Authors: Bethany-Kris
Karma, I thought to myself. That’s what this was.
Karma for being horrible to my brother, for saying terrible things about the
girl he apparently loved, and for acting like an all-around bitch. Karma was
biting me back, hard. That didn’t mean I had to like it.
“I just want to go to Barbados,” I explained, turning
my voice back to the pleasant tenor we had begun with. “That’s all.”
The apologetic look I received in return told me
that wouldn’t be happening. “I’m sorry, Miss Carson, but you what you bought
were first-class, round-trip tickets to Newfoundland. The flight leaves in two
hours, so unless you’re willing to pay a fee for changing flights, and you want
to wait another eight hours for the next flight to Barbados, this is your only
option.”
First-class tickets? My eyebrow cocked at that.
There was no way I had bought first-class tickets. I had called my credit card company
to make sure the money had been taken off without any issue, so I knew how much
I paid for those flights. They had been coach class, both going over and on the
return. First-class was another two thousand dollars I couldn’t afford to pay,
not that I wanted to. That was the clincher in my mind that told me it had in
fact been a mess up on their end…somehow.
Still, the tease of a first-class flight dangled in
front of my eyes. How could I ever pass that up?
“Two hours?” I asked quietly. Placing her glasses to
the top of her head, Star nodded. Handing over my ID’s, I wondered where in the
hell I was going to stay when I arrived in Newfoundland. “Fine, check me in.”
After making my way through security, I managed to
find a little coffee shop inside the gates to immerse myself with the joys of
caffeine in the form of iced coffee. Setting my cell phone down on the table, I
ignored the other patrons who milled about the eating area while I called my
brother’s phone. Six rings later and his answering machine picked up.
Guilt pounded at my heart. I redialed only to get
the same reply. Frustrated, I typed out the best apology I could muster through
a text and sent it. It wasn’t five minutes later that my brother finally
replied with one word:
Okay
.
Hoping he’d forgiven me at least a little bit, I
called him again. Natalie picked up. “Josh is busy,” was all she said.
I swallowed the retort that wanted out. “Yeah, I
know, he’s pissed at me. I’m sorry, okay? Just…tell him the stupid airlines
somehow managed to screw up my tickets and now I’m going to Newfoundland
instead of Barbados. I really, really,
really
need him to put that magic of his to use and get me a room somewhere, or a
small rental house at a decent cost. Please, Natalie, I really am sorry.”
She sighed dramatically, drawing out her next words
to make me sweat. “He told me what you said.”
I cringed. “Really—”
Her dismissive sound stopped me from apologizing
again. “For one thing, I am not just a cute piece of ass from nowhere,
Illinois, not that it would make a difference to you. Secondly, I love Josh, so
cut it out. Thirdly, I am neither lazy nor do I lack any work ethic, seeing as
how instead of partying my college years away, I’m on the dean’s list with a
scholarship that pays for my schooling. If you have an opinion of me, you could
first do your research before opening your mouth, and when you do open it, you
should always come to me to share it. Is that clear, Olivia?”
Familiar, muffled laughter told me my brother was
right there listening to her rant. Regardless, I felt properly chastised, put
right in my place, and I understood where she was coming from in a roundabout
way. “Yeah, we’re clear.”
“Good,” Natalie replied softly, surprising me. “I’ll
call you back after he finds you something and let you know the details. And
um…maybe when you get back, do you think we could get together and talk?”
I coughed, taking a sip of my iced coffee to clear
the sudden lump in my throat. That didn’t ring to me like it would be a
terribly fun time, given everything. “Without yelling and name-calling and all
that nonsense?”
“Shouldn’t I ask
you
that?” she retorted. “You’re the one—”
“Yeah,” I interjected, not wanting her to go on yet
another spiel, not that I hadn’t deserved the first one. “My fault, I know.
Fine, make it a lunch date or whatever. I suppose I owe you one, so I’ll pay.”
“Cool.”
The dial tone sang in my ear. She had hung up
without saying goodbye.
Chapter
Three
Sitting in first-class as I waited for the last
passengers to finish boarding the plane, I snuck my phone out of my purse on
the floor, hoping a flight attendant wouldn’t see me. I’d already been warned
twice to shut the phone off, but my brother still hadn’t called me back with
any details regarding where in the heck I would be staying when I arrived in
Newfoundland.
Flying made me nervous as hell, and given the way my
day had already turned out, I fought with myself over popping a Xanax before
the flight began. Taking one of those would likely knock me out though, and I
really wanted to see the ocean when we were above it. I always liked how blue
it looked from the sky. Clear, crystal, and clean.
Instead of a happy pill, I’d been quick to order a
glass of wine I hoped would knock some calm into me before takeoff. I couldn’t
help but snicker when the attendant handed it over, knowing the cost was
included in first-class, and I hadn’t paid for those tickets, regardless of the
airline insisting I had. My credit card knew better, which I had in fact
recalled before boarding to ensure the money would be taken off my card.
Maybe Karma was my friend after all.
Taking a sip of the white wine, I flipped open my
phone’s screen to see an e-mail alert blinking on the home page. My brother had
a talent for finding gems in the rough when it came to rentals, costs, and
locations and this time had been no exception. With details as to how I would
be getting where I was going, the address of the small waterfront home situated
on high cliffs overlooking the ocean that my brother had found for me, and an
attached file receipt with the words “You owe me one” as the subject line, I
had to smile.
In the message body he had left a quick explanation
that it had been a last-minute reservation and they might still be cleaning the
upper section of the small house when I arrived, but I was welcomed to make
myself at home either way. Josh also let me know he appreciated how I handled
Natalie, and that he missed me already.
I felt a little better, but still guilty for how I
had treated him and the things I said. Josh was right. I did owe him one. A big
one.
With the sounds of high heels clicking down the
aisle, I was fast to write a short “thank you” in reply before closing my phone
and shoving it under the material of my knee-high skirt, hoping the attendant
wouldn’t see it when she passed.
Her blonde hair poked around the corner, slicked
back into a beehive style with a black bow precariously sitting off-kilter to
the side, not a single strand out of place. With makeup that looked airbrushed
on, wide eyes, breasts far too big for her frame, and a waist so small I was
sure she didn’t have bottom ribs, the woman looked kind of wrong. It was almost
disconcerting to look at her. There was nothing odder than a woman who looked
like a real life Barbie doll, in my opinion. They didn’t seem real, like
plastic you had to move and bend into position but if you pulled too hard, they
might crack and break.
“I guess you’ll have the second seat to yourself as well,
Miss Carson,” she informed, smiling tightly and looking like that was even a
struggle for her. I wondered if she had done Botox, too. Surprise, surprise if
she had. “The last-minute passenger put on the flight list didn’t seem to make
it in time before takeoff. Is there anything else I can get for you?”
“Yes, he did,” a gruff voice interjected.
The attendant turned just as I looked up at the man
who spoke, blocking most of my vision. All I could see were large arms tanned a
light caramel and banded with muscles that flexed as he placed a small black
duffle bag into the overhead compartment. The grey t-shirt he wore was tight to
his skin, showing off the definition and curves to his side in a way that made
my heart pound. I swallowed at the sight.
“I’m sorry,” the attendant breathed.
She sounded as flustered as I felt, hands waving
erratically as she moved to the side to let him through to his seat. Standing
well over six feet, the man’s brown eyes met my green ones as he settled into
his seat across the three-foot space from mine. The front of his body beneath
the t-shirt looked just as toned and hot as the side view had been and I let my
gaze linger longer than I should have, not caring a single bit that he was
watching me doing it.
With a strong jaw, thick, dark lashes that framed
brown eyes, lips quirked into a smirk that said he knew something I didn’t, and
black curls that were just long enough to be considered decent instead of in
need of a haircut, he caused an immediate effect on my body. Turned on, hot to
the extreme, and bothered from the tips of my toes to the ends of my wavy brown
hair—that’s how he made me feel. There was no doubt in my mind the black thong
I had on was already damp from just being close enough to smell the clean scent
of this man, not to mention physically looking at him. He stared back at me,
eyebrow cocked and sporting that same playful smirk while my blatant gawking
continued.
My reaction could have had a great deal to do with
the wine in my hand, or maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t been thoroughly fucked
in over a year. All my time was spent put into my company and work, trying to
make it bigger and better, to get my name out there for others to consider and
then actually be reflected as a worthy competitor to other companies. I didn’t
have the gift of going out and meeting men, not to mention having an actual
relationship. The occasional one-night stand was good enough to satisfy me,
usually, but even that hadn’t been happening lately. Nevertheless, if this man was
my penance for apologizing to Natalie, I was going to start making a better
effort to like the girl…seriously.
“Is there anything I can get for you before
takeoff?” The flight attendant’s voice broke me from my ogling. My mouth felt a
little dry as I looked back at her only to find she was staring at him. I
didn’t blame her. “We’re going to taxi down the runway soon, so it can’t be
anything major until we’re at cruising level.”
The man shrugged, then looked at the plastic glass
in my hand. “Water,” he finally said, then with a nod at me he added, “And
bring this pretty woman another one of those, would you, please?”
The accent in his words told me he wasn’t from
around Maine. I couldn’t seem to speak to ask him exactly where he was from
though, so instead I just sank back into my large, comfortable seat, and
buckled my belt.
“Of course, Mr…”
“Sal,” he answered, looking down at the silver watch
wrapping his wrist. I bit down on the inside of my cheek as my gaze caught onto
the hand the wrist was attached to. Big, strong, with long fingers I bet could
grab so hard and sink knuckle-deep to make me scream. “Just call me Sal.”
Chapter
Four
The vibrating of my phone under my thigh reminded me
that I still needed to turn the device off. Shooting a coy look back at the man
across from me who quirked an eyebrow and gave me a salacious smile at the
vibrating coming from between my legs, I pulled out my cell and looked at the
message lighting it up.
Apparently, Sylvia had called my brother again. The
fixes I had managed to do before needing to leave my house weren’t good enough
as some customers were still having issues at the checkout page. Aggravated, I
asked him to message me back with her number so I could call her myself before
shutting my phone off and tossing it into my purse under my seat.
“Rough day?” Sal asked, sipping his water and looked
at me through thick lashes that framed brown eyes.
He had no idea. “Rough enough,” I replied. “Rougher,
actually. I’m so frustrated I could cry.”
“But you’d ruin that pretty makeup of yours,” he
joked lightly.
My head shot up at that. “I’m not wearing makeup.”
His smirk returned. “I know. You sure don’t need it,
either.” My gaze caught his, not so much surprised at his compliment, but more
the blatancy behind it. “So someone made the pretty girl cry, did they? You
couldn’t bat those lashes and get what you wanted?”
I snorted. “Ouch. Low.”
Sal looked down at my legs. “I’d like to go lower.”
Feeling more flustered than I was accustomed to, I
asked the first thing that came to my mind. “Did you know Newfoundland is the
new Barbados when you book a flight now? I sure didn’t.”
Brows rose in speculation, full lips drawing to a
line as he appeared to seriously consider my statement. “Really? Love the
place, but I never would have guessed that.”
My quiet giggle felt light and carefree as I turned
to look out the porthole window. “Yep, so now instead of white sand beaches and
a hot tan, I’m not sure what to expect.”