The Valentine Getaway Read online

  I bet they were having a splendid time.

  I bet my father was dancing around their room with my mother in his arms. I bet they were sitting at a piano bar, sipping their favorite drinks while listening to some live entertainment. I bet my father was indulging in the finest foods as my mother curled up in a hot tub. I bet my mother was spending entire days at some onboard spa so my father could take in live entertainment at three o’clock in the afternoon without having to worry about where she was or what she was up to.

  What my parents had was wonderful and what Doug had with his wife was incredible.

  “You okay, Abby?”

  Just hearing Colin’s voice ripped me back to reality. Instead of fantasizing about what having a family would be like, I was sitting in an eighteen-wheeler creeping down the highway. At this snail’s pace because of the weather, we wouldn’t make it to Kansas City until almost ten tonight.

  Which meant we wouldn’t get to Wichita until almost midnight.

  “Yeah. I’m fine,” I said.

  “You don’t sound fine,” he said.

  “You know what? No, I’m not fine. I don’t understand why you couldn’t just listen to me. I don’t understand why it would’ve been so damn bad to just stay another night with me in a hotel.”

  “Abby, I really don’t think now’s an—”

  “Whatever,” I said, sighing.

  I didn’t care that Doug was around. I was ready to address this situation. It wasn’t the fact that he didn’t listen to my nagging. It was the fact that I was scared. I was anxious and fearful, but he didn’t care. He didn’t even acknowledge the fact that it bothered him in the slightest. I’d ridden in that car gripping onto the emergency handle and shaking in the passenger’s seat, and he didn’t give a damn about it. He didn’t care that I was scared and he did nothing to try to make it better. He wanted me to trust him, but only if that meant keeping my mouth shut.

  “You two hungry?” Doug asked. “There’s a giant truck stop with a restaurant not too far up the road. Figured we could all use a stretch.”

  “Sounds perfect,” Colin said.

  “What about you, Miss Abby?” Doug asked.

  “Whatever makes the man happy,” I said, defeated.

  I could feel Colin’s eyes on me, but I didn’t care. Whatever excitement I’d possessed at seeing Colin on the airplane had completely dissipated. Whatever fantastical reality I had built up for us in my head had come crashing down around me. The kind, sweet, laid back man who tossed his luggage into the back of the car at the airport didn’t exist any longer, and I was just as ready to get to Kansas City as he was.

  If I could get there safely.

  The weather was still disgusting. No snow anywhere in sight, but the freezing rain was pouring down. It was icing the bridges and creating low-hanging icicles that shattered against the top of the truck. The temperatures were plummeting to below freezing and the snow that was still on the roads was beginning to harden into ice. I could feel the truck sliding around as we pulled into the rest stop, and my hands were already trembling with fear.

  I was just glad we were pulling over.

  I shoved Colin out of the truck just to plant my feet onto solid ground. I scurried my way into the restaurant, anxious to sit down and get a cup of coffee in me. Even though it was three in the afternoon, it looked like it was almost midnight outside. The gray clouds that were heavy with angry weather seemed to be taunting me.

  Like they used to do when I was a little girl.

  I don’t know why the weather frightened me so much, but it did. There was this one snowstorm I could remember, and it kept popping up to the forefront of my mind whenever I chanced to look outside. It was the largest snow storm Minnesota had ever received. It snowed for five entire days before coating us in a sheet of ice. My father was trying to get home from a business convention on the other side of the state, and my mother kept telling him to just stay put until the snow and ice could melt.

  But my father was anxious to be home and I was anxious to see him.

  He had been gone for two weeks and I missed him. I missed our nighttime rituals and I missed cuddling with him on the couch. And I knew my mother missed him, though she was trying to be strong for me.

  I wanted him home and I was excited when Mom told me he would be driving through.

  But, what should’ve been a six-hour drive ended up in a three-day manhunt to figure out what had happened to him. His car had skidded on a massive patch of ice and ended up in a ditch. But because his car was white and buried in the shadows of the snow, the police just kept buzzing by him.

  He almost froze to death because he didn’t want to wait until the weather cleared.

  “Here ya go,” Doug said, grunting. “Got you a cup of coffee.”

  “Did the waitress come by?” I asked.

  “You looked a little lost in thought. I caught her before she bothered you.”

  “You’re so considerate,” I said. “Your wife is very lucky.”

  “Trust me, I wasn’t always this way. She taught me how to be. All this? Courtesy of her training.”

  I grinned as I wrapped my hands around the warm mug.

  “A word of advice?” Doug asked.

  “I’ll take anything right now,” I said, sighing.

  “Communicate. Even if he’s just your boss. But I don’t really think that’s the case.”

  “Trust me. He’s only the owner of the company I work for,” I said.

  “Either way, communicate with him. He only knows what you tell him. Us men aren’t mind readers.”

  “I just want out of this weather. It’s terrible, and someone is going to get hurt. Hell, we almost got hurt,” I said.

  “Then tell him that.”

  “I did! He won’t listen.”

  “No. You have to tell him why,” Doug said.

  I looked up into his eyes and held his gaze until Colin sat down next to me in the booth.

  “How far out from Kansas City are we?” Colin asked.

  “About an hour out,” Doug said.

  “Wonderful. We can get to Kansas City, get another rental, and make it into Wichita tonight.”

  Doug shot me a look, so I cleared my throat and spoke.

  “Colin, I really think we should get a hotel in Kansas City,” I said.

  “No way. Not when we’re so close,” Colin said.

  “At this rate, we won’t get into Wichita until close to midnight. And the nighttime is going to make this driving worse. The clouds don’t look like they’re going to let up anytime soon, and I just think it’s safer,” I said.

  “Then you can stay behind in Kansas City and I’ll head on. But I need to make it into Wichita tonight,” Colin said.

  “Colin, that’s not safe for you and you know it. No preparation you need to do requires you to be in Wichita,” I said.

  “If it helps, I think Abby’s right,” Doug said. “Getting a hotel in Kansas City is gonna be much better for you in this weather. It’s not supposed to get any easier, from the looks of weather reports.”

  “An eight-hour trip shouldn’t take two days,” Colin said.

  “It does if there are blizzards,” I said. “And besides, you’ve already crashed one car. You ready to do that to another just because you’re stubborn?”

  Colin’s eyes held mine and I could hear Doug sigh in defeat. Communication wasn’t what Colin needed. I was communicating what we needed just fine. What Colin needed was a swift kick in the ass by someone who wouldn’t take his shit.

  And I was going to give it to him.

  “There’s a hotel close to this truck stop. About ten minutes outside of Kansas City. It’s an awesome spot. Got a pool and a hot tub and all sorts of amenities to make it comfortable,” Doug said.

  “Could we stay there even though we aren’t truckers?” I asked.

  “We’re not staying in a hotel,” Colin said.

  “Then find a taxi,” I said, flatly.

  “You ca
n stay as long as you’re with me,” Doug said. “I was gonna camp there anyway. The roads are getting bad and the weather is supposed to unleash again tonight.”

  “Of course it is,” Colin said.

  “Are you serious right now?” I asked.

  “I don’t understand why it’s so bad that I’m frustrated that an eight-hour trip is taking us this long,” Colin said.

  “You totaled a damn rental car, Colin,” I said. “If you really can’t see that your stubbornness is bordering on suicide, then you’ve got bigger problems than prepping for an idiotic conference.”

  I held his gaze and dared him to respond. I was ready for a fight. I was ready to dump my shit onto this man. I was ready to bury him in his insolence and his disregard for others around him.

  But he didn’t say a word.

  “The hotel sounds wonderful, Doug. Thank you,” I said.

  “You gonna be joining us, Mr. Murphy?” Doug asked.

  “Doesn’t look like I have a choice.”

  “There’s always a choice. It’s whether you make the right one or not that lands you in the positions you find yourself in,” I said.

  “Like spending Christmas with you?”

  The moment it rolled off his tongue I could tell he regretted it. His eyes sank and his eyebrows hiked up onto his forehead. I could feel tears rising to my eyes as my world came crashing down around me. There it was. The one thing I was petrified of. The one thing that kept rolling around in my mind that entire night as we laid there beside the fire, tangled up in one another.

  I was scared I would become a regret to him.

  And apparently, I had.

  “Abby, I—”

  But all I did was hold up my hand to stop him.

  “I’m not feeling very hungry,” I said. “But thank you for the coffee, Doug. It was very kind of you to get it for me,” I said.

  “Not a problem. Let’s get some food in us and I’ll get us to the hotel. I take it the two of you will want two separate rooms?”

  I nodded lightly before I turned my face to look out the window. My heart ached. A heart I didn’t even understand had become so attached to Colin. That night we shared together in the motel, with the jet tub and the champagne, it had been a dream come true. A desire realized that I had denied myself time and time again. I had missed his body. His presence. What his cock could do to me and how beautiful his lips made me feel. I missed his grunts low in my ear and his breath that was hot on my neck.

  And he didn’t miss any of it.

  Not even a sliver.

  Chapter 11

  Colin

  We drove ten minutes down the road before I saw a rental car place. It was the same one we had rented from at the hotel and I practically jumped out of my seat. I pointed to the sign as Abby continued to stare out the window, her blank eyes scanning the horizon as she looked for a way out of this situation.

  “I’ll need to pay for the damages on the previous car anyway. Just drop us off here and I’ll get us the rest of the way.”

  “You sure that’s a good idea?” Doug asked. “The weather’s pretty bad.”

  “I’ve got this,” I said. “We just need to take it slow.”

  Abby was silent and I tried to push the entire scenario out of my mind. I needed to fix one problem at a time, and the car would be easier to fix. Doug pulled over on the side of the road and let us out, and I was thankful to be rid of that cramped truck. We waved our goodbyes and Abby scrambled up to give him a hug.

  I would have rolled my eyes had I not felt like such a dick already.

  It was getting later and later. Already, it was close to dinnertime and we were only on the outskirts of Kansas City. The freezing rain gave way to buckets of snow, and it came down so hard we couldn’t even see the dark road outside. I guided Abby into the rental store and I talked with the front desk attendant, informing them of what happened and where the car currently was. I was ready and willing to pay whatever charges I needed to in order to cover the damages and get us back on the road.

  Mostly, I was ready for this nightmare of a trip to be over.

  I signed mounds of paperwork and swiped my card more times than I cared to admit. I specified that I needed a car with four-wheel drive, and that was when Abby made her first sound in the hour we had already spent in the car rental store. She snickered and shook her head before she folded her arms across her chest, then she turned her back to me as she looked out the window.

  I took the keys from the woman and bid her a farewell. I was ready to get in the car, get warmed up, and get back on the road. The length of our trip would easily double because of how slow we would have to go, but it was better than spending another night in a hotel with a woman who couldn’t stand my presence.

  “I really think we should just stay in Kansas City for the night,” Abby said lightly.

  Her voice sounded so miniscule and defeated, and it felt like a punch to the gut with every word she spoke.

  “I can get us there, Abby. Why don’t you trust me?” I asked.

  “I can’t even trust you with a phone call, Colin. How in the world am I supposed to trust you with a car in the middle of a blizzard?”

  My eyes studied the side of her face as a tear trickled down her cheek. She swiped at it quickly, but I had already seen it. She was hurting. At the core of her being, when I peeled away the comfort and the anxiousness and the attitude, Abby was hurt. I sat there as the car warmed up and watched her press herself as close to her door as she could get herself. The snow was coming down in sheets, blowing sideways as the car rocked with the wind. I noticed her legs were jiggling relentlessly, trying to expel the nervous energy she had coursing through her system.

  I couldn’t keep her on the road like this, even if I was going to miss ample preparation time with Ted.

  “Fine. We’ll stay the night. But we have to leave early in the morning. I have to get to Wichita. I know you don’t understand, but I—”

  “Thank you,” Abby said.

  She turned her heads towards me and I saw her red-rimmed eyes come into view. Her lips were downturned in exhaustion, but her eyes were full of gratefulness. She eased herself back into her seat and closed her eyes, allowing her body to finally relax like I’d wanted her to do back in Iowa.

  At least she seemed to be warming up after the bullshit ride we had with Doug.

  I found a decent hotel that didn’t have their parking lot filled to the brim. I pulled in and got us checked in just in time because they only had one last room left. A room with two double beds that sat right across the way from the pool and the hot tub area. It wasn’t ideal and we’d have to listen to people splashing around and screaming while we were there, but it was better than the alternative.

  So, I checked us in, got each of us a room key and went out to retrieve Abby.

  Part of me was still irritated that I just couldn’t drive us there. We were less than three hours away from our final destination and we were getting a damn hotel. I knew the weather was bad and I knew we’d had a rough day, but it was ridiculous that this venture was taking us so long. Who would’ve thought a conference in the middle of Kansas would get fucking snowed out like this?

  I needed to call Ted and let him know that I was going to be yet another day late.

  “Please tell me you’re here,” Ted said.

  “Nope. Stuck in Kansas City for the night,” I said.

  “Colin. You’re three hours away. Get in your damn car and drive.”

  “I can’t. The weather’s terrible and I’ve already crashed one rental car,” I said.

  “Wait. You crashed? Are you okay?” Ted asked.

  “I’m fine. But I don’t want to take the chance. The roads are slick with ice and it’s piling up on power lines. This storm is supposed to dump more snow overnight, and I’d rather be stuck in a hotel with generator-powered internet than on the side of the road in a car where I’ll freeze to death.”

  “Do I need to be preparing to do
this conference for you?” Ted asked.

  “Hell no. This isn’t like Christmas. I’m going to be there. I’ll just have to prepare on the road.”

  “Well, I got your first round of emails. Everything looks good for your first two appearances.”

  “Wonderful. I’ll get started on the next two tonight and send them to you before I crash,” I said.

  “I’ll keep an eye out for them. In the meantime, stay safe. And I told you so.”

  “Fuck you,” I said.

  “You should’ve flown in with me. Sorry you chose otherwise. I’m still not sure why you were hell-bent on making a stop in Minnesota before coming down here.”

  “Like I said, I had some things to take care of,” I said.

  “Let me know when you get on the road tomorrow. I’ll call your hotel and let them know to push you back another day.”

  “Thanks again. Talk to you soon.”

  I hung up the phone before I started to get Abby. She was waiting patiently in the warmth of the car with a satiated little grin on her face. She seemed much more relaxed now that we were parked in the parking lot of a hotel, and she clapped her hands when I held up the keys. I had no idea how she was going to pass the time, but I was going to do with it work. If I was going to be forced to prepare on the road, then she was on her own.

  Or the two of you could be snow bunnies.

  I shook the thought from my mind as quickly as it flared. Even though we threw professionalism out the window the night before, I still needed to keep some form of decorum. Yes, I had missed Abby, and yes, her body had felt wonderful against mine. But now this was getting serious. I was spending my first night of true work in another hotel because of her paranoia and because of this stupid weather, and I couldn’t have her body on my mind.

  But the moment we set foot into the hotel room, work faded into the recesses of my mind.