Summer's End (Wildflowers #5) - Jill Sanders Page 0,41

move was one of the hardest things he’d done in a long time.

He jumped into the warm water and turned just in time to see her head disappear under the water with a large splash.

When she surfaced, she was laughing and pushing her red hair out of her eyes.

“So,” he said, swimming closer to her, “tell me again this great plan you and your friends came up with.”

Their bodies bumped against each other before she moved away. “It’s not that complicated. My friends didn’t want me to go alone and since you were sitting next to me and, well, because they know about us…” She shook her head. “They volunteered you to go as my chaperone. Then Elle suggested we pretend to be a couple, a real couple, since I told them that my father would never buy it if I dragged a man who was just a sex-friend along with me.” She sighed. “So, that’s it. We’re heading to the city under the ruse that we believe that he’s died, while pretending to be a real couple. Our hope is that I can shake free of my father’s hold once and for all. Or at least piss him off enough that he stops trying to play games with me.” She shrugged and leaned against the side of the pool.

“What happens when we get there and find out, officially, that he’s not dead?”

She sighed. “This is where it gets weird.” She moved to sit on the stair. She wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged them to her chest. “In the will his lawyer gave me tonight, it says that my father has left me everything.” He watched her frown. “Which is what I’ve been trying to avoid for years.” She shook her head. “Anyway, this is where I’m going to have to do some acting.” She glanced at him. “We both will have to.”

He moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. “I think I can handle whatever you throw at me. I was in a couple plays in high school,” he offered with a smile.

Chapter 13

This was the dumbest thing she’d ever done. Aubrey frowned down as Aiden loaded her suitcase in the private jet. How had she let her friends talk her into going back to New York, let alone convince her to take Aiden with her?

When Elle had suggested it, she knew it was because of her and Aiden’s newly exposed relationship. Her friends were starting to meddle, which is why she’d kept her tryst with Aiden a secret for so long in the first place.

She knew her friends were trying to take it upon themselves to connect the two of them together. Permanently. She should have kept her mouth shut and her secrets to herself.

“Ready?” Aiden asked, offering her help up the ladder.

She straightened her back and climbed up herself. She heard him chuckle as he stood back so she could walk past him. She’d heard all about the Costa’s private plane. Dylan had flown Zoey to Vegas and back in it when her and Scar’s father had passed away. They’d also taken it on their honeymoon.

Still, her friend’s description paled in comparison to the sleek interior of the plane. She’d ridden in first class lots of times, since her father never purchased anything else, but this was something else.

“Nice,” Aiden said and then whistled. “Guess I should’ve asked Owen for a bigger payoff for Hammock Cove,” he joked.

She smiled as she sat down on the leather seats.

“We’re preparing to leave, if you want to strap in for takeoff,” an older man said from the captain’s cabin. “Once we reach altitude, there’s plenty of food and drinks. Feel free to help yourselves.” He motioned to the bar. “There’s a bedroom in the back if you wish to sleep.”

“Thank you,” she said, strapping her seat belt on.

Zoey was the nervous flyer out of the group of them. Still, she was a little anxious since she’d never flown in such a small plane before.

“Nervous?” Aiden asked her.

“No, you?” She glanced over at him and watched him strap his seatbelt on in the seat next to her.

“I meant about seeing your father again.”

She sighed and glanced out the window.

“A little,” she finally admitted. “It’s been years since I’ve seen him.” She closed her eyes and leaned back against the leather. “I thought that he was old the first time I laid eyes on him.”

“How old where you?” he asked, watching her closely, his gaze heating