10. Jet
Chapter 10
Jet
“He shot you straight down?” Hayden asks, sucking in a breath.
I lean back in the chair in my father’s office as I eye him on the laptop screen. “As I expected him to.”
Callaghan’s reaction to my surprise appearance in New York is enough for now. He’ll be scratching his head wondering if it was mere coincidence that I was there when he was. But the smug glint in his eyes when he asked if I was there to finally give in, is what set my pulse racing enough that I needed a drink to calm down afterward.
He’s never getting that from me, not unless he pries it from my dead hands. A fact I shared with him outside the men’s restrooms in The Songbird. He’ll be questioning what my true motives are now. He’s exactly where I want him to be .
“I’ll leave you to schmooze dinner with two of our shareholders tonight, then.” Hayden chuckles at my responding curse.
I hate this part of our business. Dad and I are the majority shareholders. But we have a small handful of investors who have clung on since September 11th when my father had to sell shares to raise capital and keep us going. They’re onto a good thing. We’ve made them millions. All they need to do is sit back, enjoy it, and let us get on with it. But they like to meet with me when I’m in London. It’s a way of making themselves feel important and getting their dicks hard with an all-expenses paid night to the strip clubs we end up in.
I’ve probably funded a brand-new house for every Destiny, Chardonnay, and Crystal over the past five years I’ve been US CEO.
“Wasting time is the last thing I need. Callaghan is my priority.”
“Take Ava,” Hayden suggests. “They won’t expect you to spend the night getting lap dances then. Unless she’s into watching other women?” He raises his brows.
“I’ve no idea what she’s into.”
I rub my thumb over my lips. If Ava comes, I won’t lose an entire evening with two chumps who like young women grinding on their married balls.
“Callaghan’s in London for two more days. What’s the next move? ”
“We wait,” I tell Hayden. “He’ll be sweating. The next time he sees me, he’ll be tripping over himself to find out what it is we want.”
“Okay. You’re the boss.” He runs a hand back through his hair, his eyes darting to someone behind the screen as they hand him a coffee.
“Don’t fuck my PA while I’m gone,” I hiss once she’s had a chance to move away. “I don’t have time to get a new one.”
He chuckles. “The last one left because you made her cry.”
“I meant the one before her.”
“Mindy.” His eyes light up. “If you’d been on the receiving end of her lip skills, you wouldn’t be saying that.” He leans back in his chair with a wistful sigh. “Fuck, she was a hard worker.”
“Goodbye, Hayden.” I hang up, cutting off his laughter.
Footsteps approaching signal my father’s early arrival from work. He walks into his office and smiles as he sees me sitting at his desk.
“Good trip back, Son? Crewing told me you took the flight.”
He walks over to the sideboard, lifting a crystal decanter of whiskey, tipping it to me.
I shake my head. He pours one for himself and then sinks into the seat opposite the desk with a sigh.
“I did. Thought it was a good idea to keep my hours up.”
“How was Ava on the flight? ”
“Did you know she was a nervous flyer?” And that she’s never orgasmed through penetrative sex? I grind my teeth, recalling the confessions that spilled from her lips like confetti.
“I suspect it’s because that’s how her father died… in a plane crash.”
Fuck! I lean over the desk toward him.
“Her father?”
Dad blows out a breath. “William wasn’t sure she’d get on the flight.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Why didn’t she tell me? “Jesus.” I run a hand around my jaw. It makes sense why she was swallowing those herbal pills like candy now.
“I didn’t know you were going to be flying to New York after I suggested she help you.” My father’s eyes meet mine. “When I found out, I spoke with William. He said if she hadn’t mentioned anything, then not to. Ava’s a strong girl, Jet. It was time she did it, but on her terms.” Leaning back on his seat, he adds, “She’s been through a lot. She’ll tell you what she wants you to know.”
I nod. That’s my father’s code for, he knows more, but it isn’t his place to tell me. He’s a man of his word, and a vault when it comes to the secrets of those he cares about.
“So, Callaghan…?”
I grunt. “Still the same smug bastard.”
“I expected nothing less.”
“But he’s curious now. He’s where I need him to be. ”
He takes another sip from his glass, studying me. “You’ve got this, Son. This airline has survived ever since your great grandfather started it. We aren’t going to fail now.”
“We can’t fail.” My shoulders tie up into knots as I pick up a framed photograph on my father’s desk. He smiles as he looks at it.
“She’ll help us.” His eyes shine as I place the picture of my mother and me as a child standing beside the Boeing Stearer Bi plane back down.
My throat dries up.
“I’ve got dinner with Jones and Carmichael tonight.”
My father snorts. “A late one for you, then.”
“Not if I can help it. I’m inviting Ava.”
I rise and walk around the desk, put a hand on my father’s shoulder, and he places his palm over the back of it, patting it.
“Good idea, Son. She’ll keep you out of trouble.”
“Doubtful,” I grumble. “The woman is—”
“A spitfire.” He chuckles, his gaze falling back onto the photograph and my mother’s long auburn hair.
I swallow the lump in my throat as he gazes at the picture.
“She’s something,” I mutter as I walk out.
“Oh, I’ll use the main stairs.”
I look behind me to where Ava is cautiously hovering at the top step of the house’s old rear staircase.
“I wouldn’t. Margaret washed the front hallway floor earlier; it’s still drying.”
“You don’t want to get on the wrong side of Margaret,” she says with fondness.
“You don’t,” I agree with a grunt. I liked our old housekeeper who retired. I didn’t think anyone would run the house as well as her. But I like Margaret, and so does my father. He’s more than capable of taking care of himself, but since we lost Mum and I moved to LA to take over as CEO, I’ve felt better knowing he isn’t in this house alone all the time.
And my father’s always liked strong women with a don’t-mess-with-me attitude.
Spitfires . Like my mother.
“Do you sit here a lot,” Ava asks as she inches down the stairs toward the one I’m sitting on. She’s changed out of the skirt she flew home in and is in a white T-shirt and tiny denim shorts that hug her hips .
“Sometimes.”
Her bare thigh brushes my leg as she sits beside me. I stiffen as waterlily and caramel wafts in my nostrils.
“Weren’t you on your way downstairs?” I side-eye her.
“Don’t worry, I’m not staying.” Her lips twitch. “I know how you moody CEOs like your space.”
How many other CEOs does she know? Has she dated any? Have any asked her if her hair matches her… Fuck, I must be jet-lagged.
I sigh, and she turns her body toward mine.
“I wanted to say thank you.”
I meet her eyes, breathing through my mouth so I don’t have to inhale her scent.
“For what?”
“Not treating me like a freak on the plane.” Her lashes fan over her cheeks as she looks at her feet.
“You’re not a freak. I used to throw up every time I got near a plane as a kid.”
Her eyes are round as she brings them back to meet mine. “But you said you’ve been flying since before you were born?”
“I have. But my first memory of being on a plane is screaming the whole time because I hated it. But when your great grandfather starts an airline that becomes the family business, you have to get over it.”
Ava laughs.
We sit in companiable silence for a while until she asks, “This deal with Callaghan, is it serious? ”
“It’s important I get what I need from him. The airline is everything to me and I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure its success. Nothing and no-one, even an ass like Callaghan, will stop me doing what’s best for it.”
“Hm.” She smiles softly. “I love that it’s your family business. It must have brought you all closer, working on the same goal over the years.”
She makes no attempt to move from her place beside me. Instead, she lets out a contented sigh.
“You know, they say that if you like sitting on the stairs, it means you had a good childhood.”
“Who’s they?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs, her lips twisting into a smile as she glances at me. “Some people with a lot of time on their hands to think these things up.”
“Figures,” I grumble.
“I’m guessing it’s true though, right?”
Maybe it’s the hint of something in her voice that sounds like she’s desperate for a distraction, or maybe it’s what my father told me in his office, knowing that she lost her father so cruelly, and then her own mother left her behind and moved away.
Whatever it is, it has my fingers curling around the edge of the next wooden step down and tugging.
Ava leans forward with interest as I pull the top loose and slide it forward, revealing the small space beneath.
“This was my hiding place,” I explain, looking into the gap. “My father still doesn’t know about it. But my mother did. She used to leave me secret notes here. And gifts.”
I reach inside and lift out a toy airplane that’s covered in a layer of fine dust.
“That’s so sweet,” Ava breathes, as I turn it over.
“I guess that answers your question.” I drop the plane back inside and fix the step into place, swallowing the unexpected lump in my throat.
“It must be hard… missing her. I know what that’s like.”
“It is.” My eyes slide to hers. “I’m sorry that knowing the pain of losing a parent is the one thing we have in common.”
“The only thing we have in common.” Her lips twitch in a ghost of smile. Ava’s gaze drops to my hand and the fading red nail marks on my skin. “I’m sorry I clawed you on the plane.”
I look into her pinched eyes. “Don’t be. It’s fine.”
“Maybe I can make it up to you? Untangle your skipping rope if it gets knotted or something.”
The sound that comes from the back of my throat almost sounds like a laugh.
“Sure. You can do that.” I pause for a moment. “Actually, I have a dinner with two investors tonight. They’re boring, leery bastards. But if you come with me, it’ll save me from a late night, entertaining them alone.”
Her brows shoot up her forehead.
“Forget it. I shouldn’t have asked. It’s not Callaghan. It’s not what you agreed to—”
“Okay. I mean, sure, if you want me to? I don’t mind. ”
We stare at one another as something shifts in the air. Her teeth sink into her plump lower lip as she blinks at me.
“Jet?” she breathes, leaning a little closer.
I inhale through my nose, my senses assaulted by sweet caramel and fresh flowers.
“Ava?”
“Umm.” She looks at my mouth, then up into my eyes. If she comes any closer, I’ll be able to taste each exhale passing through her berry lips.
A loud thump in the hallway makes her jump back like she’s been branded.
“Stupid thing,” someone mutters.
Ava rushes down the stairs, picking up a grapefruit that’s rolled along the floor. Margaret appears, huffing, a grocery bag with a broken handle held between her hands.
“Thanks, Ava, love,” she says, taking the fruit and stuffing it back inside.
Margaret sees me and nods in greeting. “Your father said you don’t need dinner tonight?”
“No, thank you. I’m eating out.”
“So am I.” Ava’s eyes meet mine for a spilt second.
“Okay, that’s fine. As long as I know.” Margaret looks between the two of us and then continues down the hall. Ava goes with her, and the sound of their easy chatter grows quieter.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, my shoulders tight with tension over whatever the fuck just happened.
Whatever that moment was .
Asking her to dinner was a bad idea.
I should have taken my chance with Jones, Carmichael, and the strippers.