9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

RILEY

K entucky was much prettier than I expected. I had expected more trees but instead pretty green rolling hills flew by my window as I drove down the freeway.

My flight this morning was smooth and I picked up my rental car without a hitch. Now I was driving to Oakville and admiring the scenery. As I got closer to Lexington, horses began filling the fields along the highway. I had never seen so many but that made sense as Lexington was the horse capital of the world like they liked to call themselves. About two hours later, I was pulling off the freeway and following the signs to Oakville. The clock on the car's dashboard said 4:30. I hoped Colton was still at the office. If not, I suppose I could call him but I wanted to see the look on his face when I surprised him.

I tossed and turned most of last night, worrying I hadn't made the right decision and worrying about all the what-ifs. What if Colton wasn't excited to see me? What if it wasn't the same as it was on the island? What if we should have kept it on the island ?

The doubts were still there in the back of my mind but I was trying to keep them there. Colton had given no indication he would be anything less than thrilled to see me if I surprised him. We had promised to keep talking and that included sharing our doubts and fears and he hadn't expressed any to me. I probably needed to work on expressing mine to him but most of mine came from deep-seated insecurities that I needed to work on and didn't need to burden him with those just yet.

Oakville's downtown was charming, a single street with two stoplights and a healthy number of businesses lining either side of the street. There was a cafe on the corner, a clothing boutique, a diner, and several others. It practically oozed with small town charm and it felt like everyone's eyes were on my car as I drove by. The Twin Cities were technically composed of two cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul but I lived on the Minneapolis side. Combined, they made up one large city and had been my home since I graduated college but before that I had grown up in the suburbs. Some of my books took place in small towns so I had visited a few in Minnesota but there was a different kind of charm here in Oakville.

I turned down a side street, following the direction coming from my phone and my breath caught in my throat. "Anderson & Sons Construction" was written in bright red letters on the white siding of an older looking building. The parking lot out back where I knew they parked their trucks seemed empty so hopefully their day wasn't done yet. I pulled my rental car into a spot parked out front and grabbed my bag. The heavy weight of my laptop was a comfort as I climbed the wooden steps and pushed open the door marked "Office."

The office area was small, with three chairs along the wall to my right underneath the window. There was a hallway in the back right corner that had several doors that must be additional offices or meeting rooms. In front of me, the receptionist sat at her desk, an open door behind her showing a large break room with a kitchenette against the back wall next to a door that must lead to the outside.

The receptionist looked up when I entered. She was wearing a light pink sweater with matching pink nails and had long blond hair that fell in perfect curls around her shoulder. I had a brief moment of discomfort about my own appearance. I was wearing my favorite emerald green travel pants that were a silky material that were super comfortable and a soft gray sweater that was definitely picked for comfort over style. I had checked my appearance in the airport bathroom when I arrived but I was sure I looked like I had just traveled the entire day versus the polished appearance of the receptionist. She looked at me, her eyes traveling up and down my body before she pursed her lips.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a tone that could only be described as haughty. She twirled a blond curl between her pink fingernails as she waited impatiently for my answer. I couldn't remember the last time I had painted my nails.

"Yes, I'm here to see Colton," I smiled at her, fully aware it did not reach my eyes but hoping the friendliness would soften her.

The receptionist sniffed. "He's on site right now. You'll have to come back later."

"That's okay, I can wait," I said, gesturing towards the chairs. I had my laptop with me so I could get some words in while I waited.

"Do you have an appointment?" The receptionist asked, her pink lips curling.

"No…" I said, knowing that wouldn't be a sufficient answer for her. I smiled. "I'm here to talk to him about building a bamboo house."

The receptionist furrowed her brows. "I think you've made a mistake. We don't do that here."

"I've talked to Colton about it before so I'll wait."

I turned my back on her to make my way over to a chair before she could say anything else. There was something about her that had my gut on high alert. It could be her bitchy attitude but that also could make her a good receptionist if she thought I was wasting their time. Taking a seat, I could feel her eyes on me as I slid my laptop out of my bag and started working. After a few minutes, I could hear her start typing again and I relaxed.

My character was headed to a medical office to get more information on the victims' medical records and I bit my lip to contain my smile as I wrote about my character's encounter with a bitchy receptionist. Be careful what you say or do around a writer, we might just write you into our next story.

I was writing for about a half hour when I heard the back door open and the loud voices of men talking and laughing trickled through the open door to the waiting area. I looked up at the receptionist and caught her eyes, arching my eyebrows expectantly. The receptionist rolled her eyes at me but got up and went to the door. I slid my laptop into my bag as I waited, wiping my suddenly sweaty palms on my pants.

"Colton," the receptionist said, leaning against the door and showing off her slim figure in her painted on jeans. "There's some woman here to see you. She says she talked to you about a bamboo house."

"Did you say a bamboo house?" I heard Colton's voice boom from the back and the rest of the voices fell silent. My breath caught in my throat at the sound of his voice. It didn't matter that we had just talked last night. There was something about this man that had my spine straightening in anticipation of seeing him again.

The receptionist nodded. "I told her we didn't do that but she insisted on waiting."

Quick footsteps slapped across the linoleum tile floor and there he was. Wearing dark jeans and a gray t-shirt with a company logo on it, his broad frame filled the doors as his hazel eyes locked on mine. "Riley," he breathed, his eyes wide like he couldn't believe I was there.

I stood up, smoothing my sweaty palms down my pants again. "Surprise," I said weakly, doing jazz hands like an idiot .

Three steps and I was in his arms. I melted into him as he twirled me in a circle, burying his face in my hair as I nestled under his chin. "How… what… how?"

I pulled back so I could see his face. "You said you weren't doing anything this weekend and I can work from anywhere so I wanted to surprise you. I booked tickets last night after we talked. I should have probably let you know I was coming," I rambled on, nervous about his reaction still. His grin was so wide it might have split his face as he cupped my face with both hands.

"Best surprise ever," he breathed against my lips before kissing me.

I melted into the kiss, totally forgetting there were other people in the room until someone cleared their throat. A man stood by the receptionist's desk and if Colton was the all-american golden boy, this man screamed bad boy. He wore black jeans and a black t-shirt and looked to be about two inches shorter than Colton. Tattoos ran up and down his arms and I could see one peeking out the collar of his shirt. His brown eyes were slightly slanted, hinting at some Asian heritage and his brown hair was cropped short. A small smile played on his lips although his eyes seemed like they were a swirl of emotions.

"So this must be the island girl," he said wryly.

Colton laughed, tugging me close so I was tucked under his arm. "Riley, this is Justin, my best friend. Justin, this is Riley."

I reached my hand out and Justin took it in a quick handshake. His grip was firm but warm and his hands were calloused. Both he and Colton had serious forearm porn going on and I tried to quell the desire in my gut at being near both of them but Colton's best friend was definitely attractive.

"It's nice to meet you," I said warmly, "Colton's told me a lot about you."

"He's been surprisingly tight-lipped about you," Justin raised an eyebrow at Colton. "But I can see why he would want you all to himself. "

Colton's smile was fond as he looked at Justin even if he rolled his eyes. "I'm going to have to be careful how well the two of you get along."

I winked at Justin, catching him off guard if the slight widening of his eyes was any indication. "I don't know, I think Justin has all the stories I might need to know."

Justin let out a surprised laugh that transformed to a much realer smile than he had previously.

"Wait, this is island girl," another man pushed out of the crowd in the doorway.

"Island girl, huh?" I arched an eyebrow at Colton who had some red dusting his cheeks.

"Colton was surprisingly tight-lipped about his vacation other than he met an amazing woman on the island," Justin informed me, seeming to enjoy the glare Colton shot at him.

I squeezed Colton's hand to show him I wasn't mad before extending my hand to the newcomer. "I'm Riley."

"Jake," The newcomer introduced himself. He had short brown hair and stood about four inches shorter than Justin and Colton. "I would shake your hand but mine are covered with paint." He held up paint covered hands. A wedding band glinted on one of them underneath the splatters of green paint.

"Go wash up," Justin shoved Jake playfully.

"Aww but I don't want to miss this. The boss finally found a girlfriend." We hadn't talked about labels yet but the term girlfriend didn't scare me like it had in past relationships. It might be a little quick but I didn't want to run like I usually did.

"Go," Colton ordered but there was no anger in his tone.

"I didn't know you were Colton's girlfriend," the receptionist came simpering up. She laid a hand on Colton's arm. "You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend." I was really not starting to like this woman.

Colton discreetly removed her arm by stepping closer to me and wrapping a hand around my waist. "I do. Vicky, this is Riley. Riley, this is Vicky. She works the front office while we're out on site."

"It's nice to meet you, Vicky," I said, not extending my hand for her to shake. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Justin's eyes narrow. Seemed I wasn't the only observant one in the room.

"It's sooooo nice to meet you too," Vicky said, the smile on her face not meeting her eyes. "Are you coming out to Jimbo's with us tonight?"

"Jimbo's?" I asked, looking up at Colton but Vicky answered.

"It's the local bar. We always go on Fridays after work, isn't that right, boss?"

Colton hesitated. "We do."

"Well perfect then," Vicky clapped her hands together. "We can all go out to eat like we planned and you can join us." Vicky emphasized the you like I was an outlier who needed her permission to join. I arched my eyebrow at her but didn't say anything. I would rather have some alone time with Colton but I also didn't want to disrupt his life too much if this was a regular thing for him.

"Okay, we'll meet you there." Colton called over his shoulder, tugging me down the hall to the right of Vicky's desk. Justin watched me with an unreadable look and I winked at him again. His eyes widened and I smirked. There was something in me that liked poking at Justin like that.

Colton pulled me down the hallway to the second door, stepping in and switching the light on before crowding me up against the door. "I can't believe you're here." He breathed, looked down at me.

"I can't believe it either," I admitted. "I wasn't sure if it was a good idea showing up out of the blue but I wanted to surprise you."

He groaned and pressed closer, dipping his head to place a soft kiss against my neck that had me shuddering. "Baby girl, you can surprise me anytime you like. You never need an invitation to come down here ever."

He nipped my neck softly and I groaned. "Colton."

His husky laugh danced against my skin and I shuddered again. " Kiss me," I whined softly, aching to have his lips on mine again. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," he confessed softly, before pressing his lips to mine.

I immediately opened to him, groaning when our tongues tangled together. His hand came up to grip my curls as he kissed me like he wanted to devour me. I lifted one leg to wrap around his hips drawing him impossibly closer. I groaned when I felt his cock press against my stomach and I bit his lower lip softly.

Loud knocking rattled the door behind me before someone tried the doorknob. Colton groaned softly, dropping his forehead to my collarbone and breathing heavily.

"We're leaving to get a table," Vicky's simpering voice came through the door. "Are you joining us?"

Colton groaned again and I laughed softly. "We'll be right there," I called through the door.

"Okay, we'll wait."

This time I groaned and Colton laughed. "Come on," He straightened up. "The sooner we sate their curiosity, the sooner I get you all to myself. How long do I have you for?"

"I have an event on Tuesday so I'm flying back Monday," I said, reluctantly straightening up and smoothing down my hair. I couldn't do anything about the just kissed look I had but that was fine.

We opened the door and Colton grabbed my hand with his as we walked down the short hallway. Justin was leaning against the desk, listening to Vicky with a bored expression on his face. In his hand was my bag that I had forgotten about since Colton appeared.

"Thank you," I said, blushing as I took it. I can't believe I forgot about it. That laptop was my life.

"No problem. We'll meet you there," he said, practically dragging Vicky out behind him. Was something between Justin and Vickty or was he just being a good friend. Colton led me out and we stopped to lock the office door .

"Is that your car?" Colton asked, pointing towards the black toyota. I nodded. "Let's grab your bags and I'll drive us to the bar."

We grabbed my suitcase out of the trunk and Colton refused to let me carry it as we walked around the building to the employee's lot. I laughed when I saw we were headed towards a big silver truck. "What is it?" He asked, smiling softly at me.

"When Ryan booked my rental car he asked if he should book me a truck because he thought that's what everyone drove in Kentucky."

"Happy to live up to the stereotype, baby girl."

He stored my bags in the back of the cab and helped me into the passenger seat before shutting the door softly. I squirmed in my seat as I watched him walk around the front of the truck. It had only been three weeks since the island but I felt like I was sex-starved and the kiss in the office hadn't helped.

He got in and started up the truck before taking my hand with his. "Ready for this?" He asked, eyebrows raising. "I can always blow them off."

"No, let's go. If they sate their curiosity then maybe we can have the weekend to ourselves. Besides, I'm actually a bit hungry," I admitted. "I was too nervous to eat lunch."

Colton's eyes softened and he pulled out of the lot. "Then let's go get you fed while we face the wild horde."