Chapter Three
Vivian
"I don't care what you say, Viv. We're going. We have the tickets, and you need this. Hell, I need this." Casey pulled into the large outdoor parking lot at the airport. "Please? Please come with me. I'm not going by myself, and you know it."
I let out a long sigh and unbuckled, knowing that the last thing I wanted was to walk around Miami with a million other college kids for a week. I wanted to think I had a choice in the matter, but to let Casey down after we'd worked hard to come up with some lame story for the airlines to switch the tickets from Valentine’s Day to spring break wasn't going to work.
"Fine, but when I need time to myself or want to just veg on the beach with a book, no giving me shit. Got it?" I got out of the small Honda and walked to the back, waiting for her to pop the trunk.
"Deal." She pulled me into an awkward hug and kissed the side of my face. "What were the freaking odds that we would run into that asshole there? What crappy luck we have."
"It's my luck, and I'm not a bit surprised." I got my bag out of the back and moved backwards, turning to lay eyes on the small tram that would take us to the terminal. "The airlines felt so bad that they gave us that upgrade option too, remember? Let's see if we can get into first class."
"I'm down." She glanced back at me. "If they only let one of us go up there, you can go."
"No, it's all good. I don't mind snuggling up to the window and going to sleep. I know you can't sleep on flights. You enjoy the first class ticket if we get it." I shrugged, honestly not caring about rubbing shoulders with anyone.
"Whatever. We'll try for both tickets. Who knows...maybe my good luck will usurp your craptastic luck." She stopped as the tram pulled up. "See there? It's already working."
I rolled my eyes and loaded my bag onto the back of the over-sized golf cart and got into the second row, letting Casey take her usual position of leader. I sunk down into my seat and pulled out my phone, moving through my text messages and landing on the last ones I'd had with Jackson almost a month back.
Jackson: If you would just let me explain, Viv. Shit. You don't understand.
Me: I don't understand what? Your face was between some chick’s naked thighs. Please do tell me what I didn't understand.
Jackson: I'm a guy. I have needs. You're just... just... Fuck. Let me just see you and I'll explain.
Me: No need. I saw all I needed to see. This isn't about your needs. It's about your character. Grow up and good luck with life. Nice sharing the last twenty-plus years with you. Asshole.
Jackson: Viv. Come on, baby. You know how good we are together. Don't do this over a silly misunderstanding.
A silly misunderstanding.
The image of him cheating on me rolled through my mind's eye over and over as it did most days. I wasn't sure I was ever going to be able to get the visual of the man I loved giving pleasure to another woman out of my mind. Knowing that she wasn't the first, but one of many, did nothing but make my stomach turn upside down. After catching him in the act, I was dumb enough to check his phone and look into his actions and whereabouts. Uncovering the massive lie underneath my nose was numbing. It went all the way back to our freshman year.
How dumb was I? Wanting to believe in true love. So pathetic.
I slid my thumb to the top of the screen and pressed delete. I didn't need him in my contacts anymore. Seeing him only caused me pain, and there was really nothing else to say between us. I wasn't promiscuous enough. Or adventurous enough. Or sexy enough. I wasn’t enough.
Funny how quickly I would have changed all of those things had he only said something, but he didn't say a damn word. He went out and slept with a handful of girls, trying to get the few things from them that he wasn't getting from me.
"Ten years," I mumbled and sat up as the tram stopped. There was no doubt that I would get over him, but it was going to take more than a month, or a slutty trip to Miami. I'd agreed to go for only a few reasons, namely to take care of Casey and catch up on some romance reading. It seemed that the best boyfriends would always be found in the center of my books, which was fine by me. I needed safe and comforting for a while. Living on the edge hadn't gotten me very far, but had I really even stepped off the porch with Jackson? Maybe that was the issue.
I grabbed my bag and glanced over at Casey, wishing like hell that I had a little bit of her rebellious spirit inside of me.
"Do you think I'm a risk taker?" I glanced to my left and smiled at one of the baggage guys as he nodded toward me.
"Not at all." She pulled her bags behind her and turned to me. "Do you think you are?"
"No. I guess not." I shrugged and looked around at the various people milling about. "How do you become a risk taker? I think that's one of the main reasons that Jackson slept around on me."
"He fucked around on you because he was an idiot, Viv. It has nothing to do with you, which we've been over a million times." She touched my cheek and forced me to focus on her. "Live this week with me as a free woman. Let's have fun, drink a little, flirt a lot, and take a few risks. You'll feel so much better after we get back."
I nodded, cupping my hand over hers. "Maybe you're right."
Glancing up, I let my eyes scan over the board with the flight times, noticing that our flight was scheduled to leave in forty minutes.
"Forty minutes?" I turned to Casey. "I thought you said the flight was at eleven."
"It is. I think. Something like that." She shrugged.
"It's at ten, Case. Shit. We're never going to make it." I tapped the shoulder of the older gentleman in front of me. "Is there any way we can move in front of you? Our flight leaves in thirty minutes."
"Sure. Why not?" He smiled and moved back, giving me room to tap a few more shoulders. It had to be the sweet smile on my face, or the dark circles under my eyes. Either way, we were moving up quickly, and within a few minutes, we were up to the counter next.
"We misread the flight time, so if you could help us move through this quickly, we'd really appreciate it." Casey barked at the middle-aged woman that glanced up from the other side of the counter.
"We'll try." She gave us a tight smile as I gave Casey a 'shut the hell up and let me deal with this' look.
"I love your earrings. My mother got me a pair just like them." I pressed my forearms to the desk and smiled at the woman as she glanced up wearily.
"My husband bought them for me. He's dead now." She glanced back down, closing up the conversation effectively if nothing else.
"Right. Sorry to hear that. We sure do appreciate your help." I moved back and pulled out my ID, praying silently that a sign would show up soon on whether or not I was supposed to be on the flight we would soon be racing toward.
"You're both being upgraded to our first class section, but the seats are not together." She glanced up, keeping her attention on me.
"That sounds great. Thanks so much." I bit my lip and glanced up at the clock. I hated to be late for anything. Whether I wanted to go on the trip or not was irrelevant. I was there, and having to run down the terminal sounded down right horrible.
"Of course. There is a special security section for Elite members. Just use that one since you're running a little late. Have fun." She handed us the tickets and smiled at me.
"We will." I grabbed them and Casey, and took off toward the security checkpoint. "Let's go. You know I hate to be late."
"I know. I'm sorry." Casey almost tripped as we passed a row of extension cords, but I reached back and helped her right herself.
Turning, I didn't realize that someone was in front of me.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." I reached up to press my hands against the man's chest who stumbled back from the force of me running into him. His papers fluttered from his hands and scattered all over the floor. Heat rose up my chest and coated my cheeks as I knelt down to help him start to gather up the papers. Not looking where I was going, I hit my head against his and fell back on my butt.
He let out a short laugh, stood and offered me a hand. "Wow. I've not had such a dramatic introduction to anyone since I was a boy playing king of the hill."
I took his hand and stood, trying hard not to notice just how insanely beautiful he was. His jet-black hair was cut close to his face, accenting his tanned skin, dark green eyes, and kissable lips. His smile was kind and almost sexy with the way his lip turned up just a little at the edge. If that wasn't more than enough, the subtle dimple in his left cheek caused my heart to flutter.
"I am so sorry." I pulled my hand from his when it was appropriate to do so. "Let me get your papers. Please."
"I'll get it." He held up his hand. "You stay up here. It's dangerous when you're around."
Casey laughed and snorted as she picked up a few pieces of the paper. I stood stone still, letting my eyes move along the broad muscles of his back as they pressed against his light blue button up shirt.
"Thanks for saving me. I guess I didn't see those cords." She glanced back as she appeared to be working to hold back another string of laughter.
"I guess not." I clenched my jaw, but relaxed as Handsome stood back up, his papers a mess and face a little flushed.
"Not every day you have a beautiful woman knock you off your feet and take center stage to the news." He winked and turned back around, moving up to tug his dress shoes off and lay his briefcase on the security scanner.
"I'm so sorry again," I whispered, not quite able to get enough air into my lungs to use my voice.
"It's no big deal at all. Honestly." He glanced back at me as he worked on getting his belt off.
My eyes moved down to watch him only for a moment. Having forgotten that it was highly inappropriate to stare at someone's crotch, I jerked my attention back to his face and found him smirking in a boyish way.
"Please tell me you're headed to China." I pulled off my tennis shoes and let out a short puff of air.
He laughed. "No, why—are you?"
"No, but I'm thinking it might be safer if I did. I've embarrassed myself ten times already this morning." I moved back to let Casey put her stuff on the moving belt as she leaned around me.
"Her name is Vivian. It's nice to meet you. I'm Casey." My best friend extended her hand to the handsome businessman.
"I'm Easton. Nice to meet you both." His eyes remained on my face, but moved around as if he were searching for something.
"Hurry up, sir,” the security lady barked toward us.
"Right. Well, have a safe flight. Nice to bump into you." He turned, moving through the scanners as I memorized the curve of his rear in his slacks.
Casey pressed her shoulder against mine and whispered, "Wow. He's fucking hot."
"Right? Too bad he's not going where we are." I moved into place to walk through the scanner as well, my thoughts moving through the embarrassment of the last five minutes. Why did I always end up the ass in most situations? If luck was a real thing, I seriously had no doubt that mine hated me completely.
"Alright. Let's go." Casey moved up beside me, hopping on one foot as she worked to get her shoe on the other one.
I glanced at the clock and let out an exasperated sigh as I grabbed my bag and lugged it back over my shoulder. "Time to run. Just don't trip, and make sure I don't plow into any more models."
We started to jog toward the gate as Casey spoke through short pants. "You think he was a model? I'd say a young billionaire."
"Why a Richie Rich? Just one of your many fantasies?" I asked.
"He was wearing a Rolex, Viv. The boy had money, and lots of it." She nodded toward the gate. "Almost there. Home stretch."
We glanced up at the gate as we approached and realized that it wasn't the right one.
"You've got to be kidding me." I moved over to check the schedule on another TV monitor and growled. "It's six gates down to our left. Move it. Fast."
She turned and jetted toward the new gate as I followed on her heels, being careful not to accidentally clip her sandal and have her tripping yet again that day.
I stopped in front of our new gate as the flight attendant moved to shut the door, calling out louder than I thought. "Wait. Please. We're on this flight. Just running late."
She turned and gave us a scathing look, but accepted our tickets and let us walk down the boarding terminal. For a trip I didn't want anything to do with, I was surely putting a lot of effort into it.
"Which seat do you have?" Casey leaned around me as we walked onto the plane. "I'm in 3B."
"I have 5A. It's a window, which is perfect. Nap time here I come." I moved down the plane and stopped at 3B. "Here you go. I'll see you when we get there."
"Alright." Casey gave me a look as I glanced over my shoulder. The old man who was sitting in 3A was already snoring, and the flight hadn't even taken off yet.
I chuckled as I approached my seat, but my smile slid from my face as I realized who my seatmate was—the sexy guy from security.
"You have to be kidding me," I mumbled as I stopped at the seat and smiled down at him. "I'm in there by the window."
He laughed, the sound of it wrapping around me and infusing warmth deep inside of me. "Wow. It looks like it must be my lucky day."
"You could say that," I said and slid into the seat, trying hard not to notice just how incredible his cologne smelled.
Good thing it was his luck we were resting on.
Mine was a joke, obviously.