Chapter 25
JAMISON
I check the time as I land in Denver with doubt pouring through my thoughts.
Please let this go well.
Please let Dori be okay.
We’ll be cutting it close if I want to pull off my surprise, but I think I can get us to Red Rocks in time for the show.
The car service I hired is waiting on the tarmac, and I’m on my way to Dori’s hotel within fifteen minutes. As we drive, I shift around with my nerves whipping around in my guts. My heart pounds just as wildly. I want everything to be perfect.
Once I get to the hotel and get settled, I call her on my way down the hallway to her room, my hands shaking with anticipation.
She answers on the second ring. “Hi, babe. I tried to call you about thirty minutes ago.”
Her mood is good, which is a great sign.
I scan the room numbers on the doors as I pass, looking for hers. “Yeah, I was in the middle of something.”
“Oh. What were you doing?”
“Looking for something. ”
“What were you looking for? Maybe I can help you find it. I moved some stuff around when I moved in.”
“I’m not sure I need your help.”
“Why?”
“No reason.”
“Jami, what are you hiding from me? And don’t lie to me. I can hear it in your voice.”
“Nothing, I just don’t need your help anymore.” I come to her room and stop, smiling from ear to ear. “What I was looking for is on the other side of the door.”
“What?”
I knock and wait.
“Hold on, Jami. Someone’s here.”
The door swings open, and she comes into view.
Her eyes round. “What are you doing here?”
“That’s a surprise.” I hang up the phone and slide it into my pocket.
“You are so sneaky.” She jumps into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist.
I stick my foot out to catch the door before it shuts. “Crafty, not sneaky.”
“Semantics.” She laughs and dots kisses all over my face.
“Are we going to stay out here in the hallway? Or are you going to invite me in?”
She slides down my chest until her feet touch the ground. “Get in here.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
“You knew I would.” She shakes her head as she practically prances into the room. “What made you come to Denver?”
I follow her in. She’s staying in a standard single room with a bed, dresser with a TV sitting on it, a small desk, and two bedside tables. She definitely doesn’t seek out extravagance .
I glance around for her bags. “I’ll get to that in a minute, but first we need to pack your belongings.”
“Why?” She places her hands on her hips as she gives me a suspicious glare.
“Because my stuff is in a suite a few floors above this one. Unless you want to be staying in different rooms?”
“Jamison Stone, what are you up to?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” I flash her a coy smile. “Where’s your carry-on? I’ll get that while you get your toiletries together.”
“It’s in the closet. I didn’t unpack very much, so I can have my stuff together in about two minutes, but I’m not doing that until you tell me what’s going on.” She raises her eyebrows and gives me a look, telling me not to test her.
I know her well enough to know she’s not bluffing. “I thought you could use some fun. When you left Miami, you were feeling down, and I’m sure your time with Aiden is weighing on you. I came here to change that.”
“Meeting with Aiden went better than I thought it would, but I’ll tell you about that later. First, I want to know why you came here when I’m going back to Miami tomorrow.”
“Well, there’s been a change of plans.”
“How so?”
“It’s a secret. If I tell you, it will ruin everything.”
“I’m calling your bluff.” Her eyes narrow as she plants herself on the bed. “That does it. I’m not budging until you explain.”
I laugh at her childish antics. “Dori, this has nothing to do with taking away your right to choose what you do. This is a romantic gesture from your boyfriend. Can you at least pretend to be enjoying it?”
She rolls her eyes as she tries to hide the smile forming on her lips. “You know I like to have a say in what we do, but for you, I’ll go with it. ”
“Great. Now let’s get you packed so we can stay on schedule.” I hurry to the closet and pull out her carry-on bag.
She retreats into the bathroom. “Why do we have a schedule?”
“Still not going to tell you.” I peek over at her and shoot her a playful shake of my head.
“Ugh. Fine.” She comes out of the bathroom and shoves her makeup case into my arms. “Are you testing me?”
“Never. But that could be arranged if you want.” I swat her ass.
She yelps as she jolts forward. “No. We have somewhere to be.”
We finish packing her bags as she tries to guess what we’re doing.
“Are we going to dinner?”
“We’re having dinner, but that’s not the surprise.” I take her hand and lead her out of her room, rolling her carry-on with my other hand.
We step into the elevator and ascend to the floor our suite is on. She stands near the back as she analyzes me with her arms crossed over her chest.
Once we get to our floor, the doors open, and I lead her to our room. “We’re just dropping off your stuff. Then we need to get going.”
“Jami, tell me where we’re going. I’m dying of curiosity.” She dramatically drops her arms to her sides.
I swipe our keycard, the door pops, and I push it open. “Ladies first.”
She brushes beside me and enters the suite. She gasps. “Jami…”
I follow her in and place her bags near the sofa in the living room. She scans the room with wide eyes and an appreciative smile. My heart soars.
The room is filled with a dozen sunflower bouquets in various places, with a few vases of red and white roses thrown in to change it up a bit.
Her bright-green gaze shines at me. “When did you do this?”
“I had the concierge help me out.” I gesture to the flowers. “Do you like?”
“I love it.” She throws her arms around my neck and kisses me.
She swipes her tongue over my lips, so I sink into enjoying a passionate make-out session with the woman I’m desperately in love with. I could stay like this forever, but this is just the beginning.
I break away but keep her in an embrace. “We should get going. We have a car waiting for us downstairs.”
“Am I dressed okay for where we’re going?” She steps back and gives me a view of her outfit.
She’s wearing jeans and a short-sleeved royal-blue sweater that hugs her body like it was made for her. The sight of her alone is making me second-guess myself just so I can stay here and devour her, but I come to my senses.
“You should be good, but if you get cold later, they’ll have sweatshirts there that we can buy.” I take her hand, lead her out of the hotel, and show her to the car service I hired for the night.
She nestles up to my side. “You got us a limo?”
“I’m going to spoil you tonight, temptress, so get used to it.”
“Then I’ll return the favor when you least expect it.” Her mischief-filled eyes dance as they gleam my way.
The driver is standing at the open door waiting for us to get in. I motion for her to go first and slide in behind her.
Once we’re in, I grab the bottle of champagne off the bar area. “Will you hold the glasses while I open this?”
“Yes.” She takes two glasses and perches them on her thighs as she waits .
The car lurches forward right as the champagne cork pops, and a spurt of bubbles overflows. I hold the bottle out, careful not to get any on either of us.
Once the liquid quits flowing over, I pour our drinks into the flutes she’s holding out for me. “I hope you like this because I know nothing about good champagne.”
“I’m sure it’s delicious.” She waits until I’ve filled our glasses and then places the bottle back in the ice bucket.
I hold my flute out to her. “Here’s to starting fresh.”
“To starting fresh.” She taps her glass to mine.
We take a sip and settle in for the ride. She glances out the window as I slide my arm around her shoulders.
“Tell me about your time with Aiden.”
She sighs. “It went better than expected, but I’m not going to discuss that until you tell me what we're doing. You know I don’t do well with secrets.”
“Sweetness, this is hardly a secret.”
She shrugs her shoulder to her ear and turns away from me. I’m sure the suspense is on the verge of irritating her, so I decide to let her in on the surprise. Well, not all of it. The rest will have to wait.
“Okay, I’ll tell you.” I get situated to face her. “You know when you told me you saw Gia Armstrong at the airport?”
“Yeah.” Dori’s tone is full of questioning.
“I was thinking about her after that, and I remembered seeing her another time.”
Dori turns sideways to sit right before me. “When was that?”
“A little while before I ran into her at the airport.” I take a drink of my champagne to draw out my explanation.
“Where?”
“I was with Aiden. We were at a concert and saw her there with that actor guy she’s been dating.”
Dori’s mouth gapes. “You met Ryder D’Angelo? Oh my god. He’s so… He’s like the biggest name in Hollywood. ”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you have a thing for the guy.” I smirk so she knows I’m not offended.
She shrugs unapologetically. “He’s definitely on my list.”
“What list is that?”
“My free-pass list. You know, like on Friends .”
I bunch my face together. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Her expression grows animated as she explains. “There’s an episode where Rachel gives Ross permission to create a list of five people he can have sex with, and she won’t be mad because she gave him a free pass to be with those people.”
I raise my brows. “And you’re saying Ryder is one of those people on your free-pass list?”
“Yeah. He’s hot.”
A pang of possessiveness zips through me. “And he’s one of your friend’s boyfriends. How do you think Gia would feel about this free-pass of yours?”
Dori sinks back against the seat. “Oh, I didn’t think about that.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m here to remind you. I wouldn’t want you to lose a friendship over this list you’ve made.”
“Babe, are you jealous?”
I take her hand in mine and squeeze. “No, but I’ve already been in one love triangle with you. I don’t need another one.”
Her cheeks grow red. “You’re the only one for me, Jami.”
“Good to know.”
She sips on her drink as she snuggles into my side. “Let’s get back to your story. You were telling me about how you saw them at a concert.”
“Remembering that night gave me the idea to come here and surprise you.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because I was missing you and thought it’d be fun to see a show while you were here. ”
She pushes out of my arms. “Are you taking me to Red Rocks to see a concert?”
A smile invades my face. “You guessed right.”
“Who’s playing?”
“This is where I think you’re going to flip out.” I finish my drink and place the glass in the holder just in case Dori makes a sudden movement.
I motion for her to do the same.
She takes the cue and puts her flute down. “Okay, now tell me. Who are we going to see?”
“This is by pure luck, so the stars must have aligned, making this night even better than I planned.” Tingles zoom through my chest. “I checked the schedule and saw Mayhem was here?—”
“No way! Oh my god. This is amazing, Jami. You know they’re one of my favorite bands.” She jumps into my lap, and I’m thankful I had the foresight to be ready for it.
She bounces up and down as she buries my face between her breasts.
I enjoy it for a brief moment then gaze up at her. “It gets better than that.”
“How can it get better than that?”
“You know who’s friends with them?”
“Gia’s roommate knows them because she was on the team who marketed their documentary. Melanie and I saw their concert with her once.”
“Nope. That’s not who I mean.”
Dori peers down at me. “Okay, who? And why does it matter who they’re friends with?”
“When I lived in Miami the first time, they played shows at some of Mateo’s venues, so he got to know them pretty well. I saw they were at Red Rocks and called in a favor.”
“From Mateo?”
I nod, trying to contain my enthusiasm. “He got me in contact with Cash. ”
“The lead singer?” she practically screams.
“That would be the one.”
“And did you talk to him?”
“I did, and that’s how I got us backstage passes.”
“We have backstage passes! This is amazing. Melanie’s going to be so mad that you didn’t bring her along.” Dori plants a kiss on me. “Does that mean we get to meet them?”
I smirk. “Only if none of the band members are on your free-pass list.”
She tosses her head back and laughs. The guys in the band are great-looking, notorious playboy rock stars and date the hottest women on the planet. I’d be stupid to think Dori isn’t attracted to them, but I’m secure in our relationship.
This night isn’t about that anyway.
And once she understands what it is about, she won’t be thinking of any members of Mayhem.