“Okay, if you look directly ahead.” I lifted my finger and pointed. “You’ll see the west coast in just a second.”
“I just see darkness.” I heard Brittany shift in her seat.
“Almost…” I gave the controls a nudge and tilted the plane. “There we go.”
“Wow…” She exhaled sharply. “That’s incredible. I can’t believe we made it here so fast!”
“I bet you’ll never want to fly commercial again.” I chuckled.
General Briggs made arrangements for me to land at an Air Force base near Los Angeles. Thankfully, he also agreed not to have me immediately arrested. The Air Force was going to get a discount on the entire line of jets once they went into production. I called the tower below us and confirmed that I was cleared to land before I started my descent. The plane had performed better than I expected, but not all of the Air Force pilots would be as good as I was—nor would they be willing to take the kind of risk I made without a million more test flights.
“Alright, we’ll have a little bump when we touch down.” I slowed down the best that I could before the wheels were deployed.
“That’s okay—we’re almost on land now.” Brittany sighed. “Land—far away from where we were a couple of hours ago.”
“Thank you for flying Remington Airlines.” I chuckled as I hit the runway and started coasting to a stop.
A couple of Air Force guys came over to greet me, and I turned the plane over to them. They could get it into the hanger. We made good time, but we still had to make it to the party before the ball dropped. I wasn’t going to miss my second chance to a plant a kiss on her lips when the clock struck midnight.
“Okay, let’s go.” I took Brittany’s hand and started walking towards our waiting car.
“This is so crazy!” She looked around. “We’re in California!”
“Yep. After we see the ball drop, I can take you to a party in Hollywood if you want to meet some celebrities—who’s your favorite?” I looked back at her and grinned.
“Uh, I don’t know…” She blinked in surprise.
“Then I’ll find us a party with a lot of them.” I nodded to the driver and helped Brittany climb into the backseat of the car.
The first stop wasn’t a party with a bunch of celebrities other than the ones that were hosting the event. The area was packed, but I got us a good spot where we could watch the ball drop. It was already starting to count down, and we only had a couple of minutes. I could tell that Brittany was still shocked and a little amazed by everything that had happened, but the beautiful smile was on her face again—that was all I wanted to see.
“Are you ready?” I squeezed her hand. “Ten… Nine… Eight…”
“Holy crap.” She swallowed hard.
The ball dropped, and fireworks started going off. I pulled Brittany close and crushed her lips beneath mine the second that the clock hit midnight. There was a little timidness at first, but then I felt our mouths sear together. Her lips parted slightly, and our tongues swirled together. She melted into my arms, and I held her as midnight officially passed, and it was 2019 in Los Angeles. The crowd was cheering, but I didn’t need to cheer—I just needed to keep kissing the beautiful woman in my arms.
“Wow…” She gasped and blinked when our lips were finally separated. “That was my first kiss.”
“Really?” I stared at her in surprise. “Then we shouldn’t wait for your second.”
I pulled Brittany close and immediately kissed her again. It was a little more passionate than the first, and I started to ravage her mouth once I felt her kissing me back. I loved the way she tasted—the way her lips felt when they were pressed against mine. It wasn’t my first kiss, but it was easily the best one I had ever experienced. It was enough to make my emotions start to churn—to tell me that maybe I wanted more from the beautiful woman in my arms than just a taste when the clock hit midnight.
“Ready to get out here.” I leaned back from our embrace and looked into her eyes.
“Yeah.” She exhaled sharply and nodded.
As soon as we were in the back seat of the car, my lips were on hers. I gave in to temptation and let one hand explore her curves while the other held her firmly against me. I moved my hand along the front of her dress, but I didn’t try to push my luck, even if I did want to squeeze her breasts. I moved my hand lower—all the way to the bottom of her dress that is resting above her knee. I clutched the fabric in my hand and then slowly slid my hand underneath it.
“Wait…” She pushed me away slightly. “I—’ve never done anything like that either.”
“It’s okay. We don’t have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.” I started kissing her again.
Brittany pushed my hand away, once our lips were pressed together, so I respected the boundary she had set—even if everything inside of me wanted to tear it down. There would be time for that. There was no reason to rush what was building between us—smoldering as our lips learned how good it felt when they were pressed together. If she had never been kissed—never been with a man—then she had never experienced love. If what we had didn’t develop into something real, I didn’t want to leave a bitter taste behind when she remembered her first time.
“Here we are.” I leaned back and pointed at a house that was ahead of us. “That’s the biggest party in Hollywood tonight.”
“Oh wow.” She blinked in surprise. “I—I think I recognize that guy! He was in a movie I watched last week!”