[Invitation to Eden 21.0] Falling or Flying Read Free Page A

and for that her abilities were a gift she enjoyed. The island could be overwhelming on its best days. Lord knew she’d been thrown for a loop the first night she’d spent here. That was why she loved being Eden’s representative almost as much as she loved flying. Loved seeing the doubt and insecurity transform to hope and wonder on each new face when they realized nothing would ever be the same—it would be better.
    He looked so uncomfortable she was starting to get nervous again. “Can I at least have a hint?”
    “Two guests, both male. Courtney Stiles was a last minute addition. I wasn’t sure his need was all that dire but in his letter he was so adama—”
    “Courtney? You get letters you ignore all the time, but you let a man named Courtney wrangle an invitation?” She chuckled until he sent her a speaking look.
    “He prefers Court—and, I’d assume, people who don’t laugh at his name while he’s on vacation. And I chose to invite him because he’s a close, personal friend of your other passenger.”
    Joely shifted and crossed her arms. “Roger that, big guy. So I’m picking up Stiles and his good buddy…?”
    “A return visitor.” Vardalos moved to sit behind his desk, buttoning his shirt with slow, precise movements. Too slow. Too precise.
    I won’t like it.
    A return visitor she wouldn’t like. That didn’t narrow it down much since he knew she didn’t approve of his occasional decisions to double down on the rare invitations. There were too many people out there who’d never had a single dream come true, people who deserved what the island could give them. She knew there were. She’d met more than her share of them over the course of her life.
    “You’re afraid to tell me. Is it that gold-toothed widower who called my Wanda a deathtrap and asked to see my pilot’s license?” She pressed her palms into the desk and tilted her head playfully at him. “If so I’ll be nice, I promise. Only a little extra turbulence on my joy ride.”
    Her boss sighed heavily. “It’s Austin, Joely. And before you say it, yes, this will be his fourth visit. Not that I have to explain myself or my reasoning to you, but he and I were friends once. Good friends. Trust me when I say he has more than earned his right to revisit Eden.”
    Austin. “Austin Wright is coming back? Today?”
    Why didn’t I know that? Didn’t I dream about him last night? Wasn’t that why I woke up before the sun to train in the gym until I stopped seeing his smile and feeling his hands on my body?
    She tried not to think about it. There had been no reason to imagine last night’s dream had been any different than the ones she had on a regular basis. A very regular basis. Austin Wright was just a conveniently attractive man that her subconscious had decided to cast in her erotic fantasies. It didn’t mean anything.
    Something is coming. Someone is coming.
    Was his visit what she was afraid of? Why did her reaction to the man always upset her? He was a wealthy guest who knew the boss and so got special attention from the staff, which she disapproved of. He was serious, and as a rule she didn’t trust a serious man who wasn’t Mr. V. He was too…
    Too what? Intelligent? Sexy? Interested in her?
    Joely could still remember the smile in his light-gray eyes when he’d gotten off the plane in Miami after his initial visit. That smile had replaced the broken, haunted visage he’d worn when he arrived, which meant Eden had done its job and earned another satisfied customer. She’d been happy for him then.
    She hadn’t been able to stop herself from committing his handsome face to memory as he disembarked—the strong jaw and thick lashes, the unfairly sensual shape of his lips. It was only when he’d grimaced in frustration as he was settled back into his wheelchair by his driver that she’d remembered that staring was rude.
    His second trip to the island, Austin had arrived for the flight on crutches, and the third time