23

Hailey

The tropical heat and humidity engulfed me like a warm blanket when I stepped down from the plane. The air smelled clearer somehow, but maybe I was just in a better mood after having mind-blowing sex.

The Mile High Club was not overrated. The rev of the engine and the white noise from the plane helped me focus on the pleasure Christian gave me. I looked forward to returning the favor on the way back.

Christian assisted me down from the last step and led me toward a black car waiting for us at the end of the tarmac.

"Will I have time to shower before meeting your friends?" I asked, pinching my white shirt from my damp chest.

"Yes, you'll have time to freshen up. We're only meeting them for dinner. The plane will head to New York to pick them up now and then they'll fly back in the morning."

"Wow. I could get used to traveling in such comfort," I said, looking back at the plane one last time before leaving the airport.

"I hope so. I plan to spoil you more now that you're my girlfriend and not my client."

Girlfriend.

I liked the sound of that. I liked it very much.

I smiled and snuggled into his chest.

As the car drove into the city, I marveled at the scenery around us. "Wow, those homes are so colorful. They're beautiful." I pointed to some blue, red, and yellow buildings.

"I love it here. It's so vibrant and alive. The people are as warm as the weather. And the food…. Have you ever had mofongo?"

I thought back to some of the restaurants I've been to back in L.A. "I don't think so."

"It's a rice dish made with mashed, fried plantains and crispy pork skins. You've got to have it with the red shrimp sauce. It's incredible."

Christian's excitement excited me and I kissed his cheek. "Thank you for taking me here. I don't remember the last time I've been on vacation."

He clasped my hand. "This isn't a vacation, sweetheart. This is just the weekend. When I take you away on a vacation, it will be someplace for two to three weeks. So, book that into your schedule. I want to show you the world."

I liked the sound of that. "We'll be traveling the world soon," I said, but my smile wavered. "But I guess we won't have much time to see it while I'm on tour."

"To truly visit a place, you have to immerse yourself in its culture. I can't wait to show you some of the temples I visited in Thailand. I left there a changed man. In some ways, I feel like I left a piece of me there, too."

"I love the way you speak of these places. It makes me realize, despite being famous and meeting so many people, I haven't expanded my world." I turned toward him. "I want to share those experiences with you."

"Let's plan it. After your tour, we'll visit the South Pacific."

I nodded, but uncertainty ran through my body.

Would taking that sort of time off hurt my career?

I hated that I put my career on the same level as my personal life. In the past, maybe even higher. But I wanted this time to be different.

About half an hour later, the car pulled up to the hotel. A man wearing a white linen shirt and blue pants opened my door. "Welcome to the Flamingo Hotel."

"Thank you," I said, stepping out of the car. The marble steps led to a marble foyer. White leather couches were scattered throughout the space, surrounded by palm trees and a waterfall wall. The place was certainly swanky.

I looked around while Christian checked us in. My heart stopped when my gaze caught the view of the ocean. The blue water shimmered beneath the bright sunshine and the sand looked like white powder from this distance.

Catching my gaze, Christian asked, "Would you like to take a walk along the beach before we freshen up for dinner?"

"I'd love that."

"Our butler can take our bags to our room. Let's get out there and enjoy this beautiful weather. I don't get any of these views in New York."

As we stepped down the marble staircase to the lower level, I couldn't help asking, "Are you going to miss it?"

He hesitated, and I closed my eyes, realizing my presumption that he would move to L.A. for me. "I'm sorry. We haven't talked about this. That sort of just came out."

He squeezed my hand. "It's all right."

"You know I can't leave L.A. My family, my studio, my producer, everything is there."

He nodded. "I know."

I wished I hadn't brought this up. Not now.

"Yes."

"Pardon?" I turned around to face him.

We'd reached the bottom step, and he stared out over the ocean. "Yes. I'll miss New York. But mostly, I'll miss my brothers."

My heart leaped out of my chest. He was willing to move to L.A. for me. And at the same time, it broke for him.

But those men weren't his real brothers, right? He would make new friends in L.A. I'd make sure of it. I squeezed his hand. "I'll be there."

He smiled, but I wanted to change the subject. "So, have you been to many other countries outside of the South Pacific?"

He rubbed his lips. "Well, I've worked in England, France, Russia, China, Iraq, and Iran. Oh, and for a short time, I was stationed in Israel."

My mouth fell open. "You were a soldier in all of those places? I didn't think soldiers traveled so much."

His mouth tightened and his gaze wandered toward the sun worshippers laying in their lounges along the shore.

"I wasn't an average soldier, Hailey."

"Obviously not," I laughed. "Were you a troublemaker that had to be moved around a lot?"

"No."

We approached a tree, and he led me towards it. He pulled two loungers underneath it and I laid down, putting my feet up and staring out at the water.

"During my first year," he explained. "I excelled at training and hand-to-hand combat."

I glanced over at him and raised a brow at his muscled chest and arms. "I'm not surprised. I don't know anyone that could take you down."

"No one has." Then he shrugged. "At least not without drugging me.

Anyway, after that first year, my superiors saw something in me and transferred me to a different unit. I went to the Airborne School, where I learned how to fly war planes and underwent one-on-one training as well as psychological evaluations. Once I passed those tests, my captain referred me to a special ops team. That's where I met my brothers."

"Special ops? Aren't those the guys who take down terrorist leaders?"

He shrugged. "Sometimes. We also rescued hostages and provided humanitarian aid. Those were my favorite missions because I met some of the bravest, most resilient people in those villages. Once I saw a grandmother stand in front of an armored tank when it entered her village. She never even flinched."

"Wow, I can't even imagine that."

"You're lucky you don't have to. Maybe if we did, I wouldn't see so many people of privilege lose their shit if the server forgets to bring them ketchup."

"I'm surprised to hear you say that Thailand changed you and not those missions."

"Oh, those missions changed me. I just don't want to think about them." He took a deep breath. "Some nights, I wake up in a cold sweat thinking about the times I couldn't rescue someone."

He looked up at the cloudless sky, and I rubbed his back. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head, then rubbed his face and looked at the ocean again. "I've talked to therapists about it. Nothing helps. I have to let it go."

"I'm sure it's not easy."

He nodded. "No. But it's getting easier." He smiled weakly.

Reaching over to rub my thigh, he asked, "Tell me how you got your big break?"

"Me?"

Christian's quick change in subject caught me off guard. "Oh, um, let's see."

I cringed. "Well, there was that singing competition Ingrid mentioned. I signed a contract with Frankie after that, but I think I'd have to say my biggest break was opening for Natalie Hun. Frankie got me to audition for her manager and then Natalie herself. She loved it and said I could open for her in L.A. Some people posted the performance on social media and then started buying my songs. I'd worked so hard for years leading up to that and then my life changed almost overnight."

He nodded. "It's incredible, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"How quickly life can change. You can have everything planned out and then someone or something can spin it all on its head." He turned to look at me. "I feel like I'm having one of those times right now with you. You've changed everything for me."

I bit my lip and nudged him. "In a good way, I hope."

He chuckled. "Definitely. In the best way possible."

"It's just funny how life works. Some of the best and worst times of my life happened in an instant that changed the course of my future. When I kissed you for the first time, I knew I would never be the same. I knew you were the one."

"Wow, Christian."

"I'm sorry. Was that too much?"

I shook my head and then crawled into his lap. "No." I kissed his neck, and he pulled me against him. "It's not too much. The feelings inside of me are overflowing, but in a good way. I don't know how to explain it. You fill my cup and you just keep filling it. You make me so incredibly happy."

"I love you, Hailey."

"I love you, too."

I leaned against Christian's chest and he held me while we stared out into the ocean. I inhaled and exhaled slowly, releasing all the stress from the past weeks. The feud with Kendra, the social media backlash, the stabbing, the fake relationship with Trey, the pressure of making a second successful album. I recalled all of it in one deep breath and drained it slowly through a loud exhale.

Christian squeezed me. "Are you all right?"

I rubbed his arm. "I've never been better."

My whole life, I'd never stood still. This was the first time I remember being present in a moment and feeling excited to be here, and I wasn't writing, singing, or running around someplace. My mind was still and my heart was full.

We must have fallen asleep on those lounges, because when we awoke, the sun was lower in the sky. Cupping my eyes, I noticed three men walking side by side along the beach. They looked like runway models with their sunglasses on. One still had long pants on, but his shirt was unbuttoned halfway, revealing a sculpted chest whenever the breeze hit him. It wasn't nearly as sexy as Christian's rippled core, but it wasn't too shabby. The others had swim shorts on and no shirts and turned heads as they walked by.

"I think they're doing a photo shoot on the beach," I said, pointing to the men.

Christian turned his head to where I was pointing and groaned. "Those aren't models, baby. Those are my brothers."

"Oh."

He covered my eyes, and I laughed. "Stop it. I want to meet them."

"I'm not sure I want you to meet them now."

I turned toward him and kissed his cheek. "You're the sexiest one."

"You better think that." He kissed me on the lips, slowly, taking his time to explore my mouth.

Someone cleared his throat behind us. Christian didn't stop kissing me, and my lips curled into a smile. He was staking his claim. Silly man.

"Are you going to let the poor woman come up for air?"

I pushed away from Christian and turned toward the three men blocking the sun behind them. Their faces were shadowed, but there was no mistaking these men were all handsome, with their full lips and chiseled jaws.

"Hi, I'm Hailey." I stood from the lounge chair and put out my hand. All three had brown hair, but only one had it long past his jaw. "I'm Will," he said.

Next, I shook Jake's and Jager's hands.

"It is so nice that you all flew here. I'm looking forward to getting to know you. Christian speaks very highly of you all."

"He does?" asked Jake.

I nodded, and Jake laughed. "Well, we didn't want to miss the opportunity to meet you when he told us you'd be coming here."

Jager looked at Christian and motioned with his head to the side. "Mind if I speak to you privately for a minute, Chris?"

Christian caressed my hand. "It's all right Jag. I told Hailey about our special ops background. She knows. You can speak freely in front of her."

Jager cleared his throat. "It's not that."

"Then what?"

Jager ran a hand through his short hair. "It's about your father."

"My Dad? Is he all right?"

"Yes, yes. Man, I'm fucking this up."

"Just say it, Jag. What about my dad?"

"He's here."

Christian stiffened behind me. He stood as still as a rock.

"In Puerto Rico?"

"In this hotel," Jake piped in. "He called me this morning, asking if he could hitch a ride with us. I tried to call you, but you were already in the air. Anyway, I told him he could come with us. I didn't think you'd mind, but Jager didn't agree."

Jager's eyes searched Christian's.

"It's fine," said Christian. "Why would I have a problem with it? I'm glad he's here." Christian shifted behind me and suddenly I felt some tension from him. He didn't say anything else, but there was an awkward silence until Will spoke up. "Hailey, I'm sorry to hear about your social media manager, but I'm glad you're all right."

"Thank you. I was shocked to find out it was her. I didn't realize she was holding a grudge for so long. But it feels good to not have to worry about that anymore."

"I'm sure."

Christian pulled me up from the lounger. "If you'll excuse us, gentleman. I promised Hailey some time to freshen up before dinner. I made reservations at the steakhouse at the hotel. See you guys there in a little while."

I smiled at the trio and waved. "I'll see you all later."

Christian held my hand as we made our way through the sand and onto the pathway back to the hotel. I waited for Christian to say something, but he didn't. There was still an awkward silence between us.

I stopped walking and pulled on his arm so he would face me. "What's going on? And don't say ‘nothing', because I can feel some sort of tension inside of you."

He closed his eyes and sighed. "It's nothing."

I opened my mouth to protest, but he continued. "My dad is a hard man. He isn't exactly the life of the party. I don't want him to say anything that will make you uncomfortable."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he's stubborn and thinks he's right all the time. That doesn't always translate well with new people."

I stepped closer and caressed Christian's cheek. "I'm sure your father and I will get along. Who wouldn't be in a great mood in such a beautiful place as this?"

He groaned. "You'd be surprised."

I chuckled. "I'll be fine, Christian. You don't have to worry."

I massaged the wrinkle between his brows with both my thumbs. He grabbed them and kissed them.

"You're right. I'm overreacting. Let's go get ready."

He kissed me gently and some of the tension drained from his body. I smiled, glad that we'd talked it through. Everything would be just fine.