Chapter 5
Six Months Later
“What time does the game start?” Macon inquired while we were getting into the stretched SUV that had been hired to take us to Van Nuys Airport, where the Daltons’ private jet was waiting.
“Are you really asking that question?” I shot back, taking a seat toward the center.
Macon sat across from me, his polo bright, his hair spiked in the front. The only thing he was missing was a goddamn lei.
“Yeah. Why?” he countered.
I looked at my middle brother, Cooper, who had just sat next to me, watching his thumbs quickly tap his phone. I knew who he was texting; I didn’t even have to ask. This was the first time he’d be away overnight since his daughter, Rayner, had been born. I was sure his girl, Rowan, was holding shit down at home, but I could tell by his expression that the distance was going to challenge him. That just meant I needed to get him extra fucked up tonight.
“Because every man who follows hockey knows what time the games start,” I said to Macon. “What time dinner is—now, that’s a different story. What time a concert starts—same deal. But sports? Come on, Macon. You’re better than that. It’s ingrained in our heads.”
Macon flicked the air like I was a fly. “Will you just answer the question already?”
“Seven,” I told him. “Like most NHL games on the East Coast.”
As the rest of the guys climbed in, Macon looked at his watch. “And how long is the flight to Tampa?”
“Jesus Christ,” I groaned. “What am I, your fucking travel agent?”
Macon smiled. “Such a dick.”
Dominick had taken a seat along the back, and he replied, “Four and a half hours, give or take.” He grabbed the bottle of whiskey that was on the floor in front of his brother Jenner, unscrewed the top, and took a swig. “I’m assuming your next question is going to be, How much time do we have between landing and the game? Am I right?” He chuckled while he handed the bottle to Jenner.
Macon pointed at Dominick and then at me. “No wonder the two of you are best friends.”
Dominick flipped him off. “The answer is, a couple of hours. Don’t worry, Macon, you’ll have plenty of time to be fed a bottle and lie down for your nap before the game starts.”
“I’m an expert at bottles,” Ford, the youngest Dalton, said as he moved toward the front. “I’m pretty good at burping, too, if you need help there.” He winked at Macon.
“That makes two of us now,” Cooper added.
I put my hand over my mouth, laughing my ass off, while I took the liquor from Jenner.
Magic happened when the Spades and Daltons hung out. It wasn’t just because we were practically family now—lots of families didn’t hit it off. It was because there was an understanding between us, a mutual respect, the ability to throw all the shit we wanted and it was never taken as shade.
And one of our favorite things to do together was travel as a group. This trip had been planned during one of the nights I was out, having drinks with Dominick and the Weston family—a group of five siblings we did business with who owned high-end steak and seafood restaurants all over the world. Beck Weston, one of the brothers, played in the NHL for the LA Whales. All three families had box seats at the arena in LA and went to many of his games, but it was that night we’d decided to hit the road and attend one of his away games. After checking out the schedule, we’d chosen Tampa.
But for this trip, the whole crew hadn’t been able to make it. Camden, the youngest Dalton, along with his twin sister’s boyfriend, Declan, were in Boston, litigating a case, and had to pass. And there were also the Coles—Ridge and Rhett, Rowan’s two brothers—who had been given a pity invite even though we knew they wouldn’t come.
The three of them were now equal partners in our business—a merger I wasn’t fucking happy about. The thought still pissed me off, but there was nothing I could do about it.
I wasn’t surprised the Cole brothers hadn’t made it. Their dad wasn’t doing well, and one of them was always with him, but the real reason was that things weren’t warm between us. They weren’t cold, like they had once been, but I didn’t see them vacationing with us anytime soon. Considering we had to work together and get along, at least things were headed in the right direction.
I took a long drink of the whiskey and handed it back to Jenner just as the SUV pulled out of the parking lot.
“Three weeks until Edinburgh closes,” Jenner said to me.
My blood pressure spiked. “You never take a vacation from shop talk, do you, Dalton?”
He laughed. “You’re telling me you do?”
He had a good point. Not a single motherfucker in this vehicle could separate himself from work. If we weren’t chatting about law, their specialty, we were talking about hotels. I preferred the latter.
“Do you think it’ll get pushed back?” I asked. “Or is three weeks a hard deadline?”
After several trips to Scotland, viewing all the available properties and land for sale, I’d decided on a rehab rather than a full build-out, and we were in escrow for a high-rise in the Old Town area of the city. Although my siblings had moved to the locations where they’d built hotels—Macon had gone to Hawaii; Cooper and Rowan and the baby would soon be headed to Lake Louise and Banff—that wasn’t my plan. I would spend four days a week in Edinburgh and the other three back in LA.
A lot of fucking flying, but it was the way I wanted it.
“I’m about ninety percent sure it’ll close on time,” Jenner replied. “Dealing with laws outside our country is always a bit tricky, that’s why I left the ten percent buffer in case Scotland decides to pull out some red tape.” He shifted in his seat, turning more toward me. “How long will the rehab take?”
“I’m hoping no more than six months.”
“Which means about a year,” Jenner said.
If there wasn’t gel in my hair, I would have dragged my hand through it. “I sure as fuck hope not.” I set my phone on my leg, tired of holding it. “Since I’ll be commuting back and forth, it’s going to be a nightmare to share the plane with the other six partners. Shit, we’re already struggling, and I haven’t even started my weekly hauls to the UK.”
“Before Walter and Ray signed the paperwork for the merger, I told them you guys needed a second jet. They didn’t want to hear it. They wanted it to become your problem.”
“Sounds about right,” I groaned.
My uncle and Ray—who was Rowan, Ridge, and Rhett’s dad—had wanted the two companies to become one, and when that was done, they let their heirs handle every internal fire. There were fucking hundreds that had ignited—from accounting to IT to HR. We were still dealing with kinks that were challenging our processes and testing our strength as a business. The mention of a second jet was something I’d brought up months ago, but with everything that was going on, it wasn’t a priority to the executive team.
“And it’s become a big problem.”
“I didn’t tell you to do this,” Jenner started, “but, buddy, just go buy one.”
Jenner was our corporate attorney. Aside from our accountant, there wasn’t anyone who could give me better advice.
“You know I will,” I told him.
He squeezed my shoulder, shaking it in his grip, and I glanced down at my lap, where my phone was vibrating.
I lifted it, reading the text on the screen. “Fuck.”
“Don’t even tell me it’s a work crisis,” Cooper said from beside me.
“Worse. It’s a chick.”
“The women never stop blowing you up, do they?”
“I don’t know how they get my number. I don’t give it out.” I looked at my brother. “What the fuck? Are they detectives?”
“Your digits are probably written on every restroom stall in LA.”
I glared at him. “Listen, man, going in, they know they only get me for one night. It should be no surprise to them when I leave.”
“I’m sure they’re hoping they can change you.”
I held the phone toward him so he could see the text. “Like this one?”
Unknown
Hi! Dinner last weekend was amazing. Wanna do it again? My place this time?
“Brother, I’m shocked you even bothered with dinner and didn’t just take her straight to your place.”
“My place?” I huffed. “I don’t take anyone there. The last thing I need is for my address to get out like my phone number and have women showing up at my goddamn front door.”
“You don’t think they can find where you live?”
The thought alone had me unbuttoning my shirt another hole, the collar now two buttons wide. “They can, I’m sure, but I bought it under the name of my trust, making it a little more difficult to find. Besides, I have cameras everywhere, and it would be impossible for them to get through my gate.”
“Unless they climbed it.”
“Dude”—I reached for the bottle and guzzled down several gulps—“stop.”
He laughed. “What was her name?”
“Whose name?”
He nodded toward my pocket. “The one who texted you.”
“I have no fucking idea.”
He took the bottle from me. “You don’t remember last weekend?”
“Listen, when it comes to that side of my life, things don’t just go down on the weekends. I meet up with women during the week too. And between Wednesday and Saturday, there were three brunettes. So, at the moment, I can’t differentiate one from the other, nor can I recall their names.”
“You fucking dog.”
I smirked. “Before Rowan, you weren’t any better.”
“That’s the truth.”
I took my phone back out. “One way to ensure they’ll never see me again is to become clingy.” I deleted the text and returned the phone to my pocket.
“You mean you’d be into one if she actually played hard to get?”
Would I be into one?
I thought about his question, really diving into the words.
I’d never come across a woman who captivated me to the point of wanting more. Who teased me enough to desire a second taste. Who enticed my brain to even ponder a future.
Except for one.
The flight attendant.
She hadn’t given in during the trip to Edinburgh even though I propositioned her several times before we landed. I wasn’t even sure she was going to show up to my suite. But when she did, we spent the entire day and most of the night together. When I woke early the next morning, she was gone. The only things she’d left behind were a note on the table—if I could even call it that, all she’d written was a heart and her name—and the memories I now had of her.
Memories I recalled often.
What is it about Lily that I just can’t get enough of?
That was the thought that had run through my head the whole time she was in my hotel room.
When my hands were on her body, I wanted more of her skin to touch. When my lips were on hers, I wanted a longer taste. When my dick was inside her, I was already thinking about the next time I was going to have her.
But why?
Was it that she hadn’t immediately given in to me on the plane? That she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen? That she didn’t push for what was going to happen next or ask for my number or leave hers? Or that she disappeared without even saying goodbye?
Fuck if I knew.
But around six months had passed since I’d gotten even a whiff of her scent.
I wished I could say I didn’t think about her, but I did. I wished I could say I didn’t want to do that full day and night all over again, but I did.
I wished I could say my assistant hadn’t reached out to the airline to see if she could find out Lily’s last name, but she had. She’d also had no luck getting any information on her.
So, that was all Lily would ever be—a memory.
“Would I be into a woman if she played hard to get?” I repeated since I still hadn’t answered Cooper’s question. “I don’t know. I suppose anything is possible, but the chances, at this point, aren’t likely.” I noticed we were pulling onto the tarmac, and Cooper was gripping his phone even tighter than before. It was time to shift the conversation off me. “You know, you can still back out if you’re not feeling this trip.”
His head slowly turned toward me. “Letting me off gently? Who are you?”
I laughed. “I’m still the asshole you know and love.” I nodded toward his hand. “I can’t help but see the way you’re holding your cell. I couldn’t pry that thing out of your hand for all the money in the world, which tells me something is up.”
He drew in a long breath. “Rayner is running a little fever.”
“Dude, go be with your daughter,” I told him. The SUV came to a stop next to the jet, and Dominick was the first to get out. “Have the driver take you home or order a car service, but don’t feel like you have to get on that plane.”
“It’s not the first fever she’s ever had. But each time, I worry. Rowan assures me she’s fine. The pediatrician has already come over and checked her out, and he says she’s okay too.” His head dropped. “One day, it’ll get easier. Today is just not that day.”
“You’re a good dad.”
He gazed up, his eyes full of emotion. “Besides her mother, she’s the most important part of my life. Every sniffle makes my fucking heart stop.”
There wasn’t enough alcohol in Florida to get him through this trip.
“Cooper—”
“If I get to Tampa and I’m not feeling it, I’ll fly back. But I want to at least try to go.”
I put my hand over his shoulder, giving it a hard squeeze. “I support whatever you decide.”
I slipped out of the backseat, and one by one, we crossed the red carpet and climbed the steps into the jet. I wasn’t more than a few paces inside when a scent hit my nose. It was subtle. Like cologne the morning after, where it took a trained nose to catch those spicy hints that were barely strong enough to make their way off my neck.
But the second I breathed in that familiar pi?a colada smell, I was hit with a thought.
A memory came next.
My dick instantly hardened from it; my hands immediately clutched.
And suddenly, my entire fucking head was filled with images from the past, my eyes scanning the interior of the jet to locate the source.
That was all it had taken. One small whiff.
But as I looked, I saw no one.
It had to be a splash of tropical drink mix that had somehow found its way into the air or the aroma from the fruit platter that was placed by the first couch.
A coincidence.
And a goddamn tease that was cruel as hell.
I got deeper into the aircraft, finding a seat next to Dominick, and just as I began to turn around to sit, the flight attendant rushed out of the back of the plane toward our group.
She was blonde.
With eyes so deep and blue that a crayon could be named after her.
I blinked to make sure my fucking eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.
And when my eyelids opened, nothing had changed.
She was still there.
With plump, full lips.
Fair skin.
A smile that showed the most beautiful white teeth.
My stare didn’t have to dip down her body to know. I didn’t even have to go as low as her neck.
Because not a single thing on her gorgeous face had changed in the time that had passed.
What are you doing here? Why are you in a Dalton uniform?
How long have you worked for my best friend?
Those were just a few of the questions that were filling my mind as she got closer, my nose confirming what I’d smelled earlier as her scent got stronger.
The erection in my jeans became relentless.
My fingers balled into a fist to stop them from reaching.
Because once we locked eyes, that was all I wanted to do.
“Brady …” She stopped at the back of Cooper’s seat, one row behind Dominick’s. Her eyes were wide, her lips hanging open for several seconds without anything coming out of them. “What a … surprise.”