Page 76 of Should've Been Us
Chapter Eighteen
Connor wasn’ta big fan of flying. He’d never had much reason to fly. He was a small town guy. He’d lived in the same place his whole life. His family had never been the kind that traveled for vacations or took trips. They’d never had the money for that kind of extravagance and then his mom had gotten sick. Even before she passed, family activities had gone by the wayside. His sister, Kady, had tried. God knew she’d tried. But big trips had been out of the question and the few times he’d had to fly as an adult hadn’t made him entirely comfortable with the idea of being in a tin can high above theearth.
Having Lulu at his side hadhelped.
He’d sweet-talked the little old lady that had been sitting next to her into switching seats with him. Lulu’s blushing and fussing had only helped his plea that he be allowed to sit with his girlfriend. As soon as he’d slid into the seat, Lulu had slipped her hand into his and she hadn’t let go for the entireflight.
She’d noticed his discomfort quickly and made it her mission to put him at ease. She’d talked incessantly, about anything and everything. She’d told him old stories about growing up with her brother Lance and newer stories about going out to dinner with Lance and his superstar musician boyfriend and being bombarded by Trent’s fans. When she ran out of stories to make him laugh, she set about trying to seducehim.
The little brat had run her fingers through his again and again. She’d slid her palm to his thigh and danced patterns from his knee up and up, dangerously close to the bulge she’d created. She’d whispered dirty things in his ear, suggestions about joining the mile high club and what she wanted him to do to her when they got home. She’d told him all of the places she fantasized about having him undress her and make love toher.
She’d just about teased him into an orgasm but the little minx had taken his mind off the flight so much so that he’d been all but making out with her when the plane bumped to the ground and began screeching to a stop. He’d broken the kiss on a surprised gasp and she’d grinned at him. She’d been so damn proud of herself that he’d been forced to kiss her again and then he’d told her to grab her bag and get her cute little ass off the plane before he dragged her to the bathroom to take her up on her lewdoffers.
Lulu giggled and kissed him quickly, “I take it you’re driving me homethen?”
“Your car isn’t here?” He took her bag from her after she pulled it from the overhead bin and then grabbed his own aswell.
“Nah, I didn’t want to pay for parking for a whole week so I had Krys drop meoff.”
He snorted, “And you’d planned to be drunk, if I remembercorrectly.”
“I decided being drunk on you was better.” She winked and he chuckled again as he smacked her ass and followed her down the aisle and off theplane.
Once they were back on Texas soil he felt a little better. They broke from the mob of people getting off the plane and ran into a few of the others that had been on the same flight. Further up the terminal he could see Amber glance back at them but then keep going which was a relief. She’d finally seemed to understand Lulu was the one he wanted and given up on him. Dean and Nikki hung back though and the four of them made their way out of the terminal together, making small talk about the flight and commenting on silly things like the weather, which was still hot since it was Texas andall.
They exited the secure area with Dean holding the door for them and had barely made it five steps when Lulu came to a sudden stop. Since she was still holding his hand, Connor was forced to stop as well. He turned to her in time to see her eyes go wide and then he followed her gaze and instantly recognized why she looked soshocked.
Standing just inside the doors were two men that he would have recognizedanywhere.
Lance Nichols held a piece of paper with Lulu’s name written on it in scribbled black ink. The dark haired man was grinning but his eyes narrowed as they moved from his sister to Connor and then to their joined hands. He wasn’t grinning anymore when he looked back atConnor.
The blond man at his side didn’t falter at all though. He waved in their direction and then leaned over and said something in Lance’s ear. Lance looked up at him, his gaze softening and then nodded. He looked more resigned than angry when he turned back towards Lulu and Connor. Lance even managed a small smile for his sister again as he waved the paper, pretending she hadn’t already seen them and wasn’tstalling.
“We’ll uh… catch up with you later.” Dean nudged Connor’s shoulder, giving him a knowing look before tossing his arm around Nikki’s shoulder and guiding her out the side door along with a mass of others that were pretending not to notice that Trent Thorne was in theterminal.
“Lu?” Connor pulled her against his side, forcing her to look up at him. “Youokay?”
“I didn’t know he was going to be waiting for me.” She nibbled at her lips, “Forus.”
Connor softened when he saw the worry in her eyes, “Hey. It’s fine. We have to face him sooner or later. We might as well get it over with, right? Let him see we’re here and we’re together and nothing is going to change that.Right?”
“Right.”
“Besides, it’s unlikely he’ll try to shoot me in public.” He tried for humor but Lulu onlygroaned.
“Don’t even joke aboutthat.”
“We’ll be fine.” He kissed her forehead lightly and squeezed her hand, “Come on. At the very least I figure you can introduce me properly to TrentThorne.”
That earned him a smile at least and she shot him a look, “Don’t embarrass me by going allfanboy.”
“No promises.” Hejoked.
“Okay, fine. Come on then. No point in keeping them waiting.” Lulu seemed to take a deep breath and then turned to face her brother, raising her voice, “Oh my God! Lance! Why didn’t you tell me you werecoming?”
She all but dragged Connor after her as she crossed the big space. But she didn’t let go of his hand and that was enough for him. For now, that was all he needed. Lulu holding his hand, keeping him with her, keeping him grounded. She marched forward to face her brother, who clearly didn’t approve of them, and she did it with him at herside.
Because that was how they were going to handle everything from now on. They’d already decided. This was on their terms. They were together and nobody was going to change that. Nobody was going to keep her away from him. Not anymore. He’d just have to win Lance over, even if it took him the next sixty years orso.
