Pillars of creation, p.10
The Write One, page 10
With a hand on each side of my head, Hero leans in. “What are you doing to me?” he whispers.
He closes his eyes as he turns his head ever so slightly toward mine. Our noses touch, and the only sound is our breathing.
“I could ask you the same thing,” I reply. The last word is barely off my tongue before his lips crash against mine.
His entire body presses into me as he kisses me hard. I open my mouth to deepen the kiss while his hands slide down my body to cup my ass and lift me. I hang on to him by the neck, holding his lips firmly in line with my own.
“Fuck. I knew you’d taste amazing.”
I don’t have time to think of a reply before he’s kissing me again.
Someone around us whistles, and Hero retreats as if I were on fire as soon as my feet touch the ground.
“I’m … I'm sorry. I'm not sure what came over me,” he says. His hands are on his hips as he looks at the ground.
I nod slowly, a finger resting against my lower lip. I’d forgotten where we were, and by the looks of Hero, so did he.
“I … we …” Clearly, he doesn't know what to say.
And to be honest, neither do I. I enjoyed every minute of that with him, and even though he can’t form words, I understand him completely.
“Shots?” I ask.
His gaze darts to mine.
“For the table?”
I nod. “Perfect. You get them while I use the ladies’ room.”
This time, Hero nods. “I’ll wait for you.”
I raise a brow.
“And repeat what just happened?”
Instead of answering, he steps toward me but stops.
“On second thought, I'll just get the drinks.”
My heart is ready to leap from my chest.
“Good idea.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
NORA
I should've stayed at the hotel last night.
“This. Is. Rough.” I whisper, pulling my sunglasses over my eyes while we sit in our seats as the rest of the passengers board. Hero also has his sunglasses on, and we’re both slouched in our seats, heads leaning toward the other, our arms crossed over our travel clothes.
“Yeah, not my best choice,” Hero admits with a scratch in his voice. Probably a result of the fact that we are running off only five hours of sleep. This 7:00 a.m. flight showed up fast. Hero did budge a little on his two-hour rule. We arrived at the airport with an hour and twenty minutes before boarding. I appreciated the extra sleep.
And every single one of us made it to the gate on time.
“Nope, it was not.”
“But it was fun,” he says, slightly lifting his head from the seatback to look at me. Our lips are just inches apart, and thank goodness he can’t see my eyes, because that’s all I can seem to look at. “And worth it.”
The smile that appears on his face is contagious, and the memory of his lips against mine has been on repeat since the moment it happened.
“Yes, it was.”
Nothing scandalous happened while we were out. Not after the kiss, anyway. Not that I didn't want it to. But we were with all his friends and doing anything that remotely indicated something could be happening was asking for a lot of questions neither of us have answers for.
We’re headed to Denver for another three-day stop with time off. It’s pretty close to home, less than five hours. Will Hero take this time to drive back to Wind Valley after tomorrow's signing? I prefer vacations by the hotel pool, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Hero, lying in the sun and listening to his buddies tease him.
I learned a lot by that pool in Dallas yesterday.
Hero played soccer in high school. He had one girlfriend until graduation but hasn’t dated anyone serious since they broke up. I could have sworn he dated in college, but as they said, it was nothing serious. He’s broken both his wrists, which to his surprise, do not bother him when he sits to write for hours, and he believed in the Easter Bunny far too long. His words.
They aren’t big things to know about someone, but the more I get to know Hero, the more I think that had he made it to the table the night of our date, our present could be very different right now. Heck, we could be married with kids. Maybe he wouldn’t have blasted away with words and become a best seller, and maybe I wouldn’t have my business. I love my business.
I probably would have enjoyed this daydream life, but things happen for a reason. Perhaps Hero not showing up was the driving force I needed to get my butt in gear. It was only a month after that I decided what I wanted to do, and that was because I had ruled men out once he stood me up. Perhaps I have Hero to thank for my career.
I glance over at him. He’s removed his sunglasses and is now sitting up a little straighter as he rubs the spot between his eyes.
“Can I get a cup of coffee and a bottle of water when you have a moment, please?” he asks the flight attendant. She nods. “Make it two of each. I think my friend will need one too.”
His friend. Ha. I smile because it’s true, but I'm not sure how we got here. It just sort of happened, and now, I'm pretty sure we are already skating past that line.
“Of course. Would you like cream?”
“Just black,” Hero and I answer in unison.
The three of us let out a small laugh as the flight attendant gets back to work.
“Thanks. She may as well bring a pitcher because I'm going to need it,” I say.
“Me too. I’d say I was going straight to the hotel to sleep when we get there, but I’m just—”
“Not a nap person?” I finish for him.
“Nope.”
“Me either. I’ll probably even stay up till like ten tonight and then wake up tomorrow at the same time I always do, a ripe 5:30 a.m., and feel refreshed.”
He chuckles, and oh my god, why do I enjoy it so much?
“If I nap, my whole day will be thrown off and I'll feel like I wasted it. I’m just thankful that both the signing and my date aren’t until tomorrow.”
His date. Right. The ones I set up for him with other women.
So that I could move on and not think of him that way.
Is that still what I want?
You’re here to find him a girlfriend, and you can’t forget that.
No matter what my feelings are, this survey has a purpose. Whether it is for my reasons or for him to keep his career on track, there is no turning back.
“What do you plan on doing with your free day if you don't plan on napping?” Hero asks, taking his coffee. Next, he pops the top off his water and starts to chug.
“I’m not sure yet. I have some emails to catch up on. Maybe even write a proposal for another new client and then—”
“You’re going to spend it working. What a surprise.”
I twist the cap off my own bottle to stay busy. “I like to get ahead.”
“So do I, but I also know that taking a day off every so often is smart.” He taps his temple. “Let the brain relax and regroup from time to time.”
“Sure,” I say and sip my coffee. “What do you call yesterday or last night?”
He grins.
Lord help me. Why is this a thing for me now? He smiles. So what? Everyone smiles. It’s not like he does it better than most.
“I definitely do not call it relaxing my brain. The pool afternoon, sure, but last night? Last night was a surprise. I need a real break. I need water and greasy food and something normal.”
Having greasy food is normal for him? Doubt it.
Hero studies me as I take another sip. It’s unsettling. Am I drinking funny? Spilling coffee on myself?
I glance down quickly, but there is no mess.
Why am I like this under his gaze?
“Why don’t you come hang out with me today?” he asks.
“With you?” I ask through a laugh. “Oh, you're serious?” I backtrack at the sour expression on his face.
“I won't force you.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” My hand instinctively rests on his forearm. “I meant like, aren’t you sick of me by now? We just spent an entire day together.”
And we kissed last night and neither of us has yet to bring it up. Are we just going to keep hanging out and pretend that it didn't happen?
“You’re kidding, right?”
I shake my head.
“Nora, we have hung out every single day since this tour started. How will this be any different?”
I shrug. “Because it’s not for work.”
“Last night wasn’t for work and it went just fine. So what do you say? Do you think we can survive another day together?”
Probably. And yet, he mentioned last night and not the kiss.
“Sure. Why not?” I finally remove my sunglasses and eye him suspiciously. He’s already thinking of something. “What did you have in mind?”
“A baseball game. The weather is going to be nice when we get there, the wind minimal, and I could use a hot dog, some popcorn, and a cold beer.”
A baseball game. That actually sounds fun. I can't even remember the last time I went to one. I’ll be the first to admit that I put work before almost everything, so events like this are always on the back burner.
“It’s not the worst idea,” is what I say to Hero instead.
“Jesus, can you two stop talking already?” A voice chimes in from the crack between our seats. “I have a day planned with Natalie after we land, and I need to sleep this entire flight, but I can't do it with the two of you jibber jabbering the entire time.”
Hero and I share a gaze as we hold back our laughter. I’d almost forgotten Tobias was on the plane with us.
“Jibber jabber?” I mouth to Hero.
He leans in. “See, this day is going to be great. You’ll see.”
The man in front of me stops abruptly and steps back, smashing the hot dog in my hand into my chest.
Noooo.
“What part of the day is this supposed to be good?” I ask, peeling my afternoon snack off my shirt and dropping it into the trash. First, the landing into Denver was bumpy, and I almost threw up, then my bag was the last one off the conveyor—we actually thought it didn’t make it, and Hero wasn’t shy about reminding me of his two-hour boarding rule—and then the Uber driver got lost on his way to airport pickup and charged us because he never found us. So by the time we made it to the hotel, we had about an hour before the game, which was fine because Coors Field is in walking distance. But this is just the cake topper.
“What’s that? Oh shoot, I almost ran into you with my hot—what happened?” Hero asks, his eyes glued to where the ketchup stain has now spread from my horrible job of wiping it up with a napkin. The stain just so happens to sit perfectly over my right breast.
“I ran into the guy in front of me,” I tell him just as someone bumps his shoulder. His food remains untouched in his hand, but our shoulders knock together. I can’t think of a point in this day when we haven't been touching.
Hero looks around. “I didn’t expect this many people to be here today. For some reason, I thought Friday day games would be slower.”
“Not this one. I’m going to duck into the restroom to see if I can clean this up a bit more. Meet you at our seats?”
He nods. “I’ll just wait for you outside the bathroom.”
“Oh boy, this again? That’s not necessary.”
“This place is packed, Nora.”
“Exactly. I’ll be fine.”
His gaze holds mine and when he can finally see that I'm not going to budge, he nods.
“Ten minutes, tops,” I tell him and head for the closest restroom.
Once I'm inside, I take a breath and stare at my reflection. God, Natalie would die if she knew I was willingly hanging out one-on-one with Hero for something other than business purposes again. Shoot, I swore to myself that night he stood me up that I would never, ever give this man the time of day, and yet here I am, years later, doing just that. And liking it. I like it a lot.
Maybe this is good. I’m not a fan of holding a grudge, and something was bound to happen sooner or later to mend this rift between us, right?
Turns out, all it took was an open schedule and a bad review to get us together. Oh, and poor planning on my cousin's part. I’ve heard of tours that have multiple stops with days in between, but this every other day stuff is crazy. There is a lot more free time on these things than I thought.
As if she knew I was thinking of her, a text comes through from Natalie.
Natalie
How’s the date?
Nora
It’s not a date. How do you even know where I am?
Natalie
Tobias told me. He’s mad that you didn’t invite us to join you.
Nora
He said he had plans with you. I assumed he already had something in the books.
Natalie
Watching you and Hero together would have been so much more fun.
Nora
We’re just friends.
Natalie
Friends?! I'm soooo coming to your room later so you can tell me all about this.
Nora
I have to go.
Natalie
Boo. Fine. Have fun!
I debate telling her about the kiss but decide not to. If we are pretending it never happened, there isn’t a reason to get her all worked up.
I stuff my phone into my crossbody bag, grab a handful of paper towels, and get to work on my shirt. It doesn't take long to come to the conclusion that my shirt is ruined and white is not a shirt you should ever wear to a baseball game.
Sadly, there are no automatic dryers here, so a wet shirt with a red stain over my boob will have to be my style for today.
At least it’s not my pants. I can handle this.
God, if this were a real date, I would be mortified, but it’s not, so for that I am truly thankful.
I spot Hero outside of the bathroom immediately. He’s right across from the exit, holding his food, drink, and a bag with the Rockies logo all over it, so it’s a no-brainer that it came from the pro shop.
“Supporting the team?” I ask. I almost went with a sassy comment about how he waited for me when I told him not to, but we still have a few more hours together. Although I'm pretty sure he now interprets my sass as flirting, so I'm in uncharted territory at this point.
His grin is wide and charming. “I got you a new shirt. I hope that’s okay.”
He … he bought me a shirt? That’s actually pretty sweet.
I could easily just go the rest of the day with the one I have, spot and all, but it is wet and there is a breeze, so … I reach for the bag.
“Thank you, Hero. I’ll be right back.”
“I'll be right here.”
I don’t even attempt to argue this time. Instead, I change quickly and pop back out, ready to find our seats.
“The black was a good choice,” I say and point to the shirt. It’s a simple T-shirt, soft like those vintage tees, and so comfortable. When I opened the bag, I was certain he got me a vee neck shirt because everyone assumes that’s the style women like, but not me. I like an old- fashioned T-shirt, and clearly, Hero has noticed.
“I thought so too. Come on. Our seats are this way.”
I follow behind him, but the crowd is thick. Hero effortlessly reaches for my hand. It’s not just your simple handhold either. It’s full on, fingers laced together, tugging my arm until my front is flush with his back hand-holding.
“I don’t want to lose you in the crowd,” he says over his shoulder.
My shoulders drop. I knew that was why he did it, but my body tried to betray me into hoping this meant something else. Which is crazy. Hero and I aren’t like that. Not even in the slightest way. Despite the kiss last night.
When we get to our row and the amount of people around us has dwindled by a lot, my heart doesn't skip a beat to remind my brain that we are still holding hands. In fact, he doesn't even let go of my hand once we are seated.
The worst part: nothing in me has the urge to pull away from him. Even though I know I'm going to fully overanalyze this later and probably even scold myself for not stopping it, I'm going to enjoy every last moment of him touching me.
“Here,” he says and hands me his hotdog. “I’ll grab another one when the away team gets up to bat.”
“Oh no, it’s fine. I can go.”
“Take it, Nora. It’s just a hot dog, and even if you don’t take it, I'll still be the one to get you something to eat, so either you take this one or we both sit here and let it get cold.”
I crack a smile and take the food. “Only you would tell a girl what to do with something as boring as a hot dog.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I was pretty demanding, wasn’t I?”
“You were, but I’ll take it because I'm hungry. However, let the record show that I am a grown woman who is fully capable of getting her own hot dog.”
“Noted, and please let the record show that it is also perfectly okay to let a man spoil you,” he says as I take a giant bite. I swipe my tongue over my lips to catch the excess mustard. Hero is watching me, so I sit back to watch the game.
Then I take a deep breath. I hadn’t meant for my tongue swipe to be sexy, but with the way Hero was just looking at me, it was more than innocent.
I sneak a glance, and this time Hero is sitting ramrod straight with his hands on his knees.
“I’ll just go get that food right now,” he says and stands. “Do you want anything else?”
“No thanks,” I answer as he walks off.
Good. A little space is good.
The lineup goes through a couple of batters, nothing super exciting to report, when a body drops into the seat next to me.
