Falling for the Backup
Page 5

 Toni Aleo

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What the hell did he really think was going to happen? He would reach over, kiss her, and then leave? He couldn’t ask for her number or try to take her home with him. He wasn’t the kind of guy to just f**k and leave. He wanted a relationship. He wanted true love, with kids and a big house, his wife waiting for him when he came home from long road trips. He wanted to be someone’s forever.
But right now those things were out of his reach.
Aynslee had never been so turned on in her life.
Something about this guy made her want to climb him like a tree and hold on for dear life. He was completely gorgeous, and when he smiled she felt tingles. It was insane how someone so good-looking, someone who probably had tons of girls throwing themselves at him, wouldn’t meet her eyes for more than a few seconds.
She had never met anyone like Jordan. He was quiet and reserved, not the cocky, full-of-it type of guy that she had been dating lately. She felt safe, which was crazy, having just met him, but something was happening between them. He was nice and listened to her when she talked. Even if he didn’t look at her for very long, she knew he was listening. It was as if he was embarrassed or nervous, which was completely ridiculous! He was beautiful, for goodness’ sake, and she wanted nothing more than to let him have his way with her. Repeatedly.
She didn’t care how slutty that made her sound either. She couldn’t remember the last time lust smacked into her this hard, and she knew it meant something. She only wished that she could read him a little better.
“Are you traveling to Nashville for work or pleasure?” she asked when they were finished discussing how weak the plane’s drink menu was. After the day and week she’d had, a nice hard girlie drink was in order. Jordan didn’t want a girlie drink, though he assured her he could kill a good malt lager right now, but the airlines didn’t offer any of that. So they were stuck with the choice of crappy beer, wine, and soft drinks.
Jordan looked up and smiled. It wasn’t a huge one, because it didn’t reach his eyes, but it still sent butterflies swirling around in her stomach.
“I live there. What about you?”
“I live there too.”
He nodded, glancing back down at his hands before asking, “Why do you live in Nashville when your family is in Buffalo?”
Aynslee shrugged her shoulders. It was the question everyone wanted the answer to.
“I am a teacher in Nashville. I went to school at UT in Knoxville on a scholarship, and in return all I had to do was teach in Tennessee for five years. It was a pretty sweet deal, since most of my schooling was paid for.”
“That sounds like a great deal,” he said, looking over at her.
She nodded. “Yup. I was going move home after those five years, but then I met this guy and ended up staying in Knoxville longer than I had planned. Then I moved to Nashville and haven’t left yet.”
“So you are with someone?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Nope. We broke up about a year ago; that’s why I came to Nashville.”
“Oh,” he said, a grin tugging at the sides of his mouth. Jordan adjusted his neck pillow before asking, “Why didn’t you go home instead of moving to Nashville?”
“My family loved my ex, and they were upset that things went south. We both fell out of love—it was an easy break. I think my mom cried more than I did.”
He laughed. “When my ex left me, I think my mom was the same way. She saw my ex as a walking baby machine, but Leanna had no desire for kids at all.”
“Oh, sorry,” she said.
“Yeah, so really it was probably for the best that she left.”
Aynslee nodded as her heart pounded out of control. He was basically saying he wanted kids. She wanted kids, they looked to be around the same age, and, unless she was a complete idiot, she was sure there were sparks between them.
“Yeah. I’d think so.”
Jordan smiled at her, and Aynslee wanted to lean toward him, touch her mouth to his, only for a second, just for a small taste, but before she could even move or think that through, the pilot’s voice came over the speaker, informing everyone to buckle up for landing. Aynslee couldn’t believe it. It was almost time for them to part ways, and she didn’t want that. She wanted to get lost in his body; she wanted to know him; she didn’t want to leave! She glanced over to see if he felt the same, or even looked as if he did, but he was buckling his seat belt, eyes toward the front of the plane.
Surely she wasn’t an idiot. She was certain he was attracted to her, that he felt the earth shake when they looked into each other’s eyes. Was it all one-sided?
Shit.
As the plane approached the runway, Aynslee tried to control her breathing. She was nervous not only about landing but about trying to get the courage to ask him for his number. Call her old-fashioned, but she’d always thought the guy should ask the girl. She knew she couldn’t leave that to him, though. He was too shy or something, and since he couldn’t look her in the eyes, she doubted he’d ask her out. But how was she supposed to ask him?
Hey, can I get your number?
Maybe we can get coffee?
Do you want to have hot dirty sex with me? ’Cause I want to have hot dirty sex with you.
Ack! Why was getting a man so freaking hard! She didn’t want to scare him, but, then again, she didn’t want to watch him walk away.
After they had landed and the seat-belt sign dinged off, indicating passengers were free to move about the cabin, Aynslee got up to get her things. Jordan stood, watching her, and that gave her hope that maybe he would ask.