“Don’t think about it,” he answers, turning to nod at his driver who takes one of the seats at the back of the plane, leaving us in relative solitude after the pilot secures the door. When the engines kick on a moment later I grip Flint’s hand hard and he chuckles. “Focus on the hint I gave you. I really can’t believe you don’t remember all those school supplies you had. They were all on the same theme and—”
“Paris!” I shout, my eyes widening as I look at him. “No way, you are not taking me to Paris.”
“No.” Flint laughs, running his thumb soothingly over the back of my hand. “We’d need a very different plane to go overseas, and there’s no way we’d be back home tonight, but I do know of a very nice French restaurant in Montreal. It’s one of my favorites.”
“You’re taking me to Canada?” I ask, stunned because my mind is still reeling that Flint ‘Flintstone’ Etheridge remembered all my Eiffel Tower and Paris themed folders and binders and pencils.
“That is the plan, and see? I knew you’d remember all those supplies eventually.” The plane starts moving and I turn to glance out the window as the hangar rolls past and we move toward the runway. Then Flint taps my hand and pulls my attention back to him. “Have you ever been to Paris?”
“No,” I reply, shaking my head as I remember how obsessed I used to be with all things French. “I took French in high school, and a year of it in college, and I always planned on going but I just haven’t had the chance yet. Not that I remember much of the language anyway,” I add with a laugh.
“Êtes-vous sûr de ne pas vous souvenir du français?” Flint stuns me with the beautiful French flowing over his lips and I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to kiss him more than I do right now, but that would be really over the line. I’m so surprised by it that it takes me an awkwardly long time to roughly translate what he even said.
“Did you ask me if I remember French?”
“I think that answers my question,” he replies with a wink, and I roll my eyes.
“My French was never that good.”
“It just takes practice. Being around native speakers helps a lot, and you’ll get the chance to practice a bit at lunch today.” His grip on my hand tightens slightly and that wild, playful glint is in his eyes once more. “Ready?”
“Oh God,” I groan, looking out the window as we start accelerating down the runway. My stomach does a flip-flop as we take off, wobbling a little before the plane steadies and ascends more smoothly. “This is the kind of plane people die in all the time.”
“Don’t think about it, Brinnah. Why don’t you tell me all about your training plan, because I know you were the one that really created it.”
“How do you know that?” I ask, getting comfortable in my seat in a way where I can keep holding his hand.
“Your boss made several mistakes that you had to correct,” Flint pauses, flashing me that bone-melting grin again while his thumb picks up a hypnotizing rhythm as he moves it back and forth on my hand. “You were very tactful, by the way. I’m sure you really wanted to tell him to shut up.”
“True,” I confirm with a laugh, imagining how shocked Luke would be if I actually did that in a meeting. It would almost be worth getting fired over. “He’s the son-in-law of one of the big wigs at my company and so they just gave him the management job when it opened up. He doesn’t have a fucking clue what we do, or why we do it.”
“Sounds like an asshole.”
“He is.” Shaking my head a little, I bite down on my lip to stop the stupid smile that keeps trying to take over my face. “I really shouldn’t be saying any of this to you, though.”
“Why not? I’m just Flintstone today.”
“I thought this was a business lunch?”
“I only said that to get you on the plane,” he says with a grin, waggling his eyebrows, and we both burst out laughing. “Seriously though, break it down for me. I was a little distracted staring at you during the meeting and I’ll admit I wasn’t paying attention as well as I should have.”
His words send heat rushing up my back, the blush burning my cheeks, leaving me flustered.
“You— What? I had a… a freaking PowerPoint and everything!” I stumble over my words while that cocky grin on his perfectly handsome face seems to taunt me.
“I know, and it was a lovely presentation, but I want to hear it from you. Come on, Brinnah,” he encourages, still rubbing the back of my hand, and I have to pull it free just so I can focus enough to think. “Please?”
“Fine, as long as you promise to pay attention.”
“I swear.” He actually drags his finger in an X over his heart, and I roll my eyes, trying to laugh off the swell of nervous energy that his words brought up because that definitely sounded like flirting. It really did, and I don’t think I was imagining it, but I’ve never been great at flirting, so I have no idea what to say in response.
Just talk about your plan and all the research you did.
Flint
Watching Brinnah talk about all of the training plans she has for my company is intoxicating. Her blue eyes are vibrant, absolute alight with energy as her hands move around the air in front of her while she describes different ideas, and all of the in-depth research she did with the data ColdPoint provided her company. It’s impressive, and when I can manage to not get distracted by the perfect swelling curve of her lips, or the way the light from the window sets fire to her hair, I agree with everything she’s saying.
The training plan is perfect, and if we implement it in the right way, I think we’ll see massive reductions in turnover and a much better first quarter next year. But I made that decision about ten minutes into her talking… now I’m just listening because I love how damn passionate she is.
It reminds me of when we used to get together to talk about anime with our friends. Brinnah was never afraid to speak her mind, to stand up for what she believed about characters or storylines, and I remember how we used to go to Greg Bolton’s house after school sometimes to watch anime and how much I wanted to have the guts to sit next to her on the floor.
I never did though.
I was awkward and gangly back then, had no idea how to talk to girls, and definitely didn’t have the balls to even hold her hand, much less kiss her — which is all I wanted to do whenever she laughed.
Hell, it’s all I want to do right now.
It would just be incredibly stupid to make a move when she’s trapped on a plane thousands of feet in the air with me, especially since I technically did blackmail her to get her on board. Not that I meant it, I was always planning on going with her plan because it was the best one we’ve seen and she’s so damn invested in it… which is clear by the way she’s still talking about the five steps to engaging in conflict conversations, even though I haven’t said a word in a while now.
“Mr. Etheridge,” Roy calls from the front of the plane, and I give Brinnah an apologetic smile for him interrupting her.
“What’s up, Roy?” I call back.
“There’s bad weather near the border and they’re saying we won’t be able to land. Storm system moved in from the North and it’s dumping a ton of snow, looks like we’ll have to turn around.”
I curse internally, frustrated that my plans are fucked up by something as mercurial as weather, but flexibility is the key to success in any situation, and I’ve always been good at dealing with adversity. Raising my voice, I try to keep the irritation out of it as I answer. “Thanks for telling us, Roy. Do what you need to do.”
“Are we okay?” Brinnah whispers, and I reach over to take her hand without asking this time, squeezing it tight.
“Roy is the best, okay? We’ll be just fine. I’m just sorry I won’t be able to take you to Le Cygne Ascendant. It really is the best French restaurant on this side of the Atlantic.”
“I’m more worried about the plane than the food right now,” she says as she leans over to stare out the window at the dense, gray clouds.
“Just take a deep breath,” I say and it’s definitely a nice distraction for me to watch her chest rise and fall.
Not the time.
“We’ll be back home in no time,” I add, giving her an encouraging smile when she looks at me again. Unfortunately, all of the lively energy in her beautiful blue eyes has been replaced by worry, and they look almost as dark as the clouds out the window.
“What’s going on, Roy?” I shout, holding tight to Brinnah’s hand as another rumble of turbulence shakes the plane. In the past twenty minutes things have gone from smooth sailing with my plan to an utter clusterfuck, but I’m trying to stay as in control of the situation as I can.
“Weather is moving in too fast. We’re going to have to land early.”
“What?” Brinnah squeaks, and I know she’s panicking, which just means I need to be calm and confident for the both of us.
“Where are we landing, Roy?” I call toward the front, but I can hear Roy talking into his headset and it’s a few minutes before he’s able to reply.
“Looks like it’s going to be Burlington, Vermont. Just got clearance from the tower to put down there. Everyone stay buckled up.” He’s got that I’m-The-Pilot voice on, and since I don’t know how to fly a damn plane, I have to put my trust in him and bothering him with more questions isn’t going to help the situation.
“Looks like I lied,” I say, chuckling as I turn back to Brinnah who looks a little too pale.
“Lied?” she repeats.
“I don’t think we’ll be back home tonight.”
“Right.” Brinnah nods, glancing out the window again, and even I have to admit that the sleet crackling against the windows is more than a little disconcerting.
“Hey.” I tug at her hand, trying to think of something to distract her. “Do you remember when we all binge-watched Sailor Moon, before binging shows was even a thing?”
“Yeah. Greg downloaded them. Pretty sure that was illegal,” she adds with a nervous huff that could have been a laugh if she weren’t so tense.
“Definitely illegal, but I think the government was more concerned with cracking down on US movies and music than subtitled anime from Japan.”
“Probably,” she replies, but I can tell she’s still focusing on the way the plane keeps jolting and shuddering.
“Well, do you still think Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus were ‘together’ together? Or were they just cousins?” I ask and she finally looks at me.
“Of course they were together!” Brinnah snaps, taking a deep breath, which is good even though her inhale and exhale are both shaky. “The US companies were just so concerned about being politically correct that they screwed with the show and tried to make them ‘cousins’ instead, which was bullshit.”
“Hmm… I’m not so sure,” I tease, baiting her into an argument, and by the way the color is returning to her cheeks I think it’s working.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! Didn’t you agree with me back then?”
“I just haven’t seen it in so long, and it’s not like either of us knew Japanese. What if the subtitles were wrong too?” I manage to keep myself from grinning when she launches into a speech with all the reasons the two characters were actually in a lesbian relationship, which I’ve always believed. Shit, it was one of my favorite fantasies as a pre-teen boy, along with all of the very revealing transformation scenes in that show, but whatever keeps Brinnah calm until we’re on the ground again is worth it.
I continue to tease her with doubting comments while I text Stacy to update her, keeping the phone hidden at my side. I can feel the buzz of her responding, but I keep my eyes on Brinnah so she stays focused on me. I know that Stacy will get it handled so we have somewhere to go when we land, and a way to get there, that’s her job and she does it well.
My job right now is to keep this beautiful woman in front of me from having a full-blown panic attack, because the plane is bouncing hard, and if either of us pay too much attention to it… that won’t be good at all.
I’m not sure how long it’s been when I hear the landing gear grinding underneath us, and I glance toward the cockpit.
“We’re landing, Mr. Etheridge, and with the wind it’s going to be a little rough, but it’s fine. We beat the snowstorm,” Roy shouts from the front, and his announcement interrupts our walk down memory lane with Sailor Moon.
“See? We’re fine,” I tell Brinnah with a confident smile that I don’t one-hundred-percent feel at the moment but fake it ‘til you make it works just about anywhere.
“I’ll believe it when we’re on the ground,” Brinnah mumbles, and I chuckle a little, squeezing her hand again. If eleven-year-old Flint could see me now, he’d be bouncing off the walls and pumping his fist in the air with excitement.
“Won’t be long now.” I point out the window at the approaching ground, and while I can see snow on the ground, and based on the clatter against the plane there’s more falling, we definitely beat the storm like Roy said.
Brinnah goes completely stiff as we get closer and closer to the ground, and I keep my mouth shut, rubbing the back of her hand with my thumb as I check my phone. Stacy has sent a flurry of texts with confirmation numbers, weather updates, and links to some AirBNB she managed to book.
I say a silent prayer of thanks to the universe that I found her, and then send her an actual text of thanks before tucking my phone in my pocket and focusing on Brinnah again. The landing is as rough as Roy estimated, but after a few bounces we’re down and I manage a deep breath.
“Safe and sound on the ground, and Stacy already has stuff booked for us,” I say, waiting for Brinnah to relax. This definitely isn’t how I imagined the spontaneous lunch date going, but in all of our conversations she’s never mentioned a boyfriend — or a girlfriend for that matter — and now I’ll have even more time with her to see if she’s as interested as I am.
And I’m definitely interested.
She’s the most honest, real person I’ve been around in so long. Hell, she makes me feel more real. She reminds me of the person I used to be before my days revolved around endless meetings and financials and industry surveys. I don’t have to pretend at all around her, and that’s the kind of comfortable feeling money just can’t buy.
“I know what you did up there, and… thanks,” Brinnah says softly, pulling my gaze back to her.
“What do you mean?”
“The whole Sailor Moon argument,” she adds with a small laugh. “I haven’t talked about anime in years, and I know you just brought it up to distract me from the possibility of dying in a fiery plane crash, but I appreciate it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but it was the least I could do. After all, I got you onto the plane with less than ethical methods, and now you’re my responsibility.” I give her a wink as we taxi toward a grouping of other small planes forced to land by the weather.
“Your responsibility?” she repeats, looking a little offended.
“Oh yes, and I’m very diligent with my responsibilities.” Time to gamble. “Especially when it comes to a beautiful woman that I never realized how much I missed.”
“You…” Brinnah starts, her eyes wide with surprise, but before she can finish, the plane stops and Joel is out of his seat and at my side a second later.
“Stacy sent me everything. Just stay on the plane and I’ll go check on the car, then we’ll get indoors as soon as possible.” Joel checks his phone again, tapping at something before he looks up. “Says it’s about a thirty-minute drive into the city where she has the reservations.”
“Into the city?” Brinnah says, sitting up, and I’m surprised by how disappointed I am when she lets go of my hand. “Why don’t we just stay here at the airport? I’m sure they’ve got a hotel here, and they usually have decent food and a continental breakfast in the morning.”
Joel’s lips press together like he’s hiding a smile, and I give him a nod to cut off whatever he might say. “Thanks, Joel. Just stay warm out there.
”
“Sure, thing,” Joel answers, and I definitely see a grin on his face when he turns away from us to meet Roy at the front of the plane.
“Flint, why don’t we just stay here at the airport so we can fly out in the morning?” Brinnah asks, and I sigh.
“Okay, don’t freak out, but the weather might keep us here a couple of days. It’s a snowstorm coming down from Canada and it looks like it’s going to drop quite a bit of snow. But, look, Stacy got some AirBNBs booked close to each other in the city,” I explain, pulling up the information on my phone.
The first link is preceded by a short note that reads ‘for you and guest,’ and I try to click that one before Brinnah can see it, but I wasn’t fast enough.
“I’m staying with you?” she asks as the AirBNB info pulls up, and I scroll down to see two beds with relief, because that’s the last thing I need to try and explain right now — no matter how much I’d like to share a bed with her.
“Two beds, one bath. The views look nice though, and there’s a fireplace.” When I hold out the phone toward her, she takes it and starts flipping through the photos. It’s such a casual act, something good friends would do with each other.
Or lovers.
Clenching my teeth, I try to push that idea out of my head. Sure, I’d jumped at the opportunity to take her out on a date and spend some time with her. Halfway to catch up with her, and halfway to see if all of those middle school crush feelings were still hanging around.
Unfortunately, the answer to that is a resounding yes. If anything, I think I like grown-up Brinnah even more, but getting her stranded in a strange city with me wasn’t exactly the kind of dating opener I was looking for.
This is creepy, not romantic.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Where are Joel and the pilot going to stay?” she asks, and I’m surprised by her concern for them for a moment, but I don’t know why I keep underestimating her. She’s not like the gold-digging women who flock around our corporate events like piranha. She’s never been that kind of person. She’s genuinely concerned, and that just makes me like her more.
I Have Lived And I Have Loved: A Charity Romance Collection Page 43
