My brother calling my name caught my attention and I lifted the phone to my ear. “Sorry, it was just—”
“Someone catering to your every need? Must be tough.”
I shut the door, put the coffee on my desk and collapsed back in my chair. “I’d prefer to be back in the office, making deals, but you’re right, if I’ve got to disappear, there are worse places to be.” Just having Avery around was like breathing pure oxygen, adding color to my otherwise taxing days. If she weren’t so bloody professional, I’d have had her bent over my desk by now but she was better than that. Worth more than a quick fuck. She was the kind of woman I’d have to take my time with.
“And you’re dealing with the lawyers okay?” Landon interrupted my train of thought. “Annie said the drop went well yesterday.”
“Yeah. I spent the night working through the documents—thanks for arranging that.”
“No problem. You’re paying me.”
“I am?” I chuckled.
Landon rarely talked about money, but the fact that he’d paid cash for his penthouse in Kensington told me business was booming for him.
“It’s not like we’re family or anything. You’ll get my bill at the end of this.”
“You better be worth it.”
“I’ll remind you of this conversation when you sign the Phoenix deal.”
“If you’re sending me a bill anyway, can you dig a bit deeper into the crew here? I just want to make sure everything thoroughly checks out.” What I wanted was more information about Avery. What drove her to be so good at what she did? What had made her become a yachtie and not go to university? I’d seen glimpses of the Avery underneath the professional façade, and I wanted to know more.
“I’ve done thorough checks—there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Do me a favor and the next time we do a drop, give me everything you can find on Avery Walker.”
“The chief stewardess?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
“Is something making you suspicious?”
Only the fact that I trusted her and didn’t know why. Wanted to fuck her but hadn’t made a move. It was weird. Not like me. “Nothing I’m ready to share. Just an instinct.”
“Okay. I’ll do some follow-up work on her.”
“Now, get out of here—I’ve got to go and catch some rays.” I hung up and grabbed my laptop. Sunbathing and relaxation was the last thing I needed, but I found I quite enjoyed my interactions with Avery and so working from the main deck, knowing she would pass by intermittently tending to my every need, wasn’t an opportunity I was going to pass up.
Eleven
Hayden
All I got from my lawyers were invoices and bad news. “Fuck,” I spat as I hung up my satellite phone.
This deal had started off like clockwork and then out of nowhere the wheels had fallen off and I was stuck in the middle of the Mediterranean without an assistant or my email. I wished to God Landon had found the leak, so I could get back to London.
There was a rap at my door. “Come in,” I said. If it had been anyone other than Avery, I wouldn’t have answered but she was so dedicated, always knowing what I wanted before I did, not to mention she was fucking beautiful. She was basically kryptonite for me.
“Hey, I just brought you a coffee, but did I come at a bad time?”
I sighed as I sat back in my chair. “Thanks. On this deal, there’s never a good time.”
She winced, placing the large cup of coffee in front of me. I caught the scent of her—all sunshine and summer flowers, as though she just came from a better part of the universe than I did. “Anything I can help you with?”
“Unless you can explain to me why people decide to clam up on me and make outrageous demands then I’m not sure you can help.”
She transferred her weight onto one leg, and her hip pushed out to the side, creating a delicious curve I wanted to trace with my fingertips. “What’s happened? Someone’s stopped talking to you and has started demanding stuff? A customer?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I know it’s all super top secret and everything, so don’t tell me anything you shouldn’t, but sometimes just talking out loud can help shuffle stuff around in your brain and a solution appears.”
A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth. She made it sound easy and if I didn’t know better, I’d have believed her.
“I see your skepticism.” Her eyebrows darted up. “Try it.” She lifted her shoulder in a half shrug. “You never know, I might even be able to help.”
I sighed. Avery’s presence was calming and I wasn’t ready for her to leave. “I’m trying to buy a company. And it was all going according to plan and then the seller just starts making crazy requests in the legal documentation and he’s not answering his phone. And I don’t have email so I can’t email him. It’s bloody frustrating.”