Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
I shrugged. “Whatever.” Turning to Eli, I said, “I’ll email you my flight information. I assume you’ll want us to travel together the entire time.” Dismissing him, I turned back to my father, Baker, and Seth. “Everybody out. I’ve enjoyed your company about as long as my duration meter can handle. I have packing to do. Out.” I started toward the hallway that led to my bedroom, turned around, and added, “Oh yeah, I’ll be changing the security code for my apartment.” My voice dripping with sarcasm, I said, “I’ll be sure and give each of you the new information.” Continuing my trek down the hallway, I mumbled, not. Havoc, my rescue cat I’d adopted after Eli ditched me in college, followed me down the hall, her tail fluffing and swirling with much more arrogance and confidence I felt at the moment.
*****
Nobody liked an arrogant, braggart, but I couldn’t stop myself from the tiny thrill of victory that had crept into my bones when I’d climbed up the gangplank, all fucking alone, to board my newly booked cruise. All it had taken was a few clicks of my computer, a bit of illegal hacking, a rushed plane flight, and here I was, sitting on my Royal Caribbean Fantasy cruise instead of the Carnival Valor I’d been originally booked on. Sure, this cruise was a bit out of the budget I’d set aside for the official ‘hide from my father’ birthday week, but, on the other hand, it was worth every bloody cent it cost me. Thought they’d send Eli Wallace as my bodyguard, did they? Fools—they were all fools if they thought I’d be stupid and naïve enough to fall for that shit. Nosiree, not me. I might be younger than most, but that didn’t necessarily mean I couldn’t pull a fast one when necessary.
Tricking them on the cruise had been necessary. There was no way humanly possible I could have been in such close proximity to Eli Wallace without losing my cool. Well, if I had any cool to lose. I felt fairly certain it had been established years ago that cool was not on my list of attributes.
As I lay in the sun, fruity cocktail in one hand and the day’s itinerary in the other, I took a few minutes of pure pleasure to picture the look on Eli’s face when he shows up at the airport in Colorado tonight, waiting on me to meet him there. My original cruise had been scheduled to leave port tomorrow, which meant my original flight schedule had been later tonight. I’d kept the flight, deciding to lose the money if they wouldn’t allow me to save it for another trip, just as I had the cruise. If I’d tried to change anything, Eli or my dad would have been all over it, catching me in mere seconds. No, I had to be much smarter than that and if there was any characteristic on my attribute list, it was that I was smart. Actually, being smart was what got me into trouble with Eli to begin with.
Damn underage bullshit.
Between being much smarter than the average Joe mixed with my superior computer skills had made it fairly simple to create a new identity online, schedule a flight, and book a cruise. It was actually scary how simple it had been for me to create a new person, print a fake birth certificate that would fool the stork himself, and make a fake driver’s license. I hadn’t pushed my luck with a passport, so I probably wouldn’t risk getting off the boat at any of the ports we docked at. That was fine; I wasn’t on the cruise for a good time. I was cruising to avoid facing my father, Seth, and Baker on my birthday. I’d lied about all the friends I was supposedly vacationing with. There were no friends. I was awkward and socially inept—we all knew it. It should probably worry me how incredibly naïve my family and friends were. Instead of worrying, though, I decided to simply be thankful.
I checked my watch. Yep, Eli would be on his way to the airport right about now. Unless he’d changed dramatically, he was always early—a real tight-ass about following the rules and being punctual. Me? I’d hit the airport, going in hot, nearly missing my flight…every damn time I flew. Dad said I didn’t take things serious enough. I thought he took things too seriously. I supposed it would be one of those things that we just had to agree to disagree on. I didn’t plan on changing and felt certain he wouldn’t either. In my defense, I’d only missed about ten flights over the years of traveling.
What would he do when he got there, and I was a ‘no-show’? He’d be so pissed—not that he wasn’t going to get to perform his babysitting duties. No, it would be that Eli didn’t like to be bested at anything. He was a perfectionist—everything had a place, and everything needed to be in that place. I wouldn’t be in the place, and that would piss him off as much as a towel out of place or dirty hands pissed me off.