Half Empty (First Wives #2)

“Another time,” she said.

He offered a smile that usually had women crawling all over him. “Am I going to have that chance?”

“Chance for what?”

“Another conversation.”

Her eyes bored into him as if he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. “I told you, I’m not interested.”

He lifted one eyebrow, flashed a dimple. “What if I told you I was rich?”

She burst out in laughter.

His smile fell.

“Sorry . . .” She appeared to pull in her mirth. “You’re gonna have to do better than money.”

“Good lord, woman.”

“Sorry.”

He scratched his head. “I’m famous.”

She bit her lip. “That explains the arrogance.”

Wade placed a hand on his wounded chest. “I am not.”

Trina tossed her head back, and her deep laugh filled the empty lobby. “My name is Wade Thomas, you don’t know who I am?” Her mimicry of him was off by several octaves.

Her laughter tickled his gut.

“I can teach you the two-step.”

She pinched her lips together, trying to contain herself.

His pride was starting to dim.

“I’m not bad looking.”

She looked him up and down . . . twice. “I’ll give you that.”

He lifted both hands in the air. “Finally.”

For the span of a full minute, she stared. Her smile slowly started to fall, and he knew she was talking herself out of dating him.

“Tell you what. I’m flying home tomorrow. Private charter, because I’m rich, famous, and arrogant.” He groaned on that last word.

“And good-looking.”

Now they were getting somewhere.

“I can give you a lift home.”

Trina blew out a breath. “I’m avoiding going home,” she reminded him.

“I was thinking I needed a quick stop in Nassau . . . where the plane might not be able to leave right away. That tropical depressed storm and all.”

She pointed a finger in his direction. “I like the way you think.”





Chapter Five



“You’re still in Florida,” Avery yelled into the phone.

The gray clouds hovering over the airport didn’t stop Trina from wearing large-framed sunglasses that hid the dark circles under her eyes. She and Wade had stayed up past four in the morning and were walking to his chartered jet at just after noon.

“I’m getting on a plane now,” Trina told her.

“Uh-huh . . .”

“You don’t believe me?”

Avery was in tune like that.

“There is a catch.”

“No catch.” Trina glanced up at Wade, who was walking beside her toward the twin-engine Gulfstream. “Here,” Trina said before lifting her cell phone in his direction. “Tell my friend I’m getting on a plane.”

Amused, Wade reached for the phone. Without waiting for Avery to speak he said, “Trina is indeed getting on a plane.” He paused. “I’ll let Trina tell you that. Rest assured, I’ll keep her safe and get her home just as soon as I possibly can.”

Wade handed her phone back. Before Trina could place it to her ear, she heard Avery’s voice.

“Who are you?”

“That was Wade.” They approached the steps of the jet. “Listen, I have to go. We have a tiny stop in Nassau, something about picking up a straggler. But I can’t be picky, it isn’t my charter.”

“I knew there was a catch.”

“Not a catch, just a quick stop. Only a few miles away from Miami. Didn’t want you to be shocked when you saw my radar headed east.”

“I swear, Trina . . . if you don’t get here, I’m going to track you down.”

“I’m on my way. Don’t worry.”

At the foot of the steps, a flight attendant greeted them. “Hello, Mr. Thomas.”

“Good afternoon . . .” Wade spoke with the attendant while Trina ended her call.

“I’ll be there, Avery. I admit I wasn’t in the mood to face the anniversary . . .” She glanced over her shoulder, saw Wade duck inside the plane. “But I’m better now.”

“I’m worried about you.” Avery put her anger aside for a minute.

“I know. I’m sorry for that. It’s been a strange week.”

“Trina?” Wade called her from the plane. “We need to get in the air before the storm hits.”

“Right . . .”

“Storm?” she heard Avery ask.

“Just a small one. But I gotta go. I’ll text when we leave Nassau.”

“Text on the plane, I wanna know who the we is.”

“My phone isn’t acting right since I dropped it.” Which wasn’t a lie.

“Trina!”

“Gotta go. Wade is waving at me.”

“Wade who?”

“Thomas. Love you.” Trina hung up.

She climbed the few steps and grinned.

“Did she buy it?”

“Yup.”

He moved aside so she could walk in. It wasn’t the largest private jet she’d been on, but it wasn’t the smallest either. The interior was made of white leather and sleek lines and would comfortably seat six people. It wasn’t large enough for a bedroom, but all the seats reclined enough for a person to sleep.

“Can I take your purse, Miss . . . ?”

The flight attendant—tall, thin, and twentyish—flashed a perfectly manicured smile.

Trina couldn’t help but feel a certain companionship with the woman. She dropped her phone inside and handed her the bag. “Trina is fine. What’s your name?”

“Nita.”

“Thank you, Nita.”

Nita took her purse and stowed it before closing the door and securing the lock.

Wade encouraged Trina to sit across from him. “The pilot told me we needed to get in the air as quickly as possible. He anticipates the need to stay in Nassau for a minimum of six hours.”

Trina smiled. “I’m sure we can push that off until tomorrow.”

Nita walked by them again, and this time she brought two glasses of sparkling wine. Trina didn’t feel the need after the late night before but took the glass anyway. Within minutes they were taxiing onto the runway.

“So you really didn’t google me when you went back to your room last night?” Wade asked.

“I did not.” They’d started this conversation in the car over. “It was late. I was tired. Besides, I’d rather you tell me what you want me to know than read about you online.”

Wade sat back in his seat and played with the stem of his glass. “You have more restraint than I do. I would have googled you if you’d shared your last name.”

Her last name would have pinged more pages than his, or so she thought.

“Are you married?”

She snapped her gaze back to his. “No. No, I wouldn’t be here . . .”

He leaned forward and glanced at her left hand. “I see a tan line.”

“When did you notice that? Last night when you were trying to convince me to date you?”

“When we got in the car. I looked for a ring last night.”

She thought of her sleazy Italian. “A ring would have stopped you?”

Wade sipped his wine. “I am many things, but I don’t sniff around another man’s woman.”

The plane started to pick up speed. “No one says things like that anymore.”

“I’m Texas, born and raised, and I’ve always talked like that.” The smirk told her he was proud of it.

Trina took a deep breath and spat out the truth as the plane lifted off the ground. “My late husband shot himself one year ago this weekend.”

Her confession wiped the grin off Wade’s face. Before he could comment, she continued. “I was in Italy because I didn’t want to see that look of pity hovering in every corner of my life. Which is why I’m not in a hurry to get home and see my friends.”

“Whoa.”

“So I would appreciate it if you could just absorb the fact and move past it.”

“I think that might take me more than a few minutes.”

She looked out the window at the rain, which was starting to run down the side of the plane. If she told him they were married less than a year before she buried Fedor, it would only prompt more questions. The answers wouldn’t be something she wanted to give. She sat alone in her thoughts for a few minutes before changing the subject. “What would I have found out if I had stayed awake and looked you up on the Internet?”

The pity in his eyes slowly faded. “I’m a singer.”

She’d guessed maybe an actor when he’d told her he was famous. Since she hadn’t been to the movies in over two years, he could have been the latest and greatest without her knowing.