I was on the last leg of my flights. I’d spent roughly twenty hours in a twenty-six hour period on the same airplane. Being tired, yet wired-- was my current situation. I’d been on and off my laptop, trying to make something of my idea, but only squashed it when I’d relate it to real life. I couldn’t stop thinking about Jake, replaying how we’d react to each other’s presence. Do I hug him? Do I shake his hand? Wave? What would he be wearing? One of those damn t-shirts from his book series? Would it hug his muscles as nice in person as they did in the photos?
Fuck. I needed to stop looking at his screenshots as if he was a piece of meat. Ever since Stephanie pointed out how nice his butt was, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it
The plane was beginning to descend, and I held my phone tightly in my hand. Once I landed, I was instructed to call Jake, giving him enough time to make it to the pick-up lane and get me.
I asked him how I’d know who he was, he only sent a winky-face emoji and said he’d make himself known. As much as I loved his fun loving personality, his wit only made me more nervous for our meeting. For all I knew, he was pulling my leg and lived in his parent’s basement down the street from me, dragging me along into some weird game.
My heart raced with the thought. What if this was all a big joke? What if Jake wasn’t even a real person? Taking sharp inhales, I coached myself to breathe. Worst case scenario? I was right and would plant myself at some hotel and write. That was the point of this trip to begin with.
The wheels of the plane met the tarmac, bumping along until the plane slowed to a steady pace. Unbuckling my seatbelt before the sign was on, I continued to breathe. I was here, in New Zealand, meeting a longtime friend, ignoring the obvious crush I had developed for him throughout the years.
Taking out my phone, I messaged him.
AuthorCoraKart: I’m here.
NZThrillWriter: I saw you landed. I’ll see you soon. Look for your sign.
AuthorCoraKart: Can’t wait. This better not be a joke.
NZThrillWriter: What?
AuthorCoraKart: I mean, you better be here.
I stared at my phone, waiting for a response. The ding of the seatbelt button interrupted my anxious gaze. Passengers hurried along, impatient to get off the plane. I couldn’t blame them. It was the same plane that took us from the States to New Zealand. We’d been inside these damn walls for what felt like forever. Fortunately, I had my own row for the fifteen hour flight.
Once my carry-on was pulled down from above, I checked my phone again, only to find no answer.
I’d kill him. I swear I’d find where that asshole lived and I’d shoot him.
This place was tiny compared to the monster of an airport O’Hare. I thought I’d get lost, but there was only one place to go, and everyone on my flight was headed that way. I stayed with the crowd, walking down a row of stairs to luggage claim.
My message still only had my response, and Jake hadn’t even seen what I wrote. I began to shake. Did he really stand me up? I’d been dumb enough to stay in an abusive relationship for seven years, obviously I was even more of an idiot for traveling around the world to meet someone I hardly knew.
“Jackass,” I grumbled under my breath, shoving my phone in my back pocket forcefully. By the time I looked up from my phone, I was at the bottom of the steps, anger seeping from me.
Then I saw him, facing the window that lead to the parking lot. I knew that back, a dark gray t-shirt covering a broad set of muscles, his book series logo dead center of his shoulder blades. He wore a black baseball cap with short, dark hair covering the back of his head. One hand was in his front pocket, while the other was holding a piece of crumpled paper-AuthorCoraKart.
I froze ten feet from him, standing still in the madness of travelers. He was right there, no tricks or games, not a completely different person, but the Jake I knew as an associate and a very good friend.
He was taller than I imagined, although still lean, he was big and strong. No one would mess with him if they crossed his path. He was intimidating, yet a calming of comfort washed over me as I examined him. This was the moment; I was finally going to see his features.
Panic consumed me, my hands flew into my hair, running through it over and over, cursing myself for not changing out of my hooded sweatshirt and jeans into one of my new outfits that made me feel girly and confident. I had hardly put any makeup on, only some mascara, and surely my lip gloss had rubbed off by now. I was a hot mess.
I desperately searched for a bathroom before he turned around to find me, but to my horror he took his phone out of his pocket and swiped through it. My own phone buzzed, multiple heads looking my way as it carried on from an incoming text.
I clenched my eyes closed, fumbling with it to turn off the volume, but it was too late. He’d heard it, and the sleek jawline covered in stubble that I’d only seen a fraction of came into full blown view.
Holding my breath, I took him in from head to toe. Typical cross trainers covered his feet with no show socks. Moving my eyes upward, I saw a pair of well-toned and tanned calves from bike riding in the New Zealand terrain. His cargo shorts were to his knees, no doubt hiding strong thighs. He held his sign across his stomach now, shaking it slightly.
“Cora?” His deep timbre distracted me from my perusal.
My breath hitched when I met his gaze. He was even more attractive in person than what I had imagined. His jaw trickled with stubble, arching when he smiled, revealing perfect white teeth against his tanned skin. His hat covered his forehead, but it didn’t hide his beautiful brown eyes, accentuated with dark eyelashes. I’d kill for eyelashes that thick. He squinted when he smiled, a few lines creasing at the edges of his eyes. Even his nose was perfect, not too small or too big.
He cleared his throat. “Are you Cora Kart?”
I nodded my head, licking my lips and swallowing back the dryness that had formed.
“I um… yes. I am. Are you… Jake?” I asked even though I already knew.
“Actually, I’m his driver.”
My shoulder sagged, but his mischievous grin helped me catch on.
“You’re a terrible liar in person, too.”
He tilted his head and laughed, a familiar sound to help back up my instinct on who he really was.
He paced the ten feet between us, holding both hands in the air. “You caught me.”
“I knew by your laugh,” I smiled, aching to reach out and touch him. He was really a real person. The relief inside of me eased my anxiety.
He shook his head, a smile still planted on his lips. Pointing to the logo on his shirt, he said, “I thought the sign and my shirt might give me away.”
“You’re right, but, you could have been a crazed fan, stalking our conversations, kidnapping the real Jake then plotting to capture me, throw me in a trunk and drug me, only to bring me to a cellar where they had you locked away, then force us to recreate scenes from our books.”
Jake blinked, then burst out laughing, wrapping an arm around my shoulder to guide me to the luggage carousel. “You’re such a writer. I think it’s time for you to branch out into thrillers, or maybe horror.”
I flushed. Speaking my obscene ideas wasn’t a norm for me. Blurting out my asinine ideas didn’t seem to bother Jake, probably because he shared the same creative and wacky mind.
We stood with the group of passengers from my flight, Jake’s arm still across my shoulders.
I looked up to him, studying his facial features. “You’re a lot taller than you look in your pictures.”
“Standing amongst mountains will make a tall man look vertically challenged. Although, I thought for sure you’d be as tall as me.”
My brows furrowed at him. “Really?”
He winked, and my heart fluttered. “No, I assumed you were short as hell. Are you even five feet tall?”
I elbowed his side, causing him to let out an oomph. Crossing my arms, I defended myself. “I’m five one, thank you.”
“And feisty,” he chuckled. “I knew that, though.” His palm squeezed my shoulder, pulling me so our sides were touching.
My head tilted into his shoulder. “Just like I know how big of a smart ass you are.”
“Can’t deny that.”
The soft stroke of his fingers brushed down my bicep, and I closed my eyes. The contact that I’d been terrified to share with a man because of Martin wasn’t there. This touching felt insanely good. Almost too good. I needed to be careful with him and remind myself why I was here. We were work associates and friends. This wasn’t to explore any intimate feelings that had been stirring inside of me for the past week toward him.
I stepped out of his hold, taking a big breath and heading toward the conveyor belt as if I saw my luggage. The space was needed, especially when he smelled so damn good. It was a mix of freshness from the outdoors and a heady scent of soap made for a man.
All too soon my bag emerged from the pile, slowly trekking toward me. I yanked it off the belt, nearly falling over from the size of it. Jake was beside me in an instant, sweeping in and taking it from me. “Let me. I don’t want it to tip over and smash you.”
“Ha ha, as if I’ve never heard the short jokes before,” I teased.
“Come on, it’s about a forty minute drive to my place from here. You hungry? We can stop somewhere, or if you’re willing to wait, I can make you the best hamburger you’ll ever eat.”
I was hungry, but I needed a shower more. “I can wait.”
Following him out of the airport and into the parking lot, I spotted his massive black truck. It sported the same logo in a decal on the back as the one on his shirt. He was good at advertising his brand that was for sure.
“I recognize this truck,” I hummed, heading toward the passenger side.
He threw my bag in the back, situating it so it wouldn’t move. “Yeah, I get noticed,” he teased, throwing me another wink. Averting my gaze from his, I opened the door. I melted inside from his playful gaze.
One side of his lip quirked upward. “You going to drive?”
I glanced inside the truck to find the steering wheel, then blushed. “Sorry, didn’t realize you drive on the opposite side of the road as us in the States.”
“Right, well you want to give it a go?” He held his hand to the steering wheel.
I shook my head drastically, backing away from the truck. “No way!”
“Alright then, maybe tomorrow.”
“How about never,” I coughed, finding the passenger side.
He climbed into his seat, still chuckling from my reaction.
It was weird sitting on the side I was used to driving on, yet there being no steering wheel. It was even more awkward driving on the opposite side of the road. I found myself leaning toward Jake whenever a car drove passed us on the road.
“Am I hugging the line?”
I shook my head, tilting toward him again as a semi-truck blasted by.
“Okay,” he grumbled, reaching over to my seatbelt and unfastening it.
“What are you doing?”
Without saying a word, he grabbed my arm, yanking me so I was in the middle seat of the truck.
“Now it won’t feel like oncoming traffic is about to rail into you.”
Another truck was approaching, and I winced, scooting until our sides were pressed against each other.
Jake laughed under his breath, snaking an arm behind my shoulder, pulling me into him. “I guess this is one way to get a girl to touch me.”
I opened one eye to see the truck had passed, letting out the breath I’d been holding. “It’d have to be an American.”
His lip twitched upward. “Maybe that’s what I’ve wanted.”
I glanced at him, the storm of nerves brewing in my gut. I should have been more terrified of them, shoving them down into my soul and ignoring them, but instead I stayed put, my heart thrumming from the simple brush of Jake’s arm along my shoulders.