In Between the Earth and Sky

by Heidi Hutchinson

  Remington sighed. They had plans to hang out all day and now he had to change them.

  “I have a photo shoot in an hour. You want me to come with?”

  Her eyebrows dipped. “I thought you didn’t do that anymore.”

  He sat up straighter in order to suck more air in to his inhale and sigh. “Yeah. It’s for a friend. Once a year I do a calendar shoot with him for charity.”

  Lydia’s grin nearly made him blush. “That’s right! The Young Buns!”

  “What?!”

  “That’s what Brenda and I call it. That’s today?”

  He coughed an indignant laugh. Young buns? “Yeah.”

  “I would love to be there,” she declared, eyes wide and determined. “For the charity.”

  ***

  Lydia

  Holy freaking crap.

  Lydia took a slow and steady breath and trained her eyes on the floor in front of her.

  Yeah, Remington, I’ll go with you to a photo shoot. No problem. It’ll be fun.

  Attractive. Men. Everywhere.

  And most of them were naked or nearly so.

  One in particular was giving her heart palpitations.

  He didn’t have the pretty features Remington carried around effortlessly. This guy was rough as a cliff face. All angles and jagged expressions. Tattoos covered his arms and back. She had to look away before figuring out if it was all one large piece or several different ones.

  “Oh my God, are you drooling?” Remington asked, his amusement making his voice tremble.

  Lydia had to wipe the back of her hand across her mouth to check for sure. Remington really lost it after that, throwing his head back in a loud guffaw.

  She wanted to be embarrassed, but she just couldn’t bring herself to feel any shame.

  “Pull yourself together, chick. Don’t make me regret bringing you along,” Remington warned, not sounding that upset with her at all.

  Lydia turned her wide eyes toward him. “Are you going to be naked as well?”

  He shrugged one shoulder. “Well, yeah.”

  She swallowed the tightness gathering in her throat. “Yeah, I’m gonna need to wait outside.”

  Remington’s laugh ricocheted around the bare walls of the studio, drawing attention to the two of them. Lydia’s eyes tangled with the model that had made her mouth water before she locked eyes with Remington standing above her.

  “If you want me to still be able to have eye contact with you, then yeah, I need to excuse myself.” She waved a hand indicating Remington from head to toe. “I don’t need all of that confirmed for me.”

  Remington’s eyes narrowed just slightly as he sobered. He contemplated her words and there was no way for her to be able to tell what he thought of them. She was just being honest.

  “I didn’t take you for being shy, Larkin,” he said, dipping his chin and lowering his voice.

  “Not shy.” She smirked, arching her eyebrows playfully. “I have no desire to torture myself is all.”

  “Torture?” he asked, a furrow knitting his brow and worry flashing through his amber tinted eyes.

  Lydia felt heat reach her cheeks but she wasn’t about to back down now. In for a penny, right?

  “I’m an explorer, Remington,” she said, keeping her voice as even as possible. “If I see it, I’m gonna wanna touch it.”

  Excitement and understanding flashed through his eyes right before he closed them. “Go. Get out of here,” he said around the laugh escaping from his chest.

  She grinned and stood up. Well, he’d asked.

  “Please stay out of trouble,” he called just as she stepped outside to where it was safe.

  Well, safer. There weren’t any naked, tattooed, muscular men in sight.

  ***

  Lydia

  “I don’t know how you just expect me to forgive you.”

  Lydia smirked, unclipping the chin strap on her helmet. “What if I told you I managed to get Mr. May’s phone number for you?”

  Brenda’s glare faltered. “Are you lying?”

  Lydia laughed. “No! I wouldn’t lie about that!” She took off the helmet and raked her fingers through her hair a few times.

  Motion in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she lifted her head.

  A large van pulled up alongside the curb outside in the handicap spot. The overcast skies caused the white of the van to stand out like an industrial cloud in the gray weather.

  Goosebumps broke out along Lydia’s arm, but she didn’t know why.

  “What’s up?” Brenda asked, coming to stand beside her.

  “Nothing.”

  A familiar looking Nissan GTR parked behind the van and Lydia smiled despite herself. He had said he was busy today.

  “Is that…?”

  “Yep.” Lydia turned back to the climbing gear they needed to finish packing up.

  Normally, she and Brenda preferred the great outdoors. But Brenda had slept in (Lydia suspected there was a hangover involved—B wasn’t talking), so they’d compromised and met at the climbing gym downtown. It was relatively empty in the middle of the week and it hadn’t been difficult for them to get a spot.

  “Who’s he with?”

  Lydia glanced over her shoulder to see a man in a wheelchair being lowered from the van. Remington had left his car and was now speaking to him.

  “I don’t know.”

  Soon enough, Remington’s group had gathered in the entry and he’d spotted her. Saying a word to one of the guys, he strode confidently their direction. But something was off about his expression.

  “Hey,” he greeted Lydia with a warm smile. He licked his lips and narrowed an eye at Brenda. “Brenda? The best friend?” he guessed correctly, holding out his hand.

  Brenda hid the shocked look on her face and took the offered hand. “Yeah.”

  “I didn’t know you guys came here,” he said, crossing his arms. “I could have brought chocolate.”

  Wait.

  Was he nervous?

  “Last minute change of plans,” Brenda provided. Though she sent a side-eye to Lydia, probably due to the chocolate comment. “Are you with a group?”

  Remington smiled and glanced over his shoulder. During the movement, Lydia finally figured out what was different about his expression. It was his seminar face! Smooth, cool, regulated.

  Not the goofy, irritating, adorable idiot she was used to hanging out with.

  Was this for Brenda’s sake or his group?

  “We should get out of your way,” Lydia said brusquely. She knew she’d been brusque because Brenda elbowed her in the ribs.

  “No,” Remington interjected quickly, his guard falling away. “Stay.” He finally caught Lydia’s eyes and he shrugged sheepishly. “Please stay. You should stay.”

  “We’re kind of done,” Lydia said. She looked to Brenda for confirmation.

  “Maybe you could hang out then for a minute,” Remington suggested as he began to back away. “Just let me get them set up. Don’t leave.”

  “He’s very bossy,” Brenda observed quietly.

  “Well, he owns eight thousand companies, so that makes sense,” Lydia muttered. She picked up her bag and water bottle and sat down off to the side against the wall. Brenda joined her.

  “He doesn’t own eight thousand companies,” Brenda said in a huff as she scrolled down on the screen of her phone. Lydia glanced over to see Remington’s Wikipedia page. “You exaggerated. We’ve talked about this.”

  Lydia snickered and took a drink of her water. No, he didn’t own that many. But she was pretty sure he could if he wanted to.

  Her and Brenda talked about work and Merrick and the weather while they watched Remington work with his group. It didn’t take long before it all clicked.

  “Those are combat veterans,” Brenda murmured.

  “Mm-hm,” Lydia agreed.

  “And he’s teaching them how to rock climb.”

  Lydia’s heart may have doubled in size. In all the pre
ss packets she’d prepared, all the research she’d done on him, nowhere was this mentioned. Not one interview, not a single sound clip.

  This was a part of Remington Rohan the rest of the world didn’t get to see.

  “Hey,” he called to them. “You experienced climbers want to give some pointers?”

  Yes. Yes, they did.

  Especially Lydia.

  Every day with Remington was like a surprise party.

  And she hoped it never stopped.

  ***

  Remington

  “Why are you here?”

  Remington put a hand on Lydia’s belly to back her up into her apartment. He shut the door behind them and carried his two sacks of groceries to the kitchen.

  After yesterday he knew he needed to get this out of the way. Maybe he’d waited too long. He’d know soon enough.

  But it happened somewhere in between when she’d been laughing hysterically at one of Keith’s truly dark jokes, and when she’d smiled at him in a brand new way as he helped Skyler get into his harness. He just knew he needed to get the secrets out of the way. All of them.

  “Okay. New question.” She tried to push her hair out of her face but it flopped back over her eyes. “Why aren’t you speaking to me?” Using both hands, she cleared the hair from her view and peered at him with sleepy eyes and a prominent pillow crease on her cheek.

  Remington had the sudden sensation that he would like to see her this way every day.

  “We are going to have a reckoning,” he said, ignoring the disconcerting sensation. He unpacked the breakfast supplies on the counter.

  “Is that bacon?” Lydia asked, taking a step closer. “Remington, is that bacon?” she asked again.

  He ignored the sight of her tan bare legs in his peripherals and kept working. He had to stay on mission. Taking a deep breath, he turned to face her, resting one hand on the counter and the other on his hip.

  “I used to do porn.”

  Her eyes widened and she turned her head slightly, as if checking for someone else in the room.

  “Gay porn,” he clarified.

  “Why are you telling me this?” she asked, taking a step closer and dropping the volume of her voice.

  She did not, he noted, step further away.

  “Because I don’t like secrets.”

  “So take an ad out in The Times, crazy.”

  Remington swallowed and closed his eyes as he realized she didn’t get it.

  “No, Larkin—Lydia. I don’t want any secrets between us. Me and you.”

  She frowned, truly perplexed. Finally, she crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head once. “Okay, what?”

  “I like who I am when I’m with you. You make my altruism more genuine and less of an act. You also don’t make me feel like I need to be the only adult in every situation. And I like you.” He huffed, irritated that the conversation he’d been having internally with himself was coming out less eloquently in the moment. “And so I’m telling you my biggest secret.”

  Lydia’s mouth sort of twisted and pouted at the same time, her frown shifting from perplexed to amused.

  “Rem, I know about the porn.”

  “What?”

  She sighed and headed his way, taking over on the breakfast preparations. “I’ve had to put together press packets for you and Merrick multiple times. I know how to use Google. The porn has never been a secret.”

  He took a step back, giving her room to work as he processed the information.

  “Oh.”

  “Besides, doing gay porn ten years ago isn’t your biggest secret,” she added.

  “It’s not?”

  She chuckled, cracking open another egg in a mixing bowl. “Where is all this coming from?” She opened another egg, tossing the shell in the sink with the others.

  “Merrick told me. About your involvement in the Institute.” His words came out choppier than he would have liked.

  She paused, her hands hovering over the bowl.

  “And he told you this because…?”

  “Because I’m heavily invested.”

  She slowly rotated to face him, her hands still suspended in the hair before her.

  “How invested? Exactly.”

  Remington rubbed his chin, the thick beard growth scratching his fingertips. “Forty percent? I think?”

  Lydia’s eyebrows raised slowly and at the same rate as her lips parted. “Forty?” she breathed.

  He swallowed and nodded, wondering at her reaction.

  She dropped her arms to the side and grinned hugely. “That’s great!” she shouted, her body vibrating with excitement.

  “Is it?” he asked warily with a tentative smile.

  “Are you kidding?” she countered, stepping into him and throwing her arms around his neck.

  He caught her at the waist, stunned and cautious from her reaction. The warmth and curves of her body hit him and he inhaled the scent of her.

  Flowers.

  Probably some random mixture of whatever she’d fallen asleep next to the night before.

  Fresh. Intoxicating.

  And incidentally a smell that had started to make him think of rainstorms and open roads.

  She dropped away again and shook her head, her wild hair flopping all around her shoulders.

  “This is so great. Now we can talk about stuff.”

  He chuffed a laugh. “We already talk about stuff.”

  She added the last of the eggs to the bowl. “No. I mean we can talk about all the stuff.” She grinned up at him again. “Isn’t it great? We study space flowers!”

  He laughed hard at that. She wasn’t wrong. It was pretty remarkable the things they were working on at the Institute. How to grow flowers in space. Not just plants and crops for food and industry, But pretty things too.

  The longer he was involved with the Institute (and Lydia), the more Remington began to recognize the importance of beauty in people’s everyday lives. Flowers included.

  A squeal erupted out of her and she bounced on her toes.

  “Had I known you would be so excited about this, I would have told you sooner.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. “No, this is perfect. I think I found out at exactly the right time.” She shook her hands out at her sides. “Good. This is good,” she said mostly to herself.

  “Yeah,” Remington agreed, realizing how right she was.

  This was good.

  And good was something he hadn’t had in a long time.

  “You’re so funny.”

  “Me?” he asked, confused.

  “Yes, you.” She placed the skillet on the stove top and turned the heating element on. “I did gay porn.” She said in a deep voice he was sure was supposed to sound like him and bobbed her head back and forth. A giggle rippled through her and ended with a snort.

  “Hey.” He frowned. “That’s a big deal to other people.”

  She smiled up at him like she thought he was adorable and heat crawled across his cheeks.

  “No, you’re right,” she agreed with a slight tilt to her head. “It is a big deal. I can see why you’d think some people might not be okay with it.” She blinked quickly, as if the very thought was weird for her to have. “But I don’t see how it matters now. It’s not like you still do it.”

  “No,” he conceded. “I definitely don’t.”

  She grinned, a small hum stuck in her throat. “Can I ask you about it?”

  He lifted his eyes to her, knowing if he agreed, all bets were off. “Go for it.”

  “You went from straight porn to gay porn...”

  He nodded.

  “Why?”

  “The money was better,” he said truthfully.

  “Was it a lot of money?” she asked.

  Remington thought back to his mindset during that time of his life. “At the time, it was an easier decision for me to make. I was a lot younger. And I thought I’d made too many wrong choices.”

  He backed into the
corner of the kitchen and hopped onto the counter.

  “To make a very long story short, I’ll just say that I’d dug myself a hole and I panicked when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to climb out. An opportunity came along.” He shrugged. “I took it.”

  She studied him thoughtfully. “Do you regret it?”

  Did he regret it?

  It was the most asked question when people found out about it.

  He craned his neck back and forth, stretching the tension that built there without his permission. It wasn’t ever as simple as a yes or no question. So many other things in his life contributed to the choices he’d made back then.

  “I feel like there’s no correct answer to that question,” he finally said.

  She nodded slowly, her mouth getting soft. As if she could see the conflict within and she didn’t want to push.

  Their eyes connected, and she held it—held him. The connection somehow just a little more, a little sweeter, a little stronger.

  “What other little confessions do you have for me to make my day?” she asked, changing the subject and going back to the stove top so easily it was baffling.

  “I have a lead on some land and an investor in Texas—”

  Lydia spun back to him. “It’s not my birthday, Remington.”

  “You wanna come with me?” he asked, not bothering with details because at this point, what did it matter? There was a connection with her he didn’t have with others. Easy, despite the complications. Free, despite the implications.

  “It’s happening,” she whispered.

  “Yeah.” He took a deep, satisfied breath.

  Finally.

  It was all happening.

  “Hey,” he said, realizing his next question was suddenly super obvious and super easy. “You want to come mountain biking with me and some friends today?”

  “I don’t know how,” she said slowly, but the flash in her eyes told him all he needed to know.

  “I would love to teach you.”

  ***

  Lydia

  “So you and Rem have known each other a while?”

  Lydia finished the bottle of water and gasped for air as she screwed the lid back on. She nodded in answer to Amber’s question. “Yeah. A little more than a year. But we just started hanging out recently.”