Chapter Seven
Lula
“I don’t understand why you keep apologizing,” Cillian said, frowning up at me from behind his desk.
“I know I was just on vacation—”
“That you’re entitled to and that you’ve hardly taken in years. You’ve got half a year of vacation time built up.”
“But I was never supposed to take so much of it all at once.”
“Lu, you’re not even taking a vacation. You’re working remotely. Like I have told you, have been entitled to do since I first hired you. We really don’t need to be discussing this at all.”
“It’s adding inconvenience to you.”
“Not really. You’re inconveniencing Rian.”
“Why Rian?”
“He pissed me off this week. So he gets to pick up any slack there might be.”
“Perks of being the big brother and the boss. I don’t have an exact date for—”
“Lula. Stop. The work will get done. I’m not worried about from where.
Just do me a favor and use this.” He opened a desk drawer and dug around until he produced two small, chunky rectangles.
“Mobile hotspots. Don’t want you connecting to sketchy-ass WiFi somewhere.
Stick with these. Each one is one hundred twenty hours of browsing for the month.
Should be more than enough. But if you run out, just let me know. I will add more.”
“Oh, this is great. Thanks.”
“The password is on the bottom. Now stop apologizing and start packing.”
“I really appreciate this.”
“Stop. Stop. Everyone needs to get away sometimes.”
“Says the man who has literally never taken a vacation ever.”
“This is one of those ‘do as I say, not as I do’ kind of things. I don’t want you burning out.
If you need to work on a sandy beach somewhere, so be it.
I want you fresh and focused. By whatever means necessary.
” He shuffled some papers. “A weekly massage should have been a part of your benefits package from the beginning. Maybe I’ll get on that while you’re away. ”
That sounded amazing.
“That’s not necessary. Do you want me to check in when—”
“When have I ever needed you to check in? Work when it fits around your schedule. I trust you.”
He did, too.
Implicitly.
I really landed the best boss in the world.
“Now get out of my office and go have some fun.”
“Okay. Okay. I’m going.” I paused at the door. “Hey, Cillian?”
“Yeah?”
“Promise me something.”
“Babe, don’t make it sound like you’re not coming back.”
“No, I am. I swear. But I want you to make a small promise to me.”
“Alright. What is it?”
“I want you to take off Saturday and do something fun.”
“Saturdays are—”
“Busy. I know. But you have four brothers and a highly trained staff. You can trust them. And you need time off even more than I do. So promise me.”
“Fine,” he said, leaning back in his chair and sighing. “I will take the day off.”
“And do something fun.”
“Lu, I’m not sure I even know what fun is anymore.”
“Exactly,” I said, nodding.
“I guess… I will figure it out.”
“Good. I expect a full report when I get back.”
“Really making it so I can’t fuck around on this, huh?”
“That’s the point,” I agreed, giving him a wave.
“Be safe, Lu.”
“Have fun, Cill.”
It felt like a thousand-pound weight lifted from my shoulders as I grabbed my work laptop and made my way out of the building.
I should have known Cillian would be that chill about it. It was my own work ethic that made me insecure about asking to change how I operated for a while. Even though, like he said, we both knew I would get my work done.
And I was going to have nothing but time in the car to work on the books.
I still couldn’t quite believe what I was about to do.
Get in a car with Raff and drive all the way across the damn country with him.
Though, I had to admit, it sounded a lot less stressful to let the man who had done the drive a million times before do the driving while I just came along for the ride.
I hadn’t done a lot of long-distance driving in the past. My last drive to Florida had been pretty miserable for me. Trying to read old road signs and listen to my GPS, freaking out when I took the wrong turn, panicking over the price of hotel rooms. It was just not fun for me.
A road trip with Raff?
I would never admit it out loud, but it sounded fun.
I made my way back to the motel, double and triple checking my luggage, then tucking my work laptop and hotspots in a weekender bag for safekeeping.
I fretted about leaving anything behind until I heard something on the outside of my door.
Yanking it open, I found Jack standing there with a tape dispenser in his hand.
“What are you doing?”
“Safeguarding your room while you’re away.” He waved to my door. Where the lunatic posted a biohazard sign to my door.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Works like a charm. I’ll keep an eye out, though, too.”
“Oh, wait, I need to pay you.”
“When you get back.”
“That’s… not how it works.”
Jack looked side to side down the hall. “Not like rooms here are in high-demand. You said you don’t know how long you’ll be gone. So just pay up when you get back.”
“I appreciate that.”
“And I was given a cover to put over your car while you’re gone.”
Raff had a knack for coming up with the simplest solutions that I never could have. I’d been imagining I might need to find a place to rent a spot or drive it into a temporary storage unit or something. Then he’d come back with the car cover idea. Simple. Genius.
“Thanks, Jack. I appreciate it.”
“Think this is the part where I’m supposed to take your luggage for you.” He reached for two of them and started away.
When we made our way out the back, Raff was already waiting for us a few feet from the door with the trunk popped and the engine running.
“No comments about how much I’m bringing?” I asked. I was used to that. I’d always been an over-packer.
“If this is what you need to keep you looking like you look, I got nothing to complain about,” he told me as he started finagling my luggage around his modest duffle and toiletry bags.
I said my goodbyes to Jack as Raff slammed the trunk.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he followed me to my door.
“Closing your door for you.” A look must have crossed my face because his smile went a little wicked. “What? Just ‘cause I’m a biker, I can’t be a gentleman?”
I lowered down, and Raff waited for me to pull in my legs before carefully closing the door and rushing around the hood.
The interior wasn’t what I was expecting.
It was impeccably neat. There wasn’t even a speck of dust or stray hair anywhere. Hell, the dashboard even looked shiny, like it’d recently gotten some kind of treatment. It smelled good too. Like fresh laundry. But I couldn’t see any kind of air freshener anywhere.
And my seat? My seat was super squishy.
“Did you get me a gel seat cushion?” I asked as he climbed in.
“I did. That ass can’t be sitting on a deflated seat cushion.”
A surprised laugh escaped me at that.
“Well, I’m sure my ass will be thanking you six hours into this drive.”
“I mean, if it’s not fully satisfied and needs a little massage later, I will lend my hands to the task.”
He leaned between the two seats, reaching for something, then coming back with a giant iced coffee.
“You went out of town to get me a coffee before coming to pick me up?”
“I did. And this.”
He reached back again to produce a small bag from the same coffee shop.
“Cake pops?” I asked, my smile spreading.
They were one of my vices.
I had a hard time turning them down when I came across them. They were almost singlehandedly to blame for why I had to do an extra hour of exercise per week.
“Got strawberry, chocolate, and salted caramel.”
“Salted caramel?” I asked, grabbing it and pulling it out. “Oh, my God. This is heaven,” I told him. “Though, I’m not entirely sure it was actually that good or just tastes that good because I haven’t had one in so long.”
I held the stick out to him, and he looked over, his gaze holding mine as he took a bite of the pop.
There was absolutely no reason for my stomach to twist the way it did. Or how somewhere decidedly lower reacted when his tongue flicked out to catch a bit of frosting from the corner of his lips.
“It’s actually that good.”
“What?” I asked.
That got a slow, devilish smile to spread across his face. “The cake pop.”
“Oh. Right. Yeah. Definitely would be my first choice.”
What the hell was that about?
I mean, yes, Raff was a really good-looking guy. Not my type, but gorgeous in an undeniable way. Also, it had been a really, really long time since I’d been with a man.
I hate to admit it, but there’d been a time when there’d been a sort of… flirtation between myself and Drake. I’d spent more time than I liked to admit fantasizing about us getting together, of building this giant empire, of making an unshakable foundation for us to build a future upon.
Though, looking back, I oddly never had actual sexual feelings toward him. It was all… potential and aesthetics. I wasn’t in bed thinking about his hands and lips all over me.
I’d imagined children. But never making them.
I didn’t remember a single moment where my belly tightened or… other parts of me reacted.
Yet, Raff—who I could see no future with—flicked his tongue at the corner of his mouth, and I was needing to press my thighs together to ease the growing ache.
What was that about?
“I expect you to assume all passenger princess duties,” he told me as he backed out of his spot.
“What do those entail?”
“You control the radio. And point out any cows.”
“Cows?” I asked with a huff of laughter.
“Cows. Pigs. Squirrels. Basically, you are the animal spotter and announcer.”
Damn him and his weird but endearing qualities. “I can point out cows.”
“Cool birds too.”
“Sure. If I see anything furry or feathered, I will point it out. What are you doing?” I asked when he paused at the edge of the lot.
“Can’t go until you buckle up. Gotta protect all of that.” He waved a hand down at me.
I buckled up, then dug for my sunglasses as he turned into town, hoping we wouldn’t be spotted by anyone who would come to conclusions I didn’t want them to.
But we made it through town without seeing anyone of significance, and I eased into my (very comfortable) seat.
“Squirrel,” I called as I reached for the dial to change the station.
Raff glanced over at the squirrel as it dangled from someone’s bird feeder by its bushy tail, a smile tugging at his lips as he started to sing along to the song.
I reached for my coffee and took a sip.
Maybe this road trip was going to be even better than I expected.