23. Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lane
Tage and I walk out of the office together and get on the elevator to go down. We pick up a few people on the way, so I keep my voice low and my mouth close to his ear when I speak.
“So, I know you’re stuck on us only spending three nights a week together, and we’ve already done two of those three, but… I have a surprise for you.” I glance at him to see what his reaction is.
“What kind of surprise?” he asks as he pulls his phone from his pocket and opens his emails.
I place my hand on the screen and push it away.
“A weekend getaway.”
His head jerks towards me and he blurts, “Seriously?”
A few people look at us, and I give them a kind smile, so they go back to minding their own business.
I move even closer to Tage. “Yes, seriously. I figure we could both use a weekend away.”
“From what?”
“Is it really a problem?” I ask.
He relaxes and a smile crosses his lips. “No, Lane. It’s not a problem. Thank you.”
“Don’t you want to know where we’re going?”
“I thought it was a surprise?” he retorts.
“Fair.” We reach the bottom floor and everyone floods off, including us. “We’re catching a red eye, so can you get home and have your things packed in time or should I bring you?”
“What? You meant right now? This weekend?”
“I love that look,” I say, leaning in to give him a quick kiss.
“What look?”
“A mixture of shock and annoyance, if I had to guess.”
He growls and stomps his foot, like a petulant child, but I’ll say… it’s rather cute.
“We’re flying somewhere?” he asks.
“It wouldn’t be a getaway if we stayed close by, now would it?”
He huffs a laugh, shaking his head and taking a moment to think over the options. “You can bring me.”
“I was hoping you’d say that, because I already have my things packed.” I take his hand and we head out of the lobby. He doesn’t say anything about me holding his hand or the fact the security guard waves at us as we go.
“Of course you do,” he mutters.
“After you pack, we can head straight to the airport.”
“What kind of weather am I packing for?”
“Well, technically, you could pack nothing.”
Frowning, he says, “What does that mean?”
“Warm,” I finally say. “Pack for warm weather and lots of swimming.”
Two hours later, we’re walking into the first-class lounge and ordering drinks while we wait for our flight. We still have a couple hours before we leave, but when it comes to flying, I like to be at the airport early rather than late.
Our drinks are placed in front of us, and I slide my card over and tell the young bartender that I’d like to keep a tab open.
“How long is the flight?” Tage asks. He still doesn’t know where we’re going and he’s been asking questions to figure it out. He’s gotten close, but not on point.
“Roughly three hours.”
“Hm, so it’s not far…”
“That’s relative.” I reach for my glass and take a sip of scotch.
He sighs. “Maybe I don’t want to know.” He licks a bit of sugar off the rim of his glass then takes a sip. “It’ll be better if I’m surprised.”
“You keep saying that, yet you keep asking questions.”
He leans close. “It doesn’t matter where we go. I’m just happy to be with you. Thank you.”
I smile, kiss the side of his head, and reach for my drink again.
Yes, this is definitely something I could get used to.
Tage sleeps the entire flight. He’s barely awake when we get off or into our car. I’d thought of renting one, but I didn’t see the point. We won’t be leaving the room, so we don’t need it, and we aren’t far from the airport so ordering a ride was fine.
When we get there, the driver, a young man named Shelton, helps me get the bags from the trunk. I carry our bags down the walkway, Tage trudging behind. I give a tip through the app before navigating to the app so I can get the code for the door.
“I bet you’re regretting those three margaritas now, aren’t you?” I say.
Tage huffs a laugh, swaying on his feet as I punch in the code to our private house for the weekend.
The door swings open, and I gesture for him to go in first. I take our bags in, close and lock the door behind us. When Tage turns to face me, he looks much more awake then he did a minute ago.
“Is this the part where I can get naked?” he asks. There’s a hint of heat in his eyes, mixed with mischief. I like when he’s in this kind of mood.
“You can get naked whenever you want, but I suggest checking out the house first.”
“I can do that with my clothes off.” He toes off his shoes, leaving them by the door.
It’s a small house, the living room, kitchen, and dining room all open concept with sliding glass doors that lead to a patio on our own private section of beach.
I know from the photos that the bathroom is through the bedroom, and so is the private pool.
Tage follows me into the bedroom, gasping when I flip on the lights. I’m not sure which does what, so I flip all three, lighting up the bedroom and the area outside around the pool.
“You weren’t joking when you said I didn’t need clothes.” He walks up to the glass doors and looks out at the small pool. “What about food?”
“The resort will deliver meals.”
“This is part of a resort?” he asks, looking at me over his shoulder.
“One I consulted on.”
“Consulted? Since when do you do consultations?” he asks in complete disbelief.
“I don’t… anymore. But that’s how I started. It’s how I built my name. By my ideas. I got sick of seeing other people put them into reality though, which is why I have what I have now.”
“I’m impressed. Since, you know, I’ve never actually seen anything of yours.”
“You’ve seen my building. The one you work at.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t have pools and hot tubs and all the fun stuff.”
“Wall waterfalls are fun.”
He chuckles, walking over to me. “They are, but being in a pool naked is so much better.”
“That I can agree with.”
His lips find mine as I slide my hands around him, pulling him flush against me.
“Let’s get naked and go in the pool,” he says as he pulls back, biting his bottom lip.
“You have the best ideas.”
Tage winks as he lifts his shirt. We get undressed and head outside, the warm Florida air kissing our skin. The soft trickle of water is all that can be heard out here. Houses are placed half a mile apart along the beach, to be truly private.
This was one of the older resorts I consulted on, at the beginning of my career. They’ve done a lot of upgrades but didn’t change my original vision.
The pool isn’t too big, definitely not something you can swim laps in, but it’s the perfect size for relaxing with a special someone.
Which is exactly what we’re here for. I opted not to get the room with the hot tub, because I figured we didn’t need it.
Perhaps if we come again, for longer, I’ll go all out.
For now, I just want to spend this weekend with Tage.
Preferably naked in the pool.