Without a word, she stood up and marched away in her hooker heels and short, tight skirt. Was it evil for me to wish she would slip and fall on the gleaming tile floor?
She never returned, so I took the time and texted my sister while I waited. I didn’t even have to hear Amanda’s voice to know that she was completely amused by my report. I couldn’t wait to see her next week when we could have a face-to-face conversation.
Within a half-hour, Ian emerged looking quite pleased. I couldn’t say the same for his ex and her daddy. I wanted to yell out, “Cheaters never prosper!” and “Take that!” Once Ian put his arm around me though, I suddenly couldn’t have cared less about anyone else at that courthouse.
We didn’t say a word until we were outside. There he let me know that the ridiculous lawsuit had been dropped. “You’re a genius,” he kept repeating over and over. Apparently, Ian had also warned his ex-family that if any part of Chandler’s software showed up, they would be very sorry. I told him of my conversation with the “contractor.” By this time, we were to his car, and before he opened my door, he made me see stars. And as always, I knew how he felt by his kiss. He loved me.
IT WAS SO HARD TO keep my mind focused on our presentations over the next couple of days knowing that we would be spending the weekend together in our place, as I thought of it. By the time we were done on Friday afternoon, I was more than ready. The only thing that stood between the glorious mountains and us was rush hour traffic. Good thing my view inside the car was excellent. Ian looked great with his tie and suit coat off and white shirt slightly unbuttoned. I found, even though I missed the Clark Kent version, I more than liked the sexy boardroom version in front of me.
When we finally made it up the I-70 corridor into the foothills, I sighed. I missed these mountains. I was thankful to have the early evening sunlight during our drive. It was so beautiful. Nothing compared to the Rocky Mountains, from the pine tree lined mountains to the tiny waterfalls that cascaded down the rock walls near the highway. It even smelled like heaven. There was a crispness and freshness that filled the air. I think I took at least a hundred pictures with my phone as we drove. I texted several to my sister and told her we needed to take a family vacation here. She agreed.
It was around 7:30 when we arrived in Glenwood Springs. Our first stop was the hot springs. Neither Ian nor I could wait to revisit that beloved place together. I brought extra Chapstick and lotion for the occasion.
“I haven’t been back since the last time I took you here,” he said as we walked in.
That did my heart good.
We entered the water just as the sun was starting to set and the cool air highlighted the steam rising from the naturally hot water. It was breathtaking. No picture could do it justice. It was something that had to be experienced, not seen through a lens. As soon as I hit the water, Ian wrapped me up. I sank into his arms and stayed there for the next two hours until the hot springs closed.
There wasn’t a lot of talking, but what was said I found quite interesting.
After about the hundredth kiss, Ian stroked my wet hair and slid his hands silkily down my arms to where we interlocked hands. His hungry eyes added to the heat from the water. “You know,” he said, “this is where I fell in love with you.”
“Really?” I could hardly believe it.
He nodded, and for a moment I saw regret in those beautiful eyes of his. “But I knew I couldn’t have you. I knew I would have to let you go. I tried to think of everything I could to make it last as long as possible. I knew I shouldn’t have, and it was selfish of me, but I wanted you, so I started telling you I was crazy about you, instead of how I really felt. I hoped you would go with it, because I knew if ever you felt about me the way I felt about you, I would have to walk away. And for a while you went along with it. I tried to keep you at arm’s length, but in the end, you weren’t having it.” He placed our still entwined hands behind my back and pulled me closer.
“I wish you would have been honest with me.”
“Kelli,” he nuzzled my ear, “you were so young. I didn’t want you to wake up fifteen years later and regret that you never lived life or that the only real relationship you had was with me.” He dropped my hands, brought his wet hands up and held my face. “And let’s not forget how innocent you were and still, amazingly, are. I didn’t want to do anything to ruin that, but believe me, you pushed my self-control to the brink sometimes. You still do.”
I placed my hands on his toned bare chest. Did it ever feel nice. Itoo had to use self-control around him. “Ian, thank you, but I always knew you were the one for me. The only thing I regret is that I missed out on being with you these past thirteen years.”
He ran his thumbs gently across my cheeks. “Me too.”
I slid my hands up his bare skin and placed them around his neck. “I guess we better quit wasting time then.”
His lips crashed down on mine and proved to me why the extra Chapstick was a good call.
His parent’s home was about thirty minutes west of the hot springs. I felt bad we kept them up waiting for us, but after the week we had, the water and closeness was exactly what the doctor ordered. In fact, the whole weekend was.
The next morning, after sleeping in Ian’s old room that looked identical to the way it had almost fourteen years ago, I got up early to watch the sunrise. I tip-toed past Ian, who was sleeping on the couch. I guess the old sofa bed had seen better days, since it was long gone. I didn’t want to disturb him. I knew he hadn’t been sleeping well.
I wrapped up in a blanket I had taken from the bed and sat on one of their patio chairs on the weathered deck. The air was clean and crisp with a slight chill. I could barely make out the ridge that sat behind their home, but it didn’t take long for the sun to begin its slow rise over it. At first, it was only a few strands of light. It was almost as if the night was fighting for control, but it was no match for the powerful beams that broke through. It was breathtaking, but not quite as breathtaking as the man who slid open the glass patio door. He looked disheveled with his untidy hair and wrinkled pajama bottoms and t-shirt, but it was perfect to me.
He didn’t say a word. He sat on the chair next to me and pulled me over onto his lap. I curled up against him and listened to his heartbeat. He held me tight as we watched the sun take her rightful place in the sky and illuminate the fields that surrounded his parents’ home. The warmth of the sun’s rays burned off the dew of the night, and steam began to rise across the landscape. It was a moment of pure perfection.
The rest of the day we spent walking through those fields andpicnicking near the riverbank. Dinner was spent on the deck with his parents. As I looked at each person of the Greyson clan, I wished I could have made the weekend last longer. I didn’t want to go home to reality and to being Ms. Bryant during working hours. But reality called, and on Sunday morning we made our way back down to the busyness of the city, back to that oddly shaped airport, and back home.
WHEN WE ARRIVED BACK HOME, things started to feel different to me. For several weeks I couldn’t put my finger on it. Don’t get me wrong, I was happier than I had ever been, but something was missing. Then it hit me one day as I was going over the sales numbers for last month. I realized I didn’t want anything standing between Ian and me. And now that my baby was making a name for itself, I wanted some of the domestic bliss I had been craving—that something else boss talked about, right down to picking out the perfect suburban house. I knew who I wanted to live in that house with me, but I knew we couldn’t have any boundaries between us, professionally or otherwise.
So, I decided to seize the day. After our weekly account managers meeting, Ian was riding high. Sales were up and our pipeline was full. It was then I walked through the adjoining door. I hadn’t bothered knocking in weeks. I headed straight for Ian.
He looked surprised to see me, but I didn’t let that stop me. I strode right over to him and really surprised him by spinning his chair around, sitting on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck, and kissing him like a woman who was in love. He hesitated at first, but he nicely fell in line, if only for a brief moment.
“Ms. Bryant—”
I put my finger over his mouth. “I don’t want to be Ms. Bryant anymore.”
