Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
LEIF
I t was finally time for me to go see Laurel in Franklin. I spent the early morning thinking about her and packing for the trip, eager to head out as soon as possible. I’d been planning on packing last night, but I’d gotten home from the office pretty late in the end, so I’d crashed instead and decided it was better to get an early start.
At the ass crack of dawn, I was sipping my coffee, surveying the items I’d thrown into my carry-on so far. I had clothes and toiletries, and my laptop was packed in its bag beside the suitcase. That seems pretty done to me.
Stepping closer to my bed, I closed the lid of the suitcase and zipped it up. Then I grabbed my laptop bag and my coat and headed out. Before I could go to the airport, however, I had to go to Jack’s place to go over a few things for work.
With the wind howling as the sun weakly tried to break through the clouds outside, I’d never been more thankful for a heated parking garage, but I knew Tennessee was probably going to be pretty cold too. December had arrived, and around these parts, it’d brought the winter out in full force with it.
Strangely, I’d never quite made it to the Volunteer State before. I’d checked the weather on my phone, and while it wasn’t as bitterly cold yet as Colorado, it wasn’t exactly Austin either. Not that it mattered.
If I had my way, I’d be spending the vast majority of my time on this visit there in bed with Laurel. When she wasn’t working, obviously.
Jack opened his door groggily, but since he already had a cup of coffee in his hand, I knew he’d already been awake. “Come on in, asshole. Is there a reason you wanted to fly out with the damn sun? Well, okay. A better reason than just being horny?”
“Nope, that’s the main reason,” I joked, not about to tell my brother that my heart was a bigger problem than my dick on this one. “Okay, so the jet is all fueled up and Ian is waiting to fly me over there. Let’s make this quick.”
“If you wanted to make it quick, you should’ve let me sleep another hour.” He groaned as he led me to his kitchen and filled another mug with coffee. “Also, I still don’t understand why this couldn’t have been an email. You sent me one of those with everything in it anyway, so why did you want to see me in person?”
“Because of the stuff I didn’t put in the email.”
He perked up a bit. “Well, this sounds juicy. Proceed.”
I sat down at the large island in the center of the kitchen, giving him a detailed breakdown of the information that had been too sensitive to include in writing on the company server. We sipped our coffee as we discussed my concerns, and as soon as we were done, I pushed to my feet.
“Alright. That’s it. I’m outta here. You can go back to sleep now.”
He laughed. “That’s unlikely, but wait. Before you go, I have something for you. Something I’ve never shared with anyone.”
I frowned, suspicion snaking its way to my gut. “What is it?”
“A lucky charm,” he said. “I don’t want to make too much of a big deal about it, but it’s a pretty fucking big deal. If you take this, I guarantee you will have the best weekend of your life.”
“I’m probably going to have the best weekend of my life anyway,” I said. “But seriously, what is it?”
Since he was making such a huge thing about it, I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I certainly hadn’t thought he would pull out a pair of men’s underwear. I snorted as I looked at the ordinary black boxer-briefs he proudly presented me with.
“You’ve been around Rainy too much lately. I’m not touching those, bro. Thanks, but no thanks.”
He spread the waistband between the fingers of both hands and lifted the underwear higher, like they were some kind of trophy belt to be raised above his head. “You have to take them. These are my lucky underpants. They’ve never failed me before and I’m sure they’ll bestow the same luck upon you too.”
“I don’t need any luck and I’m not taking a pair of crusty underwear that have been God knows where. Again, thanks for the offer, but no thanks.”
Jack arched an eyebrow at me, blue eyes completely serious. “You’re a McIntosh. We always need luck when it comes to women.”
“Not me,” I said confidently. “Not when the woman involved is Laurel.”
“Oh, no. Of course, you don’t. Just remind me real quick, but this is the same Laurel you didn’t end up marrying straight out of high school, am I right? Even though everyone had you two pegged to get hitched as soon as your graduation caps took flight? No. I’m sorry. Obviously, you don’t need luck with her.”
I groaned. “Shit happened. Our dads died, bro. On the same day, on the same job, and in the same fire. That had nothing to do with luck.”
He scoffed. “If you had these, what happened would’ve brought you closer together during that time rather than what actually happened, but fine. Have it your way. I’m just trying to help you restore order to the universe—and get lucky while you’re at it.”
I eyed the underwear again, and for just one, crazy beat, I actually considered taking them, but then I remembered whose junk they covered on a regular basis and I shook my head. “Thanks, but I plan on making this work the old-fashioned way.”
He smirked. “Orgasms?”
“Romance,” I said, scoffing down laughter as I started making my way to his door. “I’ll see you soon, Jack. Call me if anything crops up at the office, alright? If I don’t answer, figure it out yourself.”
He laughed. “I knew you were talking about orgasms.”
“You never know. I might not be answering because I’ve taken her on a super romantic date. It doesn’t have to mean that we’re in bed.”
“Nah,” he said easily. “It’ll be because you’ve got her in bed. Not that I blame you. Have I told you yet how hot your girl has become?”
“Back off, Jack,” I growled for the umpteenth time this week, leaving him howling with laughter as I shut his door behind me.
I knew he was just giving me shit, but I seriously couldn’t control it when it came to her. A possessive streak unlike anything I’d ever known kept growing wider and wider inside of me and it brought a healthy dose of jealousy with it too.
The green-eyed monster was very new, but alive and well in my belly these days. After shaking it off on my way to the airstrip, I pulled out my laptop once I was on the jet and spent the flight getting some more work done.
When I arrived at the Nashville airport, I was immediately intrigued. I’d barely set foot in the building when I heard live music from somewhere nearby and I decided to follow it, probably taking a detour to the exit, but it would be a few minutes tops, and from the sounds of things, it would be worth it.
As I wound my way through the terminal, I saw records and guitars on display from all the greatest country music artists of all time, and while I’d known that Nashville was synonymous with the genre, I hadn’t realized just how extensive its influence was on the city. I hadn’t even been on the ground for five minutes and I already knew I was going to love this place, especially when the live music turned out to be a band playing right there near the terminal exit doors.
A couple guys on guitars backed another who was crooning into a mic while keeping the rhythm against his leg with a tambourine. His eyes were closed and I headed over to listen for a few minutes, genuinely impressed with what I heard.
If they’d been taking money, I would’ve given them hundreds.
Country music was one of my favorite things to listen to, and if this was what Tennessee was like just at the airport, I was going to enjoy this visit even more than I’d thought. A state known for country music, whiskey, and just so happened to be where Laurel lived?
Fuck, how have I never been here before?
This might just be the greatest darn place on earth. The only thing that would’ve made it a little bit greater was if she’d been there waiting for me, but her absence was my own doing.
I hadn’t told her what time I’d be getting in. I planned on surprising her at the bookstore when I got to Franklin and I couldn’t wait to see her face when I walked in.
I strode out of the airport and hopped in an Uber I’d scheduled to pick me up. As the driver pulled away, I turned toward the window, eager to see more of this city and the state before I spent most of the rest of my time here in or near a bed.
“We’re going to the Harpeth Hotel. Is that correct, sir?” the driver asked, pulling me out of my thoughts as he drove away from the curb.
I glanced at him, smiling as I nodded. “That’s the one. Do you know it?”
“Very well, sir. Have you visited it before?”
“First time,” I said. “Was it a good choice or a bad one? I just saw it was right in the middle of downtown, so I booked it.”
“It was a great choice,” the man assured me without skipping a beat. “It’s in the heart of Franklin and on the banks of the Harpeth River. Can’t go wrong with that location. Are you traveling for business or pleasure?”
So much pleasure. “I’m visiting my girlfriend. She has a bookstore downtown, which is why I wanted to be there.”
He chuckled. “You’re going to love the place. Really excellent choice.”
Falling silent, he drove me to my hotel and dropped me off while I marveled at the fact that, after so many years, Laurel was my girlfriend again. Shit, it’s funny how life works sometimes.
I got checked into the hotel which, as my driver had promised, did not disappoint. Then I put my things in my room and headed over to Laurel’s store. My heart tripped over itself when it came into view. I drew in a breath, grinning, and let myself in, unable to remember the last time I’d felt the way I did right then.
Excited. Nervous. Nervously excited. But most of all, so unbelievably eager to see her again that I nearly fell over my own feet as I walked through the door, wondering if she was going to be as pleasantly surprised about this as I hoped.