Chapter 17
Cole
Things had gotten so intense with Jessica on the plane, and then again when we returned to the plane after lunch, that I knew I needed to put a little distance between us. So, since it was Friday, I decided to take the day off with Tanner and join him on the golf course, even though I hated the game more than anything.
We had just rounded the third hole when he opened his mouth again and abruptly shut it. I’d seen him start to talk and then stop a few times since he picked me up, and I had wondered what could be pressing on him so hard that he looked like he’d been trying to shit a ten-pound diamond. “If you have something to ask me, just say it.”
“I just want to know what is going on with you and Jessica Hyde. She went along with you on the Florida trip yesterday, right?”
I wasn’t trying to hide anything from the others by taking her, and I had guessed that they all knew. “Yes, I thought it would be good to take along our photographer. She got some nice shots from the plane and inside my private jet.”
He gave me a sly smile. “You’re going to put the private jet on the website? I don’t think our customers care how you get around in your spare time.”
I had a feeling he didn’t care as much about my issues with Jessica as he cared about something else, but I knew after he beat around the bush, he’d let it spill. “She’s not my girlfriend. We’re just friends, and there’s no dating. She doesn’t date.” I gave another shrug, and he laughed.
He chuckled. “Yeah, you’re trying awful hard to make that excuse sell, but let me assure you, I’m not buying it.” He stuck his tongue out and pinched it between his lips as he lined up his shot. He had a better swing than me and often credited it to his tongue being set just right.
He swung, and the ball sailed across the lawn and landed on the far side of the hole. “Dammit.” He kicked his tee and spun around toward me. “Are you attracted to her?”
“Aren’t you?” I knew that we had the same taste in women, and there was no way he couldn’t find someone as attractive as Jessica desirable. Was that his problem? Was he jealous?
“Yes, I think she’s smoking hot, man, but I have more sense than to get involved with someone from work.” He grabbed the tee and held it.
I gave him a warning glare. “Look, I’m attracted to her, yes, and I’d be lying if I said we weren’t having a little fun, but the details aren’t your business, and we are remaining only friends.”
Disappointment shadowed his brow as he bent over and picked up the tee. “So, you did take an entire day away from work to entertain your friend? Don’t you think you should be more concerned about Lynn Holden? I mean, profits are amazing, but if he wants, he could do a lot of damage to our wallets.” There was the real problem he’d been shitting bricks about. Lynn Holden had his panties in a twist, and that meant he’d given Tanner an atomic wedgie.
“I’m not concerned about him, and I don’t think that he should be concerned about me,” I said. “He holds all of the best contracts. The military alone is in his back pocket. So how am I going to hurt him any time in the near future? Besides, someone had to invent newer and better. That’s us, my friend; that’s what you should be concerned about. Renewable energy is the wave of the future, and not only that, but it’s a hell of a lot better for the environment. I already told him, I’m not changing my design now, not when I have found the perfect fuel.”
“Yeah, well, taking a day trip on jet fuel might not have been the best way to make that argument to our investors.”
“Noted.” I snatched the tee from his hand. I hated golf, and anything I could do to make the day go faster would help. I had better ways of spending my time, and with the conversation, my mood was already ruined.
“Good, so then you realize that seeing her is a mistake, and you’ll make sure not to let things get too serious.”
“I didn’t say that.” I walked over, straightened the tee, and took a swing. I did worse than he had with my shot, and it wasn’t going to get any better. “Things are going to be what they will be. I’m not letting anything or anyone dictate how I live my life. Not even you.”
As we made our way over to the ball, he still looked like he was chewing a bag of marbles. “I just don’t think it will be good for the company if you two were to get together and then break up. What then? We’re stuck with a social media employee that we don’t really need and drama that’s not likely to look good with our clients.”
I gave him a teasing nudge. “Are you really concerned with that or just upset that you didn’t have a chance to fuck her?”
He didn’t look as amused by that as I’d expected him to be. “Come on, you know I’m more concerned about this deal with Lynn,” he said. “He’s a good friend of my mother’s, and none of her friends make idle threats. If they say you’ll be sorry, it’s carved in stone. Not only that, but some of the other employees are concerned too. They haven’t ever seen you so distracted.”
“Distracted?” I raised my voice. “If anything has me distracted, maybe it’s all of the fucking appreciation parties I’ve been throwing.” I couldn’t believe that there was talk about me and Jessica, and I knew that I was going to have to get that straight. So what if I wanted to date her? What if I married her? It wasn’t their concern. But that wasn’t even the case. She wanted to remain single, and I would gladly grant her wishes. All I wanted was to be a part of her life in some small way. If that meant being lovers or friends with benefits, so be it.
He held up his hand in defense of my sharp tone. “Don’t be upset with me. I’m just telling you what the others are saying and hoping that you can make a deal that doesn’t lose more investors or get my mother pissed off at me.”
His mommy was always upset with something. It might as well be him. He had worried his entire life about what she thought and, more than that, what her friends thought too. He’d been the one to not only put up a ton of his own money, but he’d gotten his mother’s friends involved too. I had been worried because of the conflicts of interest that it could create, but I was damned sure that they were the first ones to be paid back. “I’m not upset. I just don’t think my personal life is any matter, and you were the one telling me that I needed to find a nice girl. I tried, I gave her a job, no biggie.”
“Yes, I do think it’s time for you to find someone, or several someones for all I care, but I just didn’t want her to be an employee.”
“Like I said. It’s nothing.” I took my shot and then another and finally sank the damned ball. After, I thought the conversation had turned enough to tell him the news. “I did promise to take Jessica and her boy on a flight, but only because she said that he hadn’t been on a plane. That was why I wanted to take her up too. She’s had a hard time with her husband’s death. It’s time she begins to live.”
“And you want to help her live, right?” His laughter broke the tension. “You might be convinced, but I think you like her more than you want to let on. You’re playing a dangerous game, my friend. You’re shitting where you eat, and you’re going to regret it.”
“I didn’t realize golf was so dangerous.” I cut him a sideward look, but he stared at me and looked like he didn’t know what to say.
As we continued around the course, we made small talk, then after he beat me, we went to eat a bite. During dinner, my phone went off. I glanced down to see that it was Jessica. Tanner glanced over and saw her face on my phone.
“You have her picture on your phone?”
“She snapped a picture the other day before we took off from Florida. She wanted to give me her number, so I let her program it in.”
“You’re letting her program your phone, and you’re texting. Are you sure it’s not serious?”
I glanced down again and read the message out loud. “Cam is excited about the trip and hopes you will join us, thank you again for the invitation.” Before I could finish reading, another message came through. “Had a great time.”
Tann
er shook his head. “You’re so in trouble, man. That doesn’t sound like a woman who wants to be friends only. She’s going to fall in love with you and expect more than you’re going to want to give. Take it from me. I’ve always got women thinking I want more than I do. It’s because I’m too nice. You’re tougher than me, always have been, so maybe you have a chance of shaking her off.”
“You need to stop worrying about it and making assumptions. Besides, have you even considered that I might not want to shake this one off? She’s a good person, bright, talented. She isn’t shallow.” He had no idea what I’d give to see myself with someone like her.
“You’re worth billions. I’m not saying that she’s only interested in your money, but I’m sure that’s an incentive.”
“I think you’re wrong. I know people, I’ve been on all sides of life, and I can tell you, she’s not some gold digger.” A gold digger I could handle. I’d dealt with several of those in my days of wealth, but what concerned me more was someone who actually loved me enough to know the ugly parts of me and still like me. What the hell would I do with someone like her if she did want to be serious? I’d always assumed when I met that person, it would come naturally. I’d already managed to tell Jessica more about myself than I’d told anyone else, and for that and the way she listened, I knew she was special.
Chapter 18
Jessica
I rolled over in bed, and the sun hit my face, causing me to wince. Another Saturday with no plans was the story of my life.
Before my feet could hit the floor, Max ran around the corner, and Cam came in behind him. “Stop, Max!” Max stopped all right, after tracking in enough dirt to leave a trail of filth in his wake. Cam put his hands on his head and let out a sound of distress.
“What did he get into?” I asked.
“The ground is all wet, Mama, sorry. He got out in it before I could stop him.”
“Take him to the bathroom, close the door, and clean his paws. I’ll clean the carpet.” I looked down to the beige rug and cringed. He had really left some ground-in dirt.
As Cam took him out of the room and down the hall, I followed him out and made sure he had Max under control. When I had the two shut in the bathroom, I went to clean the rug and hoped that Cam wasn’t making an even bigger mess trying to get those four massive paws clean.
I found the carpet cleaner under the kitchen counter and sprayed the messy tracks. Thankfully, my room was the only carpeted one he’d managed to mess up, but that didn’t mean my day was getting any easier. With the rest of the house having hardwood floors, I would have to sweep and mop too.
It took me a good hour to get all of the mess cleaned up, and when I finally had it done and had helped Cam get Max dry, I was not only exhausted, but I didn’t have much hope for the rest of the day.
As I cooked breakfast, which would turn into brunch by the time I got it finished, Cam climbed up to the counter and watched. “Sorry again, Mama.”
“It’s okay. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I’ll just have to start letting him out myself on Saturdays.” I had not warned him about rainy nights, and he hadn’t thought to check and see if the backyard was a swamp before letting the mutt free.
He got quiet and nodded. “But I like taking Max out of Saturdays.”
“Well then, you’ll have to make sure and check for mud because I’m not into spring cleaning every weekend.” The house was hard enough to manage as it was. Max was a part of the family, and I loved him, but he was just a big old baby and more trouble than he was worth at times. I’d bought him as a puppy when Cam was only two, and the idea was to have a good watch dog with the neighborhood’s crime getting worse and worse. It was hard not having a man around for certain things at times, and even though I was a strong woman, I missed my husband. I hadn’t chosen to be independent. It had chosen me.
I wasn’t sure why it was, but every time I’d thought about my husband lately, Cole Saunders came to mind. As I wondered what kind of weekend a billionaire had, Cam climbed down from his stool, and I served our eggs and sausage.
“I had sausage at school yesterday. The teacher said it was made from turkey. It was gray and looked like a big fat worm.”
“That’s disgusting. Did you taste it?”
“No way. Paisley tried it. She said her mom eats turkey stuff all the time and that it’s healthier for us.”
I had heard him mention Paisley a few times. “Is she a good friend?” I was glad that my son was taking an interest in making friends. He’d had a hard time starting school this year, but mostly because he’d not expected to have a new teacher, even though I’d prepared him for it.
He made a face and looked up at me. “No, she’s not a friend. She’s a girl, and she’s mean.”
It broke my heart to hear that anyone could be mean to him, but then I remembered how his father used to be mean to me.
“Maybe if she’s mean, it’s because she likes you. She’s probably a very nice little girl, but she doesn’t know how to be friends with a boy.”
“No, she’s not mean to the other boys, only me.”
About that time, the front doorbell rang, and Cam jumped up and ran across the room to answer it. He peeked out the window like I’d taught him. “It’s Aunt Leslie.” He opened the door to let her in, and Max ran for the door.
“No, Max!” I screamed as I ran after him.
“What’s all that about?” asked Leslie as she dropped her handbag.
I let out a long sigh of relief as Cam shut the door just in time. “It’s Max. He escaped this morning before Cam could stop him from going out, and he found every mud puddle in the back yard to bring back in the house with him. I would have locked him up in the laundry with a newspaper, but instead, I got to clean my floors at eight a.m. on a Saturday.” I gave a little laugh to show my son that I was over it, and he giggled too as Max licked his face.
I went back over to the table, and Leslie joined me. “What are you two doing besides eating a delicious breakfast?”
I pointed to the stove where more waited. “Knock yourself out.” Cam came back to the table after washing his hands.
“Cam was just telling me how this little girl at school is mean to him. I told him that maybe she likes him.”
“I think your mom might be right. Usually, that’s what kids your age do when they like someone and can’t admit it. They act mean, but they really like you.”
Cam scrunched up his nose like he smelled something bad or perhaps sucked a lemon. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Leslie got up and went to fix her plate. “Sure, it does. Haven’t you ever liked anyone enough to kiss them?” She gave me a wink as she walked back to the table.
Cam made a gagging sound and then looked up at us both. “Do you mean that Paisley wants to kiss me?”
Leslie nodded as we exchanged a look. “For sure. That’s what all little girls do, trust us. We know. We were little girls once.”
“That’s gross,” he said. “I don’t even like her. She’s mean and hateful.”
Leslie kept on, but she could get away with far more than me when it came to teasing Camden. “And is she ugly too?”
“No, she’s not ugly, but she’s ugly inside.” He bit into his sausage and then chopped up his eggs.
“Your father was mean to me when I first met him. He said it was because he liked me later, but he would have never admitted it when he was a kid.
“Really? You knew my dad all the way back when you was kids?”
“Yes, we knew each other a long time. We were childhood sweethearts.”
Cam rolled his eyes, and his little lip curled in disgust. “I’m not being anyone’s sweetheart.”
“You will one day.”
“I don’t want to marry Paisley Parker.”
Leslie and I exchanged a glance and tried not to laugh at the girl’s name. “Isn’t that the name of Prince’s estate?”
“Close enough.” I giggled. “But just because some
one is a childhood sweetheart doesn’t mean you have to marry them. That’s just what your father and I did because we still loved each other after all of those years, and well, even though he was mean to me, I still loved him.”
“Were you in school with him?” he asked, and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t told him much about us already.
“I was. He was a grade older and was always mean to me on the playground. We had this game we all used to play called Red Rover.”
Cam’s eyes lit with excitement. “We play that too! It’s my favorite.”
“Well, the very first day I ever met him, he ran right into me while playing that game. He didn’t make it through, and some of the other boys laughed at him. Well, then after that, he thought he had to prove he could, so he would always come right at me. I was determined that he was doing it for revenge, but later I found out that he did it because he wanted to be near me. Or so he said.”
Cam rolled his eyes. “I’m not playing Red Rover with Paisley, and I’m not going to kiss her.”
As Leslie and I laughed, my phone rang. I got up from the table and went to get it from the counter where I’d left it. “It’s my boss.”
“Calling on a Saturday?”
“Is that Mr. Saunders?” asked Cam, who sat up on his knees.
“I’ll need you to be quiet please.” I stepped around the other side of the counter and tried not to pay attention to them as I answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Jessica?” The sound of his voice calling my name sent a tingle to all the right places. “Hey, this is Cole. I was just wondering if you’d be interested in going out to dinner with me?”
I was a bit taken aback by his offer. “You mean, like on a date?”
“I know what you’re going to say, and while I understand that you don’t date, I just thought this could be one of those times where two friends get together for a nice dinner and some fun after.” He wanted another hookup.
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