“I could get one of those bungalows directly over the ocean.”
“You could jump from your balcony every morning and hit the waves.”
“Yes, definitely put Bali on that list. In fact, that’s the only place.”
“The only place?” Kallie asked.
“Yes. Bali, Indonesia. That’s where I’m going to end up.”
“You don’t want to travel there and make sure first?” she asked.
“Well you don’t want to travel with me. So no.”
“Why would I have to travel with you?”
“You’re my life organizer. If I’m going to be trying out places for me to plant my roots, then you need to be with me. You know, to keep me on track.”
“I can do that just fine from a phone or a videoconference. I do it all the time with my clients,” she said.
“But being treated like a local has to be experienced,” Ash said.
“I see what you’re doing, and it isn’t going to work. I have a business to run, Mr. Worthington, and I don’t make it a habit of jetting off with my clients and leaving the rest of them to suffer.”
Hearing her address him by his last name was like a punch to the gut, and he knew he had to convince her to come with him. He had to get her to Bali so they could rekindle what they had on St. Barts. All they needed was to get out from underneath all of the pressures they’d succumbed to in the city. He knew that he had to convince her to travel with him.
It was the only way.
“Well I am a client of yours,” Ash said. “And I will be a high-paying client. If you want the high-end clientele, then you have to be willing to travel to them as well as with them. It’ll be something about your business model that has to change. Your office is actually a bit pointless. You take phone calls and work from your laptop, which is something you can do anywhere. You can bring your laptop and your cell phone with you and keep your same schedule, but still help me in the process.”
“My office isn’t pointless,” she said.
“But your work does travel. Hence why you could come with me, give one of your needy clients a first-rate experience, then get paid a first-rate price as well as be given a first-rate testimony.”
“Ash, this isn’t how—”
“Every high-end business does it, Kallie. Interior decorators fly to their clients. Fashion choreographers fly to their designers. Chefs and bartenders and even maids, they all travel to their clients. To their employers. You don’t grow a business from an office, Kallie. You grow it by getting out there with it. Plus, if you really want to see the entire project through, you’ll have to come with me once I settle anyway to help set up my new place. Right?”
He watched Kallie sigh as she closed her eyes. He knew he had her. All she had to do was say “yes.” He’d take care of everything else. Whatever she needed, without hesitation.
“Fine,” she said curtly. “I’ll come with you to Bali. But we’ll be in separate hotel spaces until you find where you want to touch down. Then we’ll move you, but I’ll still be in the hotel.”
“I wouldn’t expect it any other way,” he said with a grin. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Kallie asked.
“For being there so I can get it right this time.”
And for the first time since he stepped into her office yesterday, her face softened toward him.
“You’re welcome,” she said. “We’ll get you back on your feet and headed in the right direction.”
But what Ash hoped was that she would be by his side when he decided what direction to go in.
Chapter 14
Kallie
She stood in her apartment, packing her things for the private flight out. She couldn't believe what she was doing. As easy as everything was, Ash had thrown her life into another spiraling whirlwind. The man lived for storms, which made her snicker. Of course he did. He’d weathered that ocean storm back on the island with such grace and ease, and she was beginning to figure out why. His entire life was a storm, and all the quiet moments were just blips on the radar in between.