Deevus hopped up onto my lap and waved his tail in my face. “Sure, a breeze,” I echoed with a self-righteous sniff. “All I have to do is convince a resort full of the wealthiest people in the world that I’m supposed to be there. That I’m a mover and a shaker, just like them.”
Amanda considered this for a moment. “Try not to talk so much.”
I laughed and smacked her with a pillow as Deevus leaped for safety.
She chuckled and dodged, but her eyes grew thoughtful as they landed on my empty, unused luggage. “You know, I have to admit—it’s a ballsy move. Especially considering your track record.”
I frowned. “What does that mean—my track record?”
She shrugged. “You look before you leap.”
“As the proverb instructs us…”
“No, I mean…you never actually leap. You just stand there. Like a stunted frog.” She yawned and stretched back onto the couch. “Or like…a startled antelope.”
I watched the wheels turning with concern.
“It’s like if the Brothers Grimm did a series with Lisa Frank. That’s how you see the world. I’m trying to compliment you.” She tossed back her hair and grinned. “This is you taking the plunge. It makes me proud!”
“You sound like my mother.”
She shrugged. “Sharon and I talk.”
“Stop,” I advised, “before it turns you.”
“You know, you actually have to pack those.” She cocked her head at the two suitcases angled toward us by the door, and I stifled a small shudder. I was starting to feel like they were watching me, like they knew I didn’t have enough nice things to fill them.
“That’s the least of my problems,” I stalled. “Did I tell you he’s flying us there on his own little plane?”
My blood ran cold at the prospect. Aside from sharks and certain types of shellfish, I had no bigger fear in the world than flying. I had successfully avoided it almost my entire life, routinely convincing increasingly suspicious friends that a road trip would be much more fun than hurling our bodies at breakneck speeds through the air. The only time I hadn’t managed to talk my way out of it, I’d tripped on the moving sidewalk in the terminal, careened into a glass railing, and spend most of the actual flight drifting in and out of consciousness as anxious flight attendants hovered above. Needless to say, it had been a one-way ticket.
“Wow, no you didn’t.” Amanda’s eyes grew wide. “Can’t exactly road trip to the islands, can you? But it’s a private jet. Won’t that make it better?”
I threw up my hands in despair. “No! Would you rather place your life in the hands of something really big—full of people you can sacrifice and eat in case it crashes—or something really, really small? So small that they won’t find it when it slips into the warm waters north of Cuba, and the occupants are preyed upon by bull sharks and—”
“And mollusks, yeah I hear you.” She nodded knowingly, cooling my rising panic before it could really get off the ground. “Fortunately, your brilliant best friend already anticipated this little snag, and I packed you one hell of a carry-on…”
Chapter 19
As per my instructions, I had my cab pull up along a back entrance I never knew existed at LAX and made my way past the main hangers to a smaller runway full of town cars and tiny private planes. Instead of metal detectors and frazzled-looking parents, there were mini-red carpets and floating trays of champagne. A stately porter wearing a suit that cost as much as my car pulled my bags from the trunk before I’d even realized what was happening, and the second I set foot on the tarmac, I was under siege.
“Miss White, did you remember your passport?”
“Miss White, were you able to take a look at the itinerary we sent over?”
“Miss White, are you by chance allergic to mushrooms?”
I rotated around, mumbling confused, half-formed answers, when I suddenly saw Marcus walking toward me from behind the plane. My face broke into a huge smile and I realized, with a bit of relief, that I was actually excited to see him. I wasn’t sure if I would be after our rather abrupt farewell on the beach. In truth, I didn’t know what I would be feeling.
That was one of the reasons I had come prepared.
The second he saw me smile, his face brightened with a huge, boyish grin. He must have been as nervous as I was.
“Miss White,” he mimicked the tone of the minions as he got closer, “has anyone told you that you look absolutely ravishing today?”
“Why, Mr. Taylor, aren’t you the sweetest? Thank you so much for the lovely compliment.” I couldn’t stop staring into his eyes. “Damn, your eyes are gorgeous. I could get so lost in them.”
“Thank you.”