She looked around wildly. ‘Is it too late to hide in a bush?’
‘Yes,’ the others answered as one.
Paige threw her a grimace, so Sienna quickly lifted a hand and surreptitiously smoothed her hair down, hating Aiden in that moment. Hating him more than she had all these years, despite everything he’d put her through. Somehow, this was the worst. The lowest ebb. Because he’d snatched even this from her – the moment of victory she’d been determined would finally be hers.
‘I told Blake we’d meet them at the house,’ Astrid said, apologetically.
‘It’s fine,’ Sienna lied. ‘Of course your fiancé wants to see you after a week apart. It’sfine,’ she added, because Astrid still looked concerned.
‘Just smile,’ Bella encouraged Sienna. ‘You have a beautiful smile. No one will be looking at your shirt if you smile.’
Her shirt? What the heck was wrong with her shirt? Sienna glanced down right as she remembered the coffee spilling over her breasts as the plane had taken on a particularly opinionated cloud, causing it to rattle around in the sky for a good minute or so.
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake,’ she groaned, glancing upwards. ‘How many bleeping mirrors did I break in a past life? For the record, this isnothow it’s meant to go. Y’all promised merevenge.’
‘Revenge?’ Olly groaned. ‘God, please tell me hamsters won’t be involved this time.’
‘Or salty coffees,’ Chase added.
‘You both – just don’t say a word,’ Paige instructed. ‘This is secret women’s business.’
‘This is amistake,’Sienna grimaced, her skin paling.
‘Stop.’ Bella’s voice was calming. She squeezed Sienna’s hand. ‘And listen to me. You are a knockout, no matter what you’re wearing, how your hair looks, or anything else. Smile, act as though you don’t have a care in the world, and our plan will still be firmly on track. You’ve got this.’
‘And we’ve got you,’ Paige said, moving closer and putting a hand around Sienna’s waist, squeezing her hip. ‘You’re not alone, honey.’
It was just the right thing to say. Somehow, these women always did that. No matter how Sienna was feeling, they had just the perfect words of encouragement to soothe away the frustrations of her day.
‘I love you guys,’ she said, with genuine relief.
‘The poor sucker has no idea what he’s in for,’ Chase muttered, grimly.
‘You kind of want to warn him, right?’ Olly replied.
‘Don’t you dare,’ Paige said.
‘You don’t think a heads up about the possibility of a stray dog landing in his lap is something he should know?’
Paige slapped his shoulder. ‘Like you didn’t actually love it.’
Olly grinned.
‘Guys,shhh,’ Bella whispered.
The golf cart was close now. Close enough to see Aiden turn and say something to Blake. In her peripheral vision, she was aware that he nodded in response, but Sienna could hardly take her eyes off Aiden. Nausea rose inside of her at this impending reality. Seeing him – for real – again.
She had been literally bombarded with images of him over the past decade. Photos of him in magazines in skimpy underwear, displaying his package like a man who had never, ever needed the help of a sock. Talk about BDE. She’d seen him on billboards, interviews on TV, ads, he waseverywhere.But she hadn’t actually seenhimin the flesh since he’d broken up with her. She hadn’t seen his smile, his hair, his eyes, his mouth up close and personal, and now that he was bearing down on them just as fast as the golf cart could go, all the oxygen seemed to be getting sucked out of her world all over again. Her lips parted and her eyes widened, because so much of who she’d once been, so long ago, was bound up in this man.
Thisman.Not a boy any more, a teenager on the cusp of adulthood, but a proper, grown-ass man, all sexy square jaw and deep grooves in his cheek, not to mention the burly, broad shape of him, the legs that looked like two solid tree trunks. Her stomach knotted and she blinked away, mouthing, so only Bella could see, ‘Kill me now, please.’
‘Not a chance,’ the sleek blonde replied, so Sienna had no choice but to swallow past the lump in her throat, paste an overbright smile onto her face and channel every bit of advice they’d given her over the past few days. Stand straight, shoulders squared, no emotions, and smile.
‘Well, well, if it isn’t the future Mrs Carter,’ Blake said with a grin, as he jumped out of the golf cart as soon as Aiden had brought it to a stop. Aiden watched his brother go before his attention turned back to the group, and Sienna felt like a whole country’s electricity supply had been shunted into her veins. The nauseating feeling rose higher.
His eyes travelled over Bella first, then Paige, and then, with heart-stopping slowness, almost as if he was fighting it, he looked at Sienna.
Really looked at her.
