Chapter five
I’m going to pass out if I don’t take a full breath soon. But there’s too much ofherembedded in my skin. Orange. Rose.Temptation.
It was bad enough that I spent hours with my skin pressed against hers last night, but then there was the incident on the plane. I don’t know how it happened.
She was quiet when we all met in the hallway this morning. We all were. She perked up a little when we stopped at the coffee shop before heading to the airport, nursing her ginger tea like it was a lifeline. But she didn’t mention anything about our little sleepover.
Beth raced to the bathroom as soon as the plane was in the air, with Isabelle trailing behind her to help. They came back only for Beth to fall asleep in her seat, and I’m certain her snoring was the cause of the turbulence we kept hitting. Those sounds were disrupting the Earth’s rotation.
Caleb was quiet, and Isabelle was curled up in the giant seats, so I snuck off to the bed cabin. I lay there, staring at the ceiling for close to an hour before the door slowly pulled open. Isabelle stood there, maybe expecting me to be asleep. A yellow sweatshirt hung loosely over her, and tan leggings covered her toned thighs. She looked all soft and cosy as she apologised and explained she’d left her handbag in the bathroom when she was in there with Beth earlier.
“That’s okay, I’m not sleeping.”
She nods, then looks down as she dashes into the bathroom, returning with a little bag.
“Are you feeling better?” I whisper.
She tips her head from side to side, contemplating. “I don’t feel sick, but I also don’t want to move, if that makes sense.” She huffs out a little laugh.
“Do you want to lie down?”
“Oh, I’m okay in my seat. It reclines.” She fiddles with her purse, running the zip open and closed.
“I don’t mind.”An interesting new development.
Isabelle bites her lip, looking back into the main body of the plane, right as another one of Beth’s snores pierces the air. She winces back at me and then slides the door closed, locking us in the bed cabin.
“Are you sure?” she asks.
“Of course.”
She nods and walks around the bed, dropping her purse on the side table and then stretching out alongside me. She faces me on her side, knees tucked into her stomach, and hands folded under her cheek. I turn, mirroring her position.
“Thanks for everything you did on Smoke and Barrel.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiles.
“And thanks for travelling with us to help pitch it.”
“I was a bit nervous.”
My brows pinch. “You? Nervous?”
“I know. I’m not normally like that, but—”
She leaves the sentence hanging in the air. “But?”
“It was the High Rollers.”
“Yeah. I guess they’ve got an intimidating reputation.” Or an illegal one, depending on whether you believe the rumours. “You did really well, though.”
Isabelle smiles. “Thank you. I actually love getting to talk about design and bringing an idea together.” Her blue eyes light up just talking about it.
“Does that apply to everything you do in life?”
“What do you mean?”
“You make everything seem as though it’s so…” I shrug, trying to think of the right word. “Exciting.”
