“Now boarding group A for flight 3721 to San Francisco.”
I stare blankly at the ticket in my hand. I’m not group A. I’m preferred boarding. The company bought me a first-class ticket, and I should already be sitting comfortably on the plane, but I’m not. Instead, I’m sitting here wondering what in the hell I’m doing.
Am I making the right choice? Will I forever regret my decision? My gut burns with uncertainty, and I drop my head.
A man and woman walk by me, ushering along three kids, two of whom are screaming. I look up in time to see a few other passengers cringe and roll their eyes.
Thank God, I’m in first class.
I love kids, but today, I don’t have the patience. Lack of sleep and an exorbitant amount of worry will do that to a guy.
And just like that, my thoughts are back on Lizzie. She hasn’t answered one call, responded to a single text message, and she refused to open the door to her apartment when I knew damn well that she was in there.
I’m not ready to give up on her, but I also can’t wait around for her to pull her head out of her ass. She has to want this—us—as much as I do, and I’m not convinced that she does.
I miss her so damn much.
I’d gotten used to being with her every night and seeing that gorgeous smile first thing each morning. If she doesn’t come back to me, I don’t know how I’ll survive.
With a lot of Jack, Jim, and Johnnie, that’s how.
I already have a headache just thinking about it.
“Now boarding group B for flight 3721 to San Francisco.”
I’m running out of time, but something in my gut is telling me not to get on that plane. I sit while the passengers file through the line. The attendant calls out family boarding and group C, and when she makes the final call, she looks at me.
“Sir, are you going to board the plane, or not?”
This is it. I slap the boarding pass in my hand and stand up. I do one final sweep to make sure I’ve got everything, grab my bag, and hand her my boarding pass.
“Traveling for work or pleasure?” she asks, scanning the ticket.
“Work.”
“San Francisco is gorgeous. You’re going to love it there.” She hands the ticket back. “You’re all set. Have a nice trip.”
“Thank you.”
I stuff the boarding pass into my back pocket and walk down the sky bridge.
“Welcome, sir.” A pretty flight attendant greets me with a warm smile. “There are two seats left in first class. I’m guessing one of them is yours.”
“Sorry I’m late.”
She takes my carry-on and puts it in the overhead bin. I take my cushy first-class seat and look out the window and then at the empty seat across the aisle from me.
“Wait!” a woman yells, catching everyone’s attention. “Wait for me!”
I look up and see a flash of brown, wavy hair. My heart stops and then starts beating again when a woman walks through the corridor and plops down in the seat across from me.
She blows a chunk of hair out of her face, looks at me, and smiles. “That was a close one. I almost didn’t make it.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“Me, too.” She laughs and relaxes in her seat, her warm, brown eyes smiling at me. “My name is Carly.”
“Aiden.”
“Traveling alone?”
“Yep.”
“Me, too. I’m going home to visit my family,” she says.
“You grew up there?” I ask as the pilot announces takeoff, and the attendants begin their normal routine.
“Yes. I moved to Chicago four years ago for school, fell in love with the city, and decided to stay.”
“Do you miss being at home?”
She shrugs. “Sometimes, but I took a chance, and now I’m happy doing what I love.”
“No regrets?”
“Not one. Life is too short to have regrets. Enough about me. Why are you going to San Francisco?”
I normally don’t open up to strangers, especially on a flight, but I like Carly. She’s nice and seems genuine, and I find myself telling her everything as we take off down the runway.
Twenty minutes later, we’re in the air. When the flight attendant walks by, Carly orders two beers, and when they’re dropped off, she hands one to me.
“To going home,” she says, holding her bottle out.
I tap the neck of my bottle to hers. “To new beginnings.”
“Holy shit.” I look up and up and up at the skyrise. “This place is huge.”
“Wait until you see the inside,” a man in a suit says as he opens the front door of the monstrous building.
“Thank you.” I slip inside and grab the first elevator I see.
The flight this morning was easy. Carly and I chatted the whole way, and she wished me luck when we parted ways at the airport. I had a few hours to kill before my meeting, so I checked out the penthouse where I’ll be staying and grabbed a bite to eat. Now, it’s time to meet with Ryan and get the ball rolling.
With a soft ding, the elevator doors open. The office I walk into is quiet, but loud with colors and video game graphics on the walls. A middle-aged woman smiles at me from behind a large desk.
“Can I help you, sir?”
“My name is Aiden Wallace. I’m here to meet with Ryan.”
“Oh, yes.” She stands up and walks around the desk. “He’s told us so much about you. Welcome,” she says, leading me down a small hall. “How was your flight?”
“Great.”
“And the penthouse?”
“Too much.”
She laughs and pushes open a large wood door. Ryan takes his glasses off and smiles at me. “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”
“It’s been a while.” I haven’t seen the guy since he hired me several years back. Working remotely, almost all of our correspondence is done via Skype or phone.
“Too long. We’re glad you’re here.” Ryan walks around his desk and shakes my hand. “Have a seat.” He motions to a chair, and rather than taking the seat at his desk, he sits beside me. “Did you have any problems getting into the penthouse?”
“None at all. The code worked, and the staff at the building was wonderful.”
“I’m glad.”
“It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be.”
“Welcome to the big leagues, son.” He leans back, stretches his legs, and crosses his ankles. “You worked your ass off to get here, and we’re thrilled you’re finally here. Now, why don’t you put me out of my misery and accept the damn job already.”
“You can’t go in there. Ma’am. Ma’am, I said you can’t go in there,” someone says outside of Ryan’s door. There’s a scuffle, a few more words are said that are too muffled for me to make out, and then the office door flies open, and the sweetest sight I’ve ever seen appears.
“Lizzie.”
“Do you know this woman?” Ryan asks.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the secretary says. “She insisted on coming back here, and she’s strong and—”
I cut her off. “She’s with me.”
Lizzie takes a step forward. She looks about as rough as my heart feels. Her hair is piled on top of her head, she has dark circles under her eyes, and her clothes are wrinkled.
“Have you been mugged?” Ryan asks.
Lizzie looks down at herself. “I feel like it.”
My heart slams hard in my chest as I take her in. She looks like a hot mess, but she’s my hot mess. At least, I hope she is. Hope unfurls in my chest, but I quickly tamp it down.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“I would’ve been here sooner, but Calvin wouldn’t shut the hell up—”
“Calvin?”
“Uh-huh. He just kept talking, and by the time he went to book the flight, it was sold out, so he had to book me another one, and then I had to pack—”
“Pack?”
“Yes.” She laughs and gives me a look. “Would you let me finish?”
“Sorry, go ahead.”
“My flight left a few hours after yours, which wasn’t a big deal until I got off the plane and realized I had no idea where you were. I called Calvin. Of course, he didn’t answer. Asshole,” she mutters. “And then it took almost an hour to get here. The traffic in this city is awful.”
“It’s not that bad,” Ryan says.
Lizzie frowns. “We can argue about that later. Maybe I’ll change my mind after I’ve lived here for a while. But I doubt it.”
I stand up. “What?”
She smiles softly. “You caught that, huh?”
“I think my ears are playing tricks on me.”
Lizzie drops her bag and walks to me. She gathers my hands in hers and looks up at me with love and hope and a whole lot of guilt. “They’re not. I need you to forgive me, Aiden.” When I go to talk—to tell her that there’s nothing to forgive, that I’d wait forever if it meant I could have her—she presses a finger to my lips. “I was upset, but it wasn’t warranted, and for that, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I told you I wouldn’t come with you. I’m sorry if I made you feel like I wouldn’t support your dreams. But, most of all, I’m sorry that I didn’t choose you right away. I’ll regret that until the day that I die, but I’ll prove to you that it’ll never happen again.”
“Lizzie.” I pull her into my arms and bury my face in the side of her neck.
“I wasn’t done,” she mumbles against my shirt.
“You’ll have to finish from here because I’m not letting you go.”
Her laughter fills my soul. “I sent an email to my boss on the way to the airport and told her I wouldn’t be back at the start of the school year.”
I pull back enough to look her in the eye. “You did what?”
She nods. “And then I filled out a few applications on the flight here. It might take me a while to find a job, so you might have to support me, but I promise to make it worth your while. I can pay you back in org—” Her gaze slides to Ryan.
“Please,” he says, smiling. “Don’t stop because of me.”
Lizzie’s cheeks turn red. “I forgot we weren’t alone.”
“I’ll always support you,” I tell her, ignoring Ryan’s presence. “But I didn’t want you to quit your job.”
“I also contacted our landlord and told him I wouldn’t be renewing the lease on my apartment.”
“I didn’t want you to give that up either. Lizzie, I came here to turn the job down in person.”
Ryan curses, but I ignore it.
“Wait. I thought you were moving here.”
I shake my head slowly. “I wouldn’t make that big of a leap without you.”
“But Edna and Calvin made it sound like…” She trails off, and then she grins. “They played me.”
I stroke her cheek. “Sounds like it. Call your boss and tell her you’ll be back in August.”
“No.” Lizzie stands straight, shoulders squared.
“No?”
“That’s right. No. I want to support you. I’ll always support you, even if it means following you across the country and moving to a strange city with way too much traffic.”
“I would never ask you to give up your life like that.”
“You don’t have to ask me,” she says, cupping my cheek. “I’ll do it willingly because you are my life. I love you, Aiden, and I’m sorry that it took me a few days to get it right, but I have gotten it right. I want this for you. I want you to do this.”
“You do?”
She nods and kisses my lips.
God, I missed her kiss.
I curl my hand around her neck and angle her head to deepen the kiss. Ryan clears his throat, but I don’t stop. My tongue sweeps against hers.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she breathes against my lips. “But I still need the words. I need you to forgive me.”
“I forgive you, but only if you forgive me for not telling you right away.”
“Water under the bridge. I understand why you didn’t.”
I cringe. “And for sneaking a peek at your blog and then using it to block any potential boyfriends.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. You must be dreaming.”
“Will you still be here when I wake up?”
She grins. “I’ll be here forever.”
We kiss again, and several long minutes later, Ryan clears his throat once more. “Does that mean you’re taking the job? Please tell me you’re taking the job.”
Lizzie presses a finger to her swollen lips when I pull back. We grin at each other. I squeeze her to me and look at Ryan. “When do I start?”