Chapter2
When the plane landed, another hostess from the Premium Plus club was there to greet her, taking her carry-on and her purse for her and leading her through a side door that bypassed the crush of bodies flowing off planes from three separate gates and all trying to go down the same hallway to the checked baggage gate.
When the door closed behind her, there was blessed silence. The room in front of her was almost identical to the one in Iowa, and at the other end was a door that she was sure led straight out to the ticket counter area and the exits without having to wade through the masses.
“I believe your car is already here,” the man said with a huge smile on his face. “But, if you’d like to wait here until we confirm that, you can make yourself comfortable.”
“What about my luggage?”
“That is being hand-delivered to your car.”
“Wow. Alright. I’d like to see if my ride is here.”
The man nodded, leading the way out the door and holding it for her despite the bags he carried.
A girl could get used to this, she thought, letting him lead the way to the waiting area.
She saw him at the same instant that he noticed her and when he stood to greet her with a warm smile on his face, her breath caught. He was even more handsome in person than he was online, the essence of what made him gorgeous uncaptured by the camera.
She almost ran to him, but she didn’t want to seem too eager. His long stride closed the distance and he opened his arms, his eyes shining. She hugged him, breathing in the scent of him and sighing heavily.
“Long flight?” he joked, still holding her against his chest.
“No.”
When she offered no further explanation he chuckled softly, then released her and handed her a single, perfect rose.
“I seem to remember you saying that you loved peach roses.”
“I do,” she said, admiring the thornless stem and taking a deep breath with her nose buried in the delicate petals. “It’s beautiful, thank you.”
“You are even more beautiful than your pictures,” he said. “I think the first thing we’re going to do is get you a phone with a better camera.”
“My five has a great camera.”
“The seven is already out.”
He slipped his arm around her shoulder and walked beside her, the attendants already returning from putting all her bags in the car.
“Did they take good care of you?” he asked as they came back into the airport side by side.
“They were amazing.”
David reached into his pocket, and as the pair walked their way, he handed them each a stack of folded bills. When Kelissa saw that they were one hundred-dollar bills, she was shocked. She couldn’t tell how many he’d given them, but she was sure he’d just tipped them each at least four hundred dollars.
“Are you hungry? Should we stop for dinner first, or get the phone right away?”
“I don’t need a phone right now,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked unhurried to the car waiting by the curb. “I’m holding out for the eight, anyway.”
“Even better. Do you care what color?”
“Silver, with a purple case.”
“That’s easy enough. What about dinner?”
“I was hoping that we could spend some time just getting to know each other before we step out in public.”
“Are you worried that you don’t want to stay?” He stopped her next to the car, giving the driver a look when he got out to open the door. The man got back in the car and David looked at Kelissa, his brow furrowed slightly. “You don’t have to stay. You can leave any time and I’m not going to hold it against you. In fact, I have an appointment for you at the end of the week to go over the contract with a lawyer that isn’t on my payroll, so you can be sure your interests are being taken care of. I’m not trying to take advantage of you at all.”
“It’s not that at all. I’m really happy to be here, and that flight was amazing. I know that I can leave any time and I’m not worried about that. It’s just—” she trailed off, searching for the words. “It’s just that we’ve been friends online for months, and I haven’t shared that with anyone. Your friendship is something special, just for me. I don’t feel like going out right now because I want to keep you and this arrangement to myself for a couple days while we get to know each other. I hope I’m making sense.”
He smiled. A single dimple appeared and Kelissa’s heart skipped a beat.
Did he have any idea how handsome he was?
“You make complete sense. I’d like to keep you to myself for a little while as well. Maybe we could order takeout, skip the mansion and head to my beach cottage in La Jolla and enjoy my private beach and dinner on the deck.”
“That sounds perfect.”
“Excellent.” He opened the door to the back of the limo and held it with one hand while he helped her in. “Go ahead and look through the menu and the food will be there when we arrive or shortly after.”
“Must be nice,” she said, taking the menu he offered and picking a few items before handing it back.
He took a picture with his phone and circled the things she’d indicated with his finger on the screen, then sent it off in a matter of seconds. She was in awe of how easily he seemed to command life, even in just the few minutes that she’d been in his presence. He was bold, yet tender. Self-assured, but somehow almost humble. He was a man who didn’t need anyone to tell him that he was important, but he would listen to her if she ever voiced concerns.
She’d never met a man like him.
“Being wealthy has its perks. Meeting a beautiful woman online and treating her like the queen she is comes to mind right about now.”
He was smiling at her, his brown eyes locked with hers, his affection genuine. She almost didn’t notice his hand on her knee, or the subtle way he leaned in just a little. When she did, she decided to go for it, closing the distance between them and kissing him boldly. He returned her kiss, then pulled back, his hand still on her knee, a second dimple appearing when his smile widened.
“I was going to ask you how you were feeling about being here, but I think I have my answer.”
“You weren’t about to kiss me?”
Whoops.
“I wasn’t going to push my luck, but it seems to have worked out.”
She opened her mouth to explain herself, but his lips were already on hers, his free hand taking one of her hands and threading his fingers with hers. She leaned into him until their knees touched, opening her mouth to him when he deepened the kiss.
This time, she was the first to pull away, her breath coming in quick gasps, her excitement almost overwhelming her. She looked over her shoulder at the window between the back of the limo and the driver. It was up, but her gaze still lingered as she scrutinized the area around it.
“There are no cameras and there’s no speaker unless I hit the button.”
She looked at him, smiling shyly at being caught, then turned to look out the window.
“I want to see everything; can we open the sunroof?”
He hit a button and the roof opened up.
“It’s a panoramic roof,” he said when she watched it expose almost the entire roof of the car.
“This is amazing.”
She stood and he moved in behind her, pulling her against him so she was steady as the driver made his way around the bay toward the entrance to the I-5 North.
“What is that?” she said, pointing to a large, wooden ship stained dark with time.
“That’s the Star of India. A lot of these boats on this side of the bay are floating museums and restaurants. If you want, we can spend some time exploring this area before you leave.”
“I would love that.” She pointed west. “I’ve seen that bridge in postcards. What’s that city over there?”
“Coronado. There are some excellent restaurants there, as well as the Hotel Del Coronado.”
“Where the president stayed?”
“Which one?” he laughed. “Quite a few of them have stayed there. There’s a lot of San Diego that you need to see, but some of the most beautiful hotels and buildings you’ll see at the fundraisers we’ll attend. See that cruise ship right there? The Hornblower? That ship only sails in the bay. One of the fundraisers takes place on the ship at sunset, and you’ll get to see even more of the city than you can right now.”
“Are we getting on the freeway?”
“We are,” he said, pulling her down gently but leaving the roof open. “La Jolla is part of San Diego, but it’s a little way north of here. Luckily rush hour traffic is over and we won’t be delayed. We should get there in about twenty minutes.”
“The city is so big.”
“San Diego is a different sort of place. The city itself is in several parts of the county, connected by suburbs and communities that have their own names and personalities. When most people say that they’re from San Diego, they’re really talking about the county, which is huge. When we’re speaking to other San Diegans, we refer to our individual communities, but outside of here, it’s easier to say, ‘San Diego’ than to explain the difference between Imperial Beach and Pacific Beach. It’s all San Diego, but like the other communities, La Jolla has its own vibe and its own unique flavor.”
“I’ve never lived anywhere with a vibe,” she said, sitting up so she could watch the coastline and the businesses that lined the freeway. “This is all so amazing.”
“I’m glad you like it so far. Sometimes it’s hard to make the adjustment from a small town to the city.”
“I told you I’m from Chicago, right?” she said without taking her eyes off the sights around them.
“You did, but you also told me that you moved to Iowa pretty early in your life and that you’ve lived there ever since.”
“That’s true, but I’m not a country bumpkin.”
“You can take the girl outta the hood,” he said, chuckling.
“Where did you hear that?” she asked, rolling her eyes.
“Is it wrong?”
She shrugged.
“I don’t know. I don’t feel ‘hood’ but I don’t feel ‘country.’”
“Maybe that’s because you haven’t found a place to call home yet.”
“That could be it. I know I’m going to love living here for a few months. It’s already warmer than October in Iowa.”
“You can stay longer if you want.”
“I know that, and thank you. Right now, I want to stick with our initial agreement. I don’t want to make promises, and I don’t want you to make promises that we both might not be able to keep. I know you mean what you say; I just think it’s best if we see how the next few weeks go before we think about three months from now.”
“Sounds like a solid plan.”
“I’m glad that—” she cut off mid-sentence. “Is that you?” she asked, pointing at a huge billboard on the side of the freeway.
“It is.”
“Is that one of the billboards you were talking about?”
“Yes. I thought we could change it up a bit and instead of just me, you could play the satisfied homebuyer.”
“That sounds great.”
“We’ll do a few different takes on that scenario and we’ll pick the three best ones to put on the billboards. That way, the faces are familiar, but the scenes are different and catch the driver’s eye.”
“I can’t wait.”
“I’m glad you said that, because I was hoping we could do the shoot at the end of the week sometime. Or next week if you’re not recovered from your flight out here.”
“Recovered?” she laughed. “I slept the whole way here. It was amazing.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Well, then we’ll sit down tomorrow and figure out our schedule.”
The limo slowed down, then stopped while the driver rolled down the window and gave the security guard at the gate an address on Neptune Place.
“Are we here?”
“Almost. This is the exclusive part of La Jolla, and a few years ago they put in a guard shack to make it harder for partiers to crash the private beaches and paparazzi to get in to harass the celebrities that occasionally rent beach houses.”
“That sounds exciting.”
“It’s not as exciting as you would think,” he quipped. “And our biggest problem is young adults—and I use that term loosely—breaking into vacant houses and holding huge parties.”
“What about your place?”
“I live at the very end of a cul-de-sac and we have to pass through another gate to access that final half-mile stretch of the neighborhood. I haven’t had a problem yet.”
“What about the other side of your part of the beach?”
“I own a mile that stretched out from the property line south of me to the north. North of my beach is a sanctuary for seabird nesting. So, there isn’t really much on the other side of me.”
“And this isn’t your main residence?”
“No,” he laughed. “This place is a little two-story bungalow on the beach. It only has five rooms, but you’re going to love the walls.”
“Only five rooms,” she teased. “What am I going to love about the walls?”
“All four outside walls are one-way glass. So, you can see out, but no one can see in. There’s even a screened-in deck with a small table and a bed.”
“It sounds like paradise,” she said.
“There it is,” he pointed.
She stared in awe at the beautiful house walled entirely in a thick, blue glass that was almost the same shade as the ocean beyond. Her mouth dropped open and she looked at him in shock.
“That’s not a little two-story bungalow,” she said. “That is a dream come true.”