Sparks - Wendy Higgins Page 0,51

and gorgeous smile. Also no wedding ring.

“How are you, Harlow?” she asked.

“Great? And you?”

“Ready to fly.” We both looked over at Lee, who was grinning back and forth between the two of us.

“Uh, yeah, me too,” he said. “Ready to fly!”

I snorted, which turned into a cough and Heather gave Lee a bemused smile before leading us out. I walked beside Lee and elbowed him when I caught him staring at her ass.

“What?” he asked.

“Have some respect,” I hissed. He nodded and hitched his chin upward, making an effort at self-control.

I finished setting up the plane ten minutes before it was time for passengers to arrive. It was another tiny plane where only one Flight Attendant was needed. I was going to text Shawn, but a deep curiosity made me open my Instagram app and find CaliBodForLife. My stomach squelched a little, like I was doing something wrong and stalker-y. I even glanced around the server galley like an idiot before I began to scroll.

Jacquie was undoubtedly the most physically beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Well-defined muscles without being overly-buff. Golden light brown skin. Black waves down to her waist. Big dark eyes with lashes for days and full, red lips. And she had a ton of followers.

I scrolled past all of her workout videos and selfies, along with pictures of her healthy foods. About every tenth or twelfth picture was Silas. Each time he looked impeccably sexy. She captured him doing completely swoony things. Cooking with a dish towel over his shoulder, coming out of the ocean with wet hair, building various woodworks, lifting weights. With each picture my stomach contracted a bit more as I got the feeling that he was sort of a tool for her as far as her social media page. The pictures of Silas always had at least four times more comments and interactions than other images on her account.

One girl wrote: I would bang that daily.

Jacquie responded: Multiple times. Ew.

Most guys would be flattered by that, right? But Silas wasn’t like most guys. He got weird about attention, especially when it came to his appearance.

The more I looked at the comments people were writing and her reactions, the grosser I felt. My coffee was sour in my stomach by the time passengers arrived, and I hadn’t eaten any of my bagel.

Not your business, Harlow, I told myself. If Silas was okay with being used by his wife for influencer status, then that was between them.

When we landed and everyone got off, I texted Shawn: Welcome to Green Bay, Wisconsin!

Will you have time to visit a cheese shop?

I laughed. I won’t even have time to get off the plane lol.

I loved how he always responded back right away. There were times he went into meetings or high-level secured buildings where he couldn’t bring his cell, but any other time he was very communicative.

The day continued like that. Silly texts back and forth. He was being shown around town by another Marine. He’d send me pictures of neat things. Or he’d write me Japanese phrases he was learning. I’d tell him short anecdotes about people on my flights and issues I dealt with.

Around midnight his time I made him stop texting so he could sleep. I, myself, was in a dreamlike state all evening, and realized as I went to bed that I’d hardly eaten a thing all day. I hadn’t even felt hungry.

The next day I woke to his good-morning text, and I lit up as if his words were shining sunlight into my soul. Wow. Cheesy, much? More like shining mozzarella into my soul.

I had it bad. Again, my day flew by: work, texts, pictures, and smiling my face off.

I had an overnight in Boston and we landed early. Shawn had been out drinking and my phone rang. It was the middle of the night his time.

“What are you doing up?” I asked, cuddling into the comforter.

“Harlow Robinson!” It was his smiling voice. Freaking ugh. My heart. My ovaries. My whole entire vagina. I squirmed and couldn’t stop smiling.

“I take it you’re loving Japan.”

“Oh, my God. This place. I love everything about it. Except maybe the overcrowded public transport. But it’s fine on base.”

“Well, that’s good,” I said, letting out a soft sigh. We were quiet a moment and the space filled with the elephant in the room. “Have you talked to Natalie much since you’ve been there?”

He cleared his throat. “I’ve sent her some of the same pictures I sent you, but