Page 10 of Knot Your Sunshine
Hawaii. Tomorrow. First class.
I'm actually doing this.
A grin spreads across my face, so wide it makes my cheeks hurt. I spin in a circle, arms out, laughing at the absolute insanity of it all.
And it turns out, I know exactly who’d love to come along…
* * *
The FaceTime ring echoes through my bedroom as I throw another sundress into my suitcase.
"Mia!" Elena's face fills the screen, her emerald eyes bright with her usual warmth. Behind her, I can see the familiar cream walls of the Beaumont pack villa's dining room. "Perfect timing! We just finished eating and—wait, are you packing?"
"Hey, El. Yeah, about that..." I toss a bikini into my suitcase, trying to sound casual. "Remember that email last week about the salon?"
Her perfectly shaped eyebrow shoots up. "The buyout offer you ended up ignoring? What about it?"
"Well, someone else reached out, also from Hawaii. They'd like to talk business with me..." I fold a cover-up that doesn't need folding. "And they're flying me out. First class."
"Wait, what? You're flying first class to Hawaii?" Elena's voice jumps up an octave, and she nearly drops the phone. "When?"
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!" Her eyes go wide. "Mia, that's insane! Amazing, but insane!"
Silver hair pops into frame behind Elena. "Did someone say Hawaii? Hi, Mia!"
"Hi, Rose," I say to Elena's mom, unable to suppress my smile.
"Mom, Mia's going to—" Elena turns back to me, then to her mom, then back to me. "Hold on, everyone needs to hear this." The screen shakes and tilts as she props the phone against something. "Guys! Mia's going to Hawaii tomorrow!"
The dining room erupts in a chaos of movement and voices. I watch as the Beaumont pack converges on the phone like moths to a flame. James's blond hair appears first, his blue eyes sharp with curiosity and that hint of mischief that never quite leaves them. Dorian leans in from the left, his dark hair charmingly messed up, wearing a crisp white dress shirt, probably from whatever meeting he had today. Then a large hand appears, grabbing the phone entirely.
"Mia, hey—" The screen shows Cole's short brown hair and approximately half his forehead. I can't help but laugh.
"Cole, I can only see your hairline."
"What?" The view swings wildly, ceiling, chest, someone's elbow, before finally settling on his rugged jaw and those hazel eyes that always look ready for action. "There. Better. You're going to Hawaii? Why?"
"To talk business." I busy myself folding a shirt I've already folded twice. "Probably something to do with my hair oil."
Dorian's face squeezes into frame beside Cole, and I swear I can almost smell his cologne through the screen. "Who invited you?"
"Uh..." I rub the back of my neck. "I guess some company representative? They didn't go into much detail. Just said someone would pick me up from the airport and bring me to the Oceana Deluxe Resort. Said everything would be clearer once we met in person."
There's a beat of silence that stretches just long enough to feel slightly awkward.
"I mean," I rush to fill it, "it all happened so fast, you know? I got a flight voucher, and when I saw it was legit, I got caught up in the excitement. Didn't think to ask for more details."
James's voice comes from somewhere off-screen. "Wait, so you don't actually know who contacted you? Or if they're even a real person? How did they contact you?"
My cheeks heat. "They sent a very professional... message. Formal, business-like, the works."
Okay, calling a DM with a flight code "formal correspondence" might be a bit of a stretch, but I'm already feeling defensive enough…
"Sounds like a setup to me," Cole says flatly. "What if this is some—"
"Cole, guys, come on. Give her a break." Elena manages to pluck the phone from Cole's grip. "Nobody spends that kind of money on a first-class ticket unless they're serious."
