Page 4 of Heavenleigh

This guy wasn’t being smug or arrogant, simply confident.And that was hot.I liked men who went after what they wanted, without being a complete asshole about it.As if they were giving you a gift just by acknowledging you.That crap was not attractive.

“I saw you when you came on the plane, and something told me you were about to change my life.Then you bounced down the aisle back here.And as you disappeared from view, I made a split-second decision.I traded my first-class seat to that red-faced lady for the chance to spend the next six hours getting to know you.”

My mouth opened, then closed, words deserting me as I stared at him.Apparently I’d lost the ability to make basic conversation.All his hotness had fried my damn brain.

“If this is freaking you out, just say the word, and I will pay someone to swap seats again.That’s an open invitation if at any point I make you uncomfortable.I don’t want you to think this is a line I use.Quite honestly, I’ve never done anything this spontaneous in my life.I am the clearheaded one in my family.If either of my siblings could see me right this minute, they would swear I’d been abducted and replaced by a clone.”

His voice was deep and soothing.Even as nervous as he must have been right then, the tempo didn’t shift.I almost leaned closer.Now that I had heard his laugh, I had the overwhelming urge to know what he smelled like, but unless I got up close and personal with him, that was unlikely with all the other overpowering scents in the cramped confines of the plane.

“My name is Jacob.Everyone but my mother calls me Jake.Harvard law degree, second in my class.My brother roasts me every Christmas because I could have been first if I’d just paid more attention in contract law.I excel at contracts.Which my sister assures me is the most mind-numbingly boring thing in the world, but I love a well-written contract.Having the dos and don’ts outlined in advance is comforting, from my perspective.It’s a control thing.And maybe first-sibling syndrome.”

Gods, the confidence in his voice, even as he rambled, was sexy.And that rambling mixed with a hint of vulnerability in his eyes was sweet, endearing.

Heart-melting.

Ah fuck, I was in so much trouble.

“Which I am, by the way.A first sibling, I mean.Eldest of three.And I would do just about anything to know your name, little bunny.”

He smiled again, and my belly filled with butterflies.

“Ven,” I squeaked out, then cleared my throat.“My name is Ven.”

As enthralling as he was, I wasn’t a complete idiot.Stranger danger and all that bullshit.I had low impulse control, not a low IQ.There was a difference.I never—never, ever—gave anyone I just met my government name.It wasn’t a moniker people were likely to forget, at least not my full first name.

Most people thought my parents were hippies if they got close enough to find out what my name really was, and I was happy to let them think that.Anything was fine as long as they didn’t connect me back to my dad.And since Arella’s stardom, my sister as well.We looked similar enough for people to connect the dots if they knew my full name.Of the four of us girls, Arella and I looked the most alike, although it was very obvious we were all sisters.No one had ever mistaken us for twins, but I’d gotten far too many, “Did anyone ever tell you that you look just like Arella Stevenson-Moreitti?”

Which never ended well for anyone, especially me.I got chased by the paparazzi way too often.There was no chance in hell I was going to take the risk of that happening this weekend.Not even for a guy with the most amazing eyes that could freaking hypnotize me.

For one, because all attention needed to be on Yara, and having a pack of camera-wielding jerk-offs ambushing us all weekend would make that impossible.Also, and the most important part of all, my dad could absolutelynotknow.If he saw me in the tabloids, not home where he expected me to be, being chased by vultures with cameras and no security for protection, he would be beyond upset.His stress levels were already up.

After the scare of almost losing him when he’d needed a liver transplant, I got nervous any time he so much as got a sniffle.Each of my siblings was the same way.It wasn’t mentally healthy how the five of us coddled him in an attempt to minimize his stress levels.

“But I think I like ‘bunny’ more,” I admitted, switching off all thoughts of my dad for the moment.

Jake’s smile intensified, the sight sending little sparks straight to my core.Damn.Smiles should not hold that kind of power.

“I don’t know about the first-sibling syndrome.I’m the middle child.”That was all I was going to share about my immediate family.Any number of people could have been listening, and I was not going to give more context clues to who I was.

If Jake was the real deal, though, I might share more with him in private.

Another shot of electricity zinged through me, warming my center at the thought of being alone with this man.That was when it really hit me.

The godsdamn universe had sent me my one.

Jake

Six hourswith my knees scrunched up, an ache in my right shoulder from the angle I was sitting to keep from crowding Ven, and a growing burning sense of loss that it was all going to be over when we disembarked.If we suddenly passed through a time loop where we had to stay in this moment forever, I would gladly spend eternity right there with her.

Because I knew that once we stepped onto that island, everything would change.I had people relying on me.Yara wanted me with her on her happiest day, and I would stand up with her and Warren.As badly as I wanted to invite Ven along for that, I had zero clue how my sister would react to a stranger.Jude was bringing his girlfriend with him, and we didn’t know who the fuck that was, but Yara knew that woman was coming.

If I forced Ven on my sister without at least easing her into it, she would likely stab me.Not in a joking “Ha-ha, sisters” kind of way.In a very real, very bloody way that would require immediate medical attention.

I wanted Ven in my life, and providing her a front-row seat to my sister’s level of crazy wasn’t likely to give her the warm and fuzzies.She’d take one look at Yara with blood on her hands and run screaming into the sunset, never to be seen again.

That wasn’t a chance I was willing to take.

As the plane taxied toward our arrival gate, I noticed the tension that was filling Ven matched my own.We’d been so into getting to know each other, we hadn’t actually spent more than two minutes discussing why we were going to Hawaii.I’d told her I was meeting friends, and she’d echoed that without either of us elaborating.