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I look at my friends. “I can’t go, can I?”
Delilah raises her eyebrows. “Do you have a passport?”
“I do.” It was acquired last year for a conference in Canada. Four days in Toronto, not months with no end in sight.
“Then of course you can go,” she says, beaming. “I need to live vicariously through you, and you need to get out of here and pack and meet Naomi at the airport!”
Trip. Flight. Airport.Holy shit.
A frenzied sensation moves through me, nervous excitement humming through my veins, but… “I can’t just not show up for work.”
Ricky slaps my shoulder. “It’s not ideal, but it’s an emergency. I’ll head over to the clinic and talk to Claire. You can call her when you’re settled in Thailand.”
Sweat gathers on my brow. I picture Ricky showing up at the clinic instead of me, and everything in me clenches. Considering something so wild, so unprofessional and uncharacteristic, is irresponsible. Then my mind skitters to E, who always pushed me out of my comfort zone and added adventure to my life. His disappearance may have weakened my ability to live carefree, but if he were here now, I have no doubt he’d shove me out the door and onto that plane.
Suddenly, I know. I need this. Gran will probably be thrilled I’m shaking things up. I bet my folks will understand. And I know I’m strong. I experienced a traumatic event, but I also got through it. I’ll let my therapist know what’s going on and that I might need to reach out while away. Work is messier, but fuck it. It’s time to shake things up.
And sweep Naomi James off her feet.
The last three points fromCosmopolitan’s article on how to seduce my enemy should help with that.
When the time’s right, reveal your true feelings.
Be bold. Enemies harbor strong emotions and don’t respond to subtlety.
Put your heart on the line, even if it’s a risk.
Showing up unannounced at Naomi’s departure gate will cover all of that and then some, but I don’t think I can be as open-ended with a trip as she wants. Compromise will be needed from her as well.
Guess I’m about to find out if my former enemy has fallen for me as hard as I’ve fallen for her.
chapterseventeen
Avett
My nervous excitement was mildly thrilling when planning this ludicrous stunt. Now I’m more nauseated than pumped.
I can’t believe I’m at the airport. I’m unsure what kind of idiotic person throws his life into chaos for a woman. Still, I’m not backing down. I want to remember what it is to live by the seat of my pants. I want to kiss Naomi breathless in a Thai jungle, wake up with her, no clue as to how our day will unfold.
The two of us, living wild and for each other.
But I’m me, so I have stipulations. I’m not upending my five-year plan completely. I’m merely…extending it. I’ll always be a spreadsheet guy, but I want a woman who has hopes and ambitions of her own. Relationships require compromise and communication. I’m ready to fly off into the unknown with Naomi, but I’m praying she meets me halfway.
Or she won’t and this will blow up in my overheating face.
I leave airport security and head to our departure gate, later than I’d normally be for a flight. Shocking as it is, I’m a four hours early kind of guy. Arriving with only an hour before takeoff has slashed another five years off my life.
I trip over nothing as I rush through the terminal—my lack of athletic prowess is still alive and well—then I do that fake running thing as though I planned the stumble. A kid snickers at me. I try to offer a self-deprecating smile, but I’m pretty sure I’m giving him crazy eyes.
By the time I see our departure gate, my pulse is haywire. I search the seats, looking desperately for the woman who used to make my mornings a living hell.
The second I spot her, my breath whooshes out.
Naomi is sitting alone, her hazy attention aimed at the windows, as though she’s only half seeing the planes outside, and my heart swells.Love.I love Naomi James, villainous vixen, Ms. High and Mighty herself. Not fickle, infatuated love. This is true love. Scary love. The kind of soul-deep love that makes a guy push his boundaries and slice and dice his five-year plan.
Too focused on whatever she’s watching, she has no clue I’m here. I’m lightheaded with anticipation. I can’t imagine never having let myself experience this thrill of the unknown. This buzzing through my limbs. The internal frenzy that has me smiling so wide I must look deranged. I’m definitely anxious, but in a good, I’m-alive-and-living way.
Then she glances my way.
