Running From Destiny Page 4

  I laughed then. Capris in Miami? So NOT the part, but it’s the best I have. I said earlier I am a size fourteen. I lied. I’m actually a twelve, but I wear a fourteen. I’ve never been a fan of form fitting clothes. Muffin tops and love handles need to be hidden well. Let’s not forget the girls either. The Girls. Must. Be. Hidden. If you can’t lift them, hide them is my motto. Heather talked me into my regular size this weekend. Why did I listen to her? I’m self-conscious enough as it is. It felt good when I tried this stuff on, but now I wasn’t so sure.

  After making sure the hair dryer was unplugged, I head out into the living area secretly hoping The Suit had gotten tired of waiting and he was gone, but no. He’s sitting at the table reading the paper. He looks up at me and I swear his eyes flared. And was that a growl? I must have been hearing things. “What?” I crook my head and look at him. He says nothing, he just looks at me.

  After a few seconds of this Mexican standoff, he folds his newspaper and stands, but his eyes never leave mine and I’m not sure how I feel about this. Surely he couldn’t hear me in the shower, could he? I mentally shake my head, no. He’s gorgeous and as I said before, way out of my league. Hell, he’s in another stratosphere from me. Girls like me fantasize about guys like him, not the other way around.

  “Let’s go.” He takes my hand and leads me to the door. Bossy man, he is. We head downstairs in the elevator in deafening silence. I can feel his eyes on me, but I don’t look at him. I’m not sure why I agreed to this breakfast. Sure, I need to eat and I’m hungry, but I can do that alone. Happily, I might add. I know this is a means to an end so I’ll get breakfast and then I’ll get rid of The Suit. Yeah, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

  We enter the dining room and I scan the room. This, my friend, is where the beautiful people eat. Even hung over, these people are beautiful. The women are all made up, guys are in what I call golf apparel. Preppy, clean cut and boring. I look at The Suit. I just can’t bear to say his name, even to myself, for some reason. Jackson Bentley and Ally Sanders don’t belong in the same sentence.

  We find a small table in the corner away from everyone else and I can feel eyes on me as we walk through the crowded restaurant. They’re probably wondering what a girl like me is doing with a guy like him. Butterflies starts to flutter as I come to the realization that I’ll have to make small talk with the Suit. What could we have in common? It doesn’t take me long to answer my own question. Nothing. Not a damn thing.

  And then, a reprieve.

  “Ally!” I hear my friend calling from the other corner of the room, and I silently say a prayer of thanks.

  “Heather, where did you go last night?” I whisper in her ear as she approaches me and wraps me in a bear hug. Heather is a hugger. I’m not, but she’s my best friend so I hug her back. Probably a little harder than she’s used to. I’m just happy she’s here, and so angry with her at the same time. And I don’t have to face breakfast alone with Jackson, that’s a bonus. Heather backs up and looks at me, smiling. She then looks at Jackson, then me, then Jackson, then back at me, and wiggled her eyebrows.

  Ugh.

  “I’m mad at you, H. I can’t believe you let him in our room, in the bed! I woke up and there he was. I could so kill you right now, and I’m planning your execution. Explain yourself.”

  While I was angry earlier, I’m bot that mad now, but I don’t let her know that. I keep my angry frown on long enough for her to explain. Jackson sits down at the table and allows me to speak with Heather, privately.

  “So, how was it?” Heather asks me, sarcastically.

  “How was what?” I know what she’s asking, but I wasn’t about to give it up right away. I decide to make her work for it.

  “Ya know, did you pound the punanni pavement? Knock boots? Bump uglies? Come on, Al. Spill!” She wiggles those damn eyebrows again.

  “Hmmm, wouldn’t you like to know? A girl doesn’t kiss and tell.” I said, egging her on.

  “Al!” She’s almost screaming at me now, so I chuckle.

  “Come on, you know me, what makes you think he got his weenie wet last night? You know I don’t put out on the first date.” I concede, not like last night was a date by any means. By this point, I could feel Jackson’s eyes on me. Heat waves from the back of my neck down to my ass. Oh geez. Could this conversation get any more awkward? Could he hear us? I thought maybe he had bionic hearing, along with his ex-ray vision.

  “Yes, Alexandra.What would make your friend here think I got myweenie wet last night?”

  Shit. Real mature Ally.

  Apparently the conversation just got a lot more awkward.

  He had snuck up behind me and Heather had said nothing, by now I’m really starting to reevaluate our friendship. I blush and I don’t usually blush easily, but that heat from my back was now up my neck and all over my face. Heather just smiles. I really am gonna kill her.

  “We will discuss this later.” He emphasizes thewill.

  I ignore him and look away to Heather, “Don’t we have a plane to catch?” Heather looks at her watch. “Yes, in four hours. We’ve got time to eat before we head to the airport. Can I join you guys?”

  “Yes!” I answer.

  “No!” Jackson answers.

  Damn!

  I really don’t want to be alone with the Suit, especially now that I know he overheard our shagging conversation. Heather frowns. Jackson grins. “I’ll meet you up in the room in an hour.”

  She groans and nods, giving me theare you sure you’re okay with that look?“I’ll be fine. Go. I’ll see you in a few. I’ve lost my appetite, so this won’t take long.” Heather hugs me again. “See you upstairs.”

  I watch her shake her perfect booty and sway those hips as she strode to the elevators. She then stops short and turns back to us, walking back and digging in her purse at the same time. “Your key card, Jackson.” She hands it to him and turns on her heel, not waiting for him to respond.

  “Sit.” Jackson commands.

  I give him the stink eye, but I sit. I’m not in the mood to argue with Mr. Bossy Pants this morning. This weekend has been strange enough without getting in an argument in the middle of the restaurant. He hands me a menu and I perused it quietly. Frankly, I have nothing to say to the male specimen sitting across from me and since I’m not even hungry anymore, I lay the menu down on the table. The waitress comes up a little too bubbly for seven o’clock, but whatever.

  She takes our orders and flashes a perfect smile at my “date”, but I stare at her and she turns to go place our orders. Jealous much? Where in the hell did that come from? Not only did I have no reason to be jealous, I never got jealous. In fact, I’ve never had the opportunity to get jealous. It’s not like The Suit belongs to me or something. And now that I think about it, maybe I should have let her stare and smile her flirty little smile, and he’d become more interested in her than me.

  But he apparently didn’t even notice her. He must be so used to women falling at his feet that it didn’t faze him at all. “So, Alexandra. Tell me about yourself.” Was how he started the conversation.

  “First of all, call me Ally. That’s what my friends call me.” I said quietly.

  He doesn’t say anything. It’s so quiet, I expect crickets to start chirping.

  He just sits there, looking at me.

  “There’s nothing much to tell. I’m an administrative assistant and I live in the burbs of Atlanta.” I answered. That’s really all I have to say, anything more was none of his business.

  The waitress approaches again, all smiling and girly, bringing our food and topping off our coffee. I thank her, because I respect the profession but he just nods at her.

  “Atlanta huh? That’s good. I spend a lot of time in Atlanta with work. I have an office in Midtown.” He said.

  My brain immediately goes on overload. He comes to Atlanta? Crap. “What do you do?” I asked. He chews his English muffin and washes it down with coffee. He was even gorgeous when he was eat
ing, his Adams apple bobbing as he swallowed.

  “I’m the CEO and head editor for Women’s Pride Magazine. Heard of it?” He continued eating.

  “Yes, I’ve heard of it.” I reply looking down at my plate. Women’s Pride is the chubby version of Vogue or Cosmo. I lay my fork down, no longer able to swallow. I have no idea where this conversation is going and I’m not sure I’m prepared to stick around.

  “Why are you not modeling like Heather?” He asks as he places his napkin under the edge of his plate. Apparently he’s done eating. He place his elbows on the table, crossing his long fingers under his chin and stares at me, waiting for my response. I don’t answer right away because I don’t have an answer. I thought it was obvious why I wasn’t a model. I also couldn’t answer, because I was choking on my bacon. Modeling? Pfft. Not me. That’s Heather’s job, I’m just her sidekick.

  “I have a BA in Business Admin with an emphasis in Interior Design. I work for a large firm in Atlanta, working my way up to Project Manager. Though, it is taking longer than I thought it would.” I finally spit out my answer.

  “You’re in the wrong line of work, Alexandra.”

  Who does this guy think he is? I’ll keep asking that question until I get an answer.

  “Umm, Ally, please. I hate my full name.” He just glares at me. His emerald green eyes are really starting to affect me. I feel my stomach flip and I attempt another sip of coffee. It’s hot, no doubt. But there’s no taste.

  “Come work for me, Alexandra.” He states, and I proceed to choke on my coffee. I really need a new head, between my lips not working and my throat wanting to choke on everything. Smooth, Ally. Real smooth.

  “What?” Is the only thing I can think to say. He really must think I’m an idiot.

  “Look, I know this is an unconventional proposal, but you have what I have been looking for. You’re real, not made up.You have a natural beauty and you will grace the pages of my magazine. You’re theAll Americangirl I’ve been looking for.” Again, not a request. He states what he wants and expects to get it without question.

  “Thanks, I think. But no thanks. I like what I do. It’s the degree my parents paid for. Plus, I am not model material. I am not sure what you see, but....”

  “Stop!” He holds his hand up. “You will not put yourself down. I said you are beautiful, and what I say is true. I never lie to people and I never joke around about pure beauty.”

  I stutter. “I am not a model. Thank you for breakfast, but it’s time I get upstairs to pack. It was nice meeting you.” I stand to leave, and I expect him to stop me, but he doesn’t. He stands up and holds out his hand, apparently understanding that he’d crossed a line. I skittishly place my hand in his and thank him again for breakfast.

  “I’ll see you back in Atlanta.” He states, dropping my hand. I’m not quite sure what to make of that, but I nod and turn toward the elevators. It was all I could do not to run.

  Chapter 6

  The elevator doors close and I release the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. My hand is tingling from where he shook my hand. I look at my fingers, staring at them as if they look different now. Funny. I crack myself up sometimes. But I’m happy to say my fingers look the same as they did a few minutes ago.

  I pull my key card out of my back pocket and make my way down the hall to my room. I insert it and the light turned green I open the door and step into the room, looking back out to the hall way to make sure he didn’t follow me up. “There you are!” Heather says while looking up from her almost packed suitcase. “Soooo, how’d it goooo?” She taunts me.

  “How did what go? You seem to think there is something going on. Well, there isn’t. Just finish packing and let’s head to the airport.” I turn and head to the bathroom to pack my toiletries.

  “Gee, grumpy much?” Heather teases.

  “Oh let’s see. I go to bed early with a headache and a crowd of strangers pile into our hotel room and I wake up with a strange man in my bed, who demands I have breakfast with him. Yeah, I’m a little grumpy.”

  “Puh lease, you loved it. It was about time you removed the chastity belt and had a little fun, Al. You are way too uptight.” Heather continues her teasing, throwing my panties at me.

  “Eww, come on Heather. You know as well as I do, nothing happened between me and The Suit last night, and nothing will.”

  “The Suit? That’s what you call him?” She laughed. “His name is Jackson Bentley. Do you know who he is?”

  “He told me he’s some big shot at Women’s Pride magazine. So out of my league, H.”

  There was quiet in the room. Or at least I couldn’t hear anything after I said that. My mind immediately went to The Suit and his dark blonde hair and mesmerizing green eyes shaded by full lashes. That sly quirk of his upper lip giving off the impression that he was trouble. Yep, he’s trouble all right. With a capital T! Hey, I think Travis Tritt and Taylor Swift both sang about this messiness. I should pay attention. I jolt from my thoughts when Heather punches me in the arm. “Ow, bitch! What was that for?”

  “You zoned out there, Ally. Got “The Suit” on your mind, huh?”

  “No. I have no interest in him, or going to work for him.”

  “Wait, what? He offered you a job? What the fuck, Al? What kind of job?” Heather seems truly surprised, just like I was when he made the offer.

  “Who knows, modeling I think but you and I were not cut from the same cloth. Modeling and fashion are your areas of expertise and I have no desire to go that route. Plus, he must be on drugs or something if he thinks I need to be modeling.” I shrug my shoulders and zip up my carry-on bag, pulling it up so I can roll it out.

  “Ally, stop. Why do you always put yourself down that way? You’re a beautiful woman. A real woman, curvy and voluptuous. You really need to work on that esteem girl. It’s driving me crazy.”

  “I am not putting myself down, Heather. I am a realist. I see me for what I am. I’m not blind, I’m honest. I love what I do and can’t wait to get back to Atlanta and drown myself in my work. It’s all I have.”

  “You have me girl.” Heather hugs me. Have I told you she’s a hugger?

  “I know, and I love you. Now can we just drop it? We have to return the rental car and get to the airport. Flight is in three hours.”

  We pull our stuff out to the parking lot, my eyes constantly searching our surroundings for The Suit. Thankfully, he’s not around.

  “I’ll see you back in Atlanta.”

  I’m thankful that he knows very little about me, not that he would try to find me anyway because he was just being nice, or maybe he was hard up or something. Guys like that don’t go for girls like me, but I planned to search for him on the internet as soon as I got home. Why? I had no idea, maybe to get an idea of what I would be missing or to just plain torture myself.

  We finally make our way through security and up to the gate. As we wait to board, the Delta attendant calls our names. Heather and I look at each other. “Great, we must be getting bumped for some hot shot that thinks he deserves our seats more than we do.” Heather groans as we approach the attendant.

  The attendant took our boarding passes and started punching stuff into her computer. “Ladies, you have been upgraded to first class. Here are your new boarding passes. We will begin boarding shortly. Thank you for flying Delta.” The attendant tells us.

  Heather and I just looked at each other with raised eyebrows. I peer at the attendants name tag, “Um, Laura. We didn’t request an upgrade.”

  Laura looks at her screen again, “I can’t tell on here who requested it, only that it was done.” She smiles back at us. “Anything else I can help you with?”

  “No, thank you.” And Heather and I look at each other, shrug and head back to our seats to wait for boarding.

  “What the hell was that?” I ask Heather. “Who would upgrade us like that without telling us?”

  Heather just shrugged her shoulders, “Who cares? We’ll be traveling in s
tyle. Free drinks!!” She punches her fist in the air like she’s partying like a rock star. Yeah, I need a drink now because I don’t have a warm and cozy feeling about this. And rightfully so.

  About that time the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as if another electrical charge blew through the room. Funny how that keeps happening. Heat travels up my spine and I know he’s here before I seem him. The Suit.

  Shit.

  “Ladies?” He croons out as he walks past us. Heather’s eyes light up and she watches me watching him walk by. That was all he said, but his presence said so much more. I glance around the gate area at every woman there, who were also watching him walk by. He knows how to hold a woman’s attention, including mine, which is not good. I start sweating, and my palms get clammy. I try wiping them on my jeans but it’s no use. As soon as I get them dry, they dampened again and I can feel Heather’s eyes on me. I turn to her and glare. “What?”

  She chuckles. That sly, devious chuckle that Heather is known for. “You freak out whenever he’s around.”

  “I do not. I...I, I hate flying. You know that.” I try to convince her. She laughs, out loud. A full on belly laugh. Before I know it, everyone in the seating area is looking at us, including The Suit. “Shhhh” I tell her, “Everyone is looking at us.”

  I feel a wave of heat creep up my back, neck and up over my face. I know my face is red, I can feel it and I’ve never been good at hiding my embarrassment. “I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” I get up without waiting for Heather to acknowledge me, and rush into the bathroom. Thankfully it’s close to the gate and I don’t have to trudge through the terminal.

  I actually do have to pee, so the timing is good. I do my business and am at the sink washing my hands when I look at myself in the mirror. My neck and face are still red from embarrassment or sexual need, I can’t tell anymore.