“Come on,” I argue. “You won’t miss one little number, Brandy. I’ll even pay you for it.”
“Bentley, you know I--”
I cut her off before she can say that negative four-letter word. “This is Jolene’s first time inside a Whataburger. She needs a memento to remind her how amazing it is when she’s back at home.”
Jolene has been watching us go back and forth until she hears her name. “Oh no, it’s fine. I can grab a picture by the sign, or something.”
I stare at Brandy, willing her not to make a big deal out of this. I mean, it’s one stupid plastic tent. We were friends, sort of, back in high school. Why is she making this such a big deal? Brandy glances over at Jolene, and I’m not sure what she sees on her face, but she relents. “You can keep it, but I’m telling your mom you’re being a pain”
I sag in relief, but worry over what she’s going to say to Mom is going to plague me. I haven't mentioned Jolene to her yet. Even though I’ve talked to her a few times since Jolene and I started dating. I don’t want to get her hopes up. “Thank you,” I call to Brandy’s retreating back.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Jolene nudges me in the ribs with her elbow.
“What are you talking about? Everyone needs a souvenir from their first time here.” I separate our food and unwrap her burger for her. She serves and takes care of people all day. I wonder if she’s ever had anyone cater to her. “I can’t wait to see what you think.”
She picks up the burger and eyes it before looking at me. “I hope this is as good as you say. I don’t even like burgers in general.”
I pull my hand to my chest. “You wound me. How can you not like burgers?”
“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “They’re fine, I just never really cared for them.” She takes a bite and groans. “This is actually really good,” she says while covering her mouth full of food. “I think it’s the avocado.”
In my opinion it’s sacrilege to put that on a burger, but if she likes it that way, who am I to argue. “I told you. Just wait until you dip an onion ring into the ketchup. It’s so popular they sell it in certain grocery stores.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yep. If you end up liking it, I’ll ship you some.”
An alarm on a phone goes off, and she rummages around her bag. “Crap. We’ll have to wrap this up pretty quickly. I need to head to the airport soon.”
“You set an alarm to remind you?”
“Well, yeah,” she replies, sheepish. “I didn’t know what we would be doing. And I didn’t want to get so lost in the moment that I lost track of time and missed my flight.”
She’s responsible, and it’s one of the things I admire about her. She understands dedication and doesn’t give in to her whims. No matter how much I wish she would. “Well, let’s hurry up and finish eating. I’ll text Sam and let him know we’re almost ready.” Having to cut this short isn’t what I had in mind, but I understand. She has a job, like I do, and she takes it seriously.
* * *
Sam pulls up to the drop off area of the airport and I’m not ready for the day to end. Not ready for her to get on a plane and leave me. Our driver exits the car to get her luggage from the trunk. “Do you want me to walk you in?” We’re still in the bubble of the backseat, and it’ll burst the second Jolene reaches for the door.
“No,” she shakes her head. “There’s a separate entrance for us to enter, and they don’t let others come through.”
“Oh,” I nod. “I have a flight with you in a couple of days. We can grab dinner after that. Maybe have an overnight visit…” I let the sentence trail off to see what she does with information. I’m not pushing to have sex, yet. She’s skittish at the best of times anytime I broach the subject. If it were up to me, I’d take her in the backseat now. I’m trying to be a gentleman and give her what she deserves. Not a rushed moment of passion that she may regret later.
“We can definitely get together.” She doesn’t acknowledge the last sentence, but she also seems hesitant to leave the car. The weight of ending our date must be heavy for her. “I should probably go.”
She reaches for the door, and my stomach sinks. Fuck being a gentleman. I’m not letting her leave this car without giving her something to remember until the next time we see each other.
Before she can touch the handle, I pull her toward me and fuse my mouth to hers. She stiffens in surprise, then melts into my arms. Her tongue slides across the seam of my lips, and I grant her entry. More than willing to let her lead the kiss. Let her decide how much she wants to give. Our tongues tangle together and she wraps her arms around my neck, bringing her even closer. If I pull her onto my lap, she’d see just how much more I want.
My hand glides up her back before sliding into her hair. I grasp the locks in my fist and pull her head back a fraction of an inch, exposing her long, slender neck. Breaking the kiss, my mouth trails down her skin and her barely audible gasps send blood straight to my cock. As torturous as this is for me, I can only imagine what it’s doing to her. I want nothing more than to slide my other hand into her jeans to see how much I’m affecting her.
I slowly work my way back to her lips, and her phone rings. It’s loud in the silence of the backseat. She pulls away from me and I let my hands fall to my lap, adjusting my sweats. “That’s probably Lana wondering where I am.” Her voice is ragged and her lips are plump. There’s no way to deny my mouth hasn’t been on hers. Thank god Sam didn’t come back into the car.
“Saved by the phone once again,” I grin. Lifting a hand, I smooth out her hair, trying to make her look presentable.
“Yeah. She must have a weird sixth sense.” Her eyes linger on my lips before she shakes her head. “I better go before she sends out the calvary.”
“That’s a good idea. She terrifies me.”