Page 21 of Forgotten

Chapter Ten

Charlotte

Graham was standing at the door of his limo, which was about to take him to the private airfield where his jet would be waiting for him. It was a common enough refrain from him that I was used to it in theory, but I had never actually flown with him before. All of our dates, such as they were, had been in town, wherever we were. His offer to take me to Paris with him was enticing just for that alone, much less any possibility that I might change how I felt about him on the trip.

I needed to just let go of Jesse and move on. Which I could do once I saw him again and knew it was over. I was positive that was what was going to happen. I’d see him at the wedding, we’d make small talk, and that would be it. We’d part as friends who were once lovers, and that would be that. Then my heart would be free to open up to Graham, and I could go on with my life like it clearly seemed to be unfolding.

Right?

“Well, I hope you enjoy your evening with the girls,” Graham said, holding his door open, almost as if he were hoping I’d change my mind. “Are you going to drive?”

“Yes,” I said, realizing that it still hadn’t dawned on him that not everyone in his immediate life had access to private planes. “Leaving from right here, actually. Should be about a six-hour trip.”

“Be safe,” he said. “No need to rush. And let me know about tomorrow.”

“I will,” I said.

He smiled, and a twinkle of what I thought might be a real emotion, an excited bubbliness, came through. Like a little boy who has a secret.

“You will come, or you will let me know?”

“I’ll let you know,” I said, grinning. “Honestly, I think I’ll end up coming. I could use some time away. Even just a couple days.”

“Yes, you could. And dare I say, we could make some good use of some time away… together.”

There was no note of lasciviousness in that remark, which was different than every other man I’d ever encountered if he said those same words. It was pure. Innocent. He really just wanted to spend time together. Why was this so hard for me?

“I think that would be very nice,” I said.

“Also, and this is just in addition, if youdocome, I have something very special for you. A few somethings, actually.”

“Oh?”

“I won’t tell,” he laughed. “But they may help you forget your troubles here and wind down from the stress of helping plan a wedding.”

“Sounds great,” I said and realized I meant it. I was sure Amber wasn’t going to be a Bridezilla or anything, but being around Tamara at a wedding sounded like torture.

“Goodbye, sweet,” he said, and leaned forward to peck me on the cheek.

“Goodbye, Graham,” I said.

As he got into the car and shut the door, I took a step back and tried to analyze why this all felt so strange. Was it just that he was older and that he wasn’t particularly warm? Was it thathe kissed me on the cheek and called me ‘sweet’ instead of trying to stick his tongue down my throat and calling me ‘babe’?

Or was it just that he wasn’t Jesse?

Frustrated with myself, I made my way back to my car and started the engine. I’d filled up on gas last night in preparation and had also filled up the two coolers in my passenger seat. One had ice and drinks in it, the other had a little bit of ice and a bevy of road snacks. Chips, candy bars, all the things I usually avoided eating, packed into one tiny cooler. Road trips were my weakness. I did not believe in eating healthy during them.

The drink cooler was full of water, sodas, and a few cold coffees, and I pulled one of the coffees out before I put the car in drive. I wanted a little caffeine hit before I left. No sooner had I gotten a sip in than the loud ringing of my phone blaring through my Bluetooth speakers in the car startled me enough to almost spill it all over myself.

I hit the answer button without even looking at who it was, but if I had to take a guess, I probably would have nailed it on the first try.

“Sis?”

“Hey, T,” I said. “What’s up?”

“Are you coming?”

“Yes,” I said.

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