6. SOFIA
6
SOFIA
W hen I woke up, I was much more equipped to handle the next couple of weeks. This was my job, and I would do it the way I always did my job.
I needed this.
Working for the Blackwoods at all looked incredible on my résumé as it was. I could go anywhere in the world with my current experience but starting a new branch for the company and schmoozing new investors was something I wanted to add to my list of achievements.
Even if it meant I had to work with Ben, who had somehow decided between our night together and now that he didn’t like me.
I wasn’t sure how that had happened, but I wasn’t going to let that upset me.
After all, that had just been one night. I didn’t do relationships and I’d blown off some steam. The fact it had been the best sex of my life had been a bonus.
Other than that, it didn’t matter who Ben Blackwood was to me as a partner because I flew solo.
And now, he was just my boss.
That was how I was going to look at it, and that was how I would get through his project without getting all tangled up in my thoughts.
Because the moment I started thinking about him and our night together, I got all hot and bothered.
And then I started overthinking about how good it had been and how standoffish he was toward me now and…
Stop it.
A car honked its horn outside my window, and I looked out.
A black car had pulled up and a chauffeur got out, opening the back door of the car. Ben got out, unfolding himself as he straightened to his full six feet four inches.
Right. In the travel details for the trip they’d said they would send me a car but I didn’t think that Ben would be in the car to receive me.
You’re traveling together. Of course he’s going to be there.
I rolled my bag to the door, my carry-on slung over my shoulder. When I opened my front door, the chauffeur was there to take it.
“Oh, thanks…”
“Eric.”
I smiled at Eric, who took my bags from me and gestured for me to go to the car.
“Morning,” I said brightly to Ben. His deep hazel eyes had an amber hue to them in the daylight, and his well-defined jawline made him look like a god who’d come to Earth to make mortals like me melt. He wore a button-up shirt and jeans, and his shirt hugged his muscles perfectly. I forced myself not to stare.
He only grunted.
Was he going to be this much fun the whole trip?
I slid into the car, and Ben followed. When he shut the door, I was once again aware of how big he was. He clearly worked out, and holy shit, it looked good on him. In the car, the smell of his cologne wrapped around me, scrambling my mind and making all the right bits in my body tingle.
Work, work, work. That is what I’m here for. Be professional.
Eric finished putting my bags in the car before he got behind the wheel and the car purred to life. We pulled into the road and drove in silence. I was very aware of Ben next to me—the heat of his skin radiated through his shirt, and thanks to his size, he sat so close to me that his arm grazed against mine now and again.
I tried to ignore it.
And failed.
Benjamin Blackwood was impossible to ignore when I was this close to him.
If I wanted to stay professional and get any work done during this project, I was going to have to make a point of not getting this close to him if I could help it.
Not that I wanted to help it.
After a short drive, we turned into a private air strip with a few hangars all around.
A plane waited on the runway, with another person dressed like Eric waiting for us at the steps.
The car pulled up, and Ben got out. I followed, and when we got to the plane, Ben stood back to let me climb the steps first.
He might be gruff with me but he was still a gentleman.
It was a good thing he was being a dick because if he was nice to me my plan to be professional would fail miserably. No one could be that hot and expect any woman to think straight.
I stepped into the plane and hesitated. I glanced around.
The private plane was the epitome of airborne luxury. Elegant, spacious, and beautiful. Natural wood finishes and soft cream leather made me want to sink into the seats and never leave.
“Good morning,” an air hostess said with a smile. She looked young. She was well dressed in a pencil skirt that came to her knees, sensible black ballerina flats, and a tailored blazer that matched her skirt. “You’re more than welcome to take your seat. I’ll have your carry-on in a second.”
“Oh,” I said. “Thank you.”
She gestured toward the plush leather seats. I chose one on the left and sat down.
My seat had an entertainment system and charging ports. The seats on either side of the plane each had it, and further back there was a small dining area and a bar.
I glanced out the window; Ben was talking to a man, who I guessed was the captain, nodding and smiling.
So he could smile at people. It wasn’t just when he had alcohol and was getting sex for the night that he was in a good mood.
That just made his grumpy attitude toward me feel personal. What did I do to him that made him resent me the way he obviously did when we had such a good time together?
Don’t think about it. It doesn’t matter. Professional—this is a job.
Ben climbed the steps and took a seat on the right of the plane. It was in the same row as mine.
The steps were pulled up, the door shut, and another air hostess appeared, greeting us both with a smile.
“If you’ll fasten your seat belts, we’re ready for takeoff,” she said.
She walked to the back, where both hostesses buckled themselves in.
A moment later, the intercom sounded.
This is your captain speaking. Welcome. I trust it’s going to be a good flight. The weather is clear, and it looks like we’ll arrive in Harborview in two and a half hours, as long as the weather stays the same. I hope you have a pleasant flight.
The intercom clicked off, and the plane started.
I’d never flown in a private plane before, and I’d thought it would be noisy, but the plane was nearly silent all around us.
I glanced at Ben, who sat in his seat like a statue, staring straight ahead with a serious expression. The plane moved faster and faster until the view outside my window blurred into colorful lines.
When the plane lifted, my stomach dropped.
I glanced at Ben again. His eyes were closed and he gripped the leather-and-wooden armrests with such strength I was sure it was going to break.
Ben was a block of a man, muscular, tall, and a person whose presence was impossible to miss. He looked like he dominated the room, but now, it looked like this invincible giant… was scared of flying.
Something about that weakness tugged at my heartstrings.
The plane evened out after we’d climbed high enough, and the fasten-seat belts sign clicked off.
Ben let out a breath it seemed he’d been holding all this time and he unclipped his seat belt and stood. He walked to the bar and poured himself a whisky.
“Do you want something?” he asked when he looked up and our eyes locked. I’d been staring again.
Damn it.
“Excuse me?” Was that some kind of challenge?
“To drink,” he added.
“Oh.” Right. It wasn’t a challenge. He’d offered me a drink, not asking a hostess to do it, but pouring the drinks himself. He was being nice .
Sort of.
I undid my seat belt, too, and walked to him.
“Do you have vodka tonic?”
“Sure,” he said and reached for a bottle of Grey Goose vodka. It was the expensive stuff.
Then again, nothing in Ben’s life was cheap, I was starting to realize. He looked completely comfortable in the lap of luxury, whereas I stared at everything with my jaw open.
Ben poured my drink and handed it to me.
“Thanks.”
He took a sip of his.
“Ever been to Georgia?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No… I’ve never left the state.”
He frowned. “Why not?”
I shrugged. “Where would I go?”
“Hmm,” was all he said before he left the bar and walked back to his seat. I stood at the bar, feeling a little out of place, sipping my vodka tonic. I watched the hostesses set up a gourmet meal for the two of us, complete with shrimp cocktail, delicate sandwiches, and something that looked like sculpted sugar.
Yeah. We were getting a three-course gourmet meal on a plane that would only fly two-and-a-half hours.
When the food was ready, the hostesses announced it.
I walked to the table and sat down.
“I’ll have it in my seat, thank you,” Ben said to one of them without even looking at her.
“Yes, sir,” she said and put his food on a tray, taking it to him.
He didn’t want to sit with me at a table and eat a meal.
It was hard not to take it personally.
But I wasn’t going to let him ruin this trip for me. I was in the air on a private plane that was the most luxurious thing I’d ever seen, and I was about to eat a gourmet meal at a dining table in the sky.
This was the stuff dreams were made of.
I sat down. A hostess came and poured me still water, and when my vodka tonic was finished, she brought me another one.
She’d clearly watched while Ben had poured so that she knew what I was drinking.
These people were on the ball, waiting on us hand and foot, noticing even the smallest detail.
He didn’t enjoy this because he was used to it. I could imagine if he grew up with it that it was normal. But to me, it was incredible and I didn’t think I could ever get used to something so amazing.
“Is everything to your liking?” the hostess asked me when I tucked into the sandwiches.
“It’s perfect,” I breathed. “Will you send my compliments to the chef?”
“When I see him again, I’ll tell him,” she said with a smile. “He’s not on the flight, it was all prepared just before we took off.”
“Your work is like a dance,” I said. “You do everything with so much elegance. All of you.”
She looked surprised. “It’s part of the job description, ma’am. This is how it has to be when we cater to the elite.”
“Oh, don’t call me ma’am, please,” I said. “Call me Sofia. I know what you’re supposed to do for them but I’m not the elite.”
The hostess chuckled softly.
“Hannah,” she said. “And the other hostess is Susanne.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said with a smile. “And this… is incredible.”
“I’m glad,” Hannah said. “Let me know if you need anything else. I’ll top up your drink in a minute.”
I wanted to say no but decided against it. How often could I just enjoy myself? Besides, the company was getting better by the minute. Ben could be grumpy by himself if that was what he wanted, but Hannah and Susanne were so nice, and the plane was everything dreams were made of.
With this ambiance and Hannah and Susanne catering to my every whim, I could lose myself in the treat this was and almost forget about Ben completely.
Almost.