“She eats. But not French cheeses.”
“That really narrows it down,” Alvy said, snorting. “I will tell her to get things to impress a woman. She can figure that out.”
“What would I do without you, Alvy?”
“Employ that team of fixers of yours a lot more often than you already do.”
“I miss them. It’s been over a year since I’ve needed to hire them for anything, hasn’t it?”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Create a problem as an excuse to see them. Some people have barbecues or host dinner parties.”
“Well, I can’t do that now, can I?”
“Why not?”
“First, I’d have to pick a home. Second, Miller made it very clear that if I step foot in Navesink Bank again, she is going to pay me back for that pig whoopsie.”
“Really, you didn’t think to check to make sure it was a pet, not a farm pig?”
“I blame you.”
“Of course you do.”
“You abandoned me that summer.”
“I took my mandatory three-week vacation.”
“What moron made a mandatory three-week vacation rule?”
“That moron would be you.”
“Oh, right. Good corporate policies are one of my many positive traits,” I told him, smirking.
“It somewhat makes up for all your personal failings,” Alvy agreed, shooting me a smile, eyes dancing.
“Are you ready for some fun in the sun, Alvy?”
“I am ready to watch this woman eviscerate you,” they shot back.
“Don’t be so keen. You’d be the one having to deal with the mess,” I told them, rising out of my chair, making my way toward the door, finding myself uncharacteristically anxious about the plan.
This anxiety only intensified as I waited there beside the private jet.
For twenty minutes.
Thirty. Forty-five.
“She’s cutting it close,” Josh, the pilot, commented, rocking on his heels.
“Yes, she is,” I agreed, stomach tightening.
I’d been so sure.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Arlington,” he said, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “You know some women. Late for their own funerals, they’ll be.”
With that, he moved back inside, heading into the cabin, anxious to get moving.
While I was just anxious.
I’d never experienced it before.
I couldn’t say I was a fan.
Feeling sweaty with a hammering heart and a flip-flopping stomach with the lingering sense of insecurity and embarrassment. Definitely not something I wanted to experience again.
“Should I tell Josh to change the flight plan?” Alvy asked, checking their phone, confirming what I already knew.
She didn’t make it.
She wasn’t coming.
I was losing my edge.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Alvy said, making my gaze lift from the tarmac, following their gaze to the approaching car.
Relief washed through me in a wave, leaving the uncomfortable anxiety in a puddle at my feet.
The car pulled to a stop, the driver climbing out, opening the back door.
I watched with bated breath as a set of long, tan legs slid out, heels hitting the pavement.
Then, the rest of her body emerged.
In a skintight black tank-top that showed a sliver of stomach, paired with a red and black rose-printed skirt. Of the short variety.
She turned, looking over in our direction, doing a once-over of me, then Alvy, then me again, seeming wholly unimpressed with us both, then finally making her way in our direction.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Knowing that we, the plane, the whole damn world would wait for her if she demanded it do so.
Her gaze slid to Alvy once she was in front of us. “I’m sorry,” she told them.
“We don’t mind wait—” I started, getting cut off as her gaze slipped to me, cold, sharp.
“I wasn’t apologizing to you. I am apologizing to your staff for having to work for you,” she informed me, pushing past my shoulder, and making her way into the jet.
“I can see you,” I informed Alvy as their grin spread, elated, amused.
“She’s going to destroy you,” Alvy told me, sounding pleased at the prospect.
“Oh, but how I am going to enjoy the destruction,” I told them, turning, making my way into the jet.
I had no idea what to expect.
But I was excited to find out what was to come.
FIVE
Wasp
I had to go.
I mean, not even my innate stubbornness would allow me to screw up a job worth so much. Even if it was stupid as hell.
So stupid, in fact, that I straight-up lied to Raven about what was going on. I never lied to her. Not about important things.
Traveling internationally with a complete stranger fell squarely in the important category.
But I didn’t want her to stress out.
I didn’t want her talking to my brothers, having some giant issue raised.
Sure, Fenway Arlington was a stranger. And strangers always lent an air of danger. And, yes, he was the rich of the filthy variety, which meant he could pay to have anything done and covered up.
But, really, my instincts said Fenway was a giant puppy dog with a wandering dick and a big ego.
He was harmless as far as I could tell.
So I didn’t need my family and friends freaking out because of this job.
If everything went to plan, it would be two or three weeks tops. Then I could be home, investing my newfound small fortune, preparing for earlier-than-planned retirement.