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I nodded.
“Is it this one?” he asked.
“It is.”
“Mine too. I can see myself spending a lot of time in here.” He glanced around the cabin, giving me a view of his delicious scruff, his stare eventually returning to me. “Cole and Spade Hotels only has one plane presently that we share among all seven partners. It’s a fucking shit show. We’re constantly fighting for it, and the jet, on average, is booked out for weeks in advance. I can never get it when I need it.”
“Will this be yours or the company’s?”
He stretched his other arm out across the back of the couch. “The company’s, but mostly mine. I’ve told you I’m going back and forth to Edinburgh every week, this will be the plane I’ll be taking. That doesn’t leave much time, maybe two days a week, for my other partners to use it while I’m in LA.”
“This will be the perfect jet for international trips.” I pointed toward the rear, where a bedroom had been built, accommodating a queen-size bed. “You’re going to be exhausted from that much travel, but having it equipped with a bedroom and a full shower is certainly going to help.”
He reclined, putting his legs over the built-in ottoman, folding his arms behind his head. “You’re right. It’ll be a good fit.” He was silent as he stared at me. “It’s only missing one thing …”
I couldn’t imagine what he was referring to. This plane had more upgrades and bells and whistles than any home I’d ever lived in. It wasn’t higher end. It was the highest end.
“What would that be?”
A slow, beautiful smile came across his lips. “You.”
“Me?”
“Cole and Spade Hotels would like to hire you to be the full-time flight attendant on this jet. The position would start in a week, after you’ve completed your contract with the Daltons. I have all the paperwork with me, so you can review the requirements and what it entails. Of course, it would come with full benefits, an extremely competitive salary, time off, a housing allowance—everything you need.”
I felt my head shaking back and forth while I listened. While I processed. While I tried to decide if this was even real. “You’re seriously offering me a job?”
His hand dropped from the back of his head and landed on my shoulder. “Yes, but I want to make something clear because I don’t want the purpose of this to get misconstrued.” He played with the ends of my hair. “I need someone who has your level of experience and can handle flying back and forth to the UK every week. That’s why you’re being offered this position, not because you’re my girlfriend.”
My thoughts were still all over the place.
A job?
With the Spades and Coles?
An opportunity that was exactly what I wanted, like the ones I’d been applying for.
“I appreciate your faith in me,” I told him.
When he exhaled, the air hit my face. “You’ve told me you’re applying to other jobs. Opportunities that could take you away from LA. Do I want you to go? Fuck no. I want you here. I want you with me. And I’d be lying if I said that didn’t factor into it, but your skills and knowledge are the main reason you’re being offered this.” He paused, but his eyes intensified as they gazed at me. “I need you to know this, and I need you to believe me when I say this: If you don’t take this position, that won’t change the way I feel about you or what will happen between us. I don’t want you to feel any pressure. It’s either right for you or it isn’t. But your decision won’t affect us.”
The excitement of the opportunity was building inside me, but it wasn’t as simple as saying yes or no. There were other factors at play, like Brady having partners in the business. If Dominick knew about my situation, then I imagined Brady’s brothers did as well. Brothers who would also be my boss.
What did they think about this?
Were they concerned that they were offering employment to someone with an ex like mine?
That I was entering their company with baggage no one, including myself, would want to deal with?
I turned toward him, positioning my elbow on the cushion, holding my face with the palm of my hand. “Let’s say I take it. I’ll be sleeping with the boss. Would your other partners be all right with that?”
“Macon is dating an employee. Cooper is dating one of our partners. My cousin, Jo, is married to Jenner—I’ve told you this. It’s not an issue.”
“But what about Ridge and Rhett? What would they think?—”
“I don’t give a fuck what either of them thinks. As far as I’m concerned, they’re not allowed to have an opinion about this.” As he studied my eyes, I could feel him hitting my soul. “Are you really worried about my partners’ thoughts on us dating, or is it something else much deeper than that?”
I worried about everything.
