Page 38 of Rescuing Brinley

As soon as she met his gaze, he said, “Hey.” Then he stepped toward them, and Cypress backed away, giving him room.

To Brinley’s surprise, he entered her personal space and gave her a hug that was just as tight, and made her feel just as welcomed, as the one her best friend had given her.

Tears formed in her eyes, and Brinley did her best to blink them away. She wasn’t sure why she was so emotional. She’d told Dash what time her plane was supposed to get in, but she never in a million years expected him to show up at the airport.

The sparks she’d tried to convince herself were just a result of the extraordinary circumstances they’d been through, flared to life again as he held her.

“Welcome home,” Dash said into her ear, seemingly not in any hurry to let her go. “How was your flight?”

Feeling way too comfortable in his arms, Brinley forced herself to move back. He let her go, but his gaze on hers felt intimate in a way that his hug hadn’t. It seemed as if he could read her mind, see all her deep dark secrets…and desires.

“Long. But uneventful.”

“Good. Hopefully your bags will come out quick.”

The three of them started walking toward the baggage area, and Brinley glanced over at Cypress. Her friend was grinning from ear to ear, and she mouthed, I approve, as they walked.

It was unusual for Cypress to approve of any guy so quickly. She was usually very protective and wasn’t afraid to express her doubts about most of the men Brinley met. Not that it was a large number, considering her job kept her in the apartment most of the time.

Thankfully, her two bags didn’t take too long to appear on the conveyer belt, and Brinley wasn’t surprised when Dash grabbed the larger of the two, then shouldered the backpack she’d used as a carry-on.

They made their way outside, and the cooler air was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity of Fiji. Summers in Fairbanks could get hot, but nothing like the sweltering temps of the tropics.

“Give me that,” Cypress said, reaching for the handle of the suitcase Brinley was pulling. “I’ll just go and put it in the car. Take your time, I’ll be waiting, listening to music, not paying any attention to what you and your…friend…are saying.”

Brinley rolled her eyes but didn’t hesitate to hand over the suitcase.

When she looked up at Dash, he was grinning, and his gaze was locked on her. Neither spoke until Cypress was inside her Volkswagen Taos.

Dash lifted a hand and smoothed back a piece of hair that had escaped the confines of her elastic band. “You look tired.”

Brinley didn’t take offense. She was tired. “Yeah. Flights were long, and it’s been a stressful couple of days.”

“You said everything was okay at the resort.”

She’d been texting him since he’d left, but he looked a little concerned now. “It is. Was. Just…everyone was on edge. The contestants who could rearrange their schedules were gone, but the rest of us kind of felt like sitting ducks. But nothing happened,” Brinley hurried to say.

“And your mom and sister?”

Brinley couldn’t help the slight wince.

“Did they say something to you? You didn’t tell me you had any run-ins with them.”

She hadn’t. Because there wasn’t anything he could do about it, and she was more than used to the shit Callista said to her. “It was just my sister and two other contestants. And they didn’t say anything that they hadn’t already.”

“No.”

Brinley frowned in confusion. “No? No what?”

“You don’t take her shit anymore. She’s a grown-ass adult, not a five-year-old. She doesn’t get to make you feel like less because of her own issues. She’s spoiled and nasty and thinks her shit doesn’t stink. From what I’ve seen of her, and what I know about you, you’re worth ten of her.”

Man, that felt good to hear. It wasn’t as if Brinley didn’t already know everything Dash just said, but to have a man like him championing her…it was almost unreal.

“Have you heard from any of the women who were in that plane with us?”

Brinley shook her head.

“Well, I’m guessing you will. Our lieutenant colonel has been in touch with the police down in Fiji, and they let him know that after the women heard what happened, they really wanted to thank the woman who’d rescued them.”