Red.
Hot.
Shame.
Jack growls, “What did you say?”
Troy tells him, “Leave it alone. She doesn’t matter.”
The woman finds strength in the fact that now a lot of people are looking over at me, because she knows that many agree with her. “I said…SLUT.”
My skin tingles with horror.
Lexi Cocker shouts from two registers to my right. “Hey Eunice! Don’t fucking call her that! You haven’t been laid in a decade and desperately need a few choice strokes you know where!”
People titter with laughter, shutting the bitch up.
Speechless, I lock eyes with Samantha, surprised to find her pissed off and protective of me, too.
Emotion knots my chest.
Troy pulls me close as Jack pays for the groceries and says, “Take her outside.”
He sees I’m not myself.
I love him for that.
“Come on, Mar,” Troy murmurs against my hair, taking my hand and leading me away.
I croak, “I can love who I want!” trying my hardest to find my voice. Swallowing hard I cry out, “We all can! So fuck you, Eunice!”
Most of the people break out in applause, leaving the relics of judgment behind them, hopefully for good. But some stay quiet because they will always feel they are above what they can’t understand.
Outside I swear a few choice words I’m not even aware of, and mutter, “I don’t care if they judge me, just keep it to themselves!” as white hot anger pours into my blood. Troy tries to clear me from the door, and I allow him to, simply because I’m too agitated to have a grip on myself.
Jack appears, carrying two full bags. “Never a dull day.”
Troy smiles, “Boredom isn’t our problem.”
“You okay, Mar?”
I grunt, “Of course I am!” and walk between them as we head to his Tesla. Glancing behind me I spot who I’m looking for — the Cocker Sisters.
We lock eyes.
My chest tightens.
I call out, emotion barely restrained, “Thank you, Lexi!”
She solemnly nods and shouts, “Anytime, Marion, because fuck that!”
Samantha cups her free hand and yells, “Don’t listen to anyone but you, Marion!” the other arm wrapped around groceries.
I grumble to my boyfriends, “Dammit! Why do they have to be so fucking cool?!”
Chapter Twenty-Three
TROY
You can never tell a place’s vibe from its airport because they’re normally located far from where people want to be — constant engine roar annoying as hell — so it’s usually impossible to predict what you’re gonna get.
Not so with Mykonos. I’d heard it used to be a crowded disaster, but they cleaned it up since then.
It’s amazing, clean, modern — a promise of satisfaction about to be fulfilled. The sky is bright blue, plants huge from moisture the seas bring in.
I fell asleep on our flight. That’s the best way to travel because time seems to fly faster than you do. Then it was me grabbing the bags while Jack texted Bobby to say we need a second car because our high-maintenance woman brought not two but four suitcases.
That’s six between us.
None small.
The plan is to stay a whole three weeks with Jack promising Marion not to work the first one, catching up the following two.
I’ve got my much smaller start-up company on auto pilot and can also work remotely. Why didn’t we travel sooner, I kept asking until they finally told me to shut up and enjoy that we are doing it now.
“Why are you frowning?” I ask Mar. “How can you possibly frown in a place like this?”
With a gleaming airport behind her she distractedly says, “I don’t know if I remembered my white dress.”
Sliding aviator sunglasses on, Jack scans the vehicles waiting by the curb and asks her, “Getting married?”
Smokey eyes dart to him. “I’m never getting married. If it’s not broke, leave it the fuck alone.”
Jack grins for a split second before jogging his chin to a black Rolls Royce. “That’s ours. The first one anyway.”
Her black cotton floor-length summer dress floats in the breeze, strands of her long hair lifting up under her hat, too, as she follows his gaze to approve, “Pretty.”
The woman is beautiful, but even more so when she’s pissed, so I dryly ask, “That’s great. But what about the triple-decker bus to carry Madame’s entire wardrobe?”
“Troy, one more word from you about my luggage and I’ll make you pay!”
“Oh?” I smirk. “How?”
“I don’t know yet, but I will.” She pokes my abs, causing me to flex them. “Wanna test me?”
Grabbing her finger I laugh, “Yes.”
“When you least expect it, BAM!” She smacks my chest with a smile in her eyes. Pretty hard, too.
“Can’t wait.” I squint into my leather backpack, poking around. “Where’d I put my shades?”
Red fingernails point at our luggage as Marion asks Jack, “Did you really hire another car for these?”
He kisses her forehead, “I will always give you what you need,” before pulling out his phone and frowning.
She winks at me. “Take notes.”
I cock an eyebrow. “Don’t have to.”
“That’s what you think.”
“I’ve got my own playbook.”
She shrugs and looks around, which gnaws at me. Can’t lie.
Jack swears under his breath, tone uncharacteristically harsh. He doesn’t lose his cool with business, and only a work email would come through right now. Or ever. Jack doesn’t have friends outside of us.
Mar touches his chest, thumb caressing the lines of his pec muscles over his shirt. “What’s wrong?”
“All the workers walked off my Tulsa construction site, demanding raises. The foreman threatened them so they left and retaliated by spreading the word through social media to all workers in the region. We’re at a standstill on the project.” Glancing to me he grumbles, “I knew Harry was a loose cannon but my architect vouched for him. Gotta trust my instincts.”
“You usually do.”
Jack grumbles, “Gotta turn usually into always,” as his thumbs start going to work. A second later he swears again, swipes the email shut, unsent, to make a call instead for the quicker response he’ll achieve. Slamming the phone to his ear, he holds up a thick index finger to our waiting driver and tells his architect, “You said your guy would bring my job to completion without a hitch. Now what?!”
Mar burrows into me. I grab her straw hat before it falls, and hold it in one hand as I wrap my arms around her and kiss her sweet-smelling hair. “My ballerina doesn’t care about business, does she?”
“MmMm. No more work! Just us three having fun!”
“Jack feels the same way.”
She sighs, “I know,” relaxing into me, eyes probably on him just like mine are.
I’m lucky to have such close proximity to one so successful now that I’ve got my own modest company. In comparison to his enormous empire, mine is an ant. But it’s my ant and I wouldn’t have it if weren’t for him.