Page 4 of Blue Moon

Chapter 2

Solana

My phone lit up. Thank God! I’d been waiting for this call from my PR agent all day. And what a boring day it had been—I had practiced yoga, spent an hour making the perfect avocado toast garnished with watermelon radishes and microgreens for a flat lay, and then shopped online from some cute dresses in my brand colors of pink, turquoise, yellow.

“Kelli—did I get it?”

“Yup! The Navy confirmed minutes ago. You’ve been chosen as a Key Influencer! Congrats, Sol!”

I squealed like a tween at a boy band concert. “Oh my god! Yay me! This is going to be epic. I can’t believe I’m going to fly with a Blue Angel.”

“I know, right? This is huge. Your followers will freak. I’m working on your hashtag strategy right now. We’ve committed to four posts, a story, and a live video of you in the plane during the flight. I just hope you don’t get sick up there.”

A lump formed in my throat. I was already queasy despite still being on solid ground. I didn’t like flying when I was in a normal plane, let alone a supersonic jet.

“Ugh. I’m sure I will. What if I puke all over him? I’d die of embarrassment.”

“Yeah, that would be humiliating, especially since he’s so hot.”

My hands shook. “He is? You’ve seen a picture of him?”

“Yeah, his information is on their website. He’s gorgeous. Blond hair, blue eyes, a sexy smile, and a killer body.”

Great. Why did he have to be gorgeous? I’d be so distracted and probably start babbling like a moron—I always did that around super-hot men. Perhaps one of the many reasons I was still a virgin.

“What’s his name?”

“Sawyer Roberts.”

Sawyer Roberts, United State Blue Angel Pilot. I’d cyberstalk him the second I ended this call.

“Got it. So, what’s the plan?”

“You’ll drive to the base tomorrow morning. I’ll email you directions. Please arrive before seven. You’ll be briefed on the flight, take a few photos, and then begin your ride. The flight will last forty-five minutes. Once it’s over, you’ll leave the base. Any questions?”

That didn’t sound so bad. Just a short, simple gig. Ha, who was I kidding? I was scared to death.

I exhaled. “No. But I’m petrified. I wish there were a way I could meet the Blue Angels, take pictures, and not have to ride in the plane. More of a lifestyle piece. Wouldn’t that be better?”

“Well, your fans would love that, too, but that’s not what we agreed to. Maybe you can pitch that to Sawyer after the flight. He might be into it, so long as you don’t puke all over him.”

Fear gripped my chest. I was all about my image, constantly taking pictures of my supposedly perfect life. What a joke. If my followers could only see what I actually did on a day to day basis, they’d laugh at me. Maybe this was a bad idea.

“Kelli, I even get carsick. I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Sol, think of your followers. They will never know what it’s like to fly with a Blue Angel. They can live vicariously through you. Do it for them.”

She was trying to psych me up, but I still wasn’t convinced. I did everything for my followers. My entire life right now consisted of making decisions that were good for them.

“I just hope I don’t die from a brain aneurysm. I read about this one woman who died from one after a flight.”

“You’re so neurotic. You’ll be fine. Relax. Honestly, though, you don’t have a choice. Your follower count took a nosedive after last month’s disastrous collaboration. If you don’t shake things up, you’ll be yesterday’s news.”

“I get it.” I didn’t even want to think about how foolish I was to fall for last month’s scam, even though I hadn’t been the only influencer who’d been conned. This creeper had fooled Kelli and me. He’d hired a bunch of influencers to take pictures in bikinis for his swimwear line. Then, he started asking for nudes. Of course, I told him to go to hell, but only after I’d already posted the beach shots online, which, of course, he never paid me for. Turns out, he didn’t even own a swimsuit line—his accounts and website were all fake. I hated myself for believing he was legit. These days, I couldn’t trust anyone was who they said they were.

At least Sawyer was actually a Blue Angel, not some imposter trying to scam me, or even worse, harm me.

“Also, I noticed you have only posted once today. You really need to be posting four times a day. We talked about this, Sol, remember?”