“I decided I deserved some fun, so Daddy sent me on this little vacay.” Leia bats her eyelashes. “Are you arriving or leaving?”
“Juliette and I are leaving,” he replies, resting his hand on my thigh.
“Oh.” Her smile fades a bit before going full-wattage again, her voice turning into a catlike purr. “You could stay, Reno….”
I note that she didn’t include me in the invitation, and my nerves sizzle with trepidation. Here she is looking like a freshly picked rose in an elegant ivory dress, and I’m in a tank top and shorts with a haphazard braid and no makeup. And I was just discussing peeing on my own shoes. I’m not exactly feeling like the winner in this situation.
But Reno’s sitting besidemeand his hand is onmyleg, so that reassures me a bit. Still…
“I don’t think so, Leia,” he replies, further soothing my nerves.
“Hmm,” she says, unimpressed. “Well, if you change your mind, you can stay in my cottage.”
Bitch.
A man in an orange-and-white striped uniform that resembles the outfits worn by inmates at our county jail approaches with our drinks.
Reno speaks with semi-politeness. “It was nice to see you again, Leia, but our breakfast is here.” He turns away and takes a casual sip of his mimosa, effectively dismissing his ex.
“It was great to meet you,” I pipe up sweetly. “Make sure to try the hammocks while you’re at the resort.”
Reno snorts, and some of the bubbly drink goes up his nose, tossing him into a coughing spell. He reaches for a couple napkins to control the dribbling as I pound him on the back. By the time he’s recovered, Leia is gone.
Good riddance. I hope she has raging diarrhea in thativory dress.
“Did you really bless her heart and then suggest she try one of the hammocks of death?” he asks in a cough-rasped voice, though he’s grinning.
I pick up my glass and smile smugly over the rim. “I did. She needed some heart blessing.”
Reno falls asleep on the plane as soon as the wheels leave the ground. Poor man must be worn out from all our extracurricular activities last night.
I suppress a giggle and stare at him like a lovesick puppy. He is one gorgeous man. His eyelashes are completely unfair. How the hell does a man have such perfectly thick eyelashes that rest on the cheeks of that perfectly proportioned face?
Though I was up all night as well, I can’t seem to find sleep. I’m too busy planning what I’m going to say to him once we reach Miami. We both have layovers before we fly to our respective cities, so we’ll have at least two hours to hash out a plan.
The flight attendant brings me another mimosa, and I whisper a thank you to her from my window seat. Reno continues his deep slumber while I sleep stalk him.
After almost an hour of me gawking, I notice his brow crease into a frown, his hands tightening on the armrests. He releases a noise from the back of his throat, and I’m about to wake him when he utters a name.
A few seconds later, he murmurs, “I pucking love you.”
My blood turns into ice in my veins, and I can’t quite feel my fingers and toes. As I watch, his mouth curves into a brilliant smile, and my previously soaring spirit crashes into a fiery heap.
Because the name he said wasn’t mine. It was…
Leia.
Chapter 26
Fuck the rules.
JackBlack—yes,thefamousactor—flashes his trademark cheesy smile at the camera. He’s wearing a hot-pink three-piece suit with a combination of pineapples and hockey sticks scattered over the too-shiny surface.
Weird as fuck wardrobe selection, but you do you, Jack.
“Aaaaand, we’re back with our pucking bachelor, hockey superstar, Reno Swain, also known as Reno Swoon,” he says in a loud, bombastic voice, his hand smacking me between the shoulder blades. “I’m pretty sure every woman in America is lamenting the fact that Reno has found the woman he pucking loves, amirite, ladies?”
He pops a dorky wink, and the studio audience cheers. I can’t see their faces, but they mostly sound like women.
