Page 31 of Made For You
“Talon… it’s too much.”
“It’s not.”
It looked like a golf ball perched on my slim fingers. A little too flashy for my taste, but I didn’t want to disappoint Talon, especially since I’d be giving it back to him in six months.
“It’s… beautiful,” I told him, not wanting to lie.
The flight attendant peeked out from the plane’s entrance, alerting us that the pilot was ready to take off.
“Okay, I guess I should head inside. I’ll see you in a few weeks?”
“Sure.”
“Take care of yourself, Talon. I think what you’re doing to save the hotels is admirable.”
He nodded. It felt awkward leaving him, as I watched him descend the stairs, waving down at him when he turned to look back up at me, but all that unease fell away as I took in the lavish chartered jet.
At least I was going to arrive back in Ashfield in style. Because once we landed, my life was going to return to normal.
Chapter Nine – Aurora
Miraculously, the plane landed in Nashville with time to spare before Franny was scheduled to pick me up. She had put her foot down with my brother, demanding that she be the one to give me a ride home—no doubt so she could pry more details out of me about my trip. It was hard to disembark the opulent aircraft filled with supple tan leather and shiny fixtures. The facilities were nicer than my bathroom at home. The entire experience left me feeling a little jealous of the nicer things Talon was able to surround himself with.
And a bit worried I made the wrong decision. Maybe he only wanted to save the hotel chain from his uncle because he was afraid of beingnormal.But I suspected there was more beneath the surface, like an iceberg in the ocean. There was always something larger than what the naked eye could see.
As the attendant helped guide me down the stairs, I wasn’t sure what would wait for me once I landed. The fear of the paparazzi catching wind of the abrupt nuptials crawled over my skin. I didn’t want to be front and center of a magazine. That was never an ambition of mine.
Thankfully, the coast was clear, and all that greeted me was a standard security guard to check through my bag as I entered the airport. I’d messaged Franny when I landed to let her know I arrived safely. She was still twenty minutes away.
Inside the small airport, I busied myself with some freshening up in the bathroom and grabbing a drink from the small coffee shop. I sat in a corner seat, watching people gather their bags off the conveyor and sipping my beverage, when the enormous rock on my hand caught my attention. Anxiously, I looked around the airport to see if anyone had noticed it. Noticedme.
I was now a married woman with a ring that probably cost more than most people’s homes.
“Shit,” I swore, panic crashing over me as I worked to slip the ring off my finger.
My now very swollen finger.
A symptom of flying that I really didn’t need right now.
“Come on,” I mumbled as I twisted the band back and forth. A trickle of blood formed around the edge of gold as my skin caught between metal and bone.
Tears pooled along my lower lids as I worked at removing the oversized jewelry. With a mighty tug, the ring pulled free, and I sat back in the chair, gasping for air as if I just ran a marathon. My chest heaved with each deep inhale as I closed my eyes, trying to calm down my anxiety. The edges of the ring bit into my palm, where I fisted it tightly. The wedding band slipped off much easier.
A chime sounded on my phone, and I glanced down to find a notification that Franny arrived. Shoving the rings into my purse, I hurried out of the airport with my luggage trailing behind me. My best friend jumped from her car and wrapped her thin arms around my shoulders. Franny was both tall and lean, reminding me a bit of Olive Oil from thePopeyecartoons. But Franny’s frame was all attributed to her athletic skills. She could, and did, play every sport I could name. She was just naturally thin. Girls in school used to tease her for it, but my mom always liked to say it was because they were jealous of Franny. I didn’t believe it as a young teen, but as an adult, I could understand the possibility.
“Hey, how was the trip?” she asked after we were settled, and she pulled out of the airport terminal area.
“It was… good. Eventful.”
It killed me not to say anything to my best friend about Talon and our agreement. I wasn’t sure she would understand my motivation for saying yes. I barely understood it myself.
“Any cute guys there?”
I coughed uncontrollably as an image of Talon kissing me popped into my head.
“You okay?” she asked as she merged onto the highway and headed toward Ashfield.
“Yeah, sorry. And um… there were a couple.”
