Chapter 24
KENSEY
“You’re going to love this,” Drew said as the car pulled onto the actual tarmac.
When he invited me to go to San Francisco, I was thinking a little puddle jumper packed with thirty people. It never dawned on me he meant we were flying private.
“A private jet.”
He looked at me. “You’ve known me for over a decade. You know how we roll. Or fly.
“And somehow, in all that time, you never put me on a plane.”
“To be fair, most of our time together was spent driving around Los Angeles eating burgers.”
I shook my head and reminded myself this was his life. I had grown up in a perfectly comfortable middle-class house in the same neighborhood I’d ridden my bike around until I was thirteen. And now I was standing on a tarmac about to board a private aircraft.
“Is this yours?” I asked.
“Family plane,” he said, carrying both our bags. “It gets shared around. Callum used it last week. My parents went to New York the week before.”
“So it’s just sitting there when nobody needs it.”
“Essentially.”
“Drew.” I stopped walking. “Why the hell haven’t you flown me somewhere before?”
He turned around, grinning. “I told you. It’s not my plane.”
“You could have called dibs at any point in the last ten years and taken me to Paris.”
“Paris,” he repeated, like he was filing that away. “Noted.”
“I’m just saying. I’ve been eating airport pretzels and dealing with ridiculous delays like a peasant for years while this thing was just sitting here.”
He grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the stairs. “Get on the plane, Kensey.”
The interior was cream leather and warm wood paneling with gold accents.
I could feel the luxury. It was understated, but that just made it louder.
Four wide seats arranged in two pairs facing each other, a small couch along one side, a bar setup built into the wall that looked better stocked than most restaurants I’d been to.
It smelled faintly of leather and maybe cedar.
Nothing like the sweat, farts, and stinky feet of the last airplane I’d been in.
I sat down in one of the seats and immediately ran my hands along both armrests.
“This is obscene,” I said.
“Comfortable?”
“Shut up. This is nicer than the first apartment I had in New Jersey. I think it might be nicer than the apartment I have now.”
He dropped into the seat across from me and stretched his legs out.
He was in dark jeans and a polo shirt, sunglasses pushed back on his head.
He looked completely at home, which made sense because he basically was.
I was the one sitting there running my hands over the leather like I was petting a very expensive dog.
That’s when I noticed the screen on the wall. A big one.
“You have a TV on here?” I asked.
He turned his head. “Of course. Need something to pass the time.”
“You’re purposely being obnoxious.”
He flashed that cheesy grin and winked. “Wait until you see what the inflight snacks look like.”
“It’s an hour flight,” I reminded him.
He shrugged. “Guy needs snacks.”
“Let me guess, caviar?”
“I could have someone run out and pick some up if you want it.”
“No! I forget you’re still a spoiled little rich kid.”
“Not so little,” he said, his voice dropping to that deep timber that sent shivers rolling through my body.
A flight attendant appeared and asked what we’d like to drink. Drew looked at me.
I shrugged. I had no idea what the right answer was.
“Two mimosas,” he replied.
I made a show of looking at my watch. “You have a meeting in two hours.”
“Three and trust me, a single mimosa isn’t going to leave me shitfaced.”
I settled back into the seat. The engines fired up and the plane began to move. A minute after the plane leveled out, the flight attendant returned with two mimosas and promptly disappeared. It was a small plane and I did wonder where she could be hiding.
“So what’s this meeting?” I asked, once we’d leveled out and the sky outside was a flat, brilliant blue.
He made a face. “Tech people.”
“Tech people,” I repeated. “Be more specific.”
“There’s a company based in the Financial District.
They want to be involved in the Sidewalk Sale.
Display space, branding, that kind of thing.
They’ve got a product that’s adjacent to fashion in a very loose interpretation of the word and they want the association with Blackwell.
” He sipped his drink. “And they want to talk about sponsorship money.”
“How much money?”
“Enough that it’s worth three hours of my life.”
“I see. Why do it in person?”
“Because tech bros like to feel important,” he said. “They want to shake hands and have the meeting and take a picture for LinkedIn. That’s what I’m providing.”
“You’re a prop.”
“Yep. But it breeds money. After the meeting, we have the rest of the day. And tomorrow morning before the afternoon flight back.”
“What are we doing?”
“Whatever we want.” He leaned back. “That’s the whole point.”
Whatever we want. When was the last time I’d had that? A day with no agenda and no obligation.
“If we had more time,” he said. “I would have driven you up.”
“Yeah?”
“We would have stopped everywhere. There are these little towns along the way. Cambria. Big Sur. Carmel. I’ve never stopped thinking about our plans.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t do it already.”
“No way,” he said. “Not without you.”
The attendant returned with the promised snacks, setting down a tray that looked like it belonged at a wedding, not on an airplane.
There was a perfect charcuterie board with three different cured meats, at least four cheeses, with delicate crackers.
A ring of grapes with a dish of almonds in the center.
There was a dish of honey with the cute little wooden thing.
I looked at Drew and tried to keep my face from expressing the disbelief I felt. “You were not kidding about the snacks.”
He reached for a piece of salami and placed it on a cracker, layering it with a perfect slice of cheese. He offered it to me. I opened my mouth and he fed it to me without a word.
I nodded and chewed. “Okay, that’s actually really good. I thought salami was just salami.”
“Have you ever had honey with cheese?”
“No. But I’ll try it.”
He did the honors, guiding the cracker to my lips. I leaned forward and let him. He watched me take the bite, a sexy little smile on his lips.
“It’s sweet and kind of sharp at the same time,” I said after I finished it.
He winked, then stacked his next cracker. “Did you ever think we’d end up here?”
“Never. But I’m glad we are.”
A car picked us up at the airport, right on the tarmac again.
The hotel was in Union Square. The place was huge and, of course, the epitome of luxury.
The lobby had ceilings that went up forever and fresh flowers on every surface.
A fountain trickled in a seating area in the corner.
A full bar with a man wearing a bowtie was serving various coffees. It was like an upscale Starbucks.
Drew checked us in. I stood beside him and tried not to look like a child standing in the biggest candy store in the world. I reminded myself to keep my mouth closed. I wanted to take a picture. Not just one. Because a single picture couldn’t capture the beauty of the lobby.
The suite was on the fourteenth floor. The elevator doors opened directly into a small private foyer. Drew pushed open the door and I walked in ahead of him. The view stopped me cold.
Huge windows on two sides. The bay stretched out to the left, the bridge visible in the distance. The room itself was cream and blue and absolutely stunning. A sitting area, dining table with four chairs and more fresh flowers.
“This is wild,” I said.
“Good?” He set our bags down and came to stand beside me at the window. I was still looking out at the bay. A container ship was moving slowly across the water.
He checked his watch.
“I’ve got to get changed,” he said. “Meeting’s at one.”
“Go,” I said. “I’m fine. I’ll figure out lunch.”
“You don’t need to figure out lunch. While I’m gone, you are booked.”
I turned from the window. “Booked for what?”
“Massage and a facial. The spa ladies are coming up to the room.” He said it the way you’d say, I ordered us a pizza. “They’ll be up around one thirty.”
I stared at him. “You arranged an in-room spa service?”
“You’ve been helping me out a lot the last few weeks. Consider it me taking care of my favorite employee.”
“Drew, you don’t need to do all of that,” I said.
“I’ll be back by four and then we’re going to eat everything in this city.”
I crossed the room and kissed him.
“Go to your meeting,” I said against his mouth.
“I’m going,” he said. His hand sliding down my back and squeezing my ass said otherwise. “Maybe I can be a little late.”
“You can’t,” I said with a laugh and pushed him back. “I’m not going to be the reason you’re late for an important meeting.”
He pulled back, pressed one more kiss to my forehead, and went to get changed. I meandered around the suite, although I didn’t dare open the fridge. I had heard stories about getting charged a hundred buck for simply peeking.
Drew returned wearing a suit with no tie. He looked very businesslike.
“You are so fucking hot,” I said.
He pointed at me. “Down girl. You’re going to get me messy.”
“Hurry back. I’m feeling very messy.”
“You’re a terrible influence.”
I stuck out my tongue.
He grabbed me, his teeth gently pulling my tongue. I giggled and pulled back. “Get out of here.”
“Enjoy the spa thing. Don’t feel weird about it.”
I pressed my lips together. He knew me too well.
“Go,” I said.
After he went, I couldn’t resist plucking an apple from the fresh bowl of fruit. I’d pay Drew back. It was probably a twenty-dollar apple. There was a knock on the door soon after.
I opened the door to find two women with a portable table. They introduced themselves and I couldn’t help but lean in a bit. They smelled like eucalyptus and lavender.
“Can you slip into the robe, please?” one asked with a friendly smile.
I didn’t know where the robe was, but I assumed with a hotel like this, there would be fluffy robes in the bathroom. Sure enough, there were two. I stripped, feeling just a little self-conscious, and put on the robe.
When I returned to the living room, they had set up a small diffuser and put on the standard spa music that was all soft bells and chimes.
“Right here, please,” the first woman said.
I lay down on the table, face through the hole, and told myself to relax.
The massage started at my shoulders. The woman said nothing.
She just worked, slowly and deliberately, finding every place where I’d been holding tension I hadn’t known I was carrying.
The other woman was to my left mixing something in a bowl.
I didn’t know what it was, but I smelled mint and cucumber.
I closed my eyes. This was what it looked like to be in Drew’s orbit. The private plane with the leather seats. The suite with the view of the bay. It was a different life than anything I was used to.
And not that Drew was like that, but all of this was taken for granted by the people who lived this way. But I got it. It was very easy to get used to. It would be so easy to get used to this and that was dangerous.
It was not my world and it did feel a little excessive. I didn’t need any of it. It was nice as a treat but I couldn’t imagine it on the daily. I had never once in my adult life booked a massage. It had never occurred to me to do it.
And then I thought about my parents. They never had massages. They were older and certainly did more to deserve it and needed it. My mother with her arthritis. My dad who’d spent a lifetime working hard. Those were the people who should be getting massaged.
Not today, I told myself. Not right now.
I wasn’t going to feel guilty for getting to enjoy the perks of my time with Drew.
The summer wasn’t going to last forever.
I knew that. I had made a deliberate choice to be here, in this thing with Drew.
I knew exactly how it ended. I was allowed to have this.
The facial started. Cool hands, warm cream, the smell of lavender. I let my jaw go slack and forced myself to stop thinking. Enjoy the moment. That’s what my mom would say. The real world would be waiting for me afterward.