Nine Bay
Nine
Bay
“I can’t wait to soak in a bubble bath and have a glass of wine,” Dan said, walking beside me as we headed toward the bus exit.
He had worked in the first-class cabin with me on this flight. Dan hadn’t done domestic flights in years. He chose to do international only. I always ended up on one of his long hauls I did each month. I always looked forward to it because he was entertaining and easy to get along with.
“I’d fall asleep and drown if I did that,” I replied. “Dinner, then shower, then bed for me.”
“It’s harder for me to wind down, and I’ve got another Sydney flight in three days. Charlsie wants to go test wedding cakes at this bakery he found, but first, I need to get some rest.”
“Did you ever decide on the flowers?” I asked him.
On the last flight we had taken together, he’d told me that his fiancé was being indecisive, but he didn’t care either way.
“Yes, finally. Don’t ask me what they all are though. I’ve got no fucking clue. Something about a sorbet color palette. I’m just glad we’ve moved on from talking about it.”
We stepped out into the early evening, and I was relieved to see the bus was already there. I was tired enough that I had been considering paying for a cab.
“I’m gonna throw a wild guess out there and say…I think that tall, dark, sexy piece of ass, watching us all broody-like, is waiting for you,” Dan said in a singsong voice.
I swung my gaze over to where he was looking and paused. My breath hitched at the sight of Hale Carver. I hadn’t really expected to see him again, but I’d thought about him enough on my trip. Just like I’d thought about Pooky and the gang he was in. Trying to think of some way I could help him.
“Uh, um,” I muttered.
“You know him, don’t you? We just spent all this time together, and you didn’t think to mention him once? Girl, what is wrong with you?”
I flicked my gaze up to Dan, then back toward where Hale stood. Still watching me. He fully expected me to go directly to him. And…well, I wanted to. There was relief at seeing him again.
“Yes, sort of,” I replied, feeling my face go warm.
“Sort of? What the fuck kinda answer is that? The man is here to pick you up,” Dan said, sounding exasperated with me.
I tried to smile, but I was feeling so many different emotions about this all that it was hard. “Yeah, I, um…see you next time,” I told Dan.
“Yes, you will, and I want all the deets,” he informed me with a wink.
An awkward laugh bubbled out of me before I turned to walk toward Hale, pulling my rolling carry-on beside me.
The closer I got to him, the more overwhelming he felt.
I’d let my imagination take a few naughty turns while keeping myself awake on the flights.
Not once expecting to see the man again.
The sleeves of his black oxford shirt were rolled up to his elbows, showing off tanned arms with some ink.
I let my gaze sweep over the rest of him to see he was once again in jeans and boots. He wore those real well.
My eyes snapped back up to his face, and he appeared amused. Blowing out an unsteady breath, I approached him.
“Do you often hang out here?” I asked.
He smirked. “No.” Then he nodded his head toward his illegally parked Escalade. “Ready?”
He was real sure of himself. But then I’d walked over to him while others were boarding the bus. Seemed he had every right to be sure of himself.
“Yes, I guess I am.”
He waved a hand for me to go first, and I began walking in the direction of his vehicle.
I waited for him to speak, but he remained silent until we reached the passenger door and he opened it.
“Hungry?” he asked then took the handle of my carry- on. “I’ll take this.”
Yes, I was.
“Tacos sound good?”
Very good. I had been planning on eating a sandwich with whatever I had in the fridge that wasn’t expired.
He held out his hand for me to take as I stepped up inside the Escalade.
“Yes,” I replied hesitantly.
Was he taking me to dinner?
“Good, because I am fucking craving some,” he replied.
I watched him through the rearview mirror as he took my suitcase to the back of the vehicle and loaded it.
Once the rear latch closed and he headed toward his door, I dropped my eyes, studying my hands, as I got my thoughts together while he climbed inside.
Okay, so he was here to pick me up and take me to eat.
Was this because he was still worried for my safety?
If it was this serious, maybe I should go to the police station and talk to them.
It wasn’t like Hale Carver was going to be able to follow me around everywhere I went.
He had to have some job or something. He didn’t live in DC.
“I, uh…is there a reason I should be alarmed? I mean, did something happen with Pooky while I was gone?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. You’re safe. I made sure of it.”
There was some relief there.
“But you came to get me.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Yeah, to let you know that you can rest easy. Although you should always be alert. DC isn’t a safe place, and you…” He glanced at me and did a quick once-over. “You’re a good-looking woman.”
Warmth rushed over me from that one little comment.
“I am—I mean, I always look around. I don’t get distracted when I’m out by myself.” Which was most of the time. Unless I was at the center.
“Good. So many women aren’t. They are locked in on their phones, not paying attention. It makes them walking targets.”
I agreed. I watched enough crime television to know better.
“It’s nice of you to take me to get dinner, but you don’t have to do that. Thanks for the ride though,” I told him, not wanting him to feel as if he had to take me to get something to eat.
He cut his eyes at me. “You said you were hungry, and I want tacos.”
Oh, well…
“Yes, okay. I just…I didn’t want you to feel as if you had to include me in your going to get tacos.”
He chuckled a dark, melodious sound, and I shivered. “Darlin’, a man doesn’t do shit he doesn’t want to do. You should have figured that out by now.”
In the thirty-four years I’d spent on earth, I had found most people didn’t do what they didn’t want to do.
“All right, then tacos it is.”
“The place also has good margaritas—at least, my daughter likes them. Not my thing.”
“That sounds perfect,” I told him.
Maybe a drink would make me feel less nervous and awkward.