“Depends on what I find.” She shuffled through and skipped past The Princess Bride.
“Hey!” he cried. “Turn it back.”
“Nah.” She kept clicking.
“Inconceivable,” he cried.
She chuckled and then suddenly stopped clicking the remote.
He glanced up to see the movie Liar Liar starring Jim Carrey on the screen.
Skylar burst into giggles. “I think God is trying to tell you something today, Bash.”
He wrestled the remote from her hands and switched back to The Princess Bride. “We’re watching this.”
“Fine.” She settled back, and they watched for a while, quoting their favorite lines, laughing at all the funny parts.
When they reached the part where Westley explained how he had pretended to be the Dread Pirate Roberts, a few more giggles escaped from Skylar. And then when Prince Humperdinck told Buttercup that he would send his fastest ships to find her dear Westley, Skylar said, “Lying is the theme of the day, I think.”
Sebastian shook his head. “Okay, but Humperdinck was lying for horrible reasons. Because he’s a bad man, who’s trying to keep her away from her true love to have her for himself.”
“And you’re doing it for honorable reasons?”
“At least I mean well. Our friendship is new. The money will overshadow it all. I want her to know me.”
Skylar rested her head on his shoulder. “I know, but she seems sweet. Different than Serena. I’m just afraid this is going to backfire and you’re both going to be hurt.”
“I’ll be okay. I’m a big boy.”
Skylar got quiet. “Do you think Gus is okay?”
“Yes,” he answered without hesitation. “He just needs his space.”
“What if he gets into more trouble while he’s wherever he is?”
“I don’t think he will, but we’ll deal with it if he does.”
“I wish Dad wouldn’t have said those things to him and got him so upset.”
“He needed to hear them. He can’t keep acting like this if he expects to be a part of this company.”
“But what about a part of this family?”
“He’ll always be part of the family. He knows we love him.”
“Does he?”
“Deep down, I know he does. He’s just struggling, I think. He’s trying to figure out who he is within the family and within the company. He’ll get there. And we’ll be here for him when he comes back.”
“What if he doesn’t come back before nasty Milton presses charges? That’s going to happen any day. Then there’ll be a warrant out for his arrest. That won’t be good. Especially if he left the state, right?”
“We don’t know he left the state.”
“We don’t know anything right now.”
He could tell she was getting all worked up, so he grabbed his phone and wrote a text to Gus from the both of them.
Sky and I want you to know that we love you and we’re here for you. Please let us know you’re all right.
He showed it to her, and she nodded in agreement, so he hit “send.”
“I hope he replies,” she said.
“I know. Me too.”
The chimes of the doorbell signaled the arrival of their dinner guests. Skylar practically jumped up from the sofa and walked quickly to the foyer. Sebastian followed at a slower pace and found Mom and Dad welcoming the Middlebury family—Wayne, Glenda, and their son, Francis, who was lifting Skylar off the ground in a hug.
Wayne was a distinguished looking gentleman. With his white hair and beard and dark, salt-and-pepper mustache, he resembled Sean Connery in The Hunt for Red October.
“Hello, Sebastian.” Glenda greeted him with a hug. Her neatly teased silver hair tickled his cheek as she squeezed him tightly. They were a very affectionate family.
“Hi, Mrs. Middlebury,” Sebastian replied.
She shushed him. “I told you, you’re too old to call me that anymore. Glenda is fine.”
“I know you said that, but it’s a hard habit to break.”
Glenda smiled. “I know. Sometimes I can’t believe you boys are all grown up. The time went by too fast.”
“Hey, Bash!” Franky left Skylar’s side and moved toward him with arms open.
“Good to see you, man.” They hugged, and Sebastian patted his friend on the back.
The two had known each other since their private school days, and Franky was Sebastian’s dearest friend. It had been a while since they’d seen each other, and Franky was just home from a whirlwind tour of Europe with his most recent girlfriend.
“How was the trip?” Sebastian asked.
A shadow crossed over Franky’s face before he replied. “It was amazing. We stayed a month in France and then moved on to Italy.”
“I love Italy,” Skylar interjected. “Did you visit Positano? That’s my absolute favorite place to stay.”
“We didn’t make it that far. See, my girlfriend loved Italy too. She also loved Italian men.” He shook his head, looking rather annoyed. “One Italian man, actually. So much that she stayed there with him in Florence.”
“You’re kidding.” Sebastian looked at Skylar, who wore more of a pleased expression on her face than a look of sympathy for their friend.
“I wish I was. She didn’t care much about the fact that I had money. Apparently, I wasn’t romantic enough for her.” He shook his head. “Of course Italian guys seem romantic with that language of theirs. They could say they had to go to the bathroom and sound sexy.”
Sebastian and Skylar laughed.
“I’m sorry, man. At least she wasn’t out to get your money. That’s always been my problem.”
After a nice dinner filled with plenty of catching up and even more laughter, Dad and Wayne retired to the study. Sebastian was sure they were discussing Gus’s legal problems, because Wayne was a well-known attorney—the best in the business. This wasn’t the first time he’d helped get Gus out of a scrape, but it had been a long time since he’d needed to. Sebastian felt confident that Wayne would be able to help.
Mom and Glenda moved into the formal living room to chat, leaving the three kids alone.
While the housekeeper took care of the dinnertime dishes, the three of them headed out to sit on the pool deck with glasses of iced tea.
“So, how the heck are you guys?” Franky looked at Skylar as he pushed his honey blond hair back from his forehead. “How’s work, Miss Vice President?”
Skylar reacted with the biggest smile Sebastian had seen on her face since Gus left.
“Great.” She beamed. “I love it.”
“Vice President makes you seem so …” Franky looked deep in thought.
“Important?” Sky offered.
He shook his head.
“Official? Prestigious? Awesome?” She tilted her head, waiting for him to reply.
“Grown up.”
Sebastian noticed her tilt her head shyly. Was she blushing?
“Sebastian met someone,” Skylar blurted, clearly deflecting Franky’s compliment—if that’s what he intended it to be.
Franky’s eyes widened and shot to Sebastian’s. “No way! Finally. Who is she?”
“A girl at work,” Skylar answered for him.
“Dating the employees. How taboo.”
“Not dating.” Sebastian spoke for himself for once. “Just met.”
“She doesn’t even know who he really is,” Skylar blurted.
“Sky!” Sebastian narrowed his eyes at her.
“It’s Franky. If anyone will understand, it’s him.”
“Understand what?” Franky looked intrigued.
Sebastian filled him in on the situation, and Franky started laughing and could not stop.
“Hey, come on, cut me some slack,” Sebastian said. “You know my track record with relationships.”
“Oh, man, I’m sorry.” Franky attempted to breathe. “I’ve never known you to get into a situation like this.”
&
nbsp; “I know. It was impulsive and sudden and—”
“Stupid,” Skylar inserted.
Sebastian narrowed his eyes at her again.
“So, what’s she like?”
He was sure he got a far off, dreamy look in his eyes when he described her and her personality and the conversations they’d had so far. “She’s spectacular,” he concluded.
“Spectacular? Wow!” Franky nodded and smiled. “You’re in love already, my friend.”
He waved Franky off.
“I haven’t seen you like this in years. Not since your crush on Adelia.”
“Okay, Adelia and I were—and still are—friends.”
Skylar stared at Sebastian with her mouth hanging open. “You had a crush on Adelia?”
“No!” Sebastian laughed, partly to hide the fact that he had. “I was twenty-two, and she was seventeen. Way too young. Plus, I’d never date my sister’s friends. That just seems wrong.”
Something about that made Skylar glance down uncomfortably at the deck.
“Do you talk to Adelia much?” Franky asked Sky.
She looked up at him. “She actually called and left a message in the middle of the night. I don’t know why she can’t remember that California and Michigan are in different time zones.” Sky pulled out her phone then. “I didn’t listen to her message yet. Does that make me a bad friend?”
Franky grinned at her. “Yes.”
She scrunched her nose up at him, but smiled when he bumped her knee with his. When she opened her voicemail to listen to Adelia’s message, the smile on her face quickly faded away as she listened.
“He’s there,” she told them as she hung up.
“Who’s there?” Franky asked.
It dawned on Sebastian who she meant. “Gus is in California? With Adelia?”
Skylar nodded, tears filling her eyes. “I have to tell Mom and Dad.” She stood and started walking toward the house.
“Sky!” Sebastian called after her.
She looked back over her shoulder.
“I told you he’d be okay.”
Her mouth turned up in a little smile, and she brushed away a few tears as she walked inside.
He only hoped that was true.
SIXTEEN
Not seeing Kurtis for several days felt strange. On Monday, he had texted to say he wouldn’t be in to work until Friday, that he had some out of town meetings, and he’d apologized for leaving her without an assistant to help cross things off her notepad. And with that cute remark, he was totally forgiven.
She had crossed several items off of her list and was set to cross another off today—potential bands for the event. One was an 80s band, which she thought would be perfect during the day. The other band had a jazz vibe to go along with the Roaring Twenties theme for the gala. How fun it would be to dress up in 1920s outfits and dance. Maybe have someone there to teach some of the old dances too.
She’d never had such a strong desire to succeed in a job before. She had always been good at what she did, but something about this event made her want to prove to the Schultz family, and also to herself, that she could pull off an event this big on such a short timeline.
At one o’clock, she headed out for her first meeting. She walked out of the building and found Kurtis climbing out of a black sedan, much like the one she’d ridden in last week with Sebastian. He was in chinos again with a pale pink button-down this time, and she couldn’t help but think that they matched today, since she was wearing a pink polka dot sundress on this sticky summer day.
He glanced up and made eye contact with her, and a smile spread across his face. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
He looked at her bag and then back to her face. “Where are you off to?”
“Meeting with some bands. Possible entertainment.”
He closed the door and patted on the roof, and the car drove away. “Want some company?”
She watched the vehicle move down the street. “Don’t you have work to do after being away all week?” She hadn’t meant to put so much emphasis on all week, but it just came out that way.
He stepped closer, wearing an amused expression on his face. “You missed me.”
“Pfft.”
“You did.” A smile spread across his face.
“You think a lot of yourself, don’t you?” she teased.
His mouth quirked. “I think a lot of you.”
His sudden boldness surprised her, and she pressed her lips together briefly, but nothing could contain her smile. “I guess you can tag along.” She played coy with him. “I could use an extra pair of ears.”
He tugged on his right ear. “They’re all yours.”
Every time she was with Kurtis, she became more and more comfortable with him, and she loved every minute of this new flirtatiousness between them.
They walked to her car, and she drove them across town to meet with the first band. Marjorie had been helping with a few of the tasks in her notepad this week and gave her the list of possible bands in the area. She hoped this would be the one, because it was the only 80s band still available the weekend of the regatta.
When they arrived at the location, Kurtis was once again at her door, opening it for her, and holding open every other door in their path. As they walked along a hallway, the back of his hand brushed against hers, and goosebumps exploded across her skin. The instant reaction surprised her. Just like last week when he’d touched her mouth to clean off the chocolate. His nearness was distracting, and she tried to push aside her feelings so they could do the job they came there to do.
They walked down a long hallway until they reached an open room, where equipment was set up and some guys who looked a lot like an 80s hair band were hanging out. The guy behind the drums saw her enter the room and sucked air in through his lips, making a whistling sound.
“I’m Genevieve Willis. I spoke with one of you on the phone,” she said to a man holding a guitar.
“Yeah, I’m Gunner, and these are the guys.”
“Hey,” one said.
“Hey,” the drummer waved with his drumstick.
“Sup?” the other said.
Kurtis stepped up beside her, as if he was protecting her from them. “Let’s hear what you’ve got.”
“Cool,” Gunner said.
Genevieve and Kurtis took a seat in some nearby chairs and listened while Gunner began to pick at a slow tune on his guitar and the drummer settled into a steady rhythm. It almost sounded like an 80s rock ballad, and she was about to tell Kurtis it sounded pretty good, when the drummer suddenly kicked up the rhythm, the guy on bass guitar started playing loudly, the keyboardist banged out a rapid beat, and Gunner went into a screeching loud song on his guitar while he sang—or rather yelled—equally loudly into the microphone.
Her hand flew to her mouth, and she was sure her eyes were popping out of her head. She almost covered her ears out of fear that her eardrums might burst. She glanced over at Kurtis, whose lips were pressed together, obviously trying not to laugh.
She widened her eyes at him and shrugged her shoulders.
He stood and walked closer to the guys, holding a hand up. “Do you have any more mainstream 80s songs in your repertoire? You are an 80s band, right?”
Gunner nodded, his long hair falling forward over his shoulders. “80s heavy metal.”
Kurtis looked over his shoulder at Genevieve. She couldn’t believe her mistake. Marjorie hadn’t specified what type of 80s band they were, and Gunner hadn’t said so when they spoke on the phone.
“Okay, thanks, guys,” Kurtis told them. “We’ll let you know.”
He took Genevieve’s arm and quickly rushed her out of the room as the band began to play again.
She could not contain her laughter. “Oh my gosh. I’m sorry. I thought they were an 80s pop band.”
He laughed as they walked speedily to the exit with the screeching and screaming—er, singing—following them down the hallway. “I’d say they’re a little
more Iron Maiden than Huey Lewis.”
A part of her felt embarrassed for this mistake, and if it had been anyone but Kurtis, she would have been seriously humiliated, but he had a way of making things seem not as bad as she’d built them up to be in her head.
“What’s the other band we’re meeting?”
She wrinkled her nose, wondering if maybe the next would be as bad as this one. “Roaring Twenties.”
“Hopefully not actually roaring,” he joked.
She playfully smacked his arm. “I didn’t know, okay.”
“I’m messing with you. Anyone could’ve made that mistake.”
“That makes me feel better. Really. Thank you.”
He smiled sweetly at her. “No problem.”
“Okay, well, on to the next meeting then.”
She drove them not too far away to another location. This time it was in an individual’s home in a dedicated music studio in their basement. The room was open and spacious and clean, unlike the warehouse they had met the heavy metal band in.
The members of the band were all polite, and Genevieve was instantly comfortable with them. And when they started to play, she watched Kurtis, who was bobbing his head to the jazzy rhythm and tapping a foot on the floor, and they both nodded simultaneously.
They were perfect.
“We’ve heard enough.” Genevieve stood.
The lead singer stopped mid-chorus, and her expression fell. “We’ve got a couple others if that’s not what you’re looking for.”
“You’re hired!”
After their outing, Genevieve drove them back to the Schultz Building. As they walked across the parking lot, Kurtis suddenly wound his fingers through hers. But before she had time to enjoy the feeling or register what was happening, he tugged her along the sidewalk away from the front entrance of the building.
“Where are we going?”
“Side entrance.”
“What for?”
“Uh …” He glanced back over his shoulder and walked them a little faster.
She looked behind them and saw a couple men walking away from the building. One looked a lot like the founder of the company, Ephraim Schultz, whose picture she’d seen displayed in the lobby, but she was squinting into the sun and couldn’t be sure.
Not The Billionaire Page 10
