The Flyaway Bride

  The Socialites Series, Book Two

  Langley Gray

  Copyright © 2021 by Langley Gray

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  To the Tuscan countryside, to kissing under the stars, and to rekindling your passions.

  Don’t be scared to change the prince’s name in your story.

  Atticus

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Sneak Peek!

  About the Author

  1

  Josephine Ellison tipped her face toward the beam of sun streaming between the umbrellas. She sighed deeply. “Would someone please pass me the tanning oil?”

  “JoJo!” her friend scolded. “Tanning oil? What is this, the 70’s?” Margot Fairchild handed her the slippery bottle, the clear liquid rolling lazily inside. “You’ll regret this later.”

  “I’m getting married tomorrow,” JoJo replied. “Tanning doesn’t count if you’re preparing for a wedding — it’s a universal law.” She tipped the bottle and let the oil drip down her already deeply bronzed legs. She spread it as if in a trance, making sure she didn’t miss a sliver of exposed skin.

  Margot tucked herself up further under the umbrella, her sunhat flaring over her shoulders, zinc shining on her nose. “I’ve got an incredible dermatologist, I’m texting you her details now,” Margot scowled, tapping away at her phone.

  Iris Mortimer coughed uncomfortably and cut a glance to Margot. “Let the bride-to-be do what she wants.” She flipped her legs around the lounge chair to face JoJo. “So — how are you feeling about tomorrow?”

  JoJo bristled at the earnestness oozing from Iris. She flopped an arm over her forehead and groaned. “Please, stop asking me that! That’s all anyone can talk about. How are you feeling, JoJo? Are you excited, JoJo? Are you nervous, JoJo?” she mocked, taking another generous sip from her skinny margarita.

  “Okay, time for a break from the margs.” Winnie reached across JoJo to take the plastic cup away from her.

  JoJo watched from under her sunglasses as her friends stole a three-way glance at one another. “Honestly, why is everyone so needy, I’m the bride, after all. William’s mom has everything planned to such a fine point, there won’t be an insect without marching orders tomorrow. There’s absolutely nothing for me to worry about,” she insisted. “It’s just another day.”

  Winnie placed a gentle hand on JoJo’s arm. “That’s why we were asking about it. You’ve made a career out of planning events and organizing parties. We’re just a little surprised that you haven’t had a lot to do with your own wedding.” Winnie’s eyes rested on JoJo, who couldn’t help but squirm under her friend’s concerned gaze.

  Margot watched them carefully. “Your fashion shows are phenomenal. You are so hands on and meticulous with every detail. We thought you’d be a little bit more invested in what is arguably the biggest event of your whole life.”

  “Hyperbole!” JoJo sat up in her chair. “People overdramatize weddings because they need something to believe in. They project their dreams onto someone else’s day to make up for their own lack of romance, just to propel themselves through one more moment of their boring lives.” She looked around, exasperated. “It’s just a party!”

  JoJo’s best friends let her words hang for a moment. “Even so,” Iris added quietly. “It’s your party.”

  JoJo sensed that her friends had already discussed this amongst themselves. She knew they wouldn’t back down easily, so she tried a different approach. “The most important detail of the day is my dress. I imagined it and designed it. William’s mom hasn’t even laid eyes on it. It’s the only thing anyone will remember, and it’s what will be featured in all the magazines. The rest is all a good faith effort to enhance in-law relations.” At least that’s what she kept telling herself, so why should she tell her friends anything different?

  She looked at their skeptical faces and scooted forward, lowering her voice. “Plus, there’s one big surprise no one else knows about.”

  Her friends instinctively leaned closer.

  “I designed William’s tux. It’s the most sophisticated menswear I’ve ever put out. People are going to die for it.” She sat back, satisfied at the look of surprise on their faces. Diversion complete.

  Their exclamations were interrupted by the vibration of JoJo’s phone. Her eyes flashed to it and saw William’s name appear on the screen. Whew, saved by the call. She picked it up and mouthed sorry! to her friends. “William, baby!” she sang into the receiver.

  Iris stuck her index finger into her mouth and pretended to throw up, making fun of JoJo’s baby talk with her fiancé. JoJo rolled her eyes and angled her body away. Her three oldest friends had never heard her speak to a man this way and they wouldn’t let her hear the end of it. “Something doesn’t feel right about this,” Winnie had said a few months back. Her words hung in JoJo’s mind, but she insisted that the baby talk meant that her relationship with William was special. It had to mean something that she hadn’t done this in any of her previous relationships. She was different with him. Wasn’t that the biggest sign that it was meant to be? Didn’t everyone say that love changed you?

  “Hmmm. I’m so sorry,” JoJo murmured into the receiver.

  “That was an oversight on my part, it won’t happen again.”

  “Honey, you’re the most handsome man in Hollywood, tomorrow everyone will realize it, the suit is perfect.”

  There was a long moment as JoJo listened to her fiancé intently while trying to ignore the penetrating stares of Iris, Margot, and Winnie.

  “Oh.” JoJo bit the inside of her cheek. “I see. No, if that’s what your mom thinks, you should absolutely do it. You’ll look amazing either way.”

  “You too, baby. Love you more.” She hung up and looked up at her friends. She didn’t like it when they heard how William sometimes spoke to her, but they didn’t understand him like she did; he didn’t mean to be as condescending as he came across.

  She squared her shoulders and plastered on her brightest smile. “He’s feeling the nerves for tomorrow; all the people attending — I’m sure you understand,” she said dismissively.

  “What does his mom think?” Iris demanded.

  JoJo’s eyes flashed to the sand. “It’s nothing, really.” JoJo swallowed the lump rising in her throat. “She wants him to wear a different tux than the one I designed.”

  “Wait, what?” Iris asked, incredulous.

  “Different from the one you — the world-renowned designer — specifically created for him?” Margot added, an eyebrow cocked.

  “To perfectly complement your dress?” Winnie’s voice was at a pitch high enough for dogs to come running.

  JoJo shifted on the lounge chair, trying to bury her disappointment. She couldn’t deal with her feelings and manage her best friends’ objections at the same time. She grabbed the bottle of beer next to Iris and took a swig.

  Iris watched her greedily gulp it down, concern furrowed between her brows. JoJo closed her eyes to block it out. “We just don’t want you to lose yourself…”

  Margot shook her head at Iris and moved to sit beside JoJo on the lounge chair, gesturing for the other girls to follow. She wrapped her arm around JoJo and wordlessly squeezed her. Margot twirled JoJo’s long dark hair tenderly while Iris ran a soothing hand across her back. JoJo sat statue-still for a long moment until eventually her shoulders began to shudder slightly. “I was really excited about that tux,” she managed in a hoarse whisper. She couldn’t let it all go right now. Not this close to the wedding.

  Iris wiped away the tears spilling down JoJo’s cheek. “We love you, Joey.”

  Margot nodded. “We’ll support you, no matter what.”

  Winnie pulled away from JoJo slightly so she could look her directly in her eyes. “We’re always here for you.”

  JoJo managed a weak smile. Then Winnie added, “Remember, it’s never too late to back out, babe.”

  2

  JoJo studied Winnie for signs that she was joking. Winnie solemnly held her stare, no humor in sight. All of the feelings bubbling in JoJo’s body were dangerously close to escaping.

  To keep them where they belonged, she sprung to her feet and took off her sunglasses. She tur ned to her friends. “The last one in has to give a speech tomorrow!” she called, sprinting toward the ocean. Iris and Winnie laughed, chasing after her while Margot reluctantly removed her cover-up and jogged after them. She already had a draft of her speech saved on her phone.

  The ladies jumped over the first set of waves and swam out until they could feel the sand only on the tips of their toes. They bobbed up and down with each passing wave. JoJo looked up at the cliffside venue, watching workers dressed in white, scurrying around to set up for her elaborate wedding the next day. From where she stood, it looked like a fairy tale come true.

  “It looks dreamy, Joey,” Winnie said, following her gaze.

  Margot swam between them, her floppy hat bumping them both in the face. “I love it. And it’s almost like a mountainside.”

  JoJo turned to her. “What do you mean?”

  “Didn’t you always say you wanted to elope in the mountains?”

  JoJo watched the wedding preparations, but her mind was in the mountains of Colorado. She remembered her first visit — it was for a photoshoot in Denver and she thought it was the most brilliant scenery she’d ever seen. If memory served, she called her friends that night to announce that a tiny, private wedding in the mountains was her dream. She shook the thought away. “Marriage is a compromise,” she said faintly.

  “Look up there.” Margot pointed. They all followed her finger to see a small black drone hovering in the air near the wedding set up.

  Iris shook her head in disgust. “I thought this was a no-fly zone. Isn’t that why you chose this place?”

  “It is. I’m sure they’ll get a fine, but the pictures they sell will make it more than worth the risk.” JoJo shrugged before dunking her head underwater, keeping her eyes open to feel the burn. She had attracted her fair share of attention as a former supermodel-turned-designer, but nothing could have prepared her for the media frenzy that came her way when she began dating William Black. Every movie he’d been in for the last five years was an automatic blockbuster. It wasn’t just his acting skills or his insanely chiseled jawline that captured worldwide attention, it was his charm. He looked people in their eyes, had time for every fan, and curated an impenetrable image. JoJo hadn’t known the extent of the effort it took behind the scenes for him to pull this off when they first met. She had been swept away by his thoughtfulness. He sent food, flowers, clothes, assistants, and planes to her. He treated her like a queen — at first. Things had taken a dive recently, but that was to be expected during the chaos of wedding planning.

  They were the ultimate power couple. JoJo would see pictures of them out to dinner or at an event and even she could see that they were making Hollywood history; a timeless pairing.

  She emerged from the water and rubbed her eyes, looking back to the flurry of tents being erected, tablescapes being set, flowers being positioned. “See? Even if I wanted to run away — “she jerked her head to Winnie “— which I absolutely do not, it would be impossible at this point. I’d be letting the whole world down.”

  Winnie flinched at her words and trained her eyes on JoJo.

  “Uh oh,” Margot warned. “The drone is heading this way.”

  The girls all crowded around JoJo, attempting to conceal her from the probing camera.

  JoJo floated in the middle of her friends. How was it that she felt suffocated, surrounded by all of this love? “I have another idea,” she said conspiratorially.

  She whispered her plan to the girls and Margot recoiled in horror. “Not a chance!” she yelped.

  Meanwhile, Winnie was already pulling the string of her bikini top. Iris followed suit while Margot’s stayed in a tight knot. “Ready?” JoJo asked.

  Winnie’s wicked smile was answer enough. “One, two, three!” she yelled, before jumping in the air with their hands stretched above them, exposing their bare chests for a split second. They collapsed into the water, laughing wildly.

  Iris chuckled as she refastened her bikini top. “I’m not sure Mrs. Black is going to like that one very much.”

  JoJo shrugged and sent a glazed look to the place where she’d be walking down the aisle the next day.

  By the time the four of them had made it back to their lounge chairs, the drone had been recalled. JoJo checked her watch. “I’ve got to go to hair and makeup for the rehearsal dinner tonight,” she said. “I’ll meet you ladies there.” They said their goodbyes and went to their respective suites.

  When JoJo opened the door to her elaborate beachside bungalow, she was face to face with her fiancé. “Oh, hi baby! I thought you’d be by to pick me up later.” She reached up to kiss him.

  His eyes moved from left to right, as if to alert her to the others in the room. She noticed his jaw twitch slightly. Something was wrong. “Would you all mind excusing us?” she asked her hair and makeup team. “It’ll just be a moment.”

  As the door closed behind them, William grabbed JoJo’s upper arm and steered her away from the windows. “What on earth were you thinking?” he demanded, his face inches from hers.

  JoJo was genuinely perplexed. His eyes pooled with anger. She looked at his strong hand, still gripped on her upper arm, causing him to realize how hard he was holding her, and dropped her arm.

  JoJo swallowed. “I’m a little in the dark here, baby. What happened?”

  He reached into his pocket and withdrew his phone. “This is already online!” he said, shoving his phone at her. He ran his hands through his hair as he paced the room.

  JoJo fumbled with the phone until she saw it. There, in full color was a picture of her and her friends looking joyous and happy in the water … each with bare, albeit blurry, chests. JoJo couldn’t suppress her smile. “Our chests are blurry; the drone was way too far away for a clear shot. I knew that when we jumped up!” she said, hoping to reassure him.

  He stormed over to her. “You knew the drone was there? And you still thought it was a good idea to flash the whole world?” She subtly brushed away his spit from her cheek.

  “This is not Hollywood royalty behavior. This is trash,” he fumed, his voice low and controlled, the words spewing out like venom.

  JoJo flinched. “Did you just call me trash?”

  William’s jaw twitched again and a look of professional courtesy crossed over his face. His tone shifted to the one he used for talk shows. “Of course not, darling. I would never say that. I simply cannot believe you would make a decision like this. The day before our wedding. Do you have any idea how this reflects on me?” He stroked her cheek, causing her to soften slightly.

  “Honey, we were just having fun out there. My actions are a reflection of me and me alone. I mean, look at the headline. ‘JoJo Ellison has one last hurrah with the rest of the Billionaire Babes the day before she gets hitched.’” She turned to William. “People will love this. Your publicist is always reminding us to do things that make us seem more relatable.”

  William looked at her hard but kept his voice level. “Relatable is eating a burger, honey. This is something entirely different.” He patted her cheek. “I trust we’ve resolved the issue and it won’t happen again. I’ll smooth it over with my mom, don’t worry.”

  JoJo had not even been thinking of his mom, let alone worried about her.

  “I’ll pick you up for our dinner tonight. We’re going to be showstoppers.”

  JoJo giggled nervously, a habit she’d picked up when she didn’t know how to respond to a new rule William imposed on her. He shook his head quickly. “Not that laugh.” He kissed her cheek and left the bungalow. She heard him direct the hair and makeup team in.

  Her laugh, she had been told, was too annoying. She had to take the edge out or it would alienate people.

 

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