"Ok," I laughed.
Forty-five minutes later we were at a spa so exquisitely beautiful I couldn't help but look around and gawk.
"Hi, we've got appointments for nine am. Charlie and Reeve," she said to the receptionist behind her ornately beautiful hand-carved wooden desk. From that moment on it was one wonderful experience after the next. We had massages, manicures, pedicures, facials and the last stop was the hair salon.
"Uh, I'm not sure I want a haircut," I nervously said to Reeve. She turned to the stylist attending to me and gave her a serious look.
"We're on very strict orders from our benefactor for the hair. A slight trim, no more than a half inch, an extravagant wash complete with scalp massage, and a deep conditioning treatment. He wants her hair soft, shiny, and long. So seriously, don't cut it much." Reeve turned back to me and rolled her eyes. "He nearly made me sign a contract to make sure you wouldn't come out of here with your hair any shorter."
I didn't bother telling her all the times he pulled it while we made love or how he used it to manipulate my body to position me. I just shrugged. "He likes it long." And I liked keeping it long to make him happy. He's always loved my hair. Changing the subject, I casually mentioned how all this must have cost him a small fortune. I saw Reeve try to hide a smile.
"He's been saving the money he made from his grandfather to pay for your present. Don't worry Charlie; he loves you and wanted to do this for you. Well," she paused and the sneaky smile was back. "For us. I made him pay for me too, seeing as how I was forced to spend the entire day here with you." I giggled along with her because I could totally see her weaseling to get her way.
When the entire process was complete, we both looked and felt amazing. My hair had never been softer and my skin was glowing. I was relaxed and happy. All I needed was Asher's arms around me and everything would be perfect.
We got back into Reeve's car and I listened to her endless rattling until I realized we were not headed towards our part of town.
"Reeve, where are we going? Home is the other direction." She waved a hand at me like it didn't matter.
"I just have one more errand to run. It will only take a minute, promise." I sat back in my seat resigned to listening to her for as long as I was stuck in the car. Heaven forbid you reach to turn up the stereo or try to engage in conversation. When Reeve drove she wanted an audience, not a participant. I was so zoned out I never even noticed when the car stopped until Reeve opened her door and popped out. She walked around to my side of the car and opened my door too. I looked up at her, puzzled.
"Come on, Charlie. You've got a plane to catch."
"Excuse me?"
"You're flight leaves in an hour and a half, so you better hurry up."
"What flight?" Reeve rolled her eyes at me.
"The flight your boyfriend booked you so he could spend your birthday with him tomorrow. So, hurry up." She grabbed my arm and hauled me out of the car.
"I don't have any luggage. I didn't pack anything," I said, nearly panicked. I began to remember how much I hated surprises. Reeve walked to her trunk and popped it open, pulling out a rolling suitcase.
"Everything you need should be in here. If I forgot something I'm sure you can manage to pick it up when you get there."
"Is this really happening?" I was in shock. How had all of this been planned right under my nose? "Does my dad know where I'm going?"
"Yeah, he's in on it. All three of us were. Asher hounded us to make sure it all got planned while we still kept it a secret. You better have a freaking fantastic time, or he's gonna hear about it from me. This was such a pain in my ass." She moved in and pulled me into a hug. "But you're worth it. So have a great time, have some great sex, and tell me all about it when you get back."
"Reeve?" I mumbled into her shoulder.
"Yeah?"
"I've never been on a plane before. I'm scared."
"In the front zipper pocket of your suitcase there is a tiny bottle of vodka. Before you go through security stop somewhere and get an orange juice. Pour it in and chug it down. You'll be fine." She pulled away and winked at me.
"You really did think of everything."
"That was your dad's idea." I laughed and covered my mouth. The idea of my father giving the ok for his underage daughter to consume alcohol was completely ridiculous to me. It had me giggling all the way to the tiny store inside the airport where I bought my overpriced orange juice.
Chapter Five
Exiting the plane and walking through the unfamiliar airport was thrilling. I looked to every face I saw, every man I encountered was studied to make sure it wasn't him. I didn't want to miss him and I wanted to find him as soon as possible. The flight wasn't very long and the vodka helped ease my fears, but the anticipation of seeing him, knowing we would be together soon, was enough to make a girl sprint through an airport terminal.
I caught a glimpse of his face as I darted around other passengers reuniting with their families. My heart clenched in my chest and I pushed back the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. My purse dropped from my shoulder and I ran as fast as I could to leap onto him. Luckily for us, he caught me and I sighed heavily as his arms wrapped around my waist. They were thicker and sturdier. Harder, even. I loved what summers on the farm did to his body. I could feel his stomach was rock hard as well.
"Asher," I breathed into his neck.
"Bit," he countered as he ran his hand down the length of my hair. "God, I missed you."
"I missed you too." We held each other there, in the middle of the airport, for a long while, neither of us willing to let the other go so easily. Eventually I released my arms from around his neck and pulled back to look at him. His hair was a little longer, his freckles were deliciously darker, and his eyes were a deep, dark gray, darker than usual. "Hi," I said shyly.
"Hey, Babe. You ready to get out of here?" His words held promises of time alone, time to feel each other, to reconnect.
"Yes." He pressed his lips to mine and all the promises his words held were vowed again in his kiss. His lips slid over mine and I was reminded how well my body responded to him. Pleasure rippled through my body, concentrating in my core at the juncture between my thighs. I only wore a pair of yoga pants and I knew he could feel the heat that began to radiate from my center.
"Ok, time to go," he said as he pulled away. "A few more minutes of this and we'll both get in a lot of trouble with the TSA. They frown on people having loud and rough sex in front of baggage claim."
"Loud and rough?" I gulped.
"Or sweet and quiet," he shrugged, "whichever you prefer. All I know is that I need to be inside of you, like yesterday."
We walked hand-in-hand to his car and shared kisses at almost every single stop light we caught. The first few were innocent and sweet, but slowly they transformed into passionate kisses that were beginning to feel like poor and unsatisfying replacements for other bodily contact. His hand found my thigh as we drove through the streets and I willed it to slide farther up, closer to my core where I desperately needed something – anything.
I expected us to drive to a farm, but was surprised again when he turned into the parking lot of a hotel. "We aren't going to your grandfather's farm?"
"Nope," he said as he turned off the car and got out. There was some serious lack of information going on here. I climbed out of the car and met him at the trunk where he was lifting my bag out.
"How long are we staying here?"
"Just two nights."
"Then what?"
"We'll go back to my grandpa's farm after that. I took a few days off, but then I'll have to get back to the farm to help out."
"How long am I staying?"
"Your plane home leaves in four days," he said with a smile. "So, two days here and two days on the farm. Is that ok?"
"Yeah." It was the best birthday present ever.
"Great. Let's go inside," he said while his eyes glimmered with excitement. He nearly dragged me all the way to the elevator once we were inside the lobby.
"Don't we have to check in?" I asked as he pressed the call button no less than forty times, as he eagerly watched the doors, waiting for them to open.