The Castaway Billionaire - Serenity Woods Page 0,1
bright oranges and reds and vivid purples, setting me on fire. I thought I hungered for that passion and vitality, but I didn’t know how exhausting it would be to be around someone like that all the time.
And now he’s gone, and I want to return to the pastel colors, to the blues and greens and pretty pinks. But at the moment it’s as if the colors are pieces of plasticine blended together to make a muddy brown. It’s only been six months since he moved out, but I can’t find my balance. I’m like a kite whose string has broken, and I’m being tossed about by the wind, rising higher and higher into the clouds.
“Victoria?”
My head snaps around, and I look up at Theo Prince, who’s standing in the aisle, staring at me.
Damn it.
“Hey,” I reply flatly. My heart taps a rapid tattoo on my ribs. He must be thirty now. Seven years ago, he’d played rugby and football in the winter, tennis and cricket in the summer, and he’d swum all year round, so he’d been lean and muscular. He’s filled out over the years, so he has a man’s build now, and I think he’s grown an inch or two as well. There are fine lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth, but they haven’t detracted from his good looks; if anything they’ve added to it, wiping away the boyishness and instead replacing it with a man’s suave handsomeness.
Damn, damn, damn. Why can’t he have grown warts and buck teeth and put on a hundred pounds?
My fingers itch to pull out my phone, take a photo, and post it on my Insta account. It would have thousands of likes and a couple of hundred comments in an hour, so at least I’d have gotten something out of our meeting. Unfortunately, though, there’s no Wi-Fi on board.
“I didn’t realize you were on the plane,” he says.
“That’s because you were late boarding,” I point out. We’d all had to wait for him, and he’d been the last one on.
“True. Sorry about that. I didn’t realize I was going to be on the flight until the last minute.”
Typical. Disorganized and thinks the whole world is here to wait on him hand and foot. Theo Prince needs a flight—everybody hold their horses!
Lucy clears her throat, and I give her a wry look before saying, “Lucy, this is Theo Prince. Theo, Lucy Rippon, my business manager.”
“Pleased to meet you, Lucy,” he says, holding out a hand.
“Likewise, Theo.” Managing to inject a less-than-subtle sensuality into his name, she slips her hand into his, looking up at him and fluttering her eyelashes. I feel a flash of irritation, although I have no idea why. Why should I care if she finds him attractive?
I wait for him to grin and flirt with her, but although he smiles politely, his gaze slides back to me as he leans on the overhead locker, his shirt sleeves tightening on his biceps. “I was just going to get a drink at the bar,” he says. “I don’t suppose you’d care to join me?”
At any other time, my answer would have been a sharp no. It might have been a long time since we broke up, but my resentment is hot enough that the last thing I want to do is spend time in his company.
However, I’m conscious that Lucy is probably hoping I’ll say no so he’ll ask her instead, and my mischievousness flares into life as I find myself saying, “Sure.”
Surprise flickers on his face—he’d expected me to refuse, but he smiles and moves back, so I rise from my seat and squeeze past Lucy.
We’re in business class as there’s no first class on these smaller planes to Fiji. It’s a lot roomier than economy, but it’s hardly palatial, and he hasn’t moved back that far, so I bump into him as I enter the aisle. He’s still leaning on the overhead locker, and I have to look up to meet his eyes. Only then do I remember how blue they are.
I clear my throat, turn, and make my way down the aisle to the bar at the back. It’s just a small half-circle against an inner wall, but it houses bottles of every drink I could imagine, and the bartender smiles as we approach.
“Can I have a gin and tonic?” I ask.
The bartender nods and begins to mix the drink.
Theo leans on the bar beside me, his eyebrows rising. “You drink alcohol now?”