Page 15 of He Loves Me Knot
“It’s an heirloom. Been in my brother-in-law’s family for generations. He’s a viscount. I have to guard it with my life.”
What on earth, Lid? He didn’t want to know all of that. I blame the lack of caffeine.
“Ah, so . . . expensive.” The man’s eyes glittered with laughter. “You’re a good sister.” He thrust his hand out toward her. “Sergio. Nice to meet you. It appears you’re my seat mate.”
Sergio.She wanted to roll his name off her tongue, but then she’d just seem like a weirdo. Lydia had the aisle seat, which meant he’d be a buffer between her and Callum.
Perfect.
“Liddy Winnick.” She gave him her best smile, feeling lighter as he scooted past her and sat.
Sergio leaned past Callum, then pushed up the window shade and smiled back at her. “I always love to watch the sunrise, don’t you?”
A happy dance might be obvious, but her stomach gave a cheerful flip. She pulled out her phone and snuck a picture of him when his gaze returned to the window. Then she sent it to Miranda.
Liddy:Check out my seat mate.
Miranda:Oh, yum. Yes, please.
Liddy grinned and put her phone away.
Maybe this won’t be such a terrible flight after all.
ChapterFour
Callum knewtwo things about the man in the seat beside him.
He was one of the fakest, most insincere tossers Callum had been in the company of in a while.
. . . and Lydia is completely enamored with him.
Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, Callum attempted to tune Sergio out and dug his knife and fork into the quiche he’d been served moments before. He needed a fucking Bloody Mary rather than the coffee he’d asked for—his head was still pounding with a headache from his decisions the night before. Getting that drunk had not been the best idea when he had an early morning flight.
Then again, arriving at the airport still half-drunk made this flight more tolerable.
“. . . merengue is the most exquisite form of dance. And you have the perfect body for it,” Sergio was saying. “There’s a bar in Samara that I’d love to take you to.”
What was that? The fourth thing Sergio had invited Lydia to do in Costa Rica?
Callum’s eyes narrowed.Why is this man flirting so hard with her?
“That would be amazing,” she said with a smile, sipping on her mimosa. A pink blush lit her cheeks.
Of course, from the way she was glowing, if Sergio invited her to join the mile-high club with him, she’d probably take him up on the opportunity.
He swallowed the dry quiche, then took a swig of his coffee.
Quinn owed him—big time—for this destination wedding.
The timing couldn’t be worse, to begin with. Work was full-on right now, and the last place he needed to be was on holiday.
But that wasn’t the worst of it.
Not only had Quinn ignored Callum’s protests and booked outLa Hacienda Tropicalbut now Callum would also be around two of the women in this world whose company made him want to join a monastery that offered perpetual silence—his mother and his ex-fiancée, Sophia. The Camdens had invited his father and stepmother to the wedding, too, but fortunately they had declined the invite.
If Isla hadn’t been coming later in the week, he might have called Quinn and begged out of groomsman duties. But his sister’s presence could only do so much. Even Isla’s presence wouldn’t help him avoid his mother’s disappointment in Callum.
He hadn’t married Sophia. Yet...Mum had practically adopted her anyway. Even after five years, Mum was relentless about what a wonderful wife Sophia would have been.Could be.How beautiful she was. How helpful. How intelligent. The “kindness of her gaze.”