Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
O ne week later, at four o’clock in the afternoon, she was dressed in her best little black dress. With twinkling crystals on the bodice, spaghetti straps and a deep ‘V’ neckline. She was glad she’d been able to go back and get more clothes for her and Jake. She knew she was supposed to attend an event for the hospital in a couple of weeks and didn’t know how long she and Jake would be here.
Rachel was ready for her date with Nick. Afraid she might be overdressed; she was glad to see Nick in a black suit with pinstripes that were almost invisible unless you were right next to him. His tie was dark red silk with black stripes set at an angle.
She held her small beaded black clutch and twirled in a circle.
“You look beautiful, Rach.”
She looked him up and down. “You clean up pretty good yourself. So, where are we off to?”
“It’s a surprise. Come on. Let’s go.”
She thought he must be taking her to some gala or fund-raiser for it to start so early.
He helped her into the Camaro, and they drove west. Finally, he pulled into the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.
“We’re flying somewhere?”
“We are.” He pulled up next to a hangar with a large plane parked outside. “The pilot’s here and ready to go. Shall we?” He went around the front of the car and opened her door.
She was careful as she got out, so she didn’t flash him. The way her dress fit didn’t allow for any type of undergarment. The dress slinked over her body like a second skin. She hadn’t wanted to buy it but Greg insisted, and then he never let her wear it anywhere. This was the first time she’d worn it out of the house.
They walked to the plane, and she was very glad her dress was for summer because the sun beat down on her. She was afraid she might sweat, and that gave her just one more thing to worry about.
Rachel was careful as she ascended the stairs, so she didn’t get a heel caught.
Once on the plane, she saw that it wasn’t like any plane she’d ever traveled on. On her left were four black leather chairs facing each other, with a small table between them. On the right, were two more chairs in the same configuration. Nick sat in one of the chairs on the left and put on his seat belt.
Rachel sat across from him and did the same. “Is this your plane?”
“It is. One of the perks of being a billionaire and having offices all over the world. Mostly, I can run my business from home, but I like to visit our other offices and keep them on their toes.” He winked as he rested his arms along the armrests and crossed his legs. Leg room wasn’t a problem even with his tall frame and long legs.
After the plane took off, the pilot came over the speakers. “We are now at our cruising altitude of 36,000 feet. You may walk about the cabin.”
Nick unbuckled his seat belt. “Are you ready for the tour?”
She unfastened her safety belt. “You bet. I can’t wait to see the rest. This is nothing like I’ve ever seen before.
He stood and held out a hand. “Come on then, my lady.”
Rachel giggled. She hadn’t done that in years and stopped herself with fingers over her lips. She took his hand. “Lead on, mighty knight.”
“First, we have the dining area and kitchen. You’ll notice there is no stove, just a microwave.”
“Fire hazard, I presume.”
“Exactly. But we do have a small fridge and a sink. Through here,” he moved them on to the next area. “is the eating space.” He waved his free arm to take in the area.
A small, round oak table with four matching chairs around it was in the space, with the aisle running along the side of the plane. It gave much more room than if it had been down the middle.
“Next comes my office. I keep it fully functioning so I can work from here wherever in the world I happen to be.”
“Do all of your brothers and Megan have planes, too?”
“Adam and Ray do. I’m not sure about the rest. I lose track of what they have and what they don’t.” He placed his free hand on top of hers, where it curled in the curve of his elbow.
His office had a standard desk with a lamp and a printer. The chair was black leather and matched the ones in the front of the cabin.
“This is nice. Fully functional without being ostentatious.” She looked up. “I’ve always liked that about you. You never liked fancy things.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that. I like good food and sometimes that means fancy. The restaurant I’m taking you to is Matsuhisa. It’s a Japanese restaurant and we’ll be there for Nobu in Town. The owner and master chef himself will be creating his one-of-a-kind dishes. He doesn’t do this very often, but when I told him I would be on this date, he said he would be delighted to be there for us.”
“That’s awfully nice.”
“He’s an old friend. We do things for each other. I brought his family over from Japan in my plane. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford to fly them; it was for comfort. His mother is quite old and a regular plane trip would have been uncomfortable, to say the least. Here, she could lie down, if she needed to. Which brings us to the last room—the bedroom.”
When she saw the room, she raised her eyebrows. It was as beautiful as the ones at his house. The deep green comforter on the king-size bed was silk. She couldn’t miss the telltale sheen.
Nightstands in a deep cherry color stood on each side of the bed. A chest of drawers was built into the wall, and a full-length mirror hung on the wall next to the drawers.
Two doors were on the long wall, which looked like the back of the plane. Rachel guessed one door was to the bathroom. And she wouldn’t have been wrong.
Nick opened the door on the right.
She saw the bathroom and released his arm as she went into the space. It was huge by normal airplane standards. She held her arms out like she was an airplane and turned a circle in the room. This is amazing. I can’t believe I’m here. She watched him. And with Nick. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined this. “I can’t believe how big this is. Does it take up the back third of the plane?” She giggled.
Nick leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest and a smile aimed at her.
The large, glassed-in shower dominated the room followed by the white marble countertop and sink, with a lighted mirror on the wall above. No stainless steel anywhere in this bathroom.
Nick smiled and spread his arms wide. “And that’s the tour. What do you think of my...toy?”
“It’s incredible. I never thought I’d ever see the inside of a private plane, much less take a ride in one.”
“Come on. Let’s have a glass of wine and relax.” Nick took her right hand and led her back to the main cabin.
She sat on the sofa and only then noticed the large-screen TV across the room. “Holy cow! I’ve never seen a TV that huge in an airplane.”
Nick chuckled. “I have to have something to play my games on. I do some testing of the new games. I have an entire department that does it, but I like to keep my hand in it and test the final product.” He took a bottle of wine from one of the cupboards, uncorked it and poured two glasses before putting a keeper top on it and placing it in a rack on the counter.
“That makes sense. Just because you write the program doesn’t mean it will be packaged the way you want it.”
“No, it doesn’t.” He handed her one of the glasses.
She took a sip of wine. “It’s definitely a family affair based on what you told me before.”
“It really is. None of us could do it without the others. I’m not the writer that Ray is and all I can draw are stick figures.” Tossing his head back, he let loose with a belly laugh.
Rachel couldn’t help but laugh, as well.
Would it always be like this? If we get together, will we laugh a lot, like we used to, or will it be like it was with Greg...all fun and games until he has me and then all rules and punishments?
* * *
After the plane landed in Aspen, Colorado, a black SUV met them and ferried them to Matsuhisa. On the way to the restaurant from the airport, Rachel took in beautiful scenery. The mountains were alive with yellow, blue, white and red flowers. Fields were alive with tall grass and aspen trees. She remembered in the fall when the trees change to gold, people came from all over for the fall color change and entire mountainsides bright with gold.
The restaurant was in a 120-year-old Victorian house on Main Street in downtown Aspen. Downstairs was the main dining room complete with a natural walnut cocktail bar, bamboo-wrapped ceilings, and a sushi bar that spanned half the length of the room.
The host showed them upstairs where there was casual, more intimate seating and a smaller sushi bar were located.
This was where chef Nobu would create his delectable creations for her and Nick.
Rachel looked around and noticed no one else was in the restaurant. “Is it currently the off-season in Aspen? I thought sure we’d be shoulder-to-shoulder with people, since it’s one of the few nights that Chef Nobu is in town.”
“I bought the top of the restaurant for the evening. They were only too happy to make the arrangement.”
She widened eyes and dropped her jaw. “We’re the only ones here tonight?”
He pulled a chair out at the sushi bar. Then he sat beside her. “Yes. Just us.”
She set her purse on the chair next to her. “This is very nice.”
Nick placed an arm along the back of her chair. “I like it.”
“Do you come here often?”
“Whenever I’m in Aspen. Or if I have a special lady I want to impress.” He winked.
Feeling at ease with her best friend, she waggled her eyebrows. “Have you brought a lot of ladies here?”
His gaze pierced hers. “Only one.”
Rachel’s cheeks heated and she dropped her gaze toward her lap. “Oh.” She wasn’t so dim-witted that she didn’t realize she was the one. Lifting her chin, she met his eyes. “Thank you. That means a lot. I don’t want to be just one of the girls.”
His eyes lasered into hers. “You have never been just one of the girls. You’re my best girl and always have been. I want to be your best man, too.”
She reached over and took his hand with hers. “Since the day I met you, you’ve been my best friend. What if...” She looked away. Her stomach was doing flips as she feared the answer to the question. “What if something happens and we can’t be friends anymore.”
“That will never happen. Most of the time that kind of thing happens because the couple didn’t know each other well enough. I know you.” He placed a finger under her chin and pulled her toward him until she was looking at him. “You know me just as well as I do you. That will never happen to us.” He leaned toward her until their lips met.
The kiss was sweet and sultry at the same time.
His lips teased her mouth open and he dove inside.
She loved his taste. Suddenly, her stomach calmed even as her pulse raced. He tasted a little minty from when he’d brushed his teeth before getting off the plane. Rachel had done the same thing and she was now very glad she had.
“Uhmm.” Someone cleared their throat.
Rachel and Nick pulled apart and gazed at Chef Nobu.
“Chef.” Nick bowed his head. “This is my girlfriend, Rachel Foster-Bennett. Rachel, this is our host tonight, Chef Nobu.”
The chef bowed his head and then smiled. “I am very glad Nicholas has a girlfriend. I begin to think he be forever alone.” The chef was not tall at all. He had black hair that he wore short and eyes so dark they looked black. He wore a white jacket that crossed in the front and a white apron tied at his waist.
She smiled at him with a genuine smile. “Thank you. It’s very nice to meet you.”
“You as well. What you have me prepare for you?” Chef Nobu opened his arms wide, taking in all the offerings.
“I have no idea. I’ve never had sushi,” Rachel admitted.
Chef Nobu’s eyes sparkled. “Ah, my favorite customer. I prepare you a special plate. You love everything. Do you trust me?”
Rachel looked at Nick and crooked an eyebrow.
He only smiled.
She returned her gaze toward the chef and nodded. “I do.”
The chef turned toward Nick. “And for you, Nicholas?”
“I’ll have the same as Rachel. I’ve never had one of your special plates. I’m excited to see what’s on it.”
Chef Nobu smiled wide. “You will both have the best time tonight. I guarantee it.”
She tried sushi with the fish laid over the top of the rice, several kinds of fish, vegetables and rice rolled in seaweed and then sliced like a yule log. She had a salmon skin hand roll, where the skin of the salmon with some meat on it is crisped in a small oven, filled with fish and vegetables, then rolled up to look like and ice cream cone. She didn’t have one thing that she didn’t like.
After trying eight different kinds of sushi, Rachel was full. “I can’t eat another bite. All the food was wonderful. Thank you so much.”
“It was my pleasure. I enjoy seeing someone new enjoy my food. It is what I live for.”
“This was spectacular, Chef.” Nick placed an arm around the back of Rachel’s chair. “I never would have tried some of those but I’m very glad I did. I think I have some new favorites.”
“Good. What was your favorite, Rachel?”
“The one you served last. The eel, I think you called it unagi. I liked the sweet sauce that you brushed it with.”
The chef nodded. “Very good choice. Unagi is prized in sushi restaurants, and most customers like it. I have one who refers to it as dessert.”
Rachel laughed. “I can understand why. Is that why you served it last?”
Chef Nobu grinned. “It is.”
Nick stood and bowed. “Thank you for a wonderful meal, Chef. I’m sure we will see you again soon. If not here then in LA.”
Chef Nobu bowed back. “I look forward to it.”
Rachel bowed. “Thank you, Chef for a wonderful introduction to sushi. I look forward to seeing you again, too.”
The chef bowed. “I am very glad you liked my food. You have a good palate.”
Nick placed his hand at Rachel’s back and steered her out of the restaurant to their waiting SUV, which took them back to the airport.
On the trip home, Rachel was quiet. She and Nick sat on the sofa together. The TV was on, but the sound was muted.
“Penny for your thoughts,” said Nick.
“I was just thinking how different our worlds are now. You’re a billionaire Nick, and I’m just a doctor.”
“Look at me, Rach.”
She turned toward him, gazed into his eyes, and rested a hand on his arm.
“You’re not just a doctor. You’re the best doctor you can be. You have a great new job, and you’re a great mom, too, if Jake is any indication. And you’re the best, best friend a person could ever have.” He furrowed his brows and took the hand she had on his arm and brought it to his lips, kissing it softly. “So, am I just a billionaire? Does that make you feel differently about me?”
Her cheeks heated. Nick always knew just how to make her blush. Basically, all he had to do was say something nice. “No, you know it doesn’t. I don’t want to be the thing or person that you just settle for. Do you understand?”
“Maybe. You feel like you might have settled for Greg. He was handsome, I assume, and he was your professor, which is all kinds of wrong. I think he saw someone he could train. You were easy pickings for the right man, and he took advantage of your giving nature.”
I’m surprised he figured out our relationship without seeing me and Greg together. “I don’t know. Perhaps. I know I was flattered. But I also thought I was in love with him. What if that is what this is too?”
“First...” He held up the hand that wasn’t around her shoulders. “I’m not Greg. Don’t compare me to him.”
“You’re right. You and he couldn’t be more different. You’re real, and what you think and feel are real. He wasn’t. Not any of it. I was married to the man for eight years. Seven of which were miserable. I didn’t know the man he was until after we were married for just over six months and then it was too late. I was pregnant with Jake.”
His mouth formed a flat line and his eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you leave?”
“I couldn’t. I had Jake, and Greg made sure he was all I had. I had no job, no money, no family or friends...at least that was what I believed.” She turned away so she didn’t have to see the pity on his face. “I didn’t leave until he started threatening Jake. Then I left and found myself in a shelter for battered women. I’m so thankful for the people there.” She turned back toward Nick. “They are dedicated to helping the women who come to them. Helping them to find a way out. In my case, they helped me file for divorce and find a job. Then they helped me find this job. If not for them I’d still be married to Greg.”
Nick reached over and lifted her chin until she gazed into his eyes.
What she saw wasn’t pity, but pride.
“You did the best you could under the circumstances. I wish you’d have contacted me. I’d have gotten you out. Even before I got rich, I’d have come for you.”
She closed her eyes, and the tears she’d been holding back escaped. “I’m sorry, Nick. I truly believed him when he said no one cared. I know now he tore up or burned all my letters and correspondence, into and out of the apartment. He wouldn’t give me a mailbox key so I could check the mail myself. I believed him when he said I didn’t get any correspondence. I believed him and not my gut. I couldn’t believe you would just stop writing, but when I didn’t get any correspondence from you, I didn’t have any other choice but to believe him. I’m sorry, Nick. Truly I am.”
“Hey, you don’t have anything to be sorry for.” He pulled her into a tight hug. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing was your fault.”
“It’s my fault I stayed. I should have left the first time he put me in the hospital. But he’d been so sorry, so contrite, and he promised it was an accident and would never happen again.” She pulled back and stared at him.
Nick closed his eyes.
She knew he was having trouble believing her, and she didn’t blame him. What career-minded individual like her could ever have let it happen once...much less, more than once? She was a fool and didn’t deserve a friend like Nick. But thank the good Lord, he was here, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
“I’m so sorry, Rach.” He tugged her close again. “If I’d known, nothing and no one would have kept me from you.” He looked down. “You know that, right?”
She leaned her head on his shoulder and wrapped her right arm around his waist. “I know. I...”
“What? You can tell me anything, you?—”
The captain’s voice filled the plane. “Please return to your seats and prepare for landing.”
Rachel lifted her head, then cupped Nick’s face with her hands, before kissing him. “Thank you for the most wonderful evening I think I’ve ever had.” She started to rise.
Nick tugged her back down. “We have seat belts here.” He dug into the sofa and found both the safety belts. “You’re not getting away that soon.”
They put on the belts.
As soon as hers snapped close, she felt Nick’s mouth on hers.
His kiss wasn’t soft, but it was primal. He took everything she had to give and pushed for more. Then he tore his mouth from hers and kissed his way along her jaw to the sensitive spot just below her ear.
Rachel shivered as electricity seemed to be moving south in her body. She couldn’t believe how turned on she was and with Nick. She’d always loved him first as her best friend and now as something more. She wanted him and was immediately afraid. What if it changed their relationship? What if they were no longer friends? Would being lovers preclude their being friends?
At this moment in time, she didn’t care. All she cared about was Nick’s lips on hers.
Her stomach did a somersault as the plane touched down.
Nick pulled back, kissed the tip of her nose, and then her forehead. “Let’s go home.”
She smiled. “I’m all for that. It’s still early. Do you think the kids will be up?”
“Maybe. What do you have in mind?”
“I thought we could go for a swim. It would be good for all of us, I think.”
Nick shook his head. “They will probably be in bed. I think it would be better if you and I took a swim alone.”
“I’ll agree on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“If the kids are awake, we all go. Otherwise, it will be just you and I.”
Nick smiled and then kissed her. “Deal.” Why would I suggest the kids joining us? Am I afraid to be alone with Nick? Afraid I won’t control myself after waiting so long?