Page 215 of The Single Dads Club
I typed back a rapid reply:
“Not anymore. Bring clothes for warm weather.”
I could tell she read my response and when she didn’t reply for five minutes, I launched into action. Might as well take that as a yes.
The next hour was a rush of buying luggage and tickets, along with reserving a last-minute villa, but when I finally arrived at Bren’s door an hour later, it was with a deep sense of satisfaction. This was going to work. I had no doubt about that. I just had to get Bren to see it, too.
I knocked on the door and it flew open without warning. Bren stood facing me, her arms crossing over her slender frame, and I smiled as I took in her pretty purple sundress.
“Ready to go?” I asked.
“You called my boss?” she asked, her gaze wary.
“Yes, but it was important. And I have a gift for you to make up for it.” I grabbed the tiny pink bag with matching pink tissue paper and held it out for her to take. For a moment, she eyed it with suspicion, then took it and dug past the tissue paper to pull out a navy bikini with a jeweled design near each of the hips.
“A bikini?” she said.
“For our trip. Now tell me you pulled out clothes. I got you a suitcase, too.”
I walked past her into the house, then stalked into her bedroom to find a small pile of clothing on the bed.
“Laundry or luggage?” I asked.
“Uh, luggage. But I’m not sure—”
“We need to get away from everything for a little while. I’ll admit that my idea was dumb, but we need to recalculate and start fresh. I got a private villa in the Cayman Islands for the next few days and everything has been arranged. Our plane is waiting and everything is set. All you need to do is say yes, Bren. Say yes to taking a chance. With me.”
She blinked at me, the bikini dangling from her hand. And then her wide, round eyes were even rounder. “You planned all this? Even though we’re not…”
She didn’t have to say the last word and let it fall unspoken between us. We both knew what it was.
“I planned everything because I meant what I said. You make me happy. Baby or no baby. And if you ask me, it’s the perfect time to grab our bathing suits and get out of this miserable weather.”
The rain tapped against her windows as I spoke, and she glanced to look at the storm outside before nodding and turning shining eyes toward me. “Okay. Yes. Yes, I’ll go away with you.”
Together we packed her things then made our way to the airport.
It was a rush to make it through security and to our gate, but once we were safely on the plane and in the air, Bren turned to me, her cheeks pink.
“So, what do you have planned for when we get there?”
“I think we need to get back to basics. Do things right this time.”
“You mean you’re going to meet me all over again?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe. You want to pretend we’re two strangers who happened to book the same house overnight and we’ve got only one bed to share?”
“I like the idea of only having one bed.” Her eyes danced with excitement and a rush of need shot through me.
Fuck me, this might actually work.
I made a mental note to send Trent a beer-of-the-month-club membership.
“Me, too,” I said, then brushed her cheek with my hand as I leaned in for a slow, soft kiss. “Nice to meet you, Ashley Brennan Matthews.”
“Nice to meet you, Mason…some middle name Bentley,” she said.
I laughed. “Andrew.”
