Falling for the Backup

by Toni Aleo

  “Thank you,” she said, still smiling. “My mom spelled it all crazy weird. You see, a normal person would spell it A-i-n-s-l-y, or even A-i-n-s-l-i-e, but not my mother—she spelled it A-y-n-s-l-e-e. And let me just say, being a four-year-old and learning to spell my name wasn’t easy. Especially when my middle name was Kathleen. It was horrible.”

  Jordan liked her name. A lot. He liked her even more.

  “So Aynslee Kathleen Shaw?”

  She nodded, her grin growing. “Yup, very long and very Irish.”

  It was a stupid question, but he asked it anyway. “So you’re Irish?”

  “I am, a hundred percent, and before you ask, no, I’ve never been to Ireland. I want to, but I haven’t had the time yet. And, yes, I do love Lucky Charms.”

  He looked down at her hands as he chuckled. Besides the fact that she made him laugh, she also made him want to ask her if he could take her to Ireland. Jordan had no clue where the thought came from. He loved Ireland, had been a couple of times, and, for reasons unknown, he thought going with her would be better than all the other times. He didn’t understand it. Why was he so completely taken with her? Yes, she was gorgeous, but simply looking at her had him shifting in his seat, hoping his hard-on was hidden.

  “That’s a shame,” he managed to say. “Not about the Lucky Charms, because honestly it’s the best cereal imaginable.”

  “Right?!” she laughed.

  He shot her a grin but didn’t hold her gaze for long. He wasn’t sure if he was embarrassed or what, but she made him nervous while also making him feel good. How strange was that? What surprised him most was that he liked the way she made him feel.

  “But, really, Ireland is a beautiful place.”

  Her face lit up at that, and he swore he couldn’t see straight because blood was rushing to his head.

  “You’ve been!” she said loudly, smacking his arm.

  He flinched playfully as he nodded.

  “I have, three times.”

  “Wow!” she gushed, as she sat up straight in her seat. “I’m so jealous. I’ve always wanted to go, but my dad hasn’t had the time to take us. After my grandpa died, Dad took over the pub, so we couldn’t travel—no one runs the pub but family. And now that I’m older, I haven’t had the time to plan a trip. I want to go so bad.”

  Jordan was intrigued. Turning in his seat, he asked, “Pub?”

  “Yup,” she said with a nod. “Been in my family for decades. It was passed down to my dad, and soon it will be passed down to either Brady or Flynn, my brothers. It’s a cool place, the best pub in Buffalo.”

  “I bet,” Jordan said with a smile. “So, are you the baby of the family?”

  She laughed. “Oh, no, I’m one of eight.”

  “Holy shit!” he exclaimed, receiving dirty looks from most of the passengers around them.

  As Jordan apologized, Aynslee giggled, bringing her legs up onto the seat and laying her head on them. He hadn’t meant to be so loud, but one of eight?! He was an only child and didn’t have the experience of growing up with brothers and sisters.

  “Yup, I’m number five. I have four older and then three younger.”

  “Wow,” he said, his face burning a little. “I’ve never met anyone from such a big family.”

  “That’s crazy! You make me feel weird,” she laughed.

  Jordan liked her laugh. It was infectious and made him join in with her. He realized he hardly ever laughed anymore. He had been so focused, so obsessed with hockey, that it was nice to just sit back and crack up with someone.

  “So you don’t have any brothers or sisters?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Nope, I’m an only child.”

  “Well, I bet you always had enough Lucky Charms,” she joked.

  He laughed. A big hearty chuckle that came straight from his gut.

  “Yup, always.”

  “Wow, I couldn’t imagine. I’m so jealous. Was it very quiet growing up?” she asked, leaning toward him, her elbows resting on her knees and her hands holding her face. She reminded him of a child, her wide eyes gazing up at him as if he were an oddity, while he was thinking the same of her. He was intrigued by not only her looks but by the mere fact that she grew up with a big family. Did she get claustrophobic? Did she really love all those people? She seemed to, from the way she talked about her family, but at the same time he heard the longing in her voice when she talked about going to Ireland.

  He wanted to know everything. He felt as if he could talk with her forever. His insecurities were still there—but fading by the minute. He was getting lost in her, and it made him nervous and excited at the same time. Dangerous. And disturbing. Remembering that she had asked him a question, Jordan smiled as he shook his head.

  “Nope, I was a crazy child.”

  “I don’t believe that. You seem so quiet. I feel like I am forcing you to talk to me,” she said.

  “Nah. I feel bad for spilling the drink on you, that’s why I’m talking to you.”

  She looked offended for maybe a second, then her face broke into a wide grin. “Oh, you have jokes.”

  “I try,” he said offhandedly, looking down. Her giggles ran down his spine. He was never one to be turned on by silly laughter, but hers had him harder than steel. Taking in a deep breath, ignoring all the dirty thoughts he had about her, he tried to figure out the last time he was this turned on. He couldn’t remember. Was it before Leanna? Maybe after. But when? He hadn’t been with anyone since then. Hadn’t wanted to. But now—he couldn’t wait to rip off his clothes and hers.

  But it wasn’t just physical. He couldn’t ignore the fact that he wanted to talk to Aynslee. Since the injury, Jordan hadn’t sought out company; he usually kept to himself. Shea, his captain from the Assassins, always teased him about being a hermit because he’d rather read or play games on his iPad than hang with the guys.

  God. For the millionth time he cursed his injury. And his luck. But maybe his luck was changing.

  Looking around, trying to think of something to say, he noticed that resting on her leg was the bright-blue neck pillow, much like his. With a smile, he pointed to it. “I love them.”

  Jordan realized that Aynslee was still in the position she had been since they started talking, and she was watching him. His pants were getting tighter by the minute.

  Aynslee placed the pillow on her neck, sat back, and smiled at him. “I don’t fly without mine.”

  Their eyes locked, and it took all of Jordan’s self-control not to grab her and get down to business. He wanted her. Badly. Now. On the plane. And he didn’t care if Grandma from Row C watched. Hell, they could all watch as he bent her over the seat and ripped apart her dress to get to the prize he was craving. He would ravish her with his mouth, and after making her come, he would bury himself deep inside. He nearly groaned out loud.

  What the hell did he really think was going to happen? He would reach over, kiss her, and then leave? He couldn’t ask for her number or try to take her home with him. He wasn’t the kind of guy to just fuck and leave. He wanted a relationship. He wanted true love, with kids and a big house, his wife waiting for him when he came home from long road trips. He wanted to be someone’s forever.

  But right now those things were out of his reach.

  Aynslee had never been so turned on in her life.

  Something about this guy made her want to climb him like a tree and hold on for dear life. He was completely gorgeous, and when he smiled she felt tingles. It was insane how someone so good-looking, someone who probably had tons of girls throwing themselves at him, wouldn’t meet her eyes for more than a few seconds.

  She had never met anyone like Jordan. He was quiet and reserved, not the cocky, full-of-it type of guy that she had been dating lately. She felt safe, which was crazy, having just met him, but something was happening between them. He was nice and listened to her when she talked. Even if he didn’t look at her for very long, she knew he was listening. It was as if he was embarras
sed or nervous, which was completely ridiculous! He was beautiful, for goodness’ sake, and she wanted nothing more than to let him have his way with her. Repeatedly.

  She didn’t care how slutty that made her sound either. She couldn’t remember the last time lust smacked into her this hard, and she knew it meant something. She only wished that she could read him a little better.

  “Are you traveling to Nashville for work or pleasure?” she asked when they were finished discussing how weak the plane’s drink menu was. After the day and week she’d had, a nice hard girlie drink was in order. Jordan didn’t want a girlie drink, though he assured her he could kill a good malt lager right now, but the airlines didn’t offer any of that. So they were stuck with the choice of crappy beer, wine, and soft drinks.

  Jordan looked up and smiled. It wasn’t a huge one, because it didn’t reach his eyes, but it still sent butterflies swirling around in her stomach.

  “I live there. What about you?”

  “I live there too.”

  He nodded, glancing back down at his hands before asking, “Why do you live in Nashville when your family is in Buffalo?”

  Aynslee shrugged her shoulders. It was the question everyone wanted the answer to.

  “I am a teacher in Nashville. I went to school at UT in Knoxville on a scholarship, and in return all I had to do was teach in Tennessee for five years. It was a pretty sweet deal, since most of my schooling was paid for.”

  “That sounds like a great deal,” he said, looking over at her.

  She nodded. “Yup. I was going move home after those five years, but then I met this guy and ended up staying in Knoxville longer than I had planned. Then I moved to Nashville and haven’t left yet.”

  “So you are with someone?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Nope. We broke up about a year ago; that’s why I came to Nashville.”

  “Oh,” he said, a grin tugging at the sides of his mouth. Jordan adjusted his neck pillow before asking, “Why didn’t you go home instead of moving to Nashville?”

  “My family loved my ex, and they were upset that things went south. We both fell out of love—it was an easy break. I think my mom cried more than I did.”

  He laughed. “When my ex left me, I think my mom was the same way. She saw my ex as a walking baby machine, but Leanna had no desire for kids at all.”

  “Oh, sorry,” she said.

  “Yeah, so really it was probably for the best that she left.”

  Aynslee nodded as her heart pounded out of control. He was basically saying he wanted kids. She wanted kids, they looked to be around the same age, and, unless she was a complete idiot, she was sure there were sparks between them.

  “Yeah. I’d think so.”

  Jordan smiled at her, and Aynslee wanted to lean toward him, touch her mouth to his, only for a second, just for a small taste, but before she could even move or think that through, the pilot’s voice came over the speaker, informing everyone to buckle up for landing. Aynslee couldn’t believe it. It was almost time for them to part ways, and she didn’t want that. She wanted to get lost in his body; she wanted to know him; she didn’t want to leave! She glanced over to see if he felt the same, or even looked as if he did, but he was buckling his seat belt, eyes toward the front of the plane.

  Surely she wasn’t an idiot. She was certain he was attracted to her, that he felt the earth shake when they looked into each other’s eyes. Was it all one-sided?

  Shit.

  As the plane approached the runway, Aynslee tried to control her breathing. She was nervous not only about landing but about trying to get the courage to ask him for his number. Call her old-fashioned, but she’d always thought the guy should ask the girl. She knew she couldn’t leave that to him, though. He was too shy or something, and since he couldn’t look her in the eyes, she doubted he’d ask her out. But how was she supposed to ask him?

  Hey, can I get your number?

  Maybe we can get coffee?

  Do you want to have hot dirty sex with me? ’Cause I want to have hot dirty sex with you.

  Ack! Why was getting a man so freaking hard! She didn’t want to scare him, but, then again, she didn’t want to watch him walk away.

  After they had landed and the seat-belt sign dinged off, indicating passengers were free to move about the cabin, Aynslee got up to get her things. Jordan stood, watching her, and that gave her hope that maybe he would ask.

  Sliding her bag onto her shoulder, she smiled up at him before walking down the aisle. He followed behind her, and she hoped that he wasn’t staring at her butt. The coffee had soaked all the way through, and she was certain she had a big brown spot on her rear end that matched the front of her dress. As she stepped from the plane into the terminal, Jordan came walking up beside her.

  “That dress is ruined.”

  Aynslee nodded as she looked down at her stained pink dress.

  “Yup, no big deal—it was ugly anyway.”

  Jordan smiled. “I thought it was nice.”

  Aynslee was sure he was kidding her, so she glanced up to see his expression but instead caught him looking down at her chest. For once she thanked the heavens for her busty breast size. Her mom always said, “For such a little girl, you have some huge knockers. They are from my side of the family, you know.”

  He must have realized she saw him staring, because his face flushed.

  “Thanks.”

  Jordan informed her, “The back is ruined too. Do you want me to walk behind you until we get outside?”

  Aynslee laughed and rolled her eyes.

  “I’m pretty sure that is only a ploy to check out my ass.”

  His laugh startled her, but in a good way.

  “I would never do such a thing,” he managed to say.

  “Sure, you wouldn’t,” she teased as they walked toward the baggage claim. She didn’t have any bags to pick up but figured she’d walk with him, to lengthen their time together in the hope that he’d still ask her out.

  He shot her a mischievous grin, his eyes bright as he held her gaze. She thought it was the first time he was actually being unguarded in the short hours she had been around him.

  Moving closer to her, he said, “Okay, maybe you’re right.”

  “I know I am,” she countered, as his scent swirled around her. He smelled so good, it made her toes curl and also made her want to nuzzle his neck and stay there for days.

  His grin grew as he continued, “But I was also trying to hide the fact that you have a brown spot on the back of your dress. I still feel horrible about that.”

  She waved him off. “Don’t be. It’s okay—I am trashing this dress first chance I get.”

  Aynslee smiled to herself as her confidence returned. There was no way he wasn’t going to ask for her number. He was totally into her.

  Reaching the baggage claim, they both stood there and watched the other passengers gather their luggage. As the carousel went around again—she was certain that had to be the fifth time she had admired a gorgeous Gucci roll-on—Jordan looked over at her.

  “Do you not see your bag?”

  She glanced up at him and shook her head. “Remember? My bag was lifted by my crazy aunt.”

  He laughed. “That’s right.”

  “Do you see your bag?”

  “I have mine,” he said, tapping the side of his duffel.

  “So we stood here for fifteen minutes for nothing?”

  Jordan smiled. “I think we did.”

  They both laughed as they headed toward the exit door. When the chill of the March air hit Aynslee in the face, she rushed to pull her sweater out of her laptop bag. It was a bulky yellow sweater, which looked lovely over her hideous pink dress, but there was nothing she could do about that. It was all she had.

  “Wow, nice sweater,” Jordan said, trying to hold back his amusement.

  “Thanks,” she sighed as she adjusted her laptop bag on her shoulder. Thank God she had this sweater to keep her warm. “My aunt
seemed to like my jacket too.”

  “Sheesh, you should watch out for those klepto aunts.”

  Aynslee nodded as she giggled, “I know, right?”

  “There is my ride,” Jordan said, then turned back her way. “Do you have a ride home?”

  Oh, how she wished she didn’t. She could always say no and then take a taxi back. But that could be costly, and she didn’t have the money to waste.

  Shit.

  “Yeah, my car is parked in long-term.”

  Aynslee swore he seemed disappointed as he glanced away from the sleek black town car that apparently was waiting for him. It looked like an expensive car, and as she watched his profile, she tried to place him. Nashville was full of famous people, but she didn’t recognize him. Maybe he was a businessman; maybe she should have found all this out before planning to sleep with him. That would have been smart. He could be a male porn star for all she knew!

  With a small kind smile, Jordan readjusted the duffel’s strap on his shoulder. His eyes held hers as the air crackled around them. She knew the words she had been waiting to hear since the moment she sat down on the plane were about to be spoken—male porn star or not, this man was too gorgeous and sweet to pass up.

  “Well, it has been a pleasure meeting you,” he said in a low rough voice, making it extremely hard for Aynslee not to swoon. Okay, who was she kidding, she did swoon, and by the way his grin grew, she figured he knew it too.

  With her face turning bright red, she said, “Great to meet you as well. That was probably the best plane ride home ever, coffee and all.”

  Aynslee expected him to laugh, but instead Jordan bit his lip as he looked over at the waiting car. A driver got out and waved as he opened the back door for him. Jordan held up one finger before turning to Aynslee. He looked down at her once again, and she could see the lust swirling in the depths of his enticing eyes. Aynslee smiled, moving closer to him—why, she didn’t know, but something was pulling her to him, and she’d be damned if she was going to fight it. She watched as his hand came up, and she swore it was going to rest on her face before he smothered her in kisses. Instead, Jordan readjusted his bag once again before moving away, muttering, “All right, well, see you around.”