Chapter 15 A Line Longer than My…
A LINE LONGER THAN MY…
Last place you went on an airplane?
Cole: Palm Springs for a golfing trip with my brother and my father last month.
Bridget: New York for a town hall meeting with John last summer. I sneaked away to see Six one night.
brIDGET
I’d tried to keep it a secret, but by now everyone at the retreat knew about my lost passport. Overwhelmed by a sense of trust and vulnerability after our game of capture the flag, I’d spilled it over sangria in the bar.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Gina asked me from the back row of the van on the ride to the airport. “I’d stay with you, but my mom will murder me if I’m not home to help her with the sweet potato pies.”
“It’s my fault,” I muttered. “First, for scheduling the retreat so close to Thanksgiving, and second, for losing my passport. Don’t worry.
I’ll be fine.” I hope. I also had a mother who expected me at her table tomorrow.
If I missed Thanksgiving dinner, I’d be on her shit list until Christmas.
I did not want to be on Deirdre O’Brien’s shit list.
“I’ll keep an eye on Bridget,” Cole said from the row in front of us.
“You…what?” After the kayaking disaster, Gina had hardly let me out of her sight, and I hadn’t had a chance to talk with Cole about that moment I’d been sandwiched between his muscular chest and my door and almost lost my mind nor about the one in the hot springs, when I’d been a second from kissing him and five from licking a bead of water off him.
Kissing my co-CEO would’ve been more catastrophic than falling into the snake-infested river and being sucked dry by hepatitis-carrying leeches.
Unfortunately, there was no way he could’ve missed the way I’d whined with need, inches away from his face.
I needed to find an opportunity to apologize.
Maybe I could blame it on encephalitis or dengue fever.
“My flight is later tonight,” he said. “I’ll make sure you get your emergency passport and a flight out.” His tone was light, but there was an edge to it. Maybe he wanted to talk about that almost-kiss too?
“Thanks, Cole,” I said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather wait for your flight with the others at the airport?”
Stan chuckled. “We can’t be losing our co-CEO in a foreign country. Thanks for keeping an eye on her.”
“No, we can’t lose her.” Cole’s voice was so deep. I supposed that came from his big, broad chest, the one I’d been tempted to bury my nose in that night in the hot spring.
“I don’t need anyone to keep an eye on me,” I snapped. “I’m a fully capable adult.”
Cole raised his dark eyebrows and turned to face the front.
We hit traffic on the way back to the city (the driver said it was because of a sloth crossing the road), and by the time we’d dropped off the team at the airport and reached the embassy, it was after two. A line stretched out the door and around the side of the building.
Cole cursed under his breath. “That line’s longer than my—”
“No, it isn’t.” I chuckled. I’d seen the ridge in his shorts while I’d been checking him for leeches. It reminded me of the anaconda they’d warned us about before we’d set off on the river.
I clambered out of the van and strode toward the guard at the gate. I pasted on my most winning smile. “Hi, hello.”
“Hello, ma’am.” The American security officer was young with a few pimples scattered under the shade of his black ball cap.
“I see there’s a long line. Is it like at Disneyland, where everyone who’s in line gets to ride?”
“I’ve never been to Disneyland, ma’am, but no. They take the last person at 4:30. Everyone else has to come back Monday.”
“Monday? You mean Friday, right? Friday after Thanksgiving is a fake holiday.” My stomach sank to my knees. I had a terrible feeling that not only would I miss my parents’ Thanksgiving feast, but I’d miss the leftovers too.
“Friday is a Costa Rican holiday. Abolition of the Army. We’re closed.”
“And you aren’t open Saturdays?”
“Never, ma’am,” he said, patient as ever.
“Maybe the line will move quickly?” I glanced at it. A person waiting a few feet from the door appeared to be taking a nap.
“I doubt it, ma’am. People tend to come here with complicated problems.”
Like mine. “Thanks.” I trudged toward the end of the line.
Inexplicably, Cole followed me.
“Didn’t you hear what he said?” I asked. “I probably won’t even get in today. You should go to the airport.”
“And what are you going to do?” he asked. “Camp in front of the embassy until Monday?”
“No, I’m going to wait it out until they close. If I don’t get in, I’ll find a hotel.”
“I’m not leaving you in Costa Rica alone.”
“Stan wasn’t serious about that. I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl.”
“You told me the other day you weren’t a girl.”
“Figure of speech. I should’ve said I’m a grown-ass woman who can take care of herself.”
His eyes flared at that. “Regardless, I’m staying. I just have to make a phone call.”
“So do I.” I wasn’t ready to give up hope, but the obstacles to reaching my family’s dinner table seemed insurmountable. It was better to deliver the bad news now rather than to call early on Thanksgiving morning.
Cole stepped away, and I parked myself in the line and dialed my mother.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, honey. How was your trip?”
“Funny story…” I tried my best to make my tale humorous, despite its tragic outcome.
To keep her from worrying, I filled it with positive statements about how well the retreat had gone, and I didn’t mention Cole at all.
She tried her best to believe that I’d make it home late tonight, but regretfully, I assured her it was unlikely.
Why, why had I insisted on squeezing a retreat into my first thirty days despite a national holiday?
Now it seemed ridiculously na?ve and prideful.
While Mom described who was bringing what to the meal, I glanced at Cole.
He winced as if whoever he was talking to was telling him off.
It was my fault he’d most likely miss his family meal.
He was being nice and helping me out. I could’ve offered to explain it to whoever was chewing him out, but that felt like an overstep.
What kind of family did Cole have, anyway?
Were they big and loud and in everyone’s business like mine, or were they quiet and cold like Justine’s?
He didn’t wear a ring, so I knew he wasn’t married, but did he have a girlfriend?
Or a boyfriend? I couldn’t imagine who’d put up with his bullshit. I snorted out loud at the thought.
“Oh, no, honey, was that a sneeze?” Mom asked. “Are you catching a cold?”
“I’m fine, Mom. But I’ll let you go. I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up to you at Christmas. I’ll do all the cooking while you put your feet up.”
“You know I like to cook,” she said. “I’m grateful to have the means to put a meal on the table for my family.”
I knew exactly what she meant. During the bad times, I’d told myself I’d never be ungrateful for a meal again. Even if it was liver and onions, which I found revolting. I’d eat it and be thankful we had food.
“We’ll cook it together, I promise,” I said. “I’ll videocall you tomorrow, okay? It’ll be just like I’m there.”
“I know you’ll try your best,” she said. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
I ended the call and heard a shocking phrase from Cole.
“I’m sorry, baby. I won’t be there like I promised.” I’d never heard his voice go that soft before. Did he have a special someone? “I know, Cait. I know. I feel terrible.”
Holy shit. He had a girlfriend. And I’d fucked up his plans to spend the holiday with her. I felt like a heel for making him miss it.
“Until I get home, we’ll keep playing Mathlon. As soon as I get back, I’ll take you out for ice cream. Or whatever you want. I promise.”
Ice cream and Mathlon? If I were Cole Campion’s girlfriend, I’d want something better than that.
Like a good dicking-down. Funny how in the year we’d worked together, I hadn’t once thought about Cole’s anatomy—aside from a grudging recognition that he looked mighty fine in a suit—but now that I’d seen him in skintight underwear and knew what he was packing, it was all I could think about.
It was a good thing he was off-limits. Shit, what if I’d actually tried to land that kiss on his lips, then trailed my hand down under the water to the band of his—
“Bye. I love you.”
My cheeks grew hot with shame. He had a girlfriend whom he loved, and I was thirsting after him. I was a terrible person. Not only for the thirst, but also for my part in making him miss the holiday with her.
When he rejoined me in line, I said, “You should go. If you leave now, you can still catch your flight home.”
“No, I’ve made arrangements for things back home. We’ll go back together. Meanwhile, I’ll work on a hotel reservation. Would you rather stay in the city or go to the beach?”
“The beach? How far away is that?”
“Not too far. Less than a couple hours’ drive.”
“Then beach.” There would be plenty of activities to occupy me and keep me away from too-tempting Cole. “If that’s all right with you?”
“Sure. We can come back on Sunday and spend the night close to here so we’re in line when the embassy opens. With luck, we could make it home Monday night.”
He’d be back in Cait’s arms in only five days. Good.
“Okay.” I shuffled forward in line. “Though I could still make it in the door today.”
He looked at the fifty people in front of us. “Yeah, right.”
This was one of the many times Cole turned out to be one hundred percent correct.