Chapter 13 #3
“We all have copies of each other’s house and car keys. We never know when we might have to leave our car somewhere, and one of the others will need to pick it up for us. It’s just what we do.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. Now climb in. It’s dark out here, and while the neighborhood has cleaned up a lot, it’s still not totally safe.”
With that, Kelli moved, getting up into the seat. To her surprise, Flash pulled the seat belt and held it out to her. She’d never had anyone do that before. It was…nice. Once she was buckled in, Flash shut the door and walked around to the other side.
He started the SUV and they were on their way. They didn’t speak much as he drove her to her apartment in La Jolla. She gave him directions and before she was ready, he was pulling into her parking lot.
A ball of dread sat in her throat, and it was all Kelli could do not to burst into tears.
She was feeling extremely emotional. It was silly.
She was safe, not buried underground, her belly was full, and her phone was crammed with numbers from who she hoped were a bunch of new friends.
But the thought of walking away from Flash was actually painful.
He went around to the back and got her suitcase someone had obviously put into his SUV, pulling the handle out after he’d placed it on the ground. Then he walked toward her, stopping a couple of feet away and holding out his hand.
He didn’t speak, didn’t simply grab her, he waited for her to reach out to him.
Which Kelli did without hesitation.
It wasn’t even a question about whether he was going to walk her to her door.
This wasn’t like a first date, where she would be leery of letting a man she’d just met know where she lived.
This was Flash. They’d been through hell together.
She had no qualms about him knowing which apartment was hers.
Her complex was several stories high, and she was on the fourth floor.
She had a great view and could just see the ocean between two other buildings.
It wasn’t super fancy, all the apartments had outside doors accessed via long walkways on opposite sides of the building.
She’d heard some people complain that the complex felt like a huge motel, but Kelli had always loved it.
Enjoyed being able to get fresh air when the ocean breezes were kicking.
Neither spoke in the elevator. Kelli didn’t know what to say, anyway. Thank you? Don’t go? I had a good time? None of those options seemed terribly appropriate.
Flash walked her to her door and stood back as she used her keys to open the lock. She pulled her suitcase into the small foyer, then turned to face Flash.
To her surprise, he’d stepped into her personal space while she was dealing with her bag. She let out a small, surprised gasp—and then his lips were on hers.
The kiss went from zero to one hundred in milliseconds. Kelli gripped Flash tightly as he bent her backward. She loved when he did that. Loved the feeling of weightlessness as she hung in his arms. She had no fear that he’d drop her. None at all.
They were both breathing hard when he finally lifted his head and brought her upright. But he didn’t move his arms from around her.
“This isn’t the end of us,” he said gruffly.
“Okay.”
“I told you that I wanted to take you out when we got home, and I do. I will.”
“Okay.”
“But I’m thinking you need some time.”
“Time?” Kelli asked, confused.
“What we went through…it was intense. I’m not trying to be a jerk when I say this, but you relied on me to get you through much of it.”
He wasn’t wrong. Kelli didn’t take offense.
“So I want you to be sure that it’s me you really want to spend time with.
Now that we’re back in the real world, your feelings might change.
You could realize that you want nothing to do with a military man.
I’m gone a lot. Sometimes we have to leave at a moment’s notice.
I won’t be here every single night, won’t always be around to do the things most boyfriends do. ”
“Are you trying to talk me out of dating you?” Kelli asked. She was confused.
“No. I’m just being real. I don’t want you putting me up on some pedestal because of our ordeal, and then being disappointed when you find out that I’m just a man. Someone with real flaws who does things that’ll annoy you. ”
“I know who you are, Wade Gordon,” Kelli said softly. “I don’t need to wait.”
His fingers tightened on her waist before loosening. “I need you to be sure,” Flash said. “Because the way I feel about you…it would kill me if you decided that I’m not who you want to be with, after all. If our time together in Jamaica colored your version of the real-life man.”
Kelli wasn’t thrilled with his request, but she understood it. “And you might come to realize that I’m not who you thought I was either,” she said with a small nod.
It looked like he wanted to say something, but instead just pressed his lips together.
“One week?” she suggested.
“One week,” he agreed.
“All right.”
“Okay.”
“Can we…talk though?”
“Talk?”
“Yeah. Text. Call. It feels… wrong to just cut off all contact,” Kelli told him.
“I’d like that. There are times I won’t be available because I’m in meetings or something, but if you need anything, I’ll do my best to get back to you as soon as I can.”
“My life isn’t that exciting, Flash. I’m not going to have anything come up where I need you to get back to me that second.”
“Even so, I’m always available to you, Kelli. No matter what.”
He was making it even harder to agree to his stupid weeklong break. She nodded.
“In a week, I’ll pick you up and give you a tour of Riverton. Show you Julie’s shop, my favorite little beach, maybe take you to the naval base. We can have lunch somewhere…and if you want, we can go back to my apartment and watch a movie or something afterward.”
“I’d like that.” And she would. Especially the go-back-to-his-apartment part.
She’d already come to the conclusion that she wanted this man.
All of him. Naked and over her. Or under her.
It didn’t matter. She’d never desired anyone as badly as she did Flash.
Sleeping with him had been nice, but falling asleep after he’d been deep inside her body, after he’d hopefully made her come? That would be heaven.
They stood there staring at each other for a beat before Flash took a deep breath. Then he leaned down and kissed her again. It wasn’t as passionate as other kisses they’d shared, but it was no less knee-buckling.
“One week,” he said softly as he backed away from her.
Kelli couldn’t speak. All she could do was nod.
Then he was gone. Heading back down the walkway.
Kelli shut and locked her door, then she put her back to it and slid down until she was sitting on the floor.
Wrapping her arms around her updrawn knees, she lowered her forehead and took several deep breaths.
She didn’t want to cry. She’d done enough of that.
Flash hadn’t said goodbye forever. Just for a week.
She could understand him wanting her to be sure that she really did want to see him again, and not in the context of a savior. But that didn’t mean it didn’t suck.
Because while Kelli definitely thought of Flash as her savior, he was so much more than that. He wasn’t perfect. Neither was she. They were flawed humans who’d been through an intense experience together, and who’d forged a bond.
A bond Kelli was sure would become stronger as time went by, instead of weaker. But if Flash needed time, she’d give him that.
Taking a deep breath, she stood and grabbed her suitcase handle. She brought it straight to the closet in the hallway, where her washer and dryer were stacked. She unzipped it and loaded all her clothes into the washer…minus the bathing suit and cover-up she’d left in the trash at the resort.
She took out her toiletries and other random items and put them away in her bathroom. Then she dragged the suitcase into her large bedroom closet and shoved it into the back corner. Finally, she sat on her bed and stared into space for a long while.
Her ringing phone scared the crap out of her, partly because she’d been lost in thought, and partly because no one ever called her. Looking down, Kelli smiled when she saw Flash’s name on the screen.
“Did you forget something?” she asked in lieu of greeting.
“Nope. Just wanted to hear your voice.”
The grin on her face widened.
“You in bed yet?”
“No. Just put my clothes in the washer and finished unpacking. You home?”
“Almost.”
The conversation continued as Flash arrived at his apartment, went inside, unpacked, then fixed himself something to eat. Kelli got herself something small to eat as well, then got changed for bed. They talked about nothing and everything. There were no awkward silences.
It wasn’t until Flash said, “I should let you go,” that Kelli realized how long they’d been talking.
“You have to get up early tomorrow…or rather, today?”
“Yeah. We have PT in a couple hours.”
“PT? You don’t get a day off after what happened?”
Flash chuckled. “Nope. I also have to meet with my commander. Give my report. And he needs to know Jeckle is in the States. Not sure what, if anything, will come of that, but the fact that the man tried to ransom US government property is probably a crime.”
“Not sure I like you referring to yourself as government property,” Kelli mumbled.
Flash had told her earlier that the man who’d kidnapped them had fled Jamaica and flown to LA.
She wasn’t thrilled about that, but she was determined not to give the man any more head space than he’d already taken from her.
He chuckled. “It is what it is. I’ll call you tomorrow?”
“Yes, please.”
“What’s on your plate?”
“Nothing as interesting as your day. I’ll probably go see my mom. Then talk to my boss at the travel agency, see if I still have a job, since I was supposed to work today and when I didn’t call in, I might have been terminated.”
“Surely after they find out that you were kidnapped, they won’t fire you? Or at least they’ll rehire you.”
“Maybe. I’m not sure I want to go back anyway.
I think I might stop by the community college and talk to an advisor.
It’s about time I figured out what to do with my life.
If what happened taught me anything, it’s that I want to make a difference in my little corner of the world.
I don’t want to spend the rest of my life working jobs I don’t enjoy. ”
“I think that’s great. We can talk tomorrow night, and you can tell me all about what you found out. I’ll be your sounding board.”
Contentment spread throughout Kelli’s veins. “Thanks.”
“Sleep well. It’s gonna feel weird to not have you sleeping on top of me tonight.”
“Yeah.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow,” Flash told her.
“Tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Kelli hung up and realized she was smiling. She should’ve been asleep hours ago, but at least she could sleep in and didn’t have to get up at five to go work out like Flash did.
Grabbing an extra pillow, she hugged it to her chest as she closed her eyes. It wasn’t the same as using Flash as a pillow, but it would have to do…at least for another week.
Then all bets were off.