“What the fucking hell!” she writes. “How?”
“Margaret told me a year ago that Joshua and I were not cousins and I have kept her filthy secret and this morning I fessed up to Cameron and Joshua” I write.
“Holy fuck!!!!!!!!!!” she replies.
I snatch the iPad from her and type furiously. “Now I know the bitch is going to turn on me because I told them.”
Bridget’s horrified eyes meet mine and she shakes her head. “I have no words” she types.
I nod sadly. “And now Joshua has hardly spoken to me since and I know he is furious. When we get back to his house it’s going to be fucking Armageddon.”
“Holy shit, does Mum know?” she writes.
I shake my head. “No and don’t you dare tell anyone. Not even Abbie.”
She nods. “You have my word.”
I run my hands through my hair in frustration and type in another message. “What did Ben say?”
She shrugs sadly. “That he had a brain snap and that he didn’t mean for it to happen.”
I frown as I take the iPad from her. “Brain snap! That’s an awful thing to say. Screw him Didge” I type.
She nods. “I know, right? What a prick!”
I nod and take her hand in mine and she takes the iPad from me and starts to type. “I don’t want to go to LA anymore. It’s going to be weird now around Ben, and Joshua is going to be as cranky as all fuck. Sounds like pure hell.”
I nod as I stare out the window. “It certainly does.”
A couple of hours later I am woken by Joshua cupping my face tenderly as I sleep on Bridget’s shoulder. “We are landing soon, presh. I’m going to get changed,” he says gently as he grabs my hand.
I sit up sleepily and I squeeze his hand in return. “Ok baby.” I smile. I wait for him to finish and he emerges from the dressing room in the hottest charcoal suit known to man, a white shirt and navy tie. He looks edible, how on earth did I ever get this man?
I rise from my seat and go to my hand luggage. Even though I know Joshua is not openly angry at me, I can feel his disappointment and I think that’s worse. I would prefer he was raging mad, but then I think that’s coming down the track anyway. I go into the dressing room at the back of the plane to change. One good thing that did come from Adrian breaking up with Nicholas was that he needed intense retail therapy to keep his mind occupied and it seems I am his latest styling project. I have underwear to match my outfits, and shoes, bangles and lip gloss to match my handbags. We shopped daily for two or three hours when I finished work and Adrian spared no expense… or should I say Joshua’s credit card spared no expense. The funny thing is I found out he styles Cameron and Joshua too. They haven’t been shopping for themselves for over three years. He does a good job—they always look frigging hot. Apparently the look he is giving me is Olivia Palermo… whatever that is. I put on my new underwear and a new ice-blue dress. It’s gorgeous, made from silk and hangs just above the knee. It drapes and has a low V-neck front and capped sleeves. I think Adrian called it elegant sexy. I gently apply a full face of makeup and pull my dark hair back into a low messy bun. I frown as I pull out the high-heeled strappy ice-blue sandals. I have never been this matching in my life. I look like the damn queen. I then finish off the whole outfit with a cream-coloured large satchel handbag. I stand still and look at myself in the mirror in awe. I don’t even look like me. I look… like I have money. This outfit was damn expensive and I think the shoes alone were over 600 dollars. Adrian instructed me to wear this on the return flight to LA and I feel my nerves rising. I slowly open the door and exit into the plane to find everyone gathered together talking in the aisle. Cameron sees me first and does a low whistle and everyone’s eyes turn to me. My eyes are only on Joshua who is sitting on an armrest. He slowly looks up and gives me a sexy smile as he stands. “You look exceptionally hot Miss Marx.” He holds his head angled to the side as if assessing me.
I gently wipe my hands over my thighs nervously. “I thought if I was going to be a Stanton I had better look the part,” I reply awkwardly.
Joshua’s eyes lock on mine and he gives me the best come-fuck
-me look I have ever seen. “Did you now?” he replies.
Everyone else on the plane has disappeared and I inwardly smile to myself. He liked that answer, he liked it a lot.
“I like the sound of you being a Stanton,” he whispers darkly with his eyes still locked on mine.
I give him a small smile. “Me too,” I reply quietly. My eyes flick to Adrian who gives me a smirk and a wink. I love that man—this is all his doing. Joshua holds out his hand and I take it and he leans in and kisses me gently on the cheek. I feel like I want to jump in the air and punch the sky… this outfit is a direct hit… yes and exactly what I had hoped for.
We walk back to our seat and I hear Cameron and Abbie behind us make some joke about watching bad porn and I giggle.
We sit down and Joshua leans across and grabs my face and kisses me passionately.
“I love you future Mrs Stanton,” he whispers as he studies my face, his hand on my jaw.
I smile broadly as emotion fills my eyes with tears. “I love you too, Joshua, so much.” Maybe everything is going to be ok after all.
Our moment is broken by the flight attendant’s voice in the cabin: “Please fasten your seat belts and prepare for landing.”
Fifty minutes later we are in customs waiting to exit into the airport. Ben is being his domineering self and throwing orders to all of the guards.