Page 22 of Beauty Beneath the Sorrow
I shake my head. “I told Christian, I don’t mind. I’d be here anyway.”
Then her expression softens as she gets a little glimmer in her eye. “You still single?”
“Here we go,” Christian grumbles, knowing where his sister is headed with her question. As do I, but I don’t mind. It comes with the territory of being my age without any kids or a girlfriend. Everyone offers to set me up like I can’t find my own woman. I can. I choose not to at the moment. I’ve been married to the sky for as long as I can remember.
“Yes, Aubrey. I am.” I smile, humoring her.
“I’m so surprised a woman hasn't snatched you up yet.” Then she lowers her sunglasses. “I have a ton of hot, single girlfriends who would jump at the chance to date a guy like you.”
Liam covers his face. “Oh my god, Mom. Why are you the way you are? So embarrassing.”
She giggles. “I’m just asking.”
I grin, rubbing my lips together. Lina is the only woman who comes to my mind when I think of spending time with someone romantically. I have no interest in being with anyone else. Sheis the only consideration, and she has been since the second my eyes locked with hers for the first time.
“That’s very kind of you, but I’m going to have to pass,” I say, tapping the window frame.
Christian nods. “Good call, my man. Her friends are a bunch of hot messes.”
“Whatever. You know nothing,” she spits.
Liam opens the passenger door and jumps into the car. “Alright, Mom. Let’s go.”
“See you in two weeks.” I wave as they drive off.
Christian turns to me with an empathetic look on his face. “My sister can be nosy sometimes.”
I laugh it off. “It is what it is, man.”
Christian pauses as we round the corner back into the airport’s main lobby. “Did you sign up for the partner run?”
“I did.” I bite back a smile while thinking of my sassy little partner, Lina.
“Who did you get?” he asks. “I got Captain Eloy.”
I rub the back of my neck, trying to hide my excitement. “I got Lina Eastbrook.”
His eyes grow wide. “Damn, Carter. She’s fucking fine. I got Annabelle Rivers last year, leading to us hooking up for four months.” His jaw twitches. “She wanted more, but I’m not at that point yet, you know?”
“Oh, I do know.” Images of Lina’s tight little ass and legs that go on for days flood my brain. “And yes, Lina is—something else.”
“I’m looking at it this way.” He faces me fully, with a slight glimmer in his eyes. “I get to travel all over, meeting manydifferent women—why settle with one?”
I shove my hands into my pockets. That was my mindset for years. But as I got older, I realized that other things were more important. It could have been because I had already lived that life or that I had never met anyone for whom I wanted to ground myself.
Christian is only a few years younger than me but hasn’t seen the world like I have. His vantage point has been growing up in a wealthy family. Unlike mine, when I saw my mother being arrested for the first time when I was seven. Events like that shaped me into who I’d eventually become and painted my worldview.
“Yes, I get it. I’ve been like that most of my life.” I nod.
“But Lina—” he pauses, rubbing his hands together. “I might forget all about that for her.”
I can’t explain why I suddenly get hit with a bolt of jealousy. I hear how some of the other pilots speak about the hot flight attendants, but talking about Lina that way doesn’t sit well with me, even if he is my friend.
“I get it, she’s hot, but she’s also my best friend’s daughter,” I warn.
Christian continues, “Oh yeah. He flies for a different airline, right?”
“Yeah.”
