He waved his hand. “Think nothing of it. I was happy to be your pillow. You smell lovely.”
As my heart stuttered in my chest, I just stared at him for a long moment trying to figure out if he was serious. The expression on his face told me he had to be; he certainly didn’t look angry.
Marry me, my brain said out of nowhere, making me have to look away from him. I swallowed, realizing my throat was very dry and that the water would have served me better going into me rather than on his shirt. I knocked back what was left in the cup and put it down on the tray as I watched Graeme drink his in my peripheral vision.
“Ahhh. Flying’s thirsty work,” he said as he leaned over and slid his empty cup into mine. As he moved back, he glanced at the watch on his wrist and then yawned again. “Still a ways to go.”
“Yeah,” I said, ever the brilliant conversationalist. I held out my snacks toward him. “Hungry?”
He made a face and waved me off. “No, thanks. So what are you doing in New York?”
For half a paranoid second, I wondered if I should tell him the truth. But there was no way he could know who I really was. “School,” I said. Which was the truth and it’s not like I was drawing him a map to where I was going. A driver was going to meet me at the airport and take me to a hotel near the school almost three hours away, so there wasn’t much fear this guy was going to tail me. “What about you?” I asked, wanting to hear more about him anyway.
“Business,” he said, smiling.
“What kind of business?” I asked, wondering what this cute guy did that had him flying halfway across the world.
He frowned.
“Sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean to get personal.” Though he had asked me, so...
He shook his head. “It’s not that. It’s just that I have a big important meeting and a lot rests on it. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’m a bit superstitious about it.”
“Like if you talk about it, you’ll jinx it?”
He smirked and nodded. “Stupid, I know.”
“I understand,” I said, hiding my disappointment because I really did want to know more about him. Though imagining him in a sharp business suit almost made up for it.
“So tell me about your school,” he said.
I shrugged. “Not much to tell. It’s my first year there and I don’t know anyone. I’ll be the new girl”
“Brilliant,” he said.
I did a double-take but it didn’t look like he was being sarcastic. “How is that brilliant?” I asked.
“No one knows you. You can be anyone you want to be.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it again.
“Not that being you isn’t perfect,” he said with a wink.
Marry me. No really, popped into my head. “Hardly,” I said, dropping my eyes.
“Oh come now,” he said softly and it suddenly felt like too much. Sitting next to this guy was heady stuff and I was starting to feel myself getting sucked into his words. He was casting some sort of spell on me and it felt really, really dangerous.
“Excuse me,” I said, pushing myself up and maneuvering past him (most definitely not giving him a mile-high lap dance) and the lady on the aisle so I could go decompress in the bathroom for a few minutes.
Thankfully it was unoccupied, so I quickly locked myself inside. While I was there, I used the facilities and then looked at myself in the microscopic mirror as I willed my heart to stop pounding.
It’s nothing, I told myself. He’s just a nice guy. Do not get sucked into this. You will never see him after today.
I washed my hands and left the bathroom, taking a deep breath before I returned to row forty-nine. Graeme was standing in the aisle, giving me easy access back to my seat. He didn’t follow me in but disappeared down the aisle toward the lavatory, giving me a few more minutes to prepare myself for his return. As I waited, I looked out the window, but it was dark and there was nothing to see anyway, so I pulled down the shade.
Most people around us spoke in hushed tones, watched their televisions with their headphones on or simply slept. The white noise of the canned air system drowned out most of them, making it feel like we were strangely insulated in our little row. Before I had time to do much other than put my seatbelt back on and get myself comfortable, Graeme was back.
Once he was seated, he stilled and the silence felt deafening between us. I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I just smiled at him and thought about putting the eye mask back on for something to do, even though the last thing I wanted was to not have the opportunity to watch him, even out of the corner of my eye.
But as I fidgeted, he cocked his head at me. “What’s wrong?”
How was I supposed to answer that question? Uh, I’m feeling awkward around you, but I have no idea what to do, but I do want to keep talking to you, so yeah, can you carry the weight of the conversation?
Not.
I shrugged and then pushed the first words I could think of out my mouth. “I’m nervous, I guess. I’m going to this brand new school on my own and really have no idea what to expect. Maybe nervous isn’t the right word. More like terrified.” As I said it, I realized it was true. And then, to my horror, my eyes started to fill with tears.
Do not cry, I told myself as I looked down, away from his knowing gaze. Ugh. Way to make an impression.
“Right, then,” he said and then, without another word, pulled up the armrest between us so it disappeared between the seats. As I watched, having no idea what he was about, he stretched out his arm over my head and waggled his fingers. “Come on.”
I glanced up at his arm and then back at his face, mine heating up at what I thought he was proposing, making me thankful for the dim lights in the cabin.
He shrugged and nodded at me. “I’m already wet, may as well carry on.”
“You don’t even know me,” I whispered.
“Well, yes, I know I’m a stranger, but we’re on an airplane and it’s quiet and the middle of the night and you look like you need a little comforting. Also, you smell nice.” He suddenly frowned. “But now that I’ve said it, it sounds creepy...about the smelling nice bit, so I’ll understand if you want to change seats for the rest of the flight.”
I smiled at that; maybe on paper it sounded creepy, but right here, right now, it sounded like exactly what I needed. My heart felt as if it would burst from beating so fast and hard, but it’s not like I would refuse him. It’s not like I could refuse him—something in my brain made it impossible. Actually, I think that’s what they call hormones.
This kind of stuff never happens to me, was all I could think. Never. Ever. Maybe it was a sign of things to come. Maybe I really was starting over and things would be different this year. As I thought this, I realized he was sitting there watching me and waiting, his arm still in the air.
Duh. Not wasting another second, I inched over and put my head on him as he slid his arm across my shoulders, his big palm resting on my upper arm. I tucked my hands into my hoodie so I wouldn’t have to worry about where to put them.
At first it was uncomfortable as I held my weight off him, but he must have known it because he pulled me in, forcing me to adjust. I almost died when I felt the weight of his chin on my head.
He took a deep breath in. “There. That’s better.”
Better? How about the best there has ever been? But I just hummed in agreement, afraid if I said anything, I’d wake myself up from what had to be the best dream I’d ever had.
~ ♥ ~
“Good evening passengers, this is your captain...”
My eyes opened and I had to blink against the harsh lights that had come on in the cabin. I lifted my head off Graeme’s shoulder, relieved to see I hadn’t drooled on him this time, and the wet mark from before had dried invisibly. As I leaned away from him, he took a deep breath and stretched his arms overhead, pressing his fingers against the low ceiling above us.
“Hey,” he said sleepily as the announcement t
hat we were starting our descent into New York wrapped up. “We’re almost there.”
I pushed up the window shade and looked down at the twinkling lights of New York City as we approached. My heart twisted in my chest; while I was excited to get off the plane after so many cramped hours, as soon as I did, this would all be over.
Ask him for his number, my brain urged. But something told me if I tried to extend whatever this was beyond the gate, he was going to tell me he had a girlfriend, or worse, he’d give me a confused look, telling me I’d imagined something between us that wasn’t there. Maybe he was just being chivalrous by letting me sleep and drool on him. Maybe he was just that guy.
Or...Maybe he’d ask me for my number. Not that I had one yet, but I’d tell him to give me his and I’d text him as soon as I got a new phone. Hell, I could probably get one in the airport while I waited for my trunk at the baggage carousel.
Please ask me for my number, please ask me for my number, I chanted inside my head. But as the whispers in the cabin turned to excited chatter as people got ready to land, he didn’t let on that he was going to ask.
As my throat tightened involuntarily (and I heartily berated myself for getting upset over a guy I’d known for literally hours) I pulled out my backpack and tucked my eye mask and earphones into one of the pockets.
He might still ask, I reasoned with myself as I stuffed the backpack back under the seat to prepare for landing. Though I could feel him watching me and he had every opportunity. But still nothing,
Then the flight attendant was back to collect our garbage and I handed her our cups.
I thanked her and leaned back in my seat.
Ask now.
Now would be the perfect time.
Please. Please. Please.
“So,” he said.
“Yeah?” I asked, probably way too eager for whatever it was he was about to say.
“Have you been to New York before?”
I nodded. “Yeah, with my family a couple of years ago.”
“I don’t suppose you know where the good nightclubs are?”
I shook my head. “I’m not old enough to go to clubs now.”
“Right. Stupid question. Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said with a shrug.
Ask me now. Even though you’re only here for a meeting and I’ll probably never see you again, please ask for my phone number. I didn’t even know why it was so important, I just knew that it was and that at that moment, I’d never wanted anything more.
We sort of looked at each other for a few awkward moments until I couldn’t stand it any longer. I reached for the Sky Mall magazine again and flipped through the pages while we descended into JFK and he ignored all my telepathic pleas.
Finally, we were on the ground.
Maybe he’s waiting until he can turn his phone on.
But as we taxied into the gate and everyone lit up their phones, he looked down at his but didn’t say anything.
Maybe he’ll ask at the baggage carousel.
As the plane stopped moving, everyone jumped out of their seats and started collecting their things.
“Do you mind waiting a bit?” Graeme asked. “I’m too tired to fight the crowd.”
Thrilled to have a few more minutes with him (so he could JUST ASK ALREADY) I shook my head. “No, I don’t mind.”
*awkward silence*
*more awkward silence*
Then, when most of the people were off the plane, he smiled at me. “Do you have a bag I can get for you?”
I nodded and grabbed my backpack as I followed him out into the aisle. I pointed up to my spinner in the overhead bin, which he pulled down for me. He grabbed his own and waved for me to precede him down the aisle.
We’ll go together to the carousel and he’ll ask me there. Or if he doesn’t, I’ll ask him, I told myself. My heart pounded at this plan, but I tried to look normal as I slowed down at the gate so he could catch up with me.
“Baggage claim is this way,” I said as we got out into the terminal.
“I don’t have any. I’m just here for a couple of days, so...” he shrugged as he smiled at me.
“Oh,” I said, my stomach twisting as I realized this was it. “Um, well...”
He gave me a quick hug which was kind of awkward because of the backpack over my shoulders. “It was great flying with you, Brooklyn,” he said.
“You, too, Graeme. Uh...”
“Okay, well, I won’t keep you. Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome,” I said as I totally chickened out.
He turned then and walked away toward the exit as I helplessly stood there. I watched him walk away and not turn back. And then he was gone, disappearing into the crowd without my phone number or any way to get a hold of me or even my last name, fake as it was.
I would never see him again.
And I realized in that moment that my whole life had been a series of moments like this one where I let things pass me by. I was a casual observer in my own boring life and if I wanted to be the kind of girl who guys ask for their phone numbers, I had to do something more than just watch guys walk away in terminals while I stood there like a mute idiot.
I was going to be that girl who guys ask for their phone number. Starting right now.
I was going to make a change and be the girl I wanted to be.
I now had the perfect opportunity to reinvent myself. Graeme had been right about that. It was going to be brilliant. I would make sure of it.
With renewed purpose, I took a deep breath and held my head high as I made my way to the baggage claim.
~ ♥ ~
Find out what happens next to Brooklyn –
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The Complete Rosewoods Series
FRESH START (Series Prequel)
TAKING THE REINS
MASQUERADE
PLAYING THE PART
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
I’LL NEVER FORGET (Short Story)
THIS POINT FORWARD
RISKING IT ALL (Short Story)
MAKING RIPPLES
ACTING OUT
HITTING THE TARGET
TURNING THE PAGE
CROSSING THE LINE
Find me online at http://katrinaabbott.com, follow me on Twitter @abbottkatrina and come check out my Pinterest board to see some of the inspirations behind the characters (girls and guys!), the costumes for MASQUERADE and some of the inspirations for Celia’s carving.
xoxo
Katrina Abbott
Also by Katrina Abbott
The Rosewoods
Taking The Reins
Masquerade
Playing The Part
Reading Between The Lines
This Point Forward
Making Ripples
Acting Out
Hitting the Target
Turning the Page
Crossing the Line
New Beginnings - The Rosewoods Series - Books 1 - 3
Fresh Start: The Rosewoods Series Prequel
The Rosewoods - Bonus Content
I'll Never Forget
Risking it All
The Rosewoods Rock Star Series
Along for the Ride
Going on Tour
Working for the Band
Loving the Rock Star (Coming Soon)
Watch for more at Katrina Abbott’s site.
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