.

  “Proceed?” Bethany asked.

  “Yes. With our relationship.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Why are you asking me?”

  “Because I’m the one that brought it up. That means I get to do the asking.”

  “I don’t think that's how it works,” she said.

  “That's how it works. Trust me.”

  “You said you never had a serious relationship, so I'm the expert here. I had a seven-year relationship.”

  “And how did that work out for you?” As soon as I said it, I thought maybe I'd gone too far. I wasn't sure if Bethany was sensitive about Winston at this point. Even though she was over him, she might still resent him.” I opened my mouth to clarify, but she was laughing.

  “Good one,” she said. “Is living in the wilderness a requirement for you?”

  “Hey. I thought I was asking the questions.”

  “Yeah but I didn't agree to that.” I bent down and started tickling her, she jumped away laughing. “Compromise. We'll take turns.”

  I sobered. “Wilderness is not an absolute requirement. But after…” it was still weird to realize that she knew about Isobel. “After last Christmas I had a harder time being in cities.”

  “We can take it slow and figure it out. There's no rush.”

  I did not want to take it slow. That was the last thing I wanted. “My turn. If I told you I’d always wanted to live in downtown Fayetteville, would you want to take it slow then?”

  “No. No, I would say I wanted to be committed,” she said.

  “We can be committed from anywhere. I'm expecting that we will be exclusive.” My adrenaline spiked with the thought of her going out with another guy.

  “Yes! Of course we’ll be exclusive.” She muttered to herself for a minute.

  “You’re cute when you get jealous.”

  She scrunched up her nose. “I don’t know about that. Jealousy isn’t cute. But I would be enraged if you dated someone else. You should know that.”

  “There's not a strong enough word to describe what I would be.”

  “So here's an idea. I'll keep my cabin in Utah. And I'll also rent an apartment in Little Rock. I have a plane so we can get back and forth. We won't make any decisions until you graduate college. How does that sound?” I asked.

  “It sounds like a really good idea. I can't really think of any drawbacks.”

  That had gone better than I expected. Now there was another idea forming in my head, and I didn’t want to let go of it. I just hoped it wasn’t going to be too extreme for Bethany. Although I figured by now, she knew I was an intense guy. .

  Epilogue

  Logan

  “Where would you like to go for New Year’s Eve?” I asked Bethany on the day after Christmas. We were sitting on a patio overlooking the river. In Arkansas, apparently the weather fluctuated enough that we could eat outside the day after Christmas.

  “It would be nice if we could start the year off with a true fresh start.”

  “That's a good point. Are there any cities you’ve never visited?”

  “Hmm. I’m going to have to think about that.” She tapped her fingers against the table. “I've been to London, Paris, Rio, New York City and Los Angeles, but not for New Year's Eve. Just on vacation. But I know you've been to far more cities than I have.”

  That was true. I have been to dozens and dozens of countries and cities, most of them for work, some of them for pleasure. Then a thought occurred to me. “I've never been to Sydney.”

  “Neither have I. Have you been to Australia at all?”

  “Yes, I've been to Perth and Melbourne. But I never made it to Sydney, and it's the first international city that rings in the New Year.”

  “That sounds perfect.”

  “There's a major fireworks display at the Sydney Harbour. And the weather is warm.”

  “So we could go to the beach?”

  “Definitely.” I nuzzled her neck, although I tried to be discreet since she knew so many people here. “Mmm. I can’t wait to see you in a bikini.”

  Mentally I began to think of a list of things we could do while we were there. It was going to take some really quick planning for me to pull off what I intended to do, in less than a week’s time. And Bethany was so observant, I’d be shocked if she didn’t figure it out.

  “There's one thing they don't have.”

  “What's that?”

  I schooled my face into a very serious expression. “They did not have extreme downhill snow skiing.” I waited a beat for her mouth to drop open in feigned shock. “Thank God.”

  * * *

  I still had my Tom Ford suits in the closet at my house in Virginia. I had a tuxedo too, but I didn’t think we were going that formal.

  I’d kept an apartment close to Langley, in case I’d decided to go back to the agency. While Bethany was busy with her family, I flew myself to my apartment. Maybe it was time that I quit hiding from myself.

  I wondered if my suit would even fit now. My muscles were bulkier.

  I pulled it out. My favorite one was a dark gray and I wore it with a white shirt and no tie. The jacket had a notch lapel. The trousers were a straight cut. When I was leaner, it had hung on my body just right. I put it on. It still looked decent. It pulled a little in the biceps. And maybe the thighs.

  I called a tailor there, and he managed to work me in. “I haven’t seen you in a long time. You’ve been off the grid?” he asked.

  The tailor thought I was an aide to an international ambassador. Or maybe he didn’t. I had no idea. Maybe I wasn’t so subtle; Bethany had certainly figured it out. Off the grid was a good way to put it. “Yes. For a year.”

  After the tailor, I had my hair cut, just a little bit. I had to let it get really long. It was curling over my collar now. If I didn’t cut it, pretty soon I'd be able to fit it in a ponytail. I left
the stubble on my face, for now.

  I showed the hairdresser a photo of me two years ago. Isobel was also in the photo. That was one thing Bethany had done for me. She had encouraged me to start talking about Isobel. She was the one who asked to see a photo of her. I deleted them all from my phone. But I had them saved on a hard drive. So I uploaded them again to my phone and show them all to Bethany. She had listened with interest as I just grabbed Isobel for hours.

  My real self was probably part mountain man, and part guy with a tailored suit. Part of the issue I'd had with my parents was they wanted all of me to be the cultured city-boy. They wanted me to be a doctor too, but they rejected the part of me that valued living off the land, even as a teen. They didn’t understand my interest in farming and ranching -- not at all.

  I didn't know what the future would hold for me, but for now, I was content.

  I still craved the solitude of the mountains, and the self-sufficiency I’d discovered there. I was planning to move to Arkansas to be near Bethany for her final semester. I’d rent a loft in the downtown area of Fayetteville. But I also bought a little cabin in the Ozark Mountains, and I held on to my Utah cabin. There was no way I was going to give up the place where Bethany and I met.

  When I told Cameron, he had yelled several times into the phone until he calmed down. “Isobel was right. You are romantic. It just took finding the right person.”

  And I had some seriously romantic plans for our New Year's Eve -- a proposal. Maybe it was too soon. But I didn't think so. Bethany and I had survived an attack from a terrorist. I felt like we could survive anything together.

  She was going to turn twenty-three the week after New Years, but I still felt like I needed to ask her father's permission. Well not his permission. But I felt like I should speak to him before I proposed.

  The man I had met at Christmas had been reasonable. Would he be reasonable if I asked his oldest daughter to marry me? No clue.

  I had no idea how any of her family would react. Ideally I would have spoken to Emmaline or Mia to get their thoughts. But I did not have any confidence that they could keep it a secret from Bethany. They would both mean to keep it a secret. But I think their excitement for her would overflow and given Bethany's gift for observation, I don't think my proposal on New Year's Eve would be a secret for very long.