Chapter Twenty Eight
ZOEY
My phone beeped with an incoming call from Meredith. I immediately answered.
"Good morning, Meredith."
"Hi, Zoey. I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"No, not at all. I've been up for a while."
"Awesome. Penny, Natalie, and I thought it would be cool to go out today and enjoy the sunny weather. Care to join us? We’d love to get to know you better."
"Sure. I don't have any plans."
We’d spoken yesterday about maybe meeting today, but I hadn’t made any commitment.
I was hoping for a certain sexy man to call, but at this point, I wasn't sure when that was going to happen. But it was better to be outside enjoying the day than moping around.
"Perfect," she exclaimed. "I can pick you up in… I don't know, an hour or so?"
"That's great. Gives me enough time to get ready.”
I might be a morning person, but not on weekends.
"We can't wait."
"What are we doing?" I asked.
"Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that," she said vaguely.
It sounded like they didn't have a plan, but that was good. We could play it by ear.
I kept my phone next to me as I dressed and got ready for the day, but Colton didn't text or call. Clearly, he was still busy with work. My heart was growing heavier.
I touched my necklace, but I’d rather have him here by my side. I was totally head over heels in love, and I wanted my man.
Exactly one hour later, I went downstairs in front of my building. A black Range Rover pulled up in front of me. Meredith was driving, Natalie was next to her, and Penny was in the back. I opened the door to the back seat and climbed next to her.
"Hello, girls!" I said.
Meredith turned around, looking at me intently. "How's your day going so far?" she asked.
I shrugged. "It was just a lazy Sunday morning." I bit the inside of my cheek, wondering if I should ask if they'd heard anything from their guys about Colton, but I decided not to.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"We thought about maybe a day trip to Salem." Penny was looking at me curiously.
That was an interesting choice. Did they know I'd already been there with Colton?
Oh, stop it, Zoey. You're going out on a day with the girls. Enjoy it.
"That's great. I was there recently with Colton."
Now I realized that Natalie was also looking at me in the rearview mirror. Something was off with all of them. Although, honestly, I didn't know them well enough to draw that conclusion. Maybe I was just making things up in my mind.
"Excellent," Penny said. "Then you can show us around a bit. Now, who wants to make a pit stop and buy some goodies for the road?"
I laughed.
"The road is only thirty minutes away," Natalie said.
"Exactly. We need sustenance," Penny added. "Something to make our road trip fun."
I smiled, feeling like I was truly part of a sisterhood. I'd never had that before, and I loved it.
We ended up making three stops: one for coffee, one for ice cream, and the last one for cookies at a bakery that Natalie loved. She sang their praises all the way there.
"Oh my God, they are amazing. You were right," Penny exclaimed, and we all munched on our cookies as we hit the road.
"How are they so good?" I asked. I was a veteran when it came to eating chocolate chip cookies, but these were on another level altogether.
They weren't just soft—they were creamy, even though they didn't actually contain any cream.
They were hands down the best delicious treat I'd had in a long time.
By the time we reached Salem, we had zero cookies left even though we'd bought enough to last us the whole day. It was honestly the perfect way to start a Sunday: by indulging in something delicious.
"All right, do you girls want to go look at one of the museums?” I asked. "Or, if you prefer, we can do a walking tour. They start hourly on Sunday."
"Sure, a walking tour sounds great," Meredith said distractedly.
"What's that address you gave the GPS?" I asked, realizing she was still following it. I'd assumed she’d just given a random address in the town.
"Oh, it's a parking lot," she said in a strange voice.
Meredith looked around carefully as she drove through the small streets. The town was already full of tourists today, but that was no surprise, considering how amazing the weather was.
Three turns later, we reached a parking lot. There was only one car in it: a familiar BMW. Colton stood next to it.
"What's happening?" I asked.
“I've been bursting to say something the whole drive," Penny said.
"And you deserve a medal for keeping silent," Natalie replied. "A few times, I was sure you were going to spill the beans, especially after the third chocolate chip cookie."
Penny pressed her lips together. "Delicious treats have a way of making me talk."
"I don't understand." My heart was going faster. "Wait, this was all a ruse?"
Meredith turned around, grinning. "Yes. Colton called this morning and gave a speech that made me swoon."
"Yeah, we didn't hear it," Natalie added, "but we're going to make Meredith reenact it for us just so we can swoon as well.”
"Those are two words I never thought I'd hear in relation to Colton," Penny exclaimed. "Although, I do think the guys are a bit hard on him."
"This is where our involvement stops," Meredith added.
"If we hurry, we can catch the next walking tour,” Penny exclaimed.
"Okay, girls, I'm off," I said, opening the door.
Meredith winked. "Have fun."
Penny nodded. "You'll have an amazing day. I'm sure of it."
My legs were shaking slightly as I got out of the car. I couldn't understand what was happening. Why did we come here so Colton could meet me? Why not back home in Boston?
Meredith pulled out of the parking lot right away. Colton walked forward, stopping in front of me. He looked damn gorgeous, and a bit tired. But even though he had dark circles under them, his eyes were glinting.
"Good morning, gorgeous," he said. "How did they treat you?”
"They're great." I raised a brow. "Colton, what is happening, and what are we doing here?"
He bunched my hair to one side, threading his fingers through it. "First of all, I know we had plans yesterday, and I completely bailed."
I exhaled sharply, biting the inside of my cheek. "You had work."
"True, but that doesn't excuse me for not reaching out to you. It was brought to my attention that you've been inquiring about me."
I sighed. "Gabe said that?"
"One thing you have to know about my brother: he will always rat everyone out. He doesn't do it on purpose. He even rats himself out."
"Good to know." I sighed. "I only spoke to him because—”
He put a finger on my lips, and I fell silent.
"You don't have to explain anything. I, on the other hand, want to tell you a few things."
"Like what?"
"Like how much I love you and how much you changed my life."
I narrowed my eyes. "Now you're just buttering me up."
"Yes, but it's 100 percent true. Before I met you, work was all I cared about. I sort of closed myself off to everything, including my family. But being with you, my life got a new dimension. You opened me up to it. I fucking love you for that. After my brothers and I signed the documents today—”
“I completely forgot about that. How do you feel about it?”
“Relieved. But that's not what I'm here to talk about." He moved one hand down to my shoulder, then onto my lower back.
I couldn't explain why, but I always felt extremely safe and protected when he touched my back.
“I don't want to ever give you a reason to doubt how much you mean to me," he continued, his voice soft but sincere.
"I didn't doubt it," I murmured. "I… I was just afraid that you took Browning’s words to heart."
"Listen to me, Zoey. What do you know about me? I don't give a flying fuck about anyone's opinion. You're far too important to me for a throwaway comment from him to make me doubt what we have. What I feel for you."
"Oh, Colton."
"Actually, I stand corrected. I do take advice. Yours. I've spoken to my lead scientist and handed more responsibilities over to him."
I grinned. "Wait, you what? Holy shit. That is amazing news. Now, are you going to tell me what we’re doing here?"
He nodded and whirled me. "Remember our last trip here?"
"Vividly," I said.
"You saw those hot air balloons flying."
I turned, inspecting our surroundings. There was a small cabin in the distance.
"We’re going in a hot air balloon?"
"Yes," he confirmed.
I shimmied back against him, wrapping my arms clumsily around his torso in a weird reverse hug. Then I turned around and hugged him properly.
"I'm so excited."
"So am I," he said. "I can't wait to have you all to myself up there."
I didn't correct him. Was he under the impression that someone would let us fly a hot air balloon on our own? Oh, Colton. He had another think coming.
"Thanks so much for bringing me out here. It’s my dream."
"I want to fulfill every single one of your dreams for our entire lives, Zoey. Most of all, I don't want you to ever feel like you're not the first thing I think of every second of every day, because you are."
Then he turned me back around, and put an arm over my shoulders as we walked toward the cabin. I assumed they sold tickets there or something. On the way, I gave him another awkward half hug from one side. I could feel his chest up under the pretense of trying to find a good angle for the hug.
"I know what you're doing," he said in a gruff voice as we approached the cabin.
Okay, so maybe I wasn't as subtle as I thought. I looked up at him innocently. "I'm just trying to find the most comfortable way to hug you."
"That involves tracing my abs?"
I grinned. "Absolutely." I looked over my shoulder. There was no one else behind us, so I groped his ass too. "And this is also extremely necessary."
Handwritten on a blackboard next to the entrance were several activities one could do, including a balloon ride.
A young man came out of the building. "Colton Whitley?" he asked.
"Yes," Colton replied.
"You're a bit early, but you're in luck because I'm ready for you."
"Great."
The man looked at us. "You're not really dressed in layers," he said.