Oceans Apart Book 1 (Oceans Apart #1)(8)
“Tristan Lee,” he replied.
“Tristan Lee,” I typed and then smiled. “That’s a nice picture of you. Is that your dog?”
“My mother’s. I walk him on the weekends when she has her social obligations.”
“That’s kind of adorable. Well, Tristan Lee, I have sent you a friend request, and if the mood strikes you, you can accept it and send me a message sometime.”
“I definitely will. Thanks for showing me a good time today, Ginny. If I come back, you’re the very first person I’ll look up.”
“Promises, promises,” I teased, but my smile was almost a permanent fixture on my face. “Have a good flight back.”
“I’ll certainly try,” he replied, and then he leaned in and kissed my cheek before he got out of the car.
“Bye!” I waved and pulled away, thinking about what a great day I’d had and what I’d been missing.
Chapter 4 — Tristan
I was in a good mood after saying goodbye to Ginny. Ecstatically happy that I’d met such a beautiful and captivating girl, as I’d really enjoyed spending the day at the beach getting to know her a little bit. Wished I’d met her sooner. She was a lot of fun. At least I had her contact details.
I’d had the most wonderful day and I didn’t even mind when I got back up to my room and my dad was waiting there to take me to dinner. He’d been working with some developers all afternoon while I was at the beach with Ginny, and now he was excited. He wanted to sit and talk about the success of the trip, how he could see the possibilities for the company’s expansion into California, when all I wanted to do was order room service and finish packing.
No such luck there; I politely ushered him out of my suite — “Let’s continue this conversation over dinner, Dad” —with him still babbling on, so I could grab a quick shower to wash the salty Pacific from my body and get dressed to go to the restaurant. Neither one of us wanted to make it a late night, so after some delicious Mahi Mahi and a few more glasses of wine, we were both tuckered out and went back to our rooms.
Ginny was still on my mind while I finished packing. Dad had said at dinner that he was coming back in a few weeks; I secretly hoped I’d be on that flight with him. I thought of our day at the beach. She was so natural, so feminine, and so happy. I’d never met a girl who was so carefree. And smart. A lawyer? Thoughts of the day drifted through my mind as I dozed off to sleep.
I woke up happy, thinking of Ginny and wondered if she was still sleeping — or would she be awake by now? Was she thinking about the great time we’d had together yesterday, like I was or was I just a distant memory in her mind already? I pondered for a minute how crazy it is that some people you meet can have such an effect on you.
Thinking about her again had put me in a good mood straight away, so I wasn’t fazed at all about having to get up at an unholy hour of the morning to head to the airport. I’d checked the weather report the night before and London was going to be drizzly and dull compared to the warm sunshine of LA, but I was looking forward to getting home and sleeping in my own bed again.
We got to the airport and through private security in good time. I picked up a bottle of Mike’s favorite Scotch on the way to the executive hangar at LAX. I was used to some pretty nice VIP lounges but this was the plushest departure suite I’d seen, exquisitely decorated and furnished, but we had no time to hang about and enjoy the surroundings today. We headed out into the sunshine, across the apron, and climbed the steps up to the Armstrong company jet for the flight home to the UK.
Our regular captain, Colin, greeted us at the door. “Welcome aboard again, gentlemen. I trust you had a successful trip? I’ll let you know our progress once we’re en route, but the weather looks good all the way across the Atlantic, and with a slight tailwind too, so we should arrive on time.” The crew stowed our things, we soon got settled into the plush leather seats, and it wasn’t long before we taxied to the runway and were in the air.
As the aircraft climbed away from the airport, I looked down through the window, watching the LA beaches move further and further into the distance until they’d disappeared behind us; my thoughts turned to Ginny, wondering where she was and what she was doing now. I’d only known her two days, yet I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I couldn’t wait to talk to her again.
I never found it easy sleeping on any plane, even one as luxurious as this, so as Dad was already talking to the office on the satellite phone, I decided to get some work done too. I wasn’t tired right now anyway, so I booted up the laptop and connected to the Wi-Fi so I could send off some emails and get things ready for Monday’s grind.
I tried to concentrate but after just a few boring business replies, my mind wandered to Ginny’s beautiful smile, her hair blowing in the ocean breeze as we lay on the sand. I don’t know what this hot American cutie had done to me but business could wait. I logged on to Facebook, not really expecting to see anything from her, at least not just yet, but a big grin spread across my face when I saw that she’d already sent me a friend request, just as she’d promised.
My fingers couldn’t move fast enough on the track pad to click on “Confirm”, but I resisted the burning urge to scroll through her pictures while my father was sat next to me, glancing over my shoulder every so often. Instead, I just updated my status; that I’d had fun in LA and that I was on my way home. I’d get a better look at her pictures in private later on.