Beers, Hens, and Irishmen (Warbler's Point Series) (27 page)

             
“You look amazing.” He got up and made his way toward her. He would dabble in a quick kiss and then get her out the door.

             
“Thank you.” She was able to say before he took over her lips with his. He couldn’t get enough of her. Her perfume drew him in closer causing him to pull away abruptly. She wiped her mouth and stared at him.

             
“Listen, you need to stop doing that.”

             
He looked at her confused. “The kissing or the pulling away?”

             
“Both, you are teasing me right now and it’s not fair. No more kissing today. You hear me?”

             
“No kissing at all?” He tried the pouty lip again.”

             
She shook her finger at him and grabbed her jacket. “Not going to work, no kissing…or touching. Just keep all your body parts to yourself. Let’s just enjoy each other’s company.”

             
That didn’t seem like the date he had planned but since she actually agreed to go out with him, he would play by her rules…just for today.

             
“So where are we going?”

             
“If I can actually get you out the door I can show you.”

             
She rolled her eyes at him, escorted him outside and locked up. They got in his Jeep without breaking the touching rule and he drove toward their first destination. He asked about her night’s sleep but when she was talking all he could think about was the article he read at her apartment and he hoped later tonight the touching ban will disperse and he can see if Fiona paid attention to the article.

                                                                                    ***             

Fiona was starting to get annoyed with all the secrecy about what Booker planned for the day. She liked a surprise but when it was with a man she barely knew, it made her feel apprehensive. She knew she could trust Booker, at least she thought she could. If anything happened she did let Finn know she was going to be with Booker all day and that she would check in with him periodically to make sure Booker didn’t abduct her or anything. At least she was covering her bases.

             
When Murphy came over this morning for a surprise breakfast, she thought she was going to have a heart attack. She didn’t want Booker thinking he spent the night, which even with her superior attempt of ushering him out of her apartment, Booker still showed up early and saw Murphy. She knew she shouldn’t have over-reacted to Booker’s accusation, because she knew what it looked like but she couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t be a push over where he was concerned. That was what happened with Steve and why she was hurt so badly by him.

             
She needed to keep herself grounded. She was giving Booker a chance, she still didn’t know why but she was, so she needed to make sure she was level headed in her decisions. She couldn’t let him sweep her off her feet because once she completely let go, that’s when something bad would happen. It always did.

             
She was just about to ask one last time where they were headed when he turned into a small airport. She looked over at him with a confused look while he was just sitting their smiling with a huge grin on his face.

             
“Booker…”

             
“Just relax and let me take care of you.”

             
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

             
He parked in the middle of a tarmac right next to what looked like a charter plane. Were they flying somewhere? She had never been on a plane before. Her forehead started to break out in a sweat and her hands became very clammy.

Booker must have noticed her uneasy-ness because he squeezed her hand and asked, “Are you ok, babe?” She just nodded her head. “Are you sure? You look a little pale.”

Her head was cast down looking at her hands twisting in her lap until his hand met her chin and twisted her head so she was looking straight into those beautiful blue eyes. “Fiona, you can tell me. What’s wrong?”

She exhaled and said, “I have never flown in an airplane before.” She clamped her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, I’m so rude for assuming we are flying.”

“You assumed right. I promise we are safe. If you let there be an exception to the rule, I will hold your hand the entire time.”

That made her smile. “Seems to me like you are taking advantage of my nerves.”

“I might be, but I also want to make sure you are taken care of.”

She nodded her head in agreement and before she knew it they were up in the sky, floating with the clouds. She had never done anything so incredible in her life. She wished she had her camera
. She would be taking all the pictures she could of the marshmallow-like clouds.

“Bet you wish you had your camera.” Booker startled her right out of her thoughts.

“Yes I do, I was just thinking that. It’s so beautiful up here. I thought I would be scared to death while flying but I’m not. This is so amazing.” She squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Check under your seat.”

She glanced under and saw a black bag. She looked up at the grinning Booker and pulled out the bag. Inside was a brand new Cannon Rebel with every attachment she could think of and multiple memory cards.

“I can’t accept this.” She said while shaking her head and inspecting all the goodies she dreamed of owning.

He laughed. “I’m pretty sure you can, plus where we’re going, you’re going to want that.”

She didn’t even answer. She attached everything, put in a memory card and took a picture of booker. He laughed.

“Where are we going?”

“Are you going to keep asking?”

“Yes, so please just tell me, the suspense is killing me.”

He pulled a bag out from under his chair and pulled out a pair of hiking boots, and a bikini. What the hell? She gave him a confused look.

“What you can’t put the two together?”

“Not really. Please just tell me.”

“Alright, alright. Can I get a kiss first?” She just raised an eyebrow at him. He exhaled. “Fine, we are headed to Puerto Rico, mainly to go to the El Yunque which is the only rain forest in the United States.”

Fiona thought the wind just got knocked out of her. She had never been anywhere nearly as amazing as where Booker was taking her. This was all too much. He was way too good to be true. A rain forest? Where did he even come up with such an idea in such short notice? And the camera? Who does all this for a random bar maid?

She felt him nudge her arm, looking for some kind of reassurance that he what he planned was alright. She replied, “Booker, I can’t believe you did all this for me. It’s too much.” She felt herself get choked up. She saw him as he unbuckled his seat and knelt down next to her seat.

“Listen, I more than have the means to do whatever I want and I wanted to do something special for you. I have been down here before and I wanted to share it with you. Please don’t think about what it took to make this little excursion happen, just sit back, take pictures and enjoy…please.”

She felt a huge lump form in her throat. He was way too good for her, but she was going to enjoy him while she could. She grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him, kissed him like they were never going to see each other again. If anything she could show her appreciation with kisses.

He met her
lips with his and she felt her insides starting to melt from his touch. It was never like this with Murphy. It would never be like this with Murphy. There was something special between her and Booker and she felt it every time he was around, every time he touched her and most certainly every time he kissed her.

He smiled his brilliant smile at her. “I thought there was a no kissing and touching rule.” He teased.
             

She just shrugged
and looked him in his dreamy eyes. “Thank you so much for everything.” She gave one more quick kiss on the lips. “So tell me about this little trip you have planned.”

He smiled and sat back down in his seat. He took a sip of his soda that he got when they first boarded the plane. “We will be going to El Yunque like I said and we will be visiting one of El Yunque’s best kept secrets, the Juan Diego falls. It’s quite a hike, but I know you are up for it.”

At that moment Fiona looked down at her attire. “Uh, I’m not quite dressed for hiking, let alone tropical weather.”

“Not to worry babe
, I have that all covered. Once we get to the falls we will eat a little picnic lunch I have ready for us. I ordered tripleta sandwiches, they are the answer to the Cuban sub and they are damn good. Then we will take a little dip in the falls’ pool, it is something you will never forget. You can take all the pictures you want and then I made reservations for dinner where we can eat and do some salsa dancing.”

Fiona couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Every time Booker brought up something new they were going to do
on their trip, the excitement that was boiling up in her body got higher and higher and once Booker said salsa dancing she thought her pot was going to boil over. She wasn’t going to think at all what it took to put this all together, no, she was going to savor every minute of this once in a lifetime experience. If anything she was going to enjoy her limited time with Booker.

“That sounds incredible. I don’t even know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything, babe. Just enjoy.”

She smiled at him and grabbed a hold of his hand. There was no way she could ever give anything to Booker in return to the magnitude of his gift, so she decided to give him herself. She squeezed his hand and pulled him in for another kiss. He seemed to be enjoying her affection because that gorgeous smile of his never left his face.

             
                                                        ***

Finn was pacing his apartment trying to figure out what the hell he was going to do with Blaire tonight. God, she was so hot. Apparently they were staying in at her place tonight but he thought that he should at least bring over dinner…or maybe dessert. His stomach felt like it was being twisted around with a rusty fork as if his intestines were spaghetti. Why was he so nervous? Oh that’s right, because he hadn’t been with a woman in a little while and he was nervous that maybe things had changed since the last time he was with a woman. It hadn’t been that long but due to the lack of woman in Warblers Point and Bradon’s man whoring, there weren’t many options for him.

Blaire wa
s one of a kind, women like her don’t come around more than once in a life time. He felt like a girl because he could already see himself falling for her. She was sassy, beautiful, funny and outgoing. She kept him on his toes and he liked that in a partner. He liked a woman who could stand on her own.

He thought about making his famous shepherd’s pie but he wasn’t sure if Blaire would like that and if he understood her properly, he didn’t want to be eating anything too heavy since they might be conducting in extracurricular activities
later. Maybe he would just bring some wine and chocolate covered strawberries. Sophie makes great chocolate covered strawberries at her bakery. That would be perfect, if Blaire didn’t make dinner than they could either go out, or order in. He prayed for the latter.

He grabbed his coat and scarf and headed for his car. On the way down the stairs he sent a text to Sophie to make sure she was still at the bakery he knew she closed early on some days
. Thankfully she was still open.

When he pulled up to her shop he noticed Liam’s car was there. What was he doing at Sophie’s bakery? It didn’t look good if they hung out so soon, especially with the divorce still in the works. Finn walked in the cozy little bakery and instantly noticed Liam’s proximity to Sophie was a little too close. They were both behind the counter with their backs to the front door while
, what looked like were cleaning something.

Finn cleared his throat and they both separated quickly and turned around. Liam gave Finn a guilty look. Finn just raised a questioning eyebrow at his brother. “Hey you two. What are you up to?”

Sophie looked at Liam with a look that said, “What should we tell him?” Liam took the lead. “I was actually showing the divorce papers to Sophie.”

What an odd thing to show somebody, Finn thought. He voiced his opinion. “That’s a weird thing to show someone.”

Liam shrugged his shoulders. “It doesn’t seem real unless the papers are confirmed as real by someone else.”

Finn could understand that but why not show one of his brothers or his parents, not his ex-girlfriend who was his high school sweetheart and who was accused as an adulterer and the main reason for the divorce. Not smart, Finn thought. Sometimes Finn really was confused by his older brother and his actions.

              Finn just nodded in agreement. Sophie pulled herself from the awkward conversation and asked, “What can I get you Finn?”