Mile High (Up in the Air #2)(74)
I studied the fascinating woman, happy for a distraction from the night’s drama. “What’s the family business?”
She flashed a charming dimple at me. “Don’t hold it against me, but my family is also in the hotel business. The Middletons are infamous competitors of the Cavendish family. Imagine everyone’s shock when James and I met and became fast friends, over eight years ago.”
I wondered if friends could possibly be all that they were. How could two such outrageously good looking people of the opposite sex be strictly friends? Especially if one of them was James…
She seemed to read my mind again. Her eyes widened on mine in the mirror and she vehemently shook her head. “We have been strictly friends. We went out to dinner a few times when we first met. I think James was toying with the idea of trying to seduce me, but it never came to that. He’s a man that knows how to read women, and he knew I was unreceptive. And I must tell you, I’m quite relieved at the change I’ve seen in him since he’s met you. I had thought, for the longest time, that James was as broken as me, if for different reasons.”
“Broken?” I asked, completely drawn in by her candid manner.
She grimaced, but her fairytale lavender eyes quickly smoothed back into a smile. “I’m not usually such an open book, but I can’t seem to help it with you. It makes sense, I suppose. You and I just have to be friends. I adore James, and I adore you on principal just for being the woman to finally make him fall in love.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
I didn’t correct her words, though they made me wince as though she’d hit upon a very tender subject.
Instead, I turned the focus back on her. “Why did you say you were broken?”
She smiled. It was the saddest smile, unarguably heartbreaking. She just had that effect. What she felt showed on her lovely face, and it was impossible not to feel at least a little of it with her.
“Since I can remember, I’ve been in love with a man who can never love me back. In fact, he’s in love with someone else, though it took me a long time to see that. My heart’s never been able to move on, so, much to my parents horror, I seem to be immune to the opposite sex. Even to a man as beautiful as James. I tried to be attracted to him, at first, but it’s no use. I think that it was after that when I knew not to bother anymore. I’m the type of woman who will only ever fall in love once. Unfortunately, that one time happened to be with a man who could only ever see me as a sister.”
“That’s impossible,” I told her. “You could have any man you wanted.”
She just shook her head, finally pulling a brush out of her monstrosity of a designer bag. She began to carefully pull the brush through my mussed-up hair. “Lovely hair,” she murmured to me almost absently.
“You and I could pass for sisters, really,” she added. I thought it was a hugely flattering compliment.
“How many women have naturally blond hair nowadays? You’re the only other one I know. But, no, I certainly cannot have any man I want. And I only ever wanted one. Akira Kalua. I shamelessly threw myself at him and the best I got was a pity f**k, pardon my crass language, but that’s the best term for it.”
“Akira Kalua,” I repeated back, surprised at the name. It sounded vaguely familiar, though I couldn’t place why. I thought the name sounded very Hawaiian. I had several Hawaiian friends, and there was a large population of them working for my airline.
She smiled almost wistfully, as though just hearing the name brought back bittersweet memories. “I’m an island girl at heart, if you can believe it, though I was banished from paradise a long time ago. God, I hate New York.”
I was more than a little surprised at that admission. I had just assumed, with her family wealth and incredible looks, that she would fit right into the big apple. “You’re from Hawaii?” I guessed.
She nodded, smoothing my hair with a comforting hand before digging back into her bag. “Born and raised. My dad fell in love with Hawaii when my mother was pregnant with me. Maui, to be specific.
By the time they were ready to live in a different house, I wasn’t ready to go with them. They had to leave without me, and my adopted Hawaiian family wound up having me more than my actual parents did.”
“Tell me about Akira,” I prompted. She just smiled, shaking her head. She brought a makeup wipe to my face, wiping off the errant mascara that had bled under my eyes. I wanted badly to hear her story now that she had given me a few juicy tidbits. From the beauty of her face and the sadness in her eyes, I just knew it was a tragic love story that would be captivating.
“Another time, perhaps. You need to join James before he causes a scene. We have to hang out sometime soon, though. James told me you live in Vegas. I spend a lot of time there, managing the family property. It’s only five minutes from the Cavendish property, in fact. I’ll get your number from James. Have lunch with me?”
I nodded. I had met her minutes ago, but I felt like we were already friends. It was more than a little unusual for me. “Will you tell me about Akira then?” I asked, strangely curious about this lovely woman’s love life.
She gave me an exasperated look, digging into her handbag again. She handed me a tube of clear lipgloss. “Just use your finger. I swear it’s never touched my lips. It’ll make your lips look less bruised. And yes, I’ll tell you about Akira when we meet for lunch, if you really want to know. I never talk about him, so maybe it’ll be therapeutic to get it off of my chest. But you have to tell me about you and James.”