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Kara
Thirty-two days later, to be exact, Cole’s knee trembled beneath my hand as we rode to the station, giving me every clue he hated this idea. But hell, we’d signed on the dotted line, fifty percent of the funds had been transferred upfront, and the Kara + Cole universe was all about The Lux for the next two weeks. We’d worked hard since our last visit to New York, not stopping to return to LA for more than a few days at a time. He was exhausted, and so was I.
But it was more than that. Things were getting complicated between us.
Lunch with Jared Parks, or J.P. as he said to call him, had been interesting, to say the least.
First thing. He was hot. I thought so, and I know Cole thought so too from how he kept staring at J.P.’s forearms. Yeah, Cole had a thing for strong arms lightly dusted with hair and big hands that looked like they would leave a mark. That’s how he described it to me, this fetish he had with men’s arms. Me, I’m more of a lips and eyes girl, and when J.P.’s stormy grays twinkled every time his lips quirked up into a small guarded smile, I wanted to have him for dessert. Don’t even get me started with that everlasting scruff I suspected might be the same soft gray as his eyes if he ever let it grow out. He had this very sexy Mr. Teacher vibe going, and he made me want to dig out my old cheerleading outfit to see if he was into that kind of thing. But no, I had way more sense than that...now.
Like always, I gushed about all of this with Cole on the way over from lunch. We usually had a blast lusting after the same guys; it had almost become a game to us. A gay bestie must. Who was the most fuckable person in the room? But Cole got all serious about it when I brought it up and told me Jared Parks was off-limits. Well, of course, he was. So was any man as far as I was concerned.
Now we were on our way to spending two weeks with this man flashing his twinkling eyes and sexy arms all over the place, and I didn’t even have Cole to commiserate with me. Something was off.
The limo pulled into the train station located in one of the wealthiest New York suburbs. At the height of their colorful fall display, the tree leaves above us made a kaleidoscope of the filtered light. The setting couldn’t have been more picturesque. Gleaming in the crisp morning sun was the most beautiful train I’d ever seen.
The Lux’s streamlined frame resembled a spaceship with its pointed nose, pure white exterior, and black windshield. On its side, in huge navy-blue letters, Hunter Railways was prominently displayed. Symbols of wind scrolled from the ends of the “H” and “R.”
“This thing is gorgeous!” I exclaimed, hands clasped.
J.P. met us at our car.
“Well, this is it. Any last regrets?” he asked, his dry humor curling those perfectly formed lips.
“We should be asking you that,” Cole said. “I got the feeling you weren’t a fan of the idea.”
J.P. smiled wider this time. “I think I like you, Cole. Are you always so blunt?” He emphasized the T and his tongue made a brief appearance.
“I call it like I see it,” Cole answered.
“Do you now?” J.P. replied, reaching to help with some of the camera equipment the chauffeur removed from the trunk. His tone was playful, and I had to look back and forth between them to decide if my ears were deceiving me. This...was flirting. No mistake.
J.P. wore a light V-neck sweater with the sleeves pushed up. This time I spied a tattoo right below the crease of his elbow. I think Cole noticed it, too, at precisely the same moment.
A circle with what could be a V inside if it didn’t have a flat bottom.
J.P. caught us both looking at it. “If we all get drunk enough one night, maybe I’ll tell you what it means.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Or I can just Google it.”
He shook his head with a light laugh. “Your generation takes the fun out of everything.”
“Not everything,” Cole said. I glared at him. That wasn’t even close to being subtle.
J.P. laughed lightly again and waved us on. “Come on. We depart soon. I still need to show you your private suite and the common areas shared with the adjacent suite I’ll be in.”
Cole and I let J.P. show us to the last of about one dozen train cars. We entered from the open-air back balcony, which was impressive on its own with the retractable glass enclosure to convert it to a heated solarium at the push of a button. J.P. slipped a key card into a slot, and a door swished open, revealing a private cabin much larger than I initially thought.
Both Cole and I swiveled our heads, getting an eyeful.
The train’s interior had soft charcoal carpet that felt spongy through my shoes. The balcony led right into the sleeping car, with a king bed tucked into the corner. For maximum efficiency, seamless drawers were concealed below within the pattern of the exotic zebra wood platform. There wasn’t much more than the bed and the glass picture window that started midway up the wall and continued over the ceiling into a moon roof to watch the stars pass overhead. In the next room, a large leather sofa extended a quarter-length of the car, ending at a bar packed with top-shelf alcohol. They even had a tap with Cole’s favorite IPA.
“Someone did their homework,” I said, pointing to it.
J.P. grinned. “My assistant is thorough, and your life is basically an open book.”
I watched Cole grimace at that statement.
“Do you think you could give us a moment to get settled, J.P.?” I needed to find out what was up with Cole.
“Yeah, sure. Next is the dining car, which we share, and after that is the spa and gym, which we also share and then my quarters begin. How about we all unpack, and I’ll meet you in about an hour to go over the talking points for our first stop this afternoon.”
“Long Island wine country, right?” I asked.
“Not exactly Sonoma, but the vineyard is owned by that rapper everybody thinks is God, so...”
“So, it will be fabulous.” I finished.
