Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 78576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Then, bringing up the rear, is the baby of the family.
Me.
Maddie, who has no special talents, no special gifts.
Bree told me my gift was empathy, how I feel so much for others. Frankly, I think she was just trying to appease me. My three older siblings are all spectacular, and I…
I’m just not.
A limo is waiting for us, and the driver helps get our baggage loaded up, and then I get into the limo. Dave slides in beside me.
I don’t talk as we drive to the hotel.
I don’t talk as Brock gets all of us checked in.
I don’t talk as he hands me my key card and we walk to the elevator.
Finally, when I get to my room, Dave is still standing next to me.
Finally, I speak.
“Goodnight, Dave.”
And I let myself into my room.
Chapter Three
Brianna
Jesse walks me to my room. He grabs both of my hands. “I’ll miss you, my gorgeous fiancée.”
I kiss his cheek. “I’ll miss you too, but Maddie doesn’t want to be alone.”
“I know.” He gazes at the hotel room door. “I could stay with you both.”
I chuckle. “That’d be pretty weird.”
“It’s not like we’d do anything.”
I smile and shake my head. “You need sleep.”
He trails a finger over my neck. “I’ll sleep better after making love to you.”
“I know. Me too. But Maddie needs me. This has been…” I sigh. “A fucked-up night.”
He nods, frowning. “I wonder who got sick.”
“Who cares? I’m just glad it wasn’t one of us.” I hover my key over the door.
Jesse takes it from me. “First, I want a goodnight kiss.” He crushes our mouths together.
I lean into him, melting into his kiss, when—
The door opens, jarring me.
“Oh.” Maddie’s voice. “Sorry.”
Jesse and I break our kiss.
“It’s okay, Mads,” I say. “We were just saying goodnight.”
She blinks for a few seconds. “I changed my mind. I don’t need you here, Bree. I’m being selfish.”
“No, you’re not.” I give Jesse a quick kiss on the lips. “Goodnight. I love you.”
“I love you too,” he says, “and you too, Maddie.”
I walk into the room with Maddie, where our luggage has already been delivered by the bellhop.
“Did Dave try to get you to stay with him?” I ask.
“No,” Maddie says.
I sit on the edge of my bed. “Are you okay?”
She nods. “I will be. Just a little shaken. It’s not like I have a choice in the matter. I’m not in your position, Bree. I don’t have a man I can just ask to comfort me.”
“Sure you do. If you like Dave, I’m sure he—”
“I do like him, Brianna. I’ve crushed on him forever, and he’s been wonderful. But he’s a Steel.” She gazes toward the mirror in the room’s vanity, frowning. “And I’m just me.”
I pick up a pillow. “Do I have to beat you over the head again, Maddie? Why are you back on this train?”
She doesn’t reply.
“You listen to me,” I say. “And listen good. Our plane came pretty darned close to crashing into the English Channel tonight. I don’t care what the pilot says about it being normal. I saw the look on the flight attendant’s face. She was scared too. Think of how lucky we are.”
She nods. “I know. It’s all I’ve been thinking about.”
“Yeah? Then why are you playing the A Steel could never fall in love with me card?”
She purses her lips and scratches the side of her head for a moment. “You know what? You’re right. Dave and I will hang out for the rest of the tour, and if something happens, great. And if not? I’m lucky to be alive.”
“There you go. That’s how you should be thinking.” I place the pillow back on my bed. “We’re in Paris, Mads. I don’t speak a word of French, but we’re in Paris!”
“I speak some French.”
“Perfect. You can be our makeshift tour guide tomorrow.”
“Won’t we be on a guided tour?”
I shrug. “I have no idea. Brock said to sleep in a little after the debacle on the plane. We’ll meet for a late breakfast slash early lunch at ten thirty.”
“Sounds good.” Maddie yawns. “You want to use the bathroom first?”
“Go ahead,” I tell her.
“Okay, thanks.”
Maddie opens her suitcase, grabs her toiletries and pajamas, and heads into the bathroom. A moment later I hear the shower turn on.
Not a bad idea.
I want to wash this day away too. I’m still freaked out, and I wish I were in Jesse’s arms, but I’ll live.
I lie down on my bed and close my eyes.
I’m suspended in air, weightless, like a feather caught in an updraft. The cabin of the plane is dark, and all I hear is the deafening roar of the engines, like mechanical beasts that thrust us through the sky.
But now they’re faltering, choking on some unseen obstruction, and I can feel it—the pull of gravity tugging at my bones.