Page 80 of Dr. Brandt

We landed smoothly on what seemed like a runway in a residential neighborhood, and I was confused.

“Where are we?” I questioned, trying to figure out how an airport could fit into a neighborhood.

“My buddy’s hangar is just up here,” he said, turning the plane to drive up some street.

“No, where the hell are we? This makes no sense,” I said with a laugh as we passed by homes with driveways with planes.

“Fresno,” he said. “Remember we always wanted to go hike Yosemite? Where the rock climbers climb up—”

“No,” I said flatly. “I know the place you’re talking about. I’ve already watched that Free Solo movie, and my ass is not scaling the face of a giant granite rock. I’ve faced enough fears for a lifetime by flying up here, and there’s no goddamn way I’m doing something like that.”

“Good because I, too, have no plans to plummet to my death from the face of El Capitan,” he said, his voice reflecting that he was focused more on driving this plane up a driveway than convincing me to go rock climbing.

“I never know with you. So, I’m just making that clear.”

“Nah,” he said with a laugh. “I think the hiking trails up to the waterfalls would be incredible. Leisure shit like that is a healthy way to shake off stress. I mean, I’m not in the mood to kick my own ass over the next couple of days.”

I rolled my eyes. This was life with Cameron—no one ever knew what this guy was up to. He could be tricking my ass into believing he’s serious about not scaling the faces of rocks until we got there, and then the next thing I know, I’d be in a harness.

Cam and I were always balanced like this. I was the reasonable one who had to keep his feet on the ground, and he was the wild one who had to get me to try new things now and then.

After Jacks had surgery, I was sure that having Cam around would be good for our son.

“I need to call Jacks,” I said as Cam helped me out of the plane. “Are we leaving right now?”

“Yeah. We’re just here to get my buddy’s H2. It’s in his garage. So let me get the plane strapped down and squared away, and we’ll head out. It’s about a two-hour drive from here.”

“Ah,” I smiled at him, “looks like you’re not getting laid after being a sexy little pilot after all, eh?”

“We’re not at the hotel yet, gorgeous,” he teased. “I’m ensuring that you make the phone call to Jacks now, so you can sleep for the two-hour drive because you’ll need your rest when we get to the hotel I reserved.”

“Ah, now I know why we’re not hiking tomorrow.”

“Duh,” Cameron said in a goofy voice, with a wink. “All right, be back in a sec. My buddy left the keys over here. He’s in New York now, so if they’re not here, I need to call him.”

“Got it,” I said.

I turned to check out the lovely neighborhood we were in. What an interesting way for people who loved aviation to live. There was always something for somebody; you just had to pick your flavor.

Three hours later, Cameron and I walked under a canopy of stars in the inky black sky above us. I clenched his hand tighter, losing myself in the scent of pine and fresh air.

“Wow,” I said. “It feels like a planetarium with all these stars. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this close to heaven before.”

Cam’s arm came up around me, and then he kissed my temple. “I’m insulted,” he said, his lips at my ear and his warm breath sending a shiver down my spine. “And here I thought I took you to heaven more than once last night and this morning before I left for work.”

“Yeah, well, the stars,” I trailed off, ignoring Cam’s sexual references.

“Exactly, the stars,” he said as we rounded the corner and walked under large round wooden beams toward the entrance of this beautiful hotel. “You were definitely seeing stars on every round.”

“Would you stop?” I teased, playfully running my hands over the hard ridges of his abdomen.

“Okay. I will handle the reservations and get our bags up to the room. I hope you brought that sexy lingerie I sent to your beach house this afternoon?”

“When you told me to pack for colder weather, I didn’t assume that piece of lace was what you meant?”

He arched an eyebrow at me as we reached the front desk. “Good,” he flashed a sexy look, “because I’d prefer you wear nothing at all.” He looked proudly at the hotel attendant taking his card.

My mouth dropped open, and hers pulled up into a grin. I’d love to think that the poor young woman would have been used to men like Cam blurting out shit like this all the time, but this wasn’t your average hotel. This place was elegant and beautiful, like the fancy part of the Titanic, and it also looked to fit that era. Circular chandeliers held candles that flickered all around. The wall to our left was lined with glass paneling, and I could only imagine what the beauty of the scenery would look like when the sun rose in this park.

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