rich, entitled woman, his liaison to all these things, promised. Everything was no more tangible than a cloud in the sky. He might stare at, reach for, and want it, but there was no way he could ever touch it. As if Zenith’s Promise and Jody could do what? Lift him up high enough in the sky to glimpse a translucent dream with as much viability as a drifting cloud? He was very skeptical.
He coated his heart and mind with an indifference that protected him from ever feeling anything. Excited? Nope. Hopeful? Nope. Anxious? Yes.
History wrote the script for all the negative outcomes in life and Ross wasn’t big enough to challenge it.
Chapter 3
FLOPPING ONTO HER DESK chair, Jody twirled around with her head tilted back as she stared up at the ceiling. Daydreaming again. Oh, damn. That Ross Karahan was too hot for anyone’s good. He was the type to make a girl do things she knew better than to do. That kind of behavior was completely beyond her willingness to indulge or entertain, yet his physical appeal, and his stupid charisma was so powerful she found it hard to resist. Like an invisible force field that was so potent it sucked everything and everyone towards him, Ross was a strong magnet.
Yes, maybe she was being a little dramatic, but that’s the way the guy came across. How ridiculous. Sure, he was hot and handsome, built like an Adonis with his chiseled features. Blah. So what? Lots of guys fit that description. What could possibly make him any different? Except he was lazy in his speech, manner and tone. Purposely careless and apathetic. He didn’t even bother to learn anything about his destination and purpose, the place where he was flying across the country to be? That was insane. Actually, it was very strange to her. She couldn’t think of a reasonable explanation for such behavior. It seemed so pointless. Rebel that he tried to be, coming here with no discernible idea regarding what it was, made him appear even more clueless and ignorant. The too-cool-too-care attitude she believed he was trying to portray fell flat with her.
She lifted her head when a noise pulled her out of her Ross meanderings. Karlee Randall entered the office and slid into the chair beside her desk. “So how was the new guy?”
“Hot.”
Karlee laughed. “Oh. Really? You say that pretty often. What makes you think they’re so hot? You have eclectic taste.”
“Not this time. Oh, no, this guy is what every woman would consider hot. Imagine a model/actor/construction worker/rock star/soldier in terms of hotness all rolled into one package. I can’t even explain it.”
“That you never say. And usual isn’t ordinarily your taste.” Karlee flashed her a knowing smile.
“Oh, like yours is? You’re engaged to a rock star.”
“I’m engaged to Xavier Montgomery. Lord, no one looks at him and thinks rock star.”
“Everyone else does. Everyone but you.”
Karlee gave her a goofy, love-sick smile. Having only recently gotten engaged, Karlee was visibly happy, seeing double rainbows everyday. Karlee was twenty when she started dating Xavier, and they endured a painful three-year breakup during which Xavier became a worldwide sensation. That all crumbled with the influence of drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sex that culminated when his first wife had his baby. Xavier stopped it all at once and came home, intending to rebuild his life. Karlee and he reconnected, keeping it secret for a long time, and only Jody knew the truth. Xavier’s name was never spoken with Karlee’s family, after what he’d done to Karlee to get to Rob. Rob was the last one to forgive him. But Xavier’s undying devotion to Karlee managed to win the last family member over and all the residual doubts eventually disappeared.
Xavier was the inspiration for Zenith’s Promise. He used Karlee to meet Rob and facilitate his shot at stardom. The hare-brained plan worked, except he foiled it by falling in love with Karlee. When she found out the true reason why Xavier entered her life, she broke up with him. He responded by breaking both of their hearts.
Now Karlee was thriving. She wasn’t looking forward to moving out of the condo she shared with Jody and Jody’s heart squeezed with pain whenever she imagined no longer living with Karlee. She loved the years they shared in the condo, staring out at Pier 57 and the Ferris Wheel, glimpsing Elliot Bay just beyond that. Obviously, their rich-assed parents paid the monthly expenses. It was nice that they