Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26
KINSLEY
“This seat taken?”
My head jerks up. “Jace?”
He smirks. “One in the same.”
“Excuse me,” the lady behind him says, sending me a look.
“Oh, sorry. Let me just…” I quickly unfasten my seatbelt and shoot up, slamming my head into the ceiling.
A couple people in line cringe and Jace’s arms twitch as if he was about to reach out to me. I lift a hand and place it on the top of my head with an embarrassment filled laugh.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his eyes shining with worry before sliding to the ceiling with fire like the inanimate object offended him.
“All good.” I move to shuffle out of the row, but the universe must be having too good of a laugh with me because my foot catches on the strap of my backpack and I stumble with a squeak.
“Jesus, I’m going to have to wrap you in bubble wrap.” He curses under his breath as he catches me before I can face plant into the seat across the aisle.
I clutch onto his strong arms as he helps me stand, sucking in a breath when my chest brushes his. A sense of déjà vu hits as I lose myself in the calming depths of his blue eyes.
A throat clears and I shake my head, taking a step back from his gravitational pull. I wave a hand to the row and dip.
Did I just freaking curtsy? Where’s the emergency exit? I need to throw myself out of it immediately.
He watches me with an amused tilt in his lips and slides into the window seat. I throw myself into my seat with an oof and reach up to rub my head.
“Are you okay?”
My vision blurs slightly and I shake my head to clear it. Reaching into my bag I whimper when I see my stash of granola bars is completely depleted.
“Kinsley.”
I look over at Jace. Both of them.
His eyes drop to my wrist and I shiver when his thumb runs over the silver medical bracelet. He glances up, concern blanketing his features. “Have you eaten today?”
“Of course I have. I ate this morning and then…” I trail off, trying to remember everything else I did today.
“And then?”
“Oh my god, I forgot.” I cover my face with my hands. “I’m never this spaced but I think I was so focused on getting here after the race that everything else didn’t matter.”
“Your health matters, Kinsley.” His tone is serious and slightly pleading. “Here.” He leans forward, pulling out a protein bar before unwrapping the top and handing it to me.
I’d give more than a fleeting thought to the sparks that shoot up my arm when our fingers brush, but I only have enough energy to get this chocolate covered cardboard into my mouth.
He watches me as I finish the entire thing and raises his hand for an attendant, asking for a juice. When she scurries off, he turns to me. “Do you have your kit?”
“What?”
“Blood sugar kit.”
“Oh, yeah. It’s in my bag.”
He leans forward, grabbing my bag off the ground and placing it on his thigh. I reach over and open the pocket, pulling out the small case. The flight attendant walks by, handing him the juice before disappearing down the aisle.
Watching my every move, he releases a breath when the screen shows that my blood sugar is within normal range. He helps me put everything away before handing me my juice.
The juice I almost spill all over when he reaches over and buckles my seatbelt.
“How did you know to do all that?”
“Your bracelet.” His voice holds a sort of sad curiosity as his eyes slowly meet mine. “I didn’t know you were diabetic.”
I shrug. “I don’t really advertise it so there’s no way for you to have known.”
“How long ago were you diagnosed, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I was initially diagnosed with gestational diabetes when I was pregnant. It stuck around after that. So I guess I’ve been living with it for just over six years now.”
His eyebrows furrow, eyes growing distant. “Is that common? For someone to have diabetes develop that way.”
“There’s about a fifty percent chance, yeah. Why?”
“Someone I know had that happen. I guess I just didn’t really know how common it was.”
“Is that how you know what to do for low blood sugar?”
“My son, Beckham. He was diagnosed when he’d just turned four.”
“Four? That’s incredibly young.”
“Yeah.” His jaw ticks. “It was hard. I almost thought of quitting racing so that I could be home for him more than I was. But my mum stepped up and said she’d take care of things. It helped a lot in the first year, but I got so distracted while I was away that it was easier to bring him with me.”
Something niggles in the back of my mind and I shift in my seat.
“Sorry if this is overstepping, but what about his mum?”
“Wasn’t an option. Hasn’t been for a while.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
He shrugs. “Is what it is.”
“Who’s he with while you’re away this season?”
“My parents.”
I smile. “I bet he’s having the best time.”
“Oh, no doubt. They spoil him rotten.”
I laugh. “Gran does that for Cooper. I’m afraid that when I get back, he won’t want to come home because she has all the cool stuff and I have broccoli.”
He chuckles. “Trust me. There’s no way he’d want to be anywhere else than at home with you.”
My eyes begin to sting at his sincerity and I smile. “If it makes you feel better, I know someone in a similar situation and he’s honestly one of the best fathers I know. It’s always hard at first, but with a support system like you have and a little boy as brave as Beckham sounds, everything’s going to end up okay. Great, even.”
His eyes dance between mine. “All we can do is take it one day at a time.” I laugh and he smiles. “What?”
I shake my head. “I’ve been saying that for years.”
He chuckles, his eyes growing distant like he’s lost in a memory. Someone stumbles catching themselves on my chair and Jace shakes himself out of his thoughts.
Sighing, he shakes his head. “I just want Becks to live the best childhood he can.”
I smile. “Well it doesn’t sound like this has slowed him down at all though. At least not from what Sydney’s told me about their adventures.”
Jace chuckle is drowned out as the plane taxis out of the gate. “The friend I was telling you about taught me a trick early on. I told him that the insulin is like his super power. So now whenever it’s time to find a new site for the pod he’s like ‘Dad, hurry! The bad guys won’t wait to try to take over the world.’”
I freeze and he looks over, eyebrows furrowing. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head. “I once said the same thing to my friend when he was concerned about how his little boy would handle the medicine.”
He pauses, eyes flicking between mine. “Where did you say you met this friend?”
“A support group for family members who are either living with or know someone living with diabetes. I joined it a year or so after having Cooper. My doctor thought it would be a good way to connect to others in the community.”
He quickly brings out his phone and opens a chat, typing something. My phone dings a moment later, but I don’t move to pick it up. We both know what we’ll see.
He looks up at me, disbelief and something else swirling across his face. “It’s you.”
“Oh my god.”
He huffs out a laugh and falls back in his seat, murmuring something under his breath that I can’t hear over the roaring of the plane as we soar into the night sky.
He looks over at me. “I can’t believe this. Who would have thought that out of all the support groups recommended to me by Beckham’s doctor, the one I joined would bring me to you without even realizing it.”
“Some might say it’s serendipitous,” I muse.
“Kismet.”
I smile. “That’s me. Kismet Kinsley.”
He tenses, his eyes trained on my face. “Yeah. Kismet Kinsley,” he whispers.
Shifting in my seat, I dip my head to hide my burning cheeks.
“Thank you.” His soft words garner my attention and I look up. “Thank you for helping me all these years. With Beckham. Really, with everything.”
I smile. “He seems like a really great kid, Jace.”
“He’s the best. A miniature version of me.”
“Did you just inadvertently give yourself a compliment?”
His cheeks blush and he clears his throat. “Definitely didn’t mean to.”
I bump his shoulder with mine. “Well I’m thinking it’s deserved. You’re a really great guy, Jace. Clearly an amazing and caring father. I learned as much just from talking to you through the group. Plus, Sydney has sung your praises from day one.”
His eyebrows furrow. “What, uh, has she said?”
I shrug. “Just that you’re her best friend. I can always count on you whether it’s for a laugh, a shoulder to cry on, or a getaway driver.”
He hums, leaning his head back. “I was only the getaway driver once.”
“For what?” I laugh.
“It had to be when she was still in secondary school, maybe eleventh year? I don’t know, but she’d just broken up with this tool for cheating and she had all this pent up rage in her. So the boys and I decided to give her some advice.”
“Oh no.”
He chuckles. “We were all well into our careers at that point, so it couldn’t be anything too serious. Then Mum walked into the room, threw out the idea of egging the little prick’s prized possession, and walked out like it was nothing.”
I giggle. “Your mum sounds awesome.”
“She is.”
“So you went and egged this guy’s house?”
He chuckles. “No. We egged his brand new sports car. The prick had just picked it up from the detailer too.”
I smother my laugh behind my hand. “That’s so bad.”
He shrugs. “He deserved it.”
He closes his eyes, smiling.
“What are you smiling about over there?”
He peeks over at me. “I just can’t believe it’s been you all along.”
I tuck my lips and look down at my hands, afraid if I look at him any longer something embarrassing like ‘it’s like it was meant to be’ will come bursting out of my mouth.
I’m saved from my own awkwardness when the flight attendant stops by asking if there’s anything we need. We both ask for bottled water and she hands them over before making her way down the aisle.
I watch as she goes, noticing she isn’t stopping at any of the other patrons in economy. Twisting my lips I glance at Jace beside me. “Question.”
He hums and I immediately feel guilty. He has to be exhausted. I mean he was just driving in a race no less than a few hours ago. And here I am keeping him awake when all he probably wants to do is sleep. “Never mind.”
“Kinsley.”
“Hm?”
“Ask me.”
I chew on my lip, fingers picking at the paper on my bottle. “Why are you here?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you here? On this plane?”
“I’m going home.”
I blow out a breath. “Yes, I gathered that. But why are you here, on this particular flight, in this particular seat when I know everyone else is flying home tomorrow.”
“How do you know that?”
“Sydney asked if I wanted to join you all on the private jet you share.”
“Ah.” He shifts in his seat until he’s facing me. “I’m here because this was the first flight out to England tonight. I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow because I couldn’t wait to get home to see my son. This is the first season I’m traveling without him and I seem to be struggling with the separation more than I thought I would.”
His eyes dance between mine as a nervousness overtakes his features. “My original ticket was for first class, but then I saw you at the loading area and the next thing I knew, I was at the desk asking them to switch whoever was in this seat to mine so that I could move back here.”
“Why would you do that?” It comes out as a whisper as I try to calm my racing heart from his complete honesty.
“I told them that me and my wife had been separated due to a mix-up.”
“You totally used your fame, didn’t you?”
His lips tip up. “I’m not saying I didn’t try, but the ladies at the desk had no idea what I was talking about.”
I giggle, tucking my lips. “You wanted to sit by me.”
He smiles, his eyes dancing over my face. “I did.”
Why do I feel like I’m back in secondary school where you get the butterflies because the cool jock decided to sit next to you on the bus for the school field trip?
Oh, because this is just like that.
The air around us fills with the soft snores of other passengers and we both yawn. Jace checks his watch, rubbing the back of his head.
“We should probably get some shut eye if we don’t want to be dog tired when we land at six in the morning our time.”
I nod, another massive yawn taking over. We settle into our seats, turning off the overhead lighting. I tuck into my sorry excuse for a blanket provided by the flight and shift until I find a comfy spot.
It feels like I’ve just closed my eyes when a soft hand lands on my shoulder. I look up and the flight attendant smiles sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to let you know that we will be landing in a few minutes if you and your husband could return your seats upright.”
I nod in a sleepy haze and lift my head. A massive jumper slips down from where I was clutching it to my chest and I look over to a T-shirt clad Jace, his head laid back, arms crossed, eyes closed.
My lips tip up, chest warming at the thought that he laid his jumper over me. I take in his sleeping form as something sparks in my chest.
He is quite handsome.
Probably—no, definitely. He’s definitely the best looking guy I’ve ever seen.
Dirty blond hair is styled in haphazard waves, the longer bits on top falling into his eyes. His strong jaw is peppered with a trimmed stubble that looks like he has a permanent five o’clock shadow.
My eyes drop to his strong shoulders and the veins in his crossed arms. He shifts in his seat, a low sigh coming from his throat.
Gently I place my hand on his shoulder and nudge him.
“Jace,” I whisper.
He hums, lifting his hand to cover mine. I giggle, shaking him a little more.
“Just one more minute, angel,” he murmurs, his voice deep and gravel ridden.
I suck in a breath when he lifts my hand, brushing his lips over my knuckles before laying our joined hands against his chest.
I’m frozen as I feel his steady heart beat under my palm, his words echoing in my mind in a voice I’ve only ever heard in my dreams.
Angel.