Chapter Eleven
Emma found herself sitting on the airplane beside Brant not having a clue as to what to do. The morning had passed in a blur. They had been up early for their flight and she barely had time for a good-bye hug from her mother and father before Brant was rushing her out the door and into a taxi. Since they were up late the night before, the ride to the airport was spent in companionable silence as they both dozed lightly. Now, on the plane, the first moment of awkwardness had arrived. She wanted to reach over and take his hand, but she didn’t know if that was okay anymore. Was their time officially over now? As she continued to sit quietly, racked by indecision, Brant reached over and took her hand in his, settling them both in his lap. She felt her body relax. Everything was still okay between them. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
“You’re quiet this morning,” he murmured against the top of her head.
She quickly blinked back tears. God, she had gotten so attached to that voice this weekend. Whereas once a statement like that from him would have pissed her off, now it just made her sad. She wished the plane ride were longer. Here, pressed against his warmth, was where she wanted to stay. Should she just put her feelings out there? The worst that could happen was that he didn’t feel the same way. “I’m . . . um . . . just tired from last night, I guess.” Shit! She couldn’t force the words that she wanted to say past her lips. She just couldn’t bear to have it end yet. For the next two hours, he was still hers and, right now, that was something she wasn’t willing to risk. “Speaking of last night, where did you get those dance moves? I never would have believed you had it in you.” She smiled as he chuckled.
“Some television and a lot of improvising. It helped that everyone was too drunk to notice the times I almost tripped over my own feet. I really enjoyed your friends. Well, with the exception of Jill. She’s not easily deterred.”
Emma pulled back, looking up into his smiling eyes. “That was a different Jill from the one I knew in school. Madison said she has been going through a divorce and I believe she was a bit desperate to prove that she’s still got it. In her defense, you looked pretty hot last night.”
Brant gave her a surprised but pleased look. “I . . . really?” It was obvious that he wasn’t used to compliments, and she felt a guilty pang that he had certainly not received any from her in the time they had known each other. Most of her comments to him were negative and critical. That he enjoyed finally being on the receiving end of something positive was apparent. Why oh why couldn’t they have met under different circumstances? At work they had rubbed each other wrong almost from the start. Would things have been different if they had met somewhere else? He had been so caring, attentive, funny and affectionate all weekend. It was hard to believe that it was all an act. Somewhere inside of him, that man had to exist. Maybe if there hadn’t been an underlying attraction between them from the beginning, things would never have escalated to the love/hate, well, mostly hate, relationship that they had. It was never too late to try to change things, was it?
Giving his hand a squeeze, she said, “Oh yeah, you knocked my friends for a loop. Even David couldn’t keep his eyes off you.”
Pulling their clasped hands to his lips, he kissed her knuckles. “No one held a candle to you. I was the envy of every man there.” Emma felt herself doing something she rarely did: blushing. There was no doubting the sincerity of his words. She almost told him how she felt then and there, but the flight attendant picked that moment to start the beverage service and the moment was lost. Instead, she curled against him as much as the small space would allow and enjoyed feeling the steady beat of his heart against her ear as the last moments of the flight passed so much faster than she wanted.
Brant pulled the last of their bags from the baggage carousel and wondered to himself, What now? Emma was standing beside him awkwardly. “Did you drive to the airport?” he asked.
“No, root canal, remember? I was too high to attempt that.” They both laughed for a moment, remembering all that had taken place after her out-of-it plane ride to Miami. He was secretly relieved to have an excuse to extend their time together. He wanted nothing more than to ask her to come home with him, but he wasn’t sure how she would feel about it.