Chapter Forty-Two
Griffin
Sierra takes tons of pictures throughout the dinner. I let her have her fun, and even manage a small smile when she gets the server to take a snapshot of us during the dessert course.
After dinner, we go out to the observation deck for the night view of the city. Sierra radiates a contagious joy as she stares, lips parted, at the glittering metropolis.
“My God,” she whispers.
“What’s so fascinating? It’s just a city. From this far up, basically all you can see is lights.”
“Are you kidding?” She looks at me as though I just told her coffee should be declared illegal. “It isn’t just a city. It’s like the best thing in the world! Look how beautiful the lights are! The way the traffic moves. With the sky clear, it’s like we have stars above and stars below, some of them moving like streams. Where else am I going to get a view like this?”
I squint at the vista spread out before me. It still looks the same—a city like any other. But Sierra’s excitement is worth the long trans-Pacific flight. Would she be shocked or disappointed if I told her I only picked Tokyo because of the Axelrod concert? If they were singing in Rectum, Manitoba, that’s where I would’ve taken her.
“We should come back when we can spend more time. My treat!” she squeals. She probably meant to say it calmly, like an adult, but failed. No emo filter.
It’s oddly cute, but I’m not sure why. I don’t like people without filters. They’re like my parents. Narcissistic, parasitic and over-the-top crazy.
It must be the apple scent. You can’t get mad at somebody who smells like the first apple of the season. It’s doubly true if the apple also happens to have the power to arouse you.
My blood’s been simmering since we left the hotel this morning. I was turned on watching her pick out stationery and pens, for God’s sake. But it was impossible not to be when she was enjoying herself so much. The subtle flush of her cheeks reminded me of how she looked in bed last night, and in the shower.
She’s been beaming all day, pulling all my attention toward her. I can’t look away when she smiles, the purple in her eyes glimmering with pleasure.
It suddenly hits me that the reason I can’t take my eyes away is that she’s incapable of hiding how she feels. She doesn’t look at the world with the cynical indifference common among those trying to appear cool and important. She glows like the sun. Being in her presence makes everything brighter, warmer and more…wonderful.
She leans closer, resting her head against my shoulder, and sighs softly with happiness. I lean down and kiss her, helplessly drawn to her.
Although my head says it’s the trip, the jet lag and the champagne, my heart whispers, It’s the girl—Sierra.
* * *
An hour later, our taxi drops us off in front of the hotel. I put a hand at the small of Sierra’s back as we move toward the elevator bank when the hair on the back of my neck bristles in warning.
I scan the lobby quickly—
Then I see her.
The perfectly styled golden hair cascading artfully around her slender shoulders. The professionally done makeup and face that used to grace hundreds of thousands of magazine covers.
My mouth dries. What’s Mom doing here? She’s in a cushy chair with some sort of blue cocktail on the table in front of her. She’s wearing a bright red dress that flows over her like liquid fire, highlighting the toned body women half her age would trade their ovaries for. I don’t believe for a second she’s here just for a drink.
Before she can make eye contact, I look away and walk quickly toward the elevators. My phone pings.
I ignore it.
It pings again. Sierra looks at me. “Shouldn’t you see what that is? In case it’s urgent?”
“It’s probably spam.”
“Somebody’s contacting you at crack of dawn in America.”
That doesn’t mean it’s urgent or important. Not in my world.
“Could be one of your brothers,” she adds.
I doubt my brothers would contact me at this hour. They’re too capable to need me to handle their problems. The only time they’d contact me is if I went viral—again. Noah was more than excited to group-text this morning about a video from the concert that went viral. He insisted I introduce Sierra to them when we’re back in the States. Since he is a persistent texter when he wants something, I had to tell him I’d ask her just to shut him up.