Whole Lot More

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Brynne's cell phone rang at nearly two thirty Sunday morning, waking her from her slumber. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but the fact that after she'd gotten home from work the night before she hadn't slept, kind of sealed the deal.

She hadn't even made it to the end of the race.

"Hello?" she answered, groggily.

"Sleeping dear Brynne?" Martin chuckled.

"Martin?" She shot straight up. "Where are you?"

"At the airport; the jet just landed two minutes ago."

Her sleep muddled mind took a moment to clear before she cursed softly, "Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep, I just didn't get any sleep last night and –"

"Brynne, you're rambling..." he laughed.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes, Martin!"

"Take your time, Brynne..."

"No, you don't need to get attacked by anyone who might recognize you... even at two thirty in the morning." She balanced her phone between her ear and shoulder as she slipped her shoes on, grabbed her keys and ran out the door towards the elevator.

"I took Junior's jet up here, Brynne. I just won't get off it until you get close. Besides, they can't be that bad, it is two thirty in the morning, ya know."

"Yeah, but weird people come out at night..."

He laughed, "I guess so."

"I'm jumping in my car right now, Martin. I'll call you when I'm five minutes from the airport."

"Like I said Brynne, take your time. Don't get any tickets or anything on my account." But he knew she wasn't listening, and would probably break many traffic laws on the way there.

*~*

True to her word, Brynne made the normal half hour drive to the airport in fifteen minutes, banking on the fact that not only was it nearly three in the morning, but that any cop who did pull her over would let her go as soon as they realized who she was.

I mean after all, she'd only drove through four red lights, passed three cars in the opposite lane where she wasn't supposed to and sped by at least twenty miles per hour over the speed limit. She'd done worse before.

Five minutes to three, she was pulling her Impala into a parking place and nearly sprinting for the entrance to the airport. She'd called Martin minutes before and told him she was close, so she was sure by now that he'd made it out of the plane and more than likely through airport security.

"Hopefully no one recognized him," she whispered, knowing that if they did, they could be there for a while. You couldn't just walk away from NASCAR fans, and she knew Martin would never think of it.

She stepped through the revolving doors and into the brightly lit airport lobby and allowed her eyes to scan all the people around her, almost immediately landing on Martin.

He leaned against a pole, his bags pooled around his feet. Dark sunglasses shielded his eyes, and a hat was pulled down low, attempting to shield him from knowing eyes.

And he obviously didn't notice her.

She took the opportunity to watch him as he leaned casually against the pole, seemingly completely relaxed. She didn't think she'd ever seen him like that. Not anytime she'd seen him on tv or the entire weekend she had been in Dega with him.

It was something that made her heart beat rapidly, knowing that standing there, waiting for her relaxed him. The thought of being in the city she was in, relaxed him. She didn't know how he did it, just the thought of him coming to her turf made her excitement bubble over. Just the thought that he was staying in her apartment with her, made her heart beat faster.

Not that she expected anything to happen; but being alone with someone for four or five days... anything could happen.

He was obviously deep in thought, the perplexing look on his face was enough to make her heart swell at how cute he was, while still managing to make her stomach turn.

She couldn't control herself not to touch him and be enveloped in his arms any longer, so she made the short journey from the doors to the pole, walking around behind him when he didn't even acknowledge that anyone was walking near him.

Must be more out of it than I thought, she thought to herself, mentally reminding herself that he had been up since early the morning before to get ready for the race he'd run. Not to mention five hundred laps must be enough to wear anyone out.

"Waiting for someone?" she whispered, touching his arm, which was enough to bring him out of his daze.

"Actually I a –" he stopped when he turned around and saw that it was Brynne, a grin coming over both of their faces, "When the hell did you get here?!"

"You were so out of it, Martin. I was standing over by the doors watching you for a good ten minutes before I walked over here and you so didn't realize it. You looked so relaxed though, I didn't want to ruin it..."

"You could never ruin it," he grinned, holding onto her forearms and giving her a good look up and down. They hadn't seen each other in a month and not much had changed on her, except her hair was a little shorter from the trim she had told him she'd gotten a couple weeks back. "Come here," he whispered, opening his arms.

She didn't have to be told twice, willingly going into his arms and hoping he'd never let go again. It felt so right to her to be in his arms.

"God, I missed you," he told her, causing her stomach to turn again.

It'd been so long since she'd heard those words come from a man's mouth. So long that she'd yearned to hear a man tell her that he missed her; to look at her the way Martin looked at her all the time; to hear a man call her "baby".

It'd been way too long.

"I missed you too," she whispered, "So very much."

He pulled back and smiled slightly, before leaning in and capturing her lips with his own. It was a long-awaited kiss, both of them throwing every yearning for each other from the last month into it, so when Martin's tongue hit her lips, trying to gain access to her own tongue, she willingly opened her mouth and the two deepened, losing themself in the embrace.

They went on like that for a couple of minutes, making out like hormonal teenagers all over again, and really not caring that they were doing it in a public airport in front of everyone.

Brynne finally pulled back and giggled, Martin looking at her like she was crazy. "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" she joked, fanning herself playfully.

"Definitely not just you," Martin grinned, running his hand along his forehead as if to wipe beads of sweat off of it.

"We might want to get out of here, though. That security guard over there is looking at us like he wants to arrest us for public indecency."

"Lead the way," Martin motioned, grabbing his bags up, as Brynne led the way out of the airport, her hand wrapped in his.

She certainly wasn't going to let go of him anytime soon.

*~*

She'd contained her urge to drive fast with Martin in the car, not wanting to show him just how out of control she could be at times, plus she didn't want to take the chance of getting pulled over. It would just bring unwanted questions from Martin when the police would let her go with a simple wave of their hand.

So by a couple minutes to four, they had parked the car in the parking lot outside of her apartment and she led him towards the door, hand-in-hand.

"Now, I'm going to warn you, my place is a bit of a mess. I had planned on finishing cleaning tonight when the race was on, but yeah... I totally fell asleep, so it didn't really happen."

"I'm sure it's not that bad, Brynne."

"No, not really. But it's not how I typically live. I'm normally a neat and clean person, just everything has been so busy lately and work and yeah... am I rambling again?"

"Yes," he smiled, kissing the tip of her nose playfully, "But I find it really cute and endearing."

"I'll have to remember that," she grinned.

They walked off the elevator onto her floor, and only had to walk three doors down before they stopped in front of apartment 406. She rummaged around for her keys and jammed them into the door, walking in and holding it open for him to follow her in.

He took a minute to let his eyes scan around the main living area. The couch matched the off-white carpet, a entertainment center sat in the corner, containing her tv, sound system and game systems. Pictures of friends and family – all people he hoped he eventually met – were all along the walls and on shelves across the room.

"It's... quaint," he said with a smile.

She shook her head and chuckled slightly, "You can say small, Martin. I know it's small."

"No, it's big enough for someone to live in, and this is very lived in. It's better than anything I have. I mean, I might have a big house, but you can't tell it's lived in, because I'm hardly ever there. Here, you can tell someone lives here constantly and that gives it personality. Everything from the pictures all around to the little stain in front of the couch."

Brynne blushed. "You can see that? I thought I hid it really well."

He turned her around and kissed her, "It gives it personality Brynne, don't be embarrassed."

"I'm not really embarrassed, I'm just wondering who all else has seen that, if this is the first time you've ever been here and you can already see it." He shut her up again by kissing her again, and she went with it, giving him entrance without him not even needing to ask for it.

They stood there and picked right up from where they'd left off at the airport. Minutes passed, and finally they had to come back up from air, but that didn't stop them from continuing the minute their heaving chests filled with oxygen once again.

Before she knew what was happening, Martin was pushing her backwards until her legs hit the couch and they both dropped on it, neither protesting at all.

It just felt natural to both of them. Brynne couldn't help but feel how good it felt, too.

Air was once again a necessity as the two pulled back, and Brynne couldn't fight the yawn that overtook her body. "Tired, baby?" Martin asked, resting his arm on the back of the couch.

"Unfortunately, yes. And I can't fight it anymore."

"Well let's go to sleep, then. Because as much as I'm trying to fight it, I'm exhausted, too." He pulled away from her and smiled, "So where am I sleeping?"

"In my room, with me. I just want you to hold me, Martin," she told him, quietly.

"Done," he whispered back, lead the way.

As she led him back to her bedroom, he carried his bags with him, setting them in the corner of the room when she went and changed into a pair of shorts and tank top. As soon as she exited the bathroom, he went in and changed into his favorite draw string pajama pants and the t-shirt he had been wearing, before walking back into the darkened bedroom and slipping underneath the blankets.

As weird as he would normally feel being in a room and place he'd never been – without being drunk, of course – he couldn't help but admit that this felt natural.

His arms wrapped around her and she relaxed back into him, once again not being able to get away from the thoughts that it had been so long.

*~*

They roused by noon the next day and just relaxed around the apartment for the afternoon, sitting there in their pajamas and watching tv, Brynne cuddled in Martin's arms.

It wasn't until close to five that Brynne informed Martin that they would be going out that night. When he asked where, she informed him that he'd finally be able to see where she worked so much and so hard.

To say he was curious would be an understatement. Ever since he'd gotten to know her, he'd wanted to know where she worked, especially given the hours that she did work.

He had once told Junior and Josh about how she'd never told him where she worked and how she only worked late at night and they'd jokingly told him that she was probably a stripper. At the time he'd shrugged it off, but it had been nagging him that that could be quite possible with the shroud hidden around her job.

But would she be excited for him to know she was a stripper?

There was still so much that he didn't know about her, that she really could be, he reminded himself. But these couple of days, he was intent on finding out as much about her and her life that he could.

Close to nine, she was shoving him out the door and back down to her car, and he couldn't possibly fathom where they were going, especially in the clothes she was wearing. It was definitely not anything he'd seen her in before, her skirt landing mid-thigh and her halter top showing off her midriff.

That alone made him want to drag her back up to her apartment and spend the night allowing their bodies to get to know each other.

As they were walking out the lobby door of her apartment building, he pulled her back to him, her back to his chest and kissed the back of her neck. "I think I like this side of you," he whispered, sending chills all up and down her body.

"Down boy," she giggled.

"That's easier said than done."

"Well, it's time to get in the car, and trust me, it'll be worth it."

He took her at her word that it would definitely be worth it and jumped in the passenger side of the Impala as she buzzed out of the parking lot and onto the surprisingly busy streets of downtown Boston. Surprisingly busy for a Sunday night.

It took them ten minutes to make it to the parking lot where she parked the car and told him to get out, causing a confused look to come across his face at the fact that they were getting out in an actual parking lot. No buildings were anywhere next to the parking lot.

"What the –" he questioned, before she cut him off.

"We have to walk a little bit, silly," she grinned like he'd grown a second head, before grabbing his hand excitedly, "Come on."

When she said a little bit, she meant a couple blocks, with her practically dragging him the entire way. And he practically bumped into the back of her when she stopped abruptly.

They'd come to a stop outside a rather large looking bar, the words FUSION above the door in neon pink lights.

"You work here?" he asked her.

She opened the door and led the way in, Martin following closely behind, curious to see what he'd find inside. But before he could make it in enough to check the place out, she stopped him and grinned.

"Not only do I work here, I own this place."

She left him there to register that piece of information and continued in, expecting Martin to follow her in. But he didn't move.

In her attempt to move to get further inside, he was able to get a view into the bar and his jaw dropped. Girls dancing on the bar, an all girl crew behind the bar, a big, burly bouncer at the back.

He'd just walked into a real, live Coyote Ugly.

*~*