being a female would give her an advantage during her time with him—allow her to experience the way he spoke to her, looked at her, and treated her when no one was around. Would his obnoxious manner go on behind close doors, or was it all just for show, keeping up with an image?
She compared it to how he treated the somewhat awkward makeup artist who blushed every time he looked at her. Or the way he spoke to their waitress at his favorite steakhouse.
In the end, Tom the Bomb wound up being one of her few subjects who came out looking worse after the feature. Sure, she’d discovered—and written about—plausible explanations as to how those views formed back in his youth, but even that wasn’t enough to redeem him.
“I can’t believe you’re going to Costa Rica,” Mom came from the speaker.
Viv glanced at her phone mounted to the Mazda’s dash. Her mom, bless her, had been repeating the sentence every conversation they’d had since she told her about the trip. And still, Viv had to agree.
Sparks of excitement sputtered through her, but it only added to the unease of it all. Viv forced herself to release a slow exhale and loosen her grip on the steering wheel. “I can’t either.”
She’d already gone through the security at the main airport, which had given her access to the property designated for private, personal aircraft.
Almost there. She tuned into the inviting warmth of the sunlight on her shoulder and exhaled again, slower now. Her heart followed in reluctant obedience—a more paced and even rhythm against the seatbelt strap.
“Here your dad and I felt bad about taking the boys to Disneyland without you, and now you’ll be soaking up sun on an island in Cost Rica.”
With Duke Benton. That final thought unraveled the sense of peace she’d harnessed in a blink. “Yep. It’s crazy.”
After the breakup, despite the anger and the hurt, Viv hadn’t been able to rid herself of the feelings she had for him. So she’d stored them away instead.
When Mom wanted Viv to get rid of her stuffed animals as a kid, she’d placed them in a box and set them in a corner in the closet. The act put Viv at ease and showed her that—while they were still close by—she didn’t need them after all. Eventually, Viv allowed Mom to give the box away.
She’d used a similar application with the overflow of emotions that threatened to paralyze her after the breakup. Viv had visualized cramming the unwanted feelings into a lockbox, securing it nice and tight, and pushing it to an outer edge of her heart.
Only Viv hadn’t gotten rid of Duke’s box quite yet. It was still there, a safe distance from the central matters of her heart, sealed shut and locked tight.
“You’ve never seen the rainforest, have you?” Mom asked.
The question pulled Viv from her musings. “No, not yet.”
“I can’t believe you get to travel for your job,” Mom continued. “You’ve been to New York multiple times. And Texas when they shot on that cattle ranch for the football player…”
Viv nodded. “And France for Jeanine Labelle,” she added, recalling the misunderstood model. They’d been in a hurry for that one. “Sadly, we had to go from the airport to an eight-hour shoot outside the famous tower, then back to catch our flight out.”
“Yeah,” her mom said. “I remember that. The twins were—what, maybe five?”
Viv nodded. “Sounds about right.”
“We took them to see the rodeo that time,” Mom said. “Your dad bought them cowboy hats.”
She smiled at the fond recollection, but all too soon, her mind drifted back to today’s destination. This trip really would be different from the rest. Five full days in Duke’s multi-million-dollar vacation home on a private island in Costa Rica.
Riley Shay said she wanted Viv to get a good taste of what a vacation for Duke might actually look like. Was he the sort who’d fill his spare time with work and tell Viv she could do the same? Or was he the type who’d—despite his countless demands—make time for fun while he was away?
Viv had only just hugged Dante and Diego goodbye less than an hour ago, but as she neared the private part of the airport, her mom let them holler one last goodbye before ending the call, leaving Viv with her thoughts once more.
She’d spent the last week mentally preparing herself for the interview with her ex. It was different from her routine preparation—it’d had to be. Prior to