Fighting Perfection (The Perfection Series Book 2) (21 page)

     “I planned on taking you out tomorrow, but didn’t want to invite myself to stay over so I booked a hotel room.  Besides, if I stay over, you’re not going to get any sleep, and I want you well rested for tomorrow.”  He winked at me.

     “That wink just scared me.”  I said with no little amount of trepidation.

     “Don’t be scared, darlin’.  After today, what I have planned will be a piece of cake.”

     “Dear Lord, please don’t tell me you’re taking me skydiving for real.”

     He chuckled.  “No, Kitten.  I’m not, but you’re not too far off from the truth.”

     “Don’t call me Kitten.” I said automatically.  “Well, now I have no idea what it could be, but I’m scared shitless.”

     He pulled me in tight and kissed the side of my head.  “Don’t worry, Mimi.  You’ll always be safe with me.”

     I turned to look up at him and saw the most serious look on his face I’d seen yet.  I felt a frisson of desire flow through me.  I leaned in and touched my lips to his tenderly, wanting to let him know his words had touched me but not having the voice to say it.  He pulled me even closer to him and kissed me back deeply.  Our tongues met and danced with each other sensually.  Gone was our normal urgency, this was something slow and tender.  He softly stroked my back as he gently nibbled on my lips before sliding his tongue back in my mouth to kiss me thoroughly once again.  I moved to straddle his lap, but he brought me to a halt.

     “If we go any further, we’ll get carried away and I won’t leave, and very likely Laurel will either miss her flight or be taking a cab.  We don’t want that.”

     “No, she would not be happy with either.”

     “Then let me kiss you just one more time, and then I’ll go.  What time are you taking her to the airport in the morning?

     “Her flight leaves at ten so she needs to be there by eight.  I figure I’ll be back home by nine.”

     “Okay, this is what I want you to do.  After you come home, make sure you eat a good meal, then take a long nap.”  I’ll pick you up around six p.m., and we’ll get going on our next adventure.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me teasingly.

     “Yes, Sir!” I said with a little salute.

     “That’s my good girl.  Now kiss me so I can leave a happy man.”

     While we were on our way to the airport the next morning, Laurel spoke up.  “I really liked James a lot,” she said.  “I can see why you were unwilling to stop seeing him.  I think he’s exactly what you need right now.  He’s fun and exciting and clearly adores you.  Just the way he looks at you makes that evident.”

      “How does he look at me?” I asked, puzzled.  I’d never caught him giving me any particular kind of look, unlike Justin who sometimes got this wistful-looking stare.

     “He looks at you like you’re the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen.  Haven’t you noticed him just staring at you when you’re together?”

     “Um, no.  He looks at me like a normal person.”

     “I did notice he’s discreet about it, but next time, try to get a glimpse of him from the corner of your eye.  You’ll see what I mean.”

      I thought I’d do just that tonight assuming whatever we were doing gave me the opportunity to do so.

     As we were saying goodbye in front of the terminal, Laurel insisted I come visit her before the end of the year.  I figured I’d have time over the winter break from school so I promised to make plans with her sometime closer to the holidays.

     Before she turned to go inside, she gave me a long look.  “Whatever you do, Mimi, make sure you have that conversation with Justin soon.  You don’t want to really hurt him.”

     “I don’t plan to hurt him.  I am going to see him Wednesday unless he cancels again.”

     “If I were you, I’d do it earlier.  Like tomorrow.”  With that, she gave me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek and strutted inside the terminal.

     On the drive home, my thoughts were filled with Justin.  It wasn’t going to be easy letting him down, not only because I didn’t want to hurt him, but also because of my own feelings for him.  Yes, they were confused and jumbled up with his connection to my past, but I did feel more for him than just friendship, I believed.  However, it was important that I stop things now before we went too far, and I really made a mess of it.  It made me sad, but it was far better than the conflicting emotions and guilt I’d been carrying around for the last few months.

     I arrived home and followed James’ instructions to the letter.  I wasn’t sure what constituted a good breakfast in his eyes, but I opted for nutritious and had some yogurt and berries, sprinkled with some tasty granola.  Feeling satiated, I wandered into my room and laid down.  I was out within minutes.

     I awoke to my phone ringing on the nightstand next to my bed.  I couldn’t believe that I had slept until twelve-thirty.  Well, he did say he wanted me to take a long nap so mission accomplished.

     I looked at the display on my phone and saw that it was Justin calling.  I answered quickly, wondering if he was already calling to cancel on me for Wednesday.

     “Hi Justin,” I said, my voice slightly hoarse from sleep.

     “Hey Peaches.  I wanted to call and wish you a belated happy birthday.  I would have called yesterday, but I figured you were busy with Laurel and didn’t want to interrupt.  Did you guys have a good time?”

     I gave him a rundown of our day, but leaving James out of the story.  I wasn’t trying to deceive him, I just didn’t want him to feel bad when I had already told him I had plans with James that night. 

     “That had to have been Laurel’s idea, the indoor skydiving.  I’m surprised you did it.”

     “Believe it or not, it was my idea!  I wanted to do something adventurous to mark my thirtieth birthday, and that’s what I came up with.  I’m sure it’s a pale imitation of the real thing, but I haven’t gone totally crazy yet.  I’m still timid at heart.”

     “I wouldn’t quite call you timid.  Just…overly cautious.” He laughed, and I did along with him.

     “I’ll have you know I resemble that remark.”

     He laughed again.  “So what are your plans for this afternoon?  I thought maybe we could go grab some lunch before you go out tonight.”

     I felt very uncomfortable and put on the spot.  I didn’t want to have James being a sore subject between the two of us, but I couldn’t be cavalier about tossing his name out to Justin.

     “You know that normally I’d love to, but he’s actually picking me up this evening so I need to get ready.  Is your work schedule overloaded for tomorrow?”

     He cleared his throat, and I squeezed my eyes closed feeling like a real jerk.  “I can always make time for you, Peaches.  Why don’t we plan on noon?”

     I agreed and we ended the call shortly after with me feeling awkward and unhappy.  I was dreading the conversation I needed to have with him, but Laurel was right.  I couldn’t put it off.  It had to be the next time I saw him.

     I had no idea what James and I were doing that evening so I called him before I made the same mistake I had when we went trapeze flying.  He let me in on a bit of the surprise telling me we were going to his favorite restaurant for dinner, and I should dress up for it.  With that in mind, I went to my closet and immediately started fretting over what to wear.  Not finding anything that suited my liking, I decided to take a quick trip to the mall to find something appropriate.

     After searching a few stores, I finally ended up deciding on a dramatic, sleeveless, ecru evening dress that had a deep V-neck and pearlescent beading in an intricate pattern all over it.  Matching it with delicate bronze sandals and matching beaded evening bag, I was all set. 

     By the time I left the mall, it was four-thirty.  I’d have just about an hour to get ready once I got home.  I cursed myself for taking so much time shopping.  I wanted to look my absolute best, and normally I languished over getting ready, making sure every detail was given due attention.  I rushed into the house, laid my purchases on my bed, and dashed into the shower.  I washed my hair as fast as I could and gave myself a good scrubbing with the loofah as quickly as possible.  I spent the majority of my shower time shaving my legs.  I just had this thing about smooth skin.

     I also agonized over how to wear my hair, but in the end I opted for simplicity on my part and left it to curl naturally then pumped it up a bit with a small bit of hair mousse.

     Just as I put on my dress, the doorbell rang.  I ran to answer it without putting on my shoes.

I opened the door to another mouth-watering sight of James in a suit.  This time, he was dressed in a black suit with a French-blue dress shirt and a tie striped with silver and dark gray with thin threads of blue that matched his shirt.  For being as casual as he normally was, he sure cleaned up well.  I felt that familiar desire rise up within me as I looked him over head to toe. 

     “You better stop looking at me that way, Kitten, or we aren’t going to make it out of here again,” James said by way of greeting. 

     I gulped and stood back to let him in, giving myself a mental face-slap.  “Come on in if you dare,” I teased.  “I just need to get my shoes on and put my essentials into my handbag.”

     He grinned at me wickedly and stepped across the threshold.  He grabbed hold of my waist and pulled me in for a quick kiss.  “You look stunning as ever, Mimi,” he whispered against my lips.

     “As you can tell, I approve wholeheartedly over your looks, too,” I purred back at him.

     He turned me around and swatted me on the butt.  “Go finish getting ready.  The afternoon light is fading, and we need to get going if we’re going to make our reservations.”

     “Where are we going?”

     “I told you, my favorite restaurant.  Well, fancy restaurant here in California.  Now get moving.”

     James had us on the road in no time flat.  We were headed toward the coast so I assumed we would be dining at some restaurant overlooking the beach.  Imagine my surprise when we arrived at Santa Monica Municipal Airport.  We parked near a hangar where several small planes were lined up out front.  James came around the car and opened my door for me, then escorted me to a white plane with a yellow and black striping pattern over the doors, body, and tail of the aircraft.

     “This is a Cessna Skyhawk.  She’s beautiful and brand new.  I leased her for our adventure,” he said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

     “Where the hell are we going that we need to fly there, James?”

     He laughed.  “Don’t worry, Mimi.  I’m going to take you for the ride of your life.”

     “I thought you’d been doing that since the day I met you.”

     He paused and gave me a serious look that I couldn’t interpret.  The he cleared his throat.

     “We’re not leaving California but just taking a trip up north.  Our flight will only be about an hour, but it’s much more convenient than driving four hundred miles just for dinner.” 

     “You know, there are many nice restaurants around here we could have gone to,” I said with some trepidation.

     “Then I wouldn’t be able to show you my favorite, or…” he looked bashful for a moment, “show off a little bit for you.” 

     I grinned.  “It’s the showing off part you really want to do, isn’t it James?”

     “I so totally do, Kitten.  I have to use whatever is at my disposal to make an impression on you that lasts.”

     “Don’t call me Kitten.  I don’t suppose there’s any way out of this trip, is there?”

     “What happened to your newfound spirit of adventure?  This is going to be a great trip!  I assure you that you are entirely safe.”

      “Because it’s you, I’m going to take you at your word and go along with this plan.  Just let me state for the record that if we go down, I was mildly concerned.”

     “I can go along with mild concern.  I think most people are mildly concerned whenever and however they fly,” he said opening the door for me and waving me inside.

     I climbed into what I can only describe as luxury for such a little plane.  The interior was a beautiful cream leather with two seats in the front and two in the back.  The instrument panel was filled with two small screens, several dials and switches, and two steering thingies James said were called yokes.  He took his seat and went through his pre-flight check.  I sat there calmly strapped into my seat.  For as much as I ribbed James about being hesitant to fly with him, I actually had absolute faith in him.  If the U.S. Navy trusted the man with a plane worth millions of dollars, then I was sure he could fly this little puddle jumper with no problem.

     After filing his flight plan, he navigated us toward the runway.

     “Santa Monica, Cessna Niner Niner Three Five Zulu requesting take-off,” James spoke into the headset.  I assumed all must have been okay as we moved forward to the long strip of road that would lead us to the heavens.  Well, hopefully not Heaven, per se.

     Soon we were taxiing down the runway and as James pulled back on the yoke, the plane lifted into the air.  I felt my stomach do that little flip thing, and my throat felt tight.  I tried to discreetly grip my seat, but I think he noticed.  I don’t know how high we climbed, but I figured ignorance was bliss.  If I didn’t know how high up we were, I wouldn’t know how far we could fall, right?