Vacation (3 page)

Women didn't need someone staring them
down like they were nothing more than a piece of meat. Even if they did the
same damn thing to me all the time.

Funny enough, I didn't mind so much. Maybe
she wouldn't either.

I turned in time for her to plow into me,
the pretty thing not paying a bit of attention to anything around her.

Great.
A beautiful ditz. Just my luck.

Chapter 3

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. 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
more safe 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.