AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The plane jolted, pulling Della out of a deep sleep. Her eyes burned, her body felt sluggish, and her mouth tasted like someone had stuffed a gym sock in there.
But the narrow landing strip was surrounded by turquoise water, the sun was shining, and she couldn’t think of a better place in the world to recover from the past three days.
“Good morning.” Using tongs, the flight attendant lifted a rolled warm towel off a silver platter. “Welcome to paradise.”
“Thank you.” Della read the embroidered patch on his shirt. “Arnie.” She dabbed under her eyes in case she had mascara flecks and wiped her hands. “Can I freshen up first?”
He shot a quick glance toward the back of the plane. “You? You’re stunning. And I’m afraid the bathroom’s in use. How about you use the one in the terminal? When you’re ready, the driver will be waiting for you with your luggage.”
“I hope that when I turn back into a pumpkin, I can remember how to do things for myself.”
Grinning, Arnie glanced down at her crystal-encrusted stilettos. “Looks like you don’t need a Prince Charming. You’re badass from your sexy hair down to your stunning Aquazzura’s.”
“You know the brand of my shoes?” How expensive were these things?
He chuckled. “You’re adorable. Enjoy your vacation.”
“You bet I will.” Della stood, still groggy, but no longer hungover after the twenty-hour flight. Since she’d packed for winter in a ski village, Martin had told her to buy whatever swimsuits, coverups, flip flops, and sundresses she needed at the resort and to charge everything to the room.
This’ll be fun.
She wouldn’t take advantage of his generosity, but she did need a few things. Reaching for her purse, she heard Arnie say, “Good morning, sir. Can I get you a coffee before you go?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
That voice.
Bex.
This is not happening.
Of course, he looked adorably rumpled. And it made her unreasonably angry. “What the hell are you doing here?”
He snapped to full alertness. “Della?” He had a thrill in his eyes as he stalked towards her. “I thought you were going home.”
“Martin told me to come here while he fixed the band. He said the trip was prepaid, and it was a shame for it to go to waste.”
He stood in front of her, his cheek creased from sleep, his hair tangled on the right side. “It’s not going to waste. I need a break.” He looked so relieved to see her, like she was his long-lost love.
And, oh God, there it was, that crazy energy between them. The heat, the attraction…it was too much. He was too much.
“I’m sorry.” She sounded like she’d run a race, all breathy and gasping. “Martin said you’d be in LA finishing the tour.”
“Yeah, it’s probably what I should have done. But Van doesn’t need me for two nights, so I’m taking a week off.”
“I’m so sorry. Look, I hope you know this wasn’t my idea. Martin wanted to keep me on the payroll until the band figured out what it was doing, so he sent me here in the meantime. But it’s not a problem. I’ll call him, and I’ll go home as I originally planned.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Of course, it is. I’m standing on a private jet.”
“It took over twenty hours to get here. The crew can’t just turn around and fly back on no sleep.”
“Fine, I’ll spend a night or two at the resort. But don’t worry, I’ll stay out of your way.”
“It won’t really matter, will it? You’ll still be here.”
Oh, that stung. “Trust me, I don’t want anything to do with you.”
