Nervous Flier (4 page)

"Don't feel like an idiot." Dawson shook his head. "The only one who should feel embarrassed is him for being such a jackass and for letting the most awesome woman in the world get away."

Her cheeks grew so hot she was surprised her skin didn
’t melt off into a thick, creamy goop. "Oh, Dawson, enough with the flattery."

"What? It's true." Dawson's face grew sober. "I just want to let you know that I would never do that to you."

"But are you sure you still want to date me?" Frowning, Noel stared at the table.

"Are you kidding?" Dawson reached across the table and seized her hand, shocking her. "Any other woman—any other
person
—would have crumbled into a bawling helpless lump for months after enduring what you did and then gone home. But not you. You turned a really negative experience into an amazing adventure. I don't know who dropped Peter on the head too many times, but if he can't see what an amazing woman he let get away, then he must be crazy. I am not going to make that mistake. If you want to go slow, we can go slow. If you want to just be friends at first, we can just be friends. But I'm not going to let you go."

Under normal circumstances, Noel never would have believed such honeyed flattery. After all, Peter had been full of sugar, and he had been all fake. But Dawson's eyes glowed with such deep and intense enthusiasm that she couldn't help but believe him, even if it might eventually end up biting her in the butt. It was easy to see her and Dawson becoming something more. It was also easy to see her and Dawson being together forever. Getting married, having kids, the works. She warned herself not to let her imagination run away with her during date number two, but she couldn't help herself. It was impossible not to be crazy about Dawson with his sugar sweet words. She wondered whether his lips tasted as delicious as the words that came from them.

"I don't want to just be friends and…"

Dawson cocked his head curiously but didn't say anything.

"I don't think I want to go slow, either," Noel continued, biting her bottom lip. "Does that make me crazy or trampy?"

Shaking his head, Dawson grinned at her, then drew her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. Even his hot breath on her skin made her shiver. It was so easy to imagine the two of them intertwining, legs mixed with legs, golden skin against pale skin. The thought made her shudder.

"Nothing about you is crazy or trampy." Dawson pressed her fingers against his lips again. "I hope your eagerness means that you're as enraptured by me as I am by you."

Dawson smoldered at her and she felt as though her heart was going to leap from her chest. "Thank you, Dawson."

"I'll tell you what. Since I can trust you to be honest, I have a proposition for you." Dawson did not release her hand as he spoke. "I want you to think this over carefully and not rush into it, but I did end up getting two free tickets to Miami for the weekend from a friend I helped out. Since I travel so much, I have a lot of friends in the industry. How about you come with me? It's a week from now, so that's why I want you to let me know if you don't feel comfortable. A romantic getaway on the third date is likely to send any woman running."

Though Noel knew she should have thought about it for longer, one second was all she needed. Sure, a thousand things could go wrong, but what she wanted most right now was to focus on what could go right.

"I would love to go with you." Noel beamed as her heart bubbled with excitement.

Dawson appeared so happy that his energy practically grew hands and embraced Noel. As the two of them grinned at each other, her heart pounding a thousand miles per hour, the waiter appeared with two large plates with beautifully decorated calamari entrees on them. Only, as Noel drew her hand back, she noted there wasn't much food on the plate. The single piece of calamari was drowning beneath garnish and not much else. Brows furrowing, she glanced up at Dawson who met her eyes and shook his head.

"Next time, a regular café?" Dawson asked. "This wouldn't quench the hunger of an ant."

Noel snorted and nodded her head, then speared the thirty-seven dollar piece of calamari on her fork. As she examined it, she couldn't help but smirk. As empty as her stomach was going to be after this meal, her heart was going to be full.

As Noel lingered in an art gallery after work, the smell of coffee wafted from her uniform. It was like a permanent perfume. Every person she walked by turned their head and sniffed as if they were unsure a coffee smelling woman was human. As she smirked as yet another person glanced her way with obvious curiosity, her phone rang in her pocket.  As she dug around in her pants, she found everything but her cell phone—a recipe from her breakfast bun at a diner that morning, an earring she thought she had lost three days ago, and a tube of lipstick she couldn't even remember owning. Finally, she reached her cell phone and only hesitated for a moment to check and see if it was Peter. It wasn't. It was Dawson. The happy feelings which overwhelmed her almost made her give a happy jig right there in the middle of the crowded gallery. She pressed the phone to her ear at once.

"Hi, Dawson," Noel said happily.

"Noel," Dawson said with much less enthusiasm, which immediately caused her heart to sink.

At once Noel's mind jumped to a thousand different conclusions. Had she been too clingy? Or maybe Dawson had changed his mind because he realized he could do much better? Even before Dawson mentioned why he sounded more depressed than normal, her mind scrambled to find something to blame herself for.

"Are you okay?" Noel asked.

"Yes and no." Dawson blew out a sigh. "So that friend of mine was apparently just blowing smoke when it came to the tickets to Miami. I am so sorry. I promise I'll take you somewhere. I'm not a flaky guy, but apparently the man I helped out is."

Disappointment mingled with relief. Noel was disappointed because images of her and Dawson intertwining on golden beaches were erased in a millisecond, but she was glad because things could have been a lot worse. Dawson could have realized that he was way better than her and decided to take some leggy blonde on the trip.

"Are you mad?" Dawson asked.

"No. Why would I be? It's not your fault your friend cancelled." Noel shrugged before she realized Dawson couldn't see it. "We'll go some other time."

"You are the most understanding woman I've ever met." Dawson sounded awed as if she had done something spectacular like twenty back flips in a row. "I don't want this to ruin our weekend. Would you be adverse to spending two days at casa Dawson where you will receive brunch with champagne in bed complete with a complimentary massage?"

The thought of Dawson astride her from behind gave her the shivers, but he wasn't giving her a back massage. Giddy up, cowboy.

"That sounds amazing," Noel said, awed. "Who needs beaches? I think we can do all I had in mind in a bathtub."

"That sounds dirty." Dawson laughed.

"Which is why I'll need to take a long time in the bath." Noel tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and turned slightly pink when one of the other guests at the exhibit glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. "I think I might even need help."

"I'm just the man for the job," Dawson said.

"I don't doubt it." Noel walked away from the main crowd so she'd stop getting strange looks. "So what time do you want me to come over for this magical weekend?"

"How about six o'clock?" Dawson asked.

"Sounds like a plan."

As Dawson grunted in agreement, Noel really did do a jig of excitement. It didn't matter that half the people inside the room stared at her. It didn't even matter how silly she looked. All that mattered was the fact that Dawson wanted her.

****

A faint blush crossed Noel's cheeks as she gazed into the mirror of the changing room. Multiple lingerie outfits hung on the hook on the wall, but only the one she was currently wearing fit  like a glove. It was a black lace teddy which danced along her upper thigh and concealed the parts of her body she had the least self-confidence in, her thighs and stomach. As she gazed at herself in the mirror with the blush along her cheeks, she felt sexy for the first time. Her lush breasts peaked out from over the black lace and the makeup she had made a saleswoman apply smoothed out the faint crow's feet by her eyes.

I can't believe the way I feel. I feel so good.
As she shut her eyes, she imagined standing at the foot of Dawson's bed, him watching her with probing eyes. She imagined peeling off her teddy slowly, revealing her new black panties and her bulging breasts. She wanted him to lick her nipples until they were red raw and then stick his fingers inside of her and probe her most sacred parts. She wanted him to take her the moment she walked in the door, making her scream out his name as she drove her nails into his back. As she felt her pussy dampen and she groaned, the sound of loud knocking on the changing room door caused her to jump and glance around guiltily, face flushed.

"Everything all right in there?" the saleswoman called.

"F, fine." Noel raked her fingers through her sweaty hair guiltily. "I found one I'm going to get."

Then Noel quickly tore off the teddy before she had an orgasm in it too soon. She just couldn't wait to show Dawson.

Noel stood in the mirror early Friday evening, staring at herself. She wore a pink silk top with flowers on the bodice, a tight pair of blue jeans, and a necklace which hung low over her ample bosoms. She was no Angelina Jolie or Jessica Alba, but she guessed she looked all right. In the teddy she had bought, she would look even better. That, though, was stashed in her purse for when she arrived. It wasn't like she could walk up Dawson's driveway in six inch fuck-me high heels and a black teddy. As exciting as it was letting Dawson see her body, she didn't want to show half the neighborhood her legs or, if a strong wind blew, her butt.

After a last glance at herself, Noel checked her watch and saw it was five ten. The idea of sitting in front of the TV to wait for twenty more minutes was torture. Plus, it would probably take her twenty minutes to get to Dawson's house, anyway. Would he mind if she was a half an hour early? She bit her lip, then decided Dawson likely wouldn't care. Dawson was so laid back somebody could walk into his house and steal his things, and he would turn around and help them do it.

Cracking a grin, Noel headed toward the door with her overnight bag swung over her shoulder, then walked down the steps of her hotel. Come Monday, it would be her last day at this cheap, run-down place because she would be moving into her new apartment. She couldn't wait to tell Dawson that too. He would likely be as excited as he always was. The thought of his big grin made her heart pound and her stomach squirm. Maybe she didn't even need to take the bus to Dawson's house. Maybe she could sprint there with how she felt. And boy, would Dawson be surprised he wouldn't have to pick her up.

As Noel quickened her pace, she began to whistle. Just as she reached the bus stop and studied the graph on the wall of the waiting booth, a bus barreled down the road. Hurriedly, she checked the bus chart and saw where each bus went when. There was a station only a few streets down from Dawson's house. If she took this bus, she would be there in fifteen minutes at the latest. As the bus pulled to the side of the rode, she grinned as the two double-doors opened and she stepped inside. After paying, she took a seat in the middle and then stared out the window.

After the bus started to drive, Noel's imagination began to go into overdrive again. She imagined kissing Dawson and then running her fingers over his hot, golden skin. She imagined tearing off his shirt and touching his muscular abs. At the thought of abs, Noel had a painful, fleeting vision of seeing Peter's body, but she forced the memory down in favor of new imaginings with Dawson. Beautiful, perfect, sexy Dawson.

Thoughts of running her tongue over Dawson's golden skin carried Noel all the way to her stop. When the bus pulled to the side of the road, she leapt to her feet and felt heat fill her cheeks. As people watched her, she imagined that everybody knew how wet her panties were and that they knew she had spent the last fifteen minutes imagining what it felt like to have Dawson pound into her again and again. She knew it was impossible that anybody could see into her mind, but somehow, she still felt self-conscious anyway.

After Noel clambered off the bus, she headed down the sidewalk toward Dawson's house. It was hard for her to find his place because she had only visited under the cover of darkness.  When she finally reached the right turn and headed toward Dawson's home, she sped up her pace even though she was thirty minutes early. Only there was a problem. When she reached Dawson's house, there was a shiny black car parked in front. Noel immediately went rigid as her mind jumped to when she had gone to Peter's house and the thin, gorgeous blonde who had actually been Peter's fianc
é had come to the door.
That isn't Dawson. A fancy car doesn't mean anything. He probably just has a friend over.

Yet the excitement Noel had felt about rushing to Dawson faded the moment she saw that black car. Instead of rushing to the door, she hid behind a bushel of bright yellow flowers, hand over her heart as it pounded, praying and hoping that a man would come out of Dawson's apartment. An
ugly
man.