Page 4 of Beauty
Doubtful. After Jen’s news, all those zeros feel like a noose. If she moves back to Boston, I’ll have to find a way to get out of my contract.
I haven’t told War about the baby. In fact, Hannah and my dad are the only people I’ve told.
Jen and Ted’s friends and family probably know by now, but I have a feeling that most of them think the baby is Ted’s.
Closing my eyes, I pinch the bridge of my nose and will the headache that’s formed to abate. My head pounds every time I think of all of this.
I promised Hannah I’d give myself this long weekend. I’d take this break and put aside the things I can’t control. Becausein a month, I’ll be a parent. In a month, I’ll be spending all the evenings I’m not traveling or playing raising a child.
There will be little time for a break for the next ten to eighteen-ish years.
“Nervous flier?” The question comes from a silky-soft voice.
I open my eyes, expecting to come face to face with a concerned flight attendant. Instead, I find myself struck stupid, unable to talk. The woman before me is stunning. Drop-dead gorgeous. The type of beauty that leaves a man tongue-tied.
Her hair is dark and pulled back from her face by the oversized black sunglasses perched on the top of her head. Her lashes are long and thick, emphasizing the most dazzling green eyes I’ve ever seen. The eyes that were locked on me only moments ago. I glance over my seat back and find the row occupied by two people who look nothing like the woman now hovering over me. So I was either hallucinating before, or I’ve conjured her now.
“Are you okay?” she asks slowly, her brow furrowed with concern.
I blink up at her, my attention snagging on the beauty mark to one side of her cupid’s bow lips. Lips that are covered in fuck-me red lipstick.
Fuck me is right.
She’s dressed in all black, the dark fabric only emphasizing the large diamonds in her ears and the thick gold chain around her neck.
One look is all it takes to know that she comes from money. A lot of it.
“S-sorry.” I clear my throat. “I’m fine. Just have a bit of a headache. Is this your seat?” I point to the window seat beside me.
She nods once. “The couple behind us are on their honeymoon, but they didn’t have seats together. I offered to swap.”
“Do you need help with your carry-on?” I unbuckle and step out into the aisle, trying my best not to brush up against her.
She’s tiny, probably a foot shorter than I am, with high cheekbonesand creamy skin. Everything about her screams out of my league.
I’m just stupid enough to take a shot anyway.
She holds up her glass of champagne and shrugs. “This is all I have. Bag’s already up top.”
“Right. Of course.” I hold out a hand, motioning for her to sit first. I follow, keeping my focus fixed ahead, suddenly at a loss for how to behave. Do people normally introduce themselves on planes? Should I? And if so, what the fuck do I say? I can’t really start with hello because, well, we’ve already said that.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, interrupting my thoughts. I dig it out, and as I read the text, I’m reminded that I no longer have the freedom to just flirt with a girl.
Jen: Just left the doctor’s office. The baby’s measurements are on track with my due date. Just keeping you in the loop like you wanted. Here’s a picture.
As I tap on the sonogram image, everything around me falls away. That’s my son.
THREE
SIENNA
The man is practically mute.Beautiful, handsome, and gorgeous, but uncomfortably quiet. He’s polite. He takes my garbage and passes it to the flight attendant, and he hands me the drinks I order. But after staring at me like he was going to devour me, he went silent.
This is so not the kind of energy I was hoping the universe would give me.
Since I was a child, I’ve had a shadow. Usually security or at least one of my brothers. My whole life, there’s always been someone there, watching me like a hawk.
Because my brothers think I’m going to our home in the Keys—on our private plane—no one bothered to assign someone to watch over me.
