Open Life (Open Skies #5) (10 page)

Chapter Eight

Dillon took Maria to Annabeth and Eric’s cabin, kissed her, then headed to the main building. He nodded at Laura on Reception and headed down the hall to Julie’s office. He knocked and entered, shutting the door behind him. He looked at her, saw that she looked pale and unwell.

“You OK?” he said.

“Yeah.” She smiled. “Just a bit nervous about the wedding on Sunday. God, it’s just two days away.”

“Yeah, I bet you are.” He grinned. “You thinking about making a run for it?”

Julie laughed. “Not right now, but I’ll let you know if that changes.”

“Awesome. I’ll keep the truck by the front gate and with a full tank, so you let me know if you need to make a quick escape, darlin’.”

“Sounds good. OK, so… what’s up?”

“You talked to Jax yet?”

“Yeah, he called me last night. So you here to say goodbye?”

“Uh, no.” He fidgeted a bit in his chair. “I was actually thinking that I’d – I’d stay up here for a couple of weeks more.”

“Oh, yeah? How come?”

He looked over at her. “Come on, Julie. You know damn good and well why.”

“I
do
know.” She gave him a coy little look. “You guys together now?”

Dillon thought about what they’d done in the shower that morning, then about how they’d sat together out on the patio after, drinking their coffee and holding hands and talking about Dillon staying for a while longer. “Yes. Most definitely we are.”

“Good.”

“So… can we stay in the staff apartment for a bit longer?”

She looked puzzled. “You guys don’t want to go back to Maria’s place in town?”

“Ummm… well. We talked about that this morning over coffee, but she pointed out that she has – that her –” His voice trailed off. “That her apartment is small.”

“Yeah. So?”

“So. Uh. So her bedroom is small.”

“Uh-huh.” Julie stared at him, then he watched as the penny dropped and realization spread across her stunning face. “Oh! So… her
bed
is also small?”

“A single.”

Julie looked at his massive frame and tried to imagine Dillon Saunders in a single bed even all by himself. “Aha. I get it.”

“Right. So can we stay here? Just until we sort some things out?”

“Sure. It’s no problem.”

“Really?”

“Yep. That apartment is standing empty, so it’s not like you’d need to make way for anyone else to get in.”

“Thanks, Julie. I really appreciate it.”

She waved her hand. “No problem.”

“So.” He grinned at her. “I guess I’ll be Maria’s plus-one for your wedding.”

“That sounds great – on one condition.”

“Name it.”

She narrowed those amazing eyes at him in a way that was only half-joking. “Dig up a semi-decent suit from somewhere, tough guy.”

**

Maria sat on the sofa and watched Annabeth and Eric in the kitchen making coffee and arranging fruit and croissants on plates. They weren’t talking much, both focused on what they were doing, but they seemed to be linked or connected somehow and Maria smiled to herself. She just
knew
that they’d managed to work things out between them.

It was funny, she thought, how you can tell when two people are
together
even when they’re not touching. It’s like the air between them is super-charged with emotion and attraction, or like an invisible cord links them. Something about the way they move around each other, lean towards each other, stand a bit too close to each other. Like there’s no such thing as close enough.

She wondered how she and Dillon would look to a casual observer – would they be able to ‘see’ that connection between them that Maria felt so deeply? God knows, she and Dillon had connected on a purely physical level: they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other since he’d caressed her cheek the night before. When they weren’t giving each other mind-melting orgasms, they were holding hands, or she was lying down wrapped in his arms, or he was handing her a coffee and making a point of touching her fingers when he did so.

But the physical was only a part of what was going on here, at least for her. Dillon Saunders had blown in to her life with his take-no-prisoners honesty and rough tenderness, and she’d been taken aback and unaware by that in all the best possible ways. As a woman who rarely confronted anyone or anything, Dillon had shown her the power and freedom in unflinching honesty and in acting on how she felt. No apologies, no explanations, no shame.

But it was happening fast –
probably too fast
– and that worried her. Dillon was obviously not a man who wasted time and he most definitely didn’t play games… but he was also a man who had a life two hours away.

OK, it wasn’t like he lived on another continent, but still. For anything to continue, it would have to be done semi-long-distance and she doubted he’d be on board with that. In her experience, people gave up on things as soon as they became a hassle and inconvenient – and two hours one-way was a hassle and inconvenient and she knew it. Nobody had ever fought to stay with her or keep her around, and she wasn’t about to get her hopes up that it would start now.

This is fun and intense and hot. Enjoy it as long as it lasts and then let him go. Because you
know
he’s going to go, right?

“OK, hon,” Annabeth said now. “Milk and sugar, right?”

Shaking off her thoughts about Dillon leaving Open Skies in a few days, Maria smiled. “Yes, please.”

Eric brought her the coffee and she stood up to accept it. She peered at his face, liking the warmth in his dark eyes. She didn’t know him well at all and she was still a bit shy around him, but when she’d asked for his help with the flowers, he’d jumped to her aid. He’d told her that nothing made him happier than being around plants and flowers, and he’d be delighted to help with Julie’s wedding. He flatly refused a fee, saying that it wasn’t up for discussion beyond his ‘no’.

“So.” Eric sat down beside Annabeth on the opposite sofa and Maria watched as they automatically shifted to half-face each other; she didn’t think they were even conscious of the fact that they were doing it. “We went out yesterday and I picked some flowers to show you.”

“OK,” Maria said.

Eric opened the sealed freezer bag. “I kept them in the fridge overnight so they wouldn’t wilt as fast, and so you can see their colors. These aren’t as glorious as the real thing out on the mountains, of course, but picked flowers never are.”

Maria nodded.

“It’s mid-June in the Rockies now, so usually the choice would be pretty limited. Thankfully the spring was incredibly mild and the thaw happened early, so that sped up things remarkably in terms of the flowers’ cycles.” Eric set a few flowers on the coffee table between them and Maria studied the blossoms, relieved and delighted. They were beautiful.

“OK, this is a pasqueflower,” he said, pointing at the small, pale-violet flower with the brilliant yellow-orange center. “Perfect for the table arrangements, I think, if we combine them with some flame-colored roses from a shop and these.” He picked up some purple flowers with bright yellow antlers waving above the blossoms. “This is called Sky Pilot.”

Maria blinked. “Why?”

“Because of the yellow parts and the shape of the purple blossoms,” he explained. “They look like clouds, see? And the yellow bits are shaped a bit like airplanes. They look like small planes flying over a massive cloud formation.”

“Huh.” Maria stared at them. “Yeah. They do.”

“So if we combine various shades of purple and yellow and orange, I think it’ll look amazing.”

“I agree.”

“And for Julie’s bridal bouquet, we think this would be perfect.” Annabeth picked up the largest flower; it actually looked like two flowers in one. The dark-purple petals were shaped like a star and cradled a smaller, white flower in their heart. “This is a Colorado Columbine.”

“It’s gorgeous.” Maria reached for it, stroked the rounded edges of the white center. “I love it.”

“Yeah, we thought it was good,” Eric said. “I’ll mix three Columbines with some roses and baby’s breath and Julie will have a stunning bridal bouquet.”

“Oh, for sure.” Maria smiled at him and he was taken aback at how it changed Maria’s normally-serious face. “Thank you, Eric. It’s all perfect.”

“My pleasure,” he said. “I’m going to love every second of arranging them, believe me.”

“You need some help? I’m happy to come back tomorrow night.”

“No. Annabeth and I can handle it all.”

“You sure?” Maria insisted. “I know that any one of the women from Reception or Marketing would be over here in a second to help too.”

“Nope. Really, we got it.”

“OK, then. Thank you.”

“We’ll collect the flowers tomorrow morning,” Annabeth said. “And we’ll have the arrangements assembled and in the restaurant fridge overnight.”

“Manny knows this?”

“Yep. He’s already cleared a huge spot for them, away from the perishables.” Eric grinned. “It’s all under control.”

Maria heaved a huge sigh as the last piece of planning Jake and Julie’s wedding clicked in to place: the flowers were taken care of and she could now focus on other things. Like just what on earth she was going to wear on Sunday now that Dillon Saunders was escorting her to the wedding and the reception after. Somehow her sedate and sober loose navy-blue dress wasn’t going to cut it. Not anymore.

I’m going shopping. Like… now.

**

Dillon left Julie’s office and walked down the hill to the stables. He admired the view as he strolled along: the ranch and hotel were in the most stunning location anyone could imagine. Surrounded by open, gold and green plains and the rugged, looming mountains, the place was an unusual combination of welcoming and protecting, of open and yet watchful.

His thoughts turned to Maria now and right away, his cock hardened. Jesus Christ, she’d been so amazing last night and this morning: passionate and giving and so fucking responsive. No woman had ever leapt in his arms the way that Maria Torres did; no woman had ever felt so good doing it, either.

He pondered that, asked himself if this was too much, too intense, too fast. Then he decided that it probably was and fuck it even if it was. He knew that he’d burst in to her life, loud and pushy and demanding, but she’d crept in to his. Quiet and gentle, like a shadow or a melody, Maria had snuck up on him. Her sweetness and kindness were alluring in a way that he’d never experienced before, and there was no way he was letting her just drift or fade away like mist in a sunrise.

His biggest fear right now was that she’d find a million excuses for them not to make this work. If he let her start to pull back, then he’d be left grasping at the fading edges of what they had, like the way that you try so hard to remember a dream after you wake up. She’d be gone and he’d be alone again and the thought hurt him in ways and places he hadn’t even known he had. He was going to fight for Maria – even if that meant that Maria herself was his opponent.

He entered the stables and looked around. He spotted Mathilda Velasquez saddling up a horse and he grinned at her. Mattie was hands-down Awesome with a fucking capital-A. Despite the fact that she was almost sixty-five, the woman was a fireball of energy and humor. She lived in the staff quarters permanently and she and Dillon had passed many hours hanging out in the common area lounge drinking coffee or a few beers, watching a movie or just talking.

“Well, hey, hon,” she greeted him and he didn’t even mind her using an endearment.
Nobody
called Dillon Saunders a pet name – well, not since his Mom – and he’d always shut it down when older women in his neighborhood or girlfriends had tried. But Mattie broke all the rules, as far as he was concerned.

“Hey, Mattie,” he replied. “You doing OK today?”

“You know it,” she said, her astonishing silver eyes bright in the morning light. “You down here to go for a ride?”

“Uh, no.” He looked around. “I’m looking for Jake.”

“Yeah? He’s in the office with Phil. You need him right away?”

“Nah. I can hold on.”

“Well then, grab that brush and give Ginger over there some grooming, huh?”

“Yeah, sure.” Dillon had never brushed a horse in his life before coming to Open Skies and it surprised him how much he liked doing it. It amazed him that these gigantic animals would just stand so still and calm for several minutes while he ran a brush over them. He supposed they liked the touch and that made him think of Maria again, running her hands and mouth over his large body.

“So any news from Denver?” Mattie said.

He filled her in briefly and she gave him a look from across the stables.

“So that means you’re off soon, huh?”

“Well… not so soon.” Dillon busied himself with brushing Ginger’s nose. The horse nuzzled his neck a bit and he laughed as it tickled.

“Yeah?” Mattie said. “I thought you’d be in that truck of yours and shooting on out of here without a look back.”

“Two weeks ago, yeah, that’s true. But not so much now.”

“Uh-huh.” Mattie grinned. “You want to stay on as a horse groomer or something?”

He laughed again. “Nope, I’ll go back to the city. Just not now.”

“How come?” said a deep voice behind him and Dillon turned to see Jake and Phil standing there. Jake continued, “You were forced in to bodyguard duty against your will, as I remember damn good and well, and you must be bored away from the exciting world of bar bouncing.”

“Well,” Dillon said again, knowing full well that these three weren’t going to be content with half-answers. “I’m coming to your wedding tomorrow, man.”

“Oh, yeah?” Jake’s gray eyes were amused. “You’re coming on your own, are you?”

“Uh, no. I’ll be Maria’s… uh. Maria’s guest.”

“You mean Maria’s
date
, don’t you?” Phil clarified.

Dillon felt his face go as red as Ginger’s coat. “Yeah.”

“Nice of you to escort her,” Jake said innocently. “So you’ll go back to Denver right after the reception then?”

Dillon realized that he was literally squirming. “No. I’ll – I’ll stay a bit longer.”