Chapter 5

5

By the time Kaitlin landed at BWI, she was ready for some food and her bed. There had been a delay in Dallas thanks to some horrible storms and she was ready to collapse. Thankfully, she had called Brando and he had been more than happy to entertain her on the phone. The time had sped by as they exchanged family and work stories.

As she stepped around an annoying businessman who couldn’t seem to take a break from yelling into his phone, she saw her best friend Wendy.

“Hey,” Wendy yelled loud enough for everyone in the waiting area to turn around and stare.

When Kaitlin had first met her several years earlier, she never thought she would become friends with Wendy. They were polar opposites. Kaitlin was shorter and rounder where Wendy was taller, slimmer, and louder. That was saying something that she could outdo anyone in the Fitzpatrick clan. She had her long blonde hair up in a ponytail, and she was dressed as if she were going clubbing. The cute little red skirt matched the silk blouse perfectly. And even at her height, Wendy wore heels.

“Hey, yourself” Kaitlin said, then found herself pulled into a big bear hug. When her friend finally let her go, she shook her head. “I was only gone six days.”

“Doesn’t mean I didn’t miss you. I did. I just wished I could have gotten off work to go with you. We could have had some fun together.”

She smiled. “Let’s go. I’m exhausted.”

“Did you have any other bags?”

“Nope, just this one,” she said indicating the roller bag she had been pulling behind her. “You know I don’t like checked bags.”

“So, did you learn a lot?” Wendy asked, as they walked out the doors to the short-term parking.

“A little.”

“How did your panel go?”

“Pretty good. I am not sure how many of them were awake for it, but it was good to join in the discussion.”

“Of course no one was awake for it. You were at a convention in New Orleans. And you had your panel at eight in the morning. Who in the world wants to sit and listen to work stuff at eight in the morning?”

She laughed. “That’s true. I did learn of a few people to avoid. Some of them do not know how to act. And if any pics were taken last night, there will be a few divorces in the next few months.”

“You speech pathologists are partiers. Besides, it’s NOLA, it doesn’t count.”

“I know there are a few people whose spouses would disagree.”

Wendy took her bag and loaded it in the trunk of her car. “There is that.”

When they were sitting in the line to leave the parking structure, Kaitlin couldn’t keep herself from yawning.

“Wow, you really are tired. It’s a good thing you came back today.”

She shook her head. “I wish I had stayed an extra day.”

“Last time I talked to you, you were headed to your bedroom for dinner and then to bed. Did someone lure you out?”

Kaitlin smiled. “You could say that.”

After paying for the parking, Wendy sped off before asking, “So, who is this person who lured you out?”

“Remember that Mr. Studly I talked about?”

Wendy frowned. “The one from college? Your study partner?”

“That’s the one. We ran into each other in New Orleans. I mean literally. He was texting and ran right into me.”

Wendy laughed. “So, what did you two do?”

“We had dinner.”

Wendy took the exit for I-95. “Was it a late dinner?”

“No.”

Her best friend slanted her a look. “Give over, woman.”

“Well…”

She felt her face burn. Kaitlin wasn’t someone who would normally kiss and tell. But, it was hard to keep things from Wendy. Especially something as wonderful as a night with Brando.

“Holy Jesus in a Skirt. You had sex with him.”

She bit her bottom lip, then said, “Yes.”

“Well, good for you. Now I need details, because it has been a very long time. And if this is truly Mr. Studly, I know they have to be good. Give over.”

“I am not giving you details of my one-night stand.”

Wendy frowned. “You are not a one-night stand kind of girl, Kaitlin.”

She straightened her shoulders. “Now, maybe I am.”

As soon as she said it, her phone rang. She dug it out and saw Brando’s face on the screen. She had taken it while they ate breakfast in bed. He had smiled at her while holding a strawberry for her to eat. His hair was a mess of curls and his beard had grown darker. At that one moment, she couldn’t resist snapping a pic.

She clicked on her screen. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself. You landed okay?”

“Yeah. Still on my way home.”

“You’re not driving, are you?”

“No, my friend Wendy is driving.”

“Hey, Mr. Studly,” Wendy said loud enough for Brando to hear. Kaitlin gave Wendy a nasty look.

“Was that her?” he asked.

“Yes, unfortunately.”

He chuckled. The sound of it made her heart do a flip-flop. “Who is Mr. Studly?”

“No one,” she mumbled.

“Am I Mr. Studly?”

“I would rather not talk about it.”

“What would you like to talk about?”

There was a thread of heat in his voice that told her exactly what he would like to talk about. For the first time in her life, she would have seriously considered having phone sex, but not right this minute.

“What are you doing today?” she asked.

“Chicken,” he challenged. She said nothing to that. “I slept a lot. You wore me out.”

She felt her lips curve. “Yeah?”

“Seriously. I was thinking of staying in tonight just to recover.”

She laughed. “You are not. Why would you stay in tonight?”

“Dunno. I don’t have much interest in going out tonight…or any other night.”

A lump rose in her throat, and she struggled to swallow it. “Is that a fact?”

“Yep.”

“Go out with your friends and have fun.”

He said nothing for a long moment. “Okay.”

She chuckled. “You have to be the first man forced to go out in NOLA.”

The sigh she heard over the phone was filled with longing. “No matter what we do, it will not compare to how I spent last night.”

She didn’t exactly know what to say to that. Before she could come up with a response, she heard something knock at his door.

“Hey, go, have fun. Call me if you get bored.”

“Okay. Stay safe, Kait.”

“You too.”

She clicked off and sighed. It was going to be hard waiting to see what happened when he arrived. Kaitlin did not want to get her hopes up, but it was hard not to when he acted like that.

“Oh, no, I heard that. And no matter what you say, that is not a one-night stand, sweetie. The man called the day after .”

Kaitlin shook her head even as her heart sighed with pleasure. She had never had a man that gaga over her.

“He was just making sure I got home okay.”

“Yeah, because you told him I was picking you up, right?”

She nodded as Wendy took the exit toward her house.

“Not to mention, you have five brothers and then there are your parents. Mr. Studly called because he missed you.”

“He did say that he didn’t feel like going out tonight.”

“And he’s still in NOLA? You might have a stalker.”

She laughed. “No. First, I don’t have him. Secondly, Brando is not a stalker. He’s a Marine.”

“Where’s he stationed?”

“Hmm, I forgot the name of the base. Doesn’t matter though because he’s moving here in a month.”

They came to a red light and Wendy stared at her. “Let me get this straight. You had a one-night stand, the guy calls you right after you land, and he’s talking about not wanting to go out with his friends? Oh, and he is a Marine who makes you blush when you are talking to him on the phone.”

She rarely held things back from Wendy. “He said he didn’t want to go out because nothing could compare to last night.”

“Okay, if you don’t want him, I call dibs.”

She sighed. “I opened my big mouth and offered to let him stay with me while he looked for housing.”

“Oh, that is not going to go over well with your motley crew of brothers. Especially Aeden.”

The thought of her oldest brother made her frown. “He can just butt out of it.”

Wendy snorted. “The chances of that happening are next to zero.”

The more she thought about it, the more she knew it was true. Her oldest brother treated them all as if they were still kids. He was always butting his nose into her business especially.

“Dammit.”

“Yeah, this guy has thrown you for a loop if you didn’t worry about your brothers finding out.”

“Maybe they won’t notice.”

Wendy laughed as they turned onto Kaitlin’s street. “Your relationship with your brothers is odd. You worry more about them than your parents.”

“It is irritating. My parents respect my privacy and the fact that I am an adult.” Not really, but they pretended to. She knew that her brothers sometimes ran surveillance for her mother. “My brothers don’t seem to understand that. They’re obnoxious, and they always seem to scare men away.”

“I’ll tell you what, sweetie, I have a feeling if this guy is a Marine, he won’t frighten so easily.”

She sighed as Wendy pulled into her driveway.

“Well, who knows? Nothing may come of it anyway.”

But there was a very big part of her that would love to have it go much, much further. Wishing for it wasn’t going to make it happen, no matter what. She had learned that five years ago when she walked in on her ex-fiancé and her then best friend.

Happily ever afters just did not happen for everyone—especially her.