Once I made my decision, I couldn’t wait to get home to call. The rest of the day went by at a snail’s pace.
As soon as I walked in the door, I grabbed the phone and dialed his number. His phone rang 4 times, then his sexy voice came on. "You know what to do." Damn, it was his voice mail.
"Hey, it’s Gwen. Sorry I missed you. I just wanted to say thanks for the roses and for making my birthday something I’ll never forget. Give me a call if you want." And with that, I left my number.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday went by with no word from Vin. Just when I had finally convinced myself it was for the best, the phone rings Thursday night.
"Hello."
"Gwen?"
I’d know that sexy voice anywhere. "Hi."
"Sorry I’m just getting back to you. Things have been crazy since I got back. By the time I heard your message Monday night, I figured it was too late to call with the time-zone difference being 2 hours between us. I haven’t had time to breathe, much less give you a call."
"It’s ok. So what’s up on your side of the world?"
"Nothing but work. The meeting that was scheduled for this weekend has been changed to next week. I’m flying in Wednesday evening and the meeting is Thursday morning. After that, my schedule is clear. Can you take next Friday off?"
"Why?" I asked hesitantly.
"I want to take you somewhere, just the two of us."
"I don’t see that there will be a problem with me getting off." Oops, Freudian slip of the tongue.
"I know for a fact that there’s no problem with you getting off." Vin remarks with a sexy laugh.
"Oh man, you are bad."
The rest of the conversation jumped from subject to subject, catching up on what has happened in the last few days. Before we hang up, he gives me his flight information and adds, "I’ll call you when the meeting is finished Thursday."
"OK, I’ll talk to you later."
"Later."
The weekend came and went, as did the following week. I told Jenn about him calling and what he had planned, or at least as much as I knew, which wasn’t much.
"I’ve got a suggestion," Jenn says during our conversation.
"What?"
"Since you’ve got his flight information, why not surprise him at the airport? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind seeing you a day early."
"I don’t think that would be a good idea."
"Then why did he give you ALL of his flight info? He could have said that he flew in at 8:00 and not given you anything else, but he didn’t. He gave you everything. Trust me, he wants to see you. Why not surprise him?"
"I don’t know," I replied hesitantly. "What if he gets pissed that I showed up, or worse, what if he’s got someone else with him? How would it look?"
"Who the hell cares how it would look? Just go. I promise it won’t be a mistake."
"I’ll think about it."
Wednesday finally rolled around and I was nervous as hell about going to surprise him at the airport. I got there around 7:30, just in case his flight was early. I checked the boards and his flight was on schedule.
I sat down in the chairs to wait, picking up a magazine to read to pass the time. A lady came and sat next to me and we started talking. She was there to pick up her husband from a business trip and asked me who I was meeting.
"A friend who is flying in for the weekend."
She noticed that I was not wearing any rings that signified me as "attached", but commented on the ring that Vin had given me.
Running my finger over it, I replied, "It was a birthday present from my friend."
"This friend, I’m assuming it’s a male?"
"Yes. How did you guess?"
"You have a smile plastered on your face."
"We haven’t seen each other for two weeks and I’m looking forward to seeing him again." That, plus getting my hands all over that gorgeous body of his.
And with that, they announced that the flight had just arrived and was taxiing up to the terminal. The lady got up and went to wait closer to the door while I stood back and waited. Everyone started to exit the plane, and then I saw him. He was with Mike, one of the guys from the trip. They were talking and laughing about something, and when people started to recognize who he was, they flocked around him. I stood there, unable to move. People were everywhere. Some were snapping pictures while others were trying to get his autograph. Mike was trying to clear a path so they could get out of there, but he wasn’t making much progress.
Then, all of a sudden, he looks up from signing something, and quickly scans the waiting area, as if looking for someone. Oh great, he must have someone else here in town besides me and he’s looking for them. But when his gaze lands on me, a grin breaks out on his gorgeous face. He finishes what he’s signing and announced that he had to go. He made his way through the crowd over to where I was standing, grinning the whole way.
"What are you doing here?" he quietly asked, reaching out to gather my hands in his.
"I wanted to surprise you. Are you mad?"
"Mad? Hell no! Quite the opposite." He leans down, meeting my lips with his for a quick kiss.
Reaching up to run my hand across his cheek down to his chin, I ask, "Where’s your goatee?"
"Got rid of it." Noticing what I was wearing, Vin smirks, "Damn, woman. Did you pour yourself into those jeans? Can you even breathe?"
"No I didn’t pour myself into them, and yes I can breathe. What’s wrong with my jeans?"
"Nothing is wrong with them as far as I’m concerned. They look damn good on you." Bending closer to my ear he adds, "but they’d look even better off of you and thrown on the floor."
I started laughing. "I really don’t feel like giving everyone a free show. You standing here with me is enough of a show for these people."
Mike came up helped get us out of the airport before things got too crazy. While we were walking out of the terminal, Vin gave me the name of the hotel where he and Mike were staying, and asked if I wanted to stay there with him.
"I have a better idea. My apartment isn’t too far from where you’re meeting is, so why don’t you stay with me and Mike can pick you up before the meeting."
"Sounds like a plan. Ok with you, Mike?" Vin answers.
"No problem. I’ll get the rental and pick you up in the morning. Gwen, give me your address."
I gave him the address and directions from the hotel to my apartment, and then to the place where their meeting was to be held. Then we headed to the parking lot.
"Where’s your car?"
"Right in front of you."
"Gwen, that’s a truck. I’m serious, where’s your car?"
"That’s it," I say, pointing to my truck.
The expression on Vin’s face was priceless. "This I would not have believed. You drive a truck." He takes a few steps back and whistles. "A Ford F150 CrewCab with 4-wheel drive." He shakes his head in amazement.
"What’s wrong with that?" I ask.
"Nothing, but I had you pegged as the sports-car type."
"Nope, I’m just a country girl who lives in the big city and drives a truck.”