Modern Girl's Guide To Vacation Flings (33 page)

The doors started to buzz from being held open too long. She didn't want to cause a scene, so Beth stepped inside. The elevator ride was agonizing. Matt was standing on the other side of the small car, but he might as well have been standing on the other side of the planet. He didn't say a word. He didn't look at her. And by the time they reached his floor, Beth was ready to beg him to say something.

Still silent, he unlocked the door to his apartment and walked inside, expecting that she'd do the same. She took a quick glance around after following him in. His apartment was spotless and void of personal touches. Besides the few portraits of his family, it could have been a sales model.

"Your place is nice," she finally said, trying to break the ice.

"Why did you leave Spain early?" he asked.

"I needed to apologize."

"If all you wanted to do was apologize, you could have called." He tossed his jacket over the sofa and went to the kitchen on the other side of the room. "Hell, you already apologized. Isn't that what your note said? 'I'm sorry.' So why are you here?"

"I screwed up," she almost choked on the words. "I have to make it right. Is that what you want to hear?"

"I had this all planned out, but I should have known better." Laughing to himself, Matt pulled a bottle of wine out of the fridge and set it on the counter. He fumbled through a drawer until he found the corkscrew and began opening the bottle. "You have this way of derailing the plans I make. That's probably going to drive me crazy."

This wasn't playing out like she'd expected. She was prepared for anger, rejection, even getting the door slammed in her face. But she wasn't prepared for whatever this was. He was definitely irritated, but there was an undertone of amusement she didn't understand.

"If you'd rather I go— "

"Sit down," he said and handed her a glass of wine on his way to the sofa. "I have a few things I want to say."

She took the glass and sank onto the couch, preparing for anything he was ready to dish out.

"What you did was shitty. Wasn't it you who said we needed to behave like a grownups and talk?" He didn't sit on the couch next to her, instead sinking to the ottoman—close, but not touching.

"You're right," she said, trying to bite back the sting in the back of her throat. "I'm sorry— "

"I'm not done," he said, cutting her off. But instead of continuing, he took a long sip of his wine, dragging out her agony. "Like I said, what you did was shitty, but I should have expected it. You made your boundaries quite clear and I pushed you past what you were willing to give. I'm the one who should be apologizing."

She stood up, losing the battle against the tears. "Matt, I… What?"

Beth hadn't expected to do anything but apologize. Apologize and maybe explain herself. Possibly begging him to take her back, at which point she had this vision of him crushing her so completely that there'd be no hope.

She certainly did not expect him to dismiss her apology as unnecessary. And it never crossed her mind that he'd apologize to her.

But he did.

"Beth, I'm sorry." He stood up and pulled her into his arms. His hands ran a constant, soothing pattern over her back, as if she were a frightened animal and he was afraid she might run again. "I hate not knowing what's going to happen next. But I realized after you left that I can't fit you into a neat box and expect you to do exactly what I want. And I wouldn't want you to."

She tried to reply, but his lips found hers, stealing her words. The press of his body made it all too easy to forget what she'd done and what she'd come here to do. All she wanted was to continue feeling his hard muscles under her fingertips and bask in his heat.

"Matt, stop." She placed a hand on his chest and pushed away gently. "I don't understand what's going on. I came here expecting the worst. What I did was— "

"What you did was exactly what you promised to do. At the end of the cruise you walked away."

"If you knew that I was going to leave, why did you push?"

"I never said I didn't hope you'd stay." He kissed her on the nose. "But that was me. I pushed for too much too soon."

"You weren't asking too much. And you have nothing to apologize for. I'm the one who screwed this up. I was the stubborn one who wouldn't budge."

"I'm not going to argue with you on that point," he said. "And I'm not saying, I wasn't mad. Hell, I was pissed for days, but I got over it."

Nervous by the complete one eighty this conversation had taken, Beth grabbed her wine glass and used it as a shield between them. She needed to get her footing and find out what all this meant.

"I'm still confused. If you're not mad at me because I left, then why were you so angry that I'd left Spain early?"

"Because you ruined my plans." Matt took the wine glass out of her hand and set it on the table. He brushed the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear, lingering there. The gentle caress sending chills down her spine. "Again."

"What plans?" she said, a little breathless now.

"Did you really think I was just going to let you walk away?" Matt pressed his lips against her cheek, not kissing, just holding them there.

"That was the plan," she whispered.

She felt his lips curl up into a smile. "Well, I had other plans. I spent the day working out this elaborate scheme to woo you. Then you showed up on my doorstep and tossed a monkey wrench in the whole thing."

"Woo me?" Beth was lightheaded from the close contact, and she was pretty sure she'd missed something. She pulled back and looked up at him, confused. "Why would you want to woo me?"

"Because you're exactly what I want, Beth." He let out a long frustrated breath and placed his forehead against hers with his eyes closed. "I know you hide behind your flippant, easygoing attitude, but underneath you're a vulnerable, giving, strong, incredible woman. And most importantly, I know that you've fallen in love me."

"You can't possibly know all that," she whispered.

"But I do. Why else would you jump on a plane and fly across the Atlantic in romantic movie style gesture if you weren't in love with me?"

"Oh my God. I am THAT girl," she said, laughing. His smile tugged at her chest, and she finally relaxed, knowing they'd work it out. She did a quick sweep of his apartment and returned his smile. "Yep. Strange jobs, last minute travel. You have the perfect apartment. It's official. We've wandered into a romantic comedy."

With his arms still around her, Matt lifted Beth off her feet and kissed her. "Well, you know there's only one thing we can do now?"

"Oh? What's that?" she asked.

"I have to take you to bed and see if you wake up in the morning with perfect hair."

Epilogue

The Vegas heat stole his breath as he stepped of the charter flight. Why anyone would put a resort town in the middle of the Nevada desert was beyond his comprehension, but Matt would brave the nine circles of hell if it meant spending time with his girl.

They'd had an unconventional start and several bumps along the way, but with satphones, naughty video chats, and stolen weekends like this one, they'd made it work. But it had been over a month since the last time they'd actually seen each other.

He caught a cab to the hotel where they were meeting. It was still hours before her flight would land, and he was desperate to see her. Because it didn't matter how many times they'd done this over the last year, this weekend was different. It was the anniversary of the flight to Florida that brought Beth into his life, and despite the fact that she kept insisting that wasn't their actual anniversary, Matt was going to celebrate that day for the rest of his life. And what better way to mark the occasion than to ask her to marry him.

He had everything planned: the huge suite overlooking the strip, the same movie they'd watched on their first date, and even a special dinner to be served in their room later that night. He patted his pocket, feeling the bulge of the ring box. He even went custom with the ring, and she was going to love it. His mother gave him her mother's emerald necklace. He'd had the square-cut emerald set with diamonds in an overlapping pattern. There weren't any large stones that could get caught, so she could wear it while she worked. The matching ring was a simple gold band with
Mon coeur est à vous
engraved on the inside.

Now he just needed to get it on her finger.

He stopped by the concierge's to double-check the arrangements for the evening, before heading up to the room. He wanted it to be a night she'd never forget. A story they could tell their grandkids, minus the X-rated part he was planning for after she said yes.

"I have prepared things just as you specified over the phone," the older man assured Matt. Flipping through a notebooks, the concierge read down the list. "The DVD and the other items you requested were placed in the room this morning. Dinner will arrive at seven. A large Chicago style pizza and a dozen chilled beers in an ice bucket, along with the bottle of champagne that will be placed under the cart. You can call down and I'll send someone up to open the bottle if you like."

"That's not necessary. And I don't want anyone collecting the cart until the morning. I don't want to be disturbed after dinner arrives."

"Yes, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Carver?"

"Just wish me luck," Matt said, but he really hoped he didn't need it.

Simon thought Matt was rushing things, especially with how skittish Beth had been to start with. Peter, of course, thought Matt had waited too long, especially after she'd let go of her lease and moved in with him last March. But he knew Beth well enough; in her mind, she'd just been storing her stuff at his apartment.

About a month ago, she said she found a statue of the tree frog that keep her up all night in Costa Rica, and that she was bringing it home. Home. She'd never called his apartment home before. Hell, she'd never called Chicago home. That's when he knew it was time.

He grabbed a key from the desk and made his way upstairs. The only thing he had to do now was wait for her to arrive. But when he reached the room, he knew his wait was over. After five weeks of not being able to touch her, the shoes and purse dumped at the door were a welcome site.

"Beth?" he called out into the huge suite.

Her bag was abandoned next to the sofa, and a trail of clothing led to the bedroom. Matt followed along, picking up her shorts, top, and then a bra hanging from the doorknob. It was like she'd left him an erotic breadcrumb trail to follow. He plucked the bra off the door and pushed it open. The curtains were drawn shut, but he could still make her out in the dark room. She was quite a sight with her ebony hair tangled around her face, cocooned in the comforter, lying diagonally across the bed, fast asleep.

It looked as if her sexy surprise was a bust, but he couldn't blame her. To beat him here, Beth would have had to leave before six in the morning. And he knew for a fact she didn't get much sleep the night before. They'd stayed up entirely too late chatting, even though they were going to see each other in less than twenty-four hours. But it had become habit. Neither of them wanted to say goodnight. He needed to spend as much time as he could with her, no matter how they did it.

So, trying hard not to wake her, Matt quietly stripped out of his clothes and padded to the bed. Catching a nap before the night's activities sounded like a great idea, especially if he could do it with her. It was like coming home when he finally pulled Beth against his body. She murmured something incoherent before settling back against him.

Fuck, this was what he missed most when she was away. Matt could talk to her every day and see her on video calls, but it was the feel of her he missed most. He wrapped his arm around her waist and buried his face in Beth's hair, enjoying the clean, salty smell of her skin that always reminded him of an ocean's breeze. And maybe that was what made her homecomings all the sweeter, being able to rediscover each other all over again. It amazed him every time.

"That's it?" Beth whispered, her voice thick with sleep. "I take an eight hour flight and a head sniff is all the greeting I get?"

He kissed her on top of the head and yanked the cover loose so he could get under. "Go back to sleep. I have a big night planned for us."