Chapter 44
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
R eid
Talk about a week from hell.
Three deals we’ve been chasing for months all came together in the past five days. That meant hours upon hours spent in meetings and away from my desk.
In other words, I only had a few minutes each day to stare at Evie and no chance to discuss how we’ll handle this weekend.
I hoped to do that before we left the office today, but when I returned from a late afternoon meeting, her desk was unoccupied. Baden sauntered off the elevator to tell me that Evie asked to leave an hour and a half early, and since I was in the middle of an intense negotiation, he gave her the go-ahead.
Baden came bearing an invitation from Vance and him. They wanted to go to Nova for dinner tonight to celebrate the week, but I’m bound for East Hampton.
Randall arranged for a van to drive us up at noon, but I opted out of that circus on wheels by arranging for Basil to take me after I finished at the office for the day.
I could tell by his expression when I asked that he had other plans, so I sent him a bonus that was four times his regular monthly salary. I did that while he was standing in front of me, so I got to witness the joy radiating from his smile when he spotted the text message from his bank alerting him to the deposit.
I’ll have accounting work out the details on Monday.
“Do you want me to pick you up on Sunday, sir?” Basil asks as we near the beach house that I spent two weeks at when I was a kid.
My sister and grandmother squealed when they caught sight of it. I was stunned silent since it was the biggest house I’d ever seen. Beyond that, the view of the ocean behind it was awe-inspiring.
My grandma spent most of that vacation wishing my grandpa could have been there with us, but work kept him in Manhattan. Melody brought him back a collection of seashells she found on the beach.
He cherished those damn things like they were gold. He always had at least one in his pocket until the day he died.
“Tomorrow,” I tell Basil. “Say around five or six.”
He tosses me a look over his shoulder. “That’s less than twenty-four hours from now.”
I know how to tell time, so I ignore the comment.
Even though Randall mentioned one of his friends is driving up in his car, and I can grab a ride back to Manhattan with him, I don’t want to count on that happening. Plans change, but I don’t want mine to.
Basil takes the hint and changes the subject. “I haven’t been this way in years. How about you?”
“It’s been a long time,” I say, not getting into specifics. “It doesn’t look like much has changed.”
The house I’ll be spending the night in is still painted the same shade of light blue it was when I was a kid. The shutters are as crisp white as they were then, but I suspect that’s because they’re repainted regularly.
Basil steers the SUV up the driveway and parks it. By the time he’s out of his seat and rounding the vehicle, I’ve got the door open.
Even though he’s already seen what I’m wearing, he gives me another once over. “I like the more casual look, sir.”
It’s jeans, a blue button-down shirt, and the dark blue suit jacket I had on all day. I’ve only packed the essentials in the leather bag I’m holding. This trip will be short and sweet for me. I may be the best man, but the other men Randall invited are likely better friends to him than I’ve been in years.
“Reid!” Randall exits the front door of the house dressed in red board shorts and a white T-shirt stamped with the logo of the bakery he sold years ago. “You made it.”
“You knew I would.”
He chuckles. “More like hoped you would. I wasn’t sure if a business emergency would throw a wrench in your plans.”
Since the neighboring houses are a good distance away, silence fills the air.
Basil breaks it by clearing his throat. “If that’s all, sir, I’ll head back to the city now.”
“That’s all,” Randall tells him before I can get a word in. “Reid can catch a ride back with my friend tomorrow, or if he wants, he can board the party van with us on Sunday.”
Basil suppresses a chuckle by covering it with a cough. “I’ve already made arrangements with Mr. Hunt for his return trip to Manhattan.”
“Sure, whatever.” Randall isn’t holding a drink in his hand, but the slight slurring of his words tells me he’s already indulged in more than one.
Since it’s almost eight, he’s had more than enough time for a couple of drinks on the road, as well as a few since he got here.
Basil’s eye catches mine. “I’m just a text away, sir.”
I can read between those lines. Basil will be close to his phone in case I need to break free of this bachelor party early.
“Thanks for the lift, Basil.”
His eyes widen since I rarely offer gratitude in any form other than financially. “You’re very welcome, Mr. Hunt.”
With that, he gets back in the SUV and takes off, leaving me to find a way to soldier through the next twenty-two hours without staring non-stop at my executive assistant.
“Come inside,” Randall says, motioning toward the door. “Everyone is hanging out by the pool.”
A brief image of Miss Starling in a bikini flashes through my mind before I strategically ask if she’s already here. “Who is everyone?”
“Pete, Linus, Kyle,” he lists names of men I’ve never heard of. “That’s Jimmy’s car there. Like I said, Reid, you can catch a ride with him tomorrow. It would save Basil the drive.”
I glance at the black BMW parked near one of the closed garage doors.
“Is Charlotte here?” I skirt around the question I really want to ask. I want to know if Evangeline is here, so I ask about his fiancée since I assume they’re making the drive up together.
Slapping me on the shoulder, he chuckles. “You don’t know Charlotte very well yet, but you’ll come to see that it takes her forever to pack for anywhere. They’ll be here within the hour. Apparently, she rented a car, and Evie’s driving them up.”
I smile. “Evie can drive?”
He studies my face. “It sounds like you know her as well as you know my fiancée.”
He’s right about that, but I’m not going to own it.
“You’re not staying long enough to get to know either of them better.” He laughs. “No surprise there, though. It’s always been all work and no play for Reid Hunt.”
If that’s my reputation, I don’t take issue with it. Hard work got me where I am, and I have very few complaints about it.
“Unless you’re heading back to the city early for some fun and games.”
I leave that unanswered even though a simple no would put his suspicions to rest.
“Speaking of games, I wanted to give you a heads up that we’ll be teeing off before lunch,” he says. “Just us guys, though.”
Evangeline will likely hang out with Charlotte by the pool while Randall takes his friends, including me, golfing tomorrow since there’s a course not far from here. We went there with Randall’s folks when we were kids. He loved it. I couldn’t hit a ball with a club to save my life.
I haven’t had a minute alone with Evie since I blurted out that I wondered if she would kiss a man like me. The words escaped me before I had a chance to think them through. I don’t think she even heard me. Still, it was a momentary slip that I can’t let happen again.
I can’t kiss my assistant.
Once this damn wedding is over, we’ll go back to only seeing each other at the office. That’s how it should be. It’s more professional and a hell of a lot less dangerous than being at a beach house with endless alcohol.
“Let’s get you that drink.” Randall gestures toward the house. “I want to toast to the weekend ahead because I know it’ll be one we’ll never forget.”