Page 98 of The Flirt

“Yeah, sure.” I hurried to the couch, sitting so I could still see my gorgeous lit-up tree out of the corner of my eye.

It's not your tree, Scarlett. You don't live here. Don't get overly attached to it, or to Chad.

“So, about the boat.” Beckett pulled out his phone and showed it to Chad. "These are the options."

"That's good. I like all of them." Looking at me, he explained, "My grandfathers both refuse to spend the money on a boat when, and I quote, ‘we have a perfectly good one out on the bayou.’"

"It's nowhere near perfect," Xander pointed out.

"Yeah," Zachary agreed, "and that's not just because he's a perfectionist. That thing is one gator bite away from sinking to the bottom of the bayou."

"Because manners are important to the family," Beckett said, "Chad had a genius idea. He’s going to give it to them as a present so they can't turn it down."

"That is genius," I stated. And extremely thoughtful.

"All three are good. Which one will be delivered faster?" Chad asked.

I glanced at the iPad, too, and nearly fell off the couch. Holy shit, how could a boat cost as much as tiny studio? Maybe I was imagining one more zero. I leaned in slowly without being overtly obvious. No, I was seeing correctly. I sat back on the couch, stunned.

"The third one."

"All right, then let's get that one," Chad said.

That was the most expensive one by about 30 percent, and he didn't even bat an eyelash.

"Perfect," Beckett said. "I'm sending this to Anthony right now. Now we need to work on a strategy to actually sell this to the grandparents."

"You said it's a gift," I countered.

"We need to find the perfect time," Xander said and then looked at Zachary. "Zachary, you're the expert at managing situations."

Chad was also looking at Zachary intently.

Zachary himself narrowed his eyes and then leaned back farther on the couch. "I think we shouldn't make that the main event. The focus should be something else."

"Sounds smart," Chad began. "But what should that be?"

“Not a birthday,” Zachary went on. “We don’t want to overshadow anyone.”

“Besides, no one’s got a birthday anytime soon. When will the boat be delivered?”

“Two days,” Beckett replied.

Zachary and Chad exchanged a glance.

"Are you thinking the same thing as me?" Zachary asked.

Chad grinned. "Sunday is showtime."

"What's happening Sunday?" I asked.

"All the family is back from Disney. They’ll spend an inordinate amount of time showing us pictures and bragging about who got to do what with Bella. And within all that, I'll slip in the news about the boat," he explained.

"Chad, you can't be serious. This is a monumental gift. There is no ‘slipping it in’ between vacation pictures and such," I replied.

"It actually could work," Zachary said.

Xander pointed at him. "Let’s walk through that scenario."

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