Page 27 of Elevating Eve

“Oh, fuck off.” Jonathan did his best to look stern. “Don’t make me tell Remy to punish you again. Your ass can’t be feeling super great this morning.”

Zach had thrown his head back with delighted laughter. “You can’t say things like that to your employees, you know,” he said, bright green eyes dancing with mirth. “I should report you to HR.”

“Unfortunately for you, I’m the closest thing we have to an HR department.” Jonathan hadn’t been able to stop himself from smiling. “Consider your complaint noted.”

Now here they were an hour and a half later, skirting around the edges of Burlington, and he still couldn’t keep a smile off his face for longer than a few seconds.

“Do you think I could at least get a hint?”

In answer, Jonathan pointed at a road sign, simultaneously moving over to the exit lane.

“Theairport?” Her voice went up a whole octave on the second word. “We’re going on a trip?”

“Don’t worry,” he said as he exited the I-89, maneuvering the car through the tight curve of the ramp. “I’ll have you back in time for work Monday morning.”

“But...” For a few moments, she seemed at a total loss. “I don’t even have a suitcase.”

He smiled, taking hold of her hand and giving it a squeeze. “We’ll take care of that when we get there. For now, just sit back and try to relax.”

She stopped asking questions after that, instead staring through the windshield as he drove them the rest of the way to the airport. Her hands fidgeted adorably in her lap.

It wasn’t until they got to the departures area that she spoke again. “Wait, aren’t we supposed to go in there?” she asked, pointing at the tiny airport’s only parking garage.

“Trust me,” he said, stopping the car right in front of a woman wearing a well-tailored pantsuit. Her stick-straight, auburn hair was cut into a short bob. She hurried to open the passenger side door.

“Welcome to Burlington International Airport, Ms. Hutchinson,” she said, grinning as a bewildered Eve climbed out of the car. As soon as Eve moved out of the way, the woman shut the door and moved around to the trunk, moving his small, black rolling suitcase to the curb. When she made it to Jonathan’s side of the car, she smiled again. “I’m Angelica. We spoke on the phone this morning.”

“Keys are in the ignition,” he told her, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. “I’ll text you when I know what our plans are for the return flight.”

The woman gave him a thousand-megawatt smile when he handed her what looked like three or four hundred-dollar bills. “Of course, Mr. Hale. I’ll make sure I’m waiting at arrivals when you and Ms. Hutchinson get back.”

“I appreciate it, Angelica.”

With a final grin, she slipped behind the wheel, quickly adjusted the seat and rearview mirror, and closed the door. Seconds later, his Astin Martin pulled out into the minimal departures traffic, looping around the road and out ofsight.

“Um, what just happened?” Eve muttered as he joined her on the sidewalk.

Jonathan frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“The parking garage is literally right there.” She pointed at the four-story building across the street.

Understanding washed over him, and for a moment he felt mildly embarrassed. Rubbing the back of his neck, he made himself admit, “I don’t really like parking garages. I came home from a business trip several years ago and someone had fucked up the entire driver’s side of my car. Bastard didn’t even leave a note.” Probably realized they’d just mangled a Porsche and hauled ass out of there. He supposed he couldn’t blame them.

“So where is she taking your car?” Eve asked, looking over her shoulder as he led her into the airport terminal.

“To a small, private garage nearby,” he answered, leaving out exactly how private of a garage it was. In truth, a friend who lived forty-five minutes away let Jonathan use one of the five garage bays at his home. Whenever he flew out of Burlington, he paid one of the local limo companies cash to loan him one of their drivers to ferry the car back and forth.

It had always seemed a perfectly reasonable solution to his problem before. Now, seeing it through Eve’s eyes, he wondered if maybe he was being a tad ridiculous.

Luckily, she let the matter drop, eyeing his suitcase now instead. “How come you get a bag?” she complained. “You get to change your clothes, and I have to be grungy all weekend?”

He gave her a mischievous grin. “Who said I have clothes in here?”

Her eyes got so wide, he could see the whites all the way around her irises. She swallowed nervously as he led her into the airport and toward security, towing the suitcase behind him. “Wow, this airport’s even smaller than I thought,” she said, eyeing the almost non-existent line.

“Have you never flown out of here before?” he asked while they wound between the line divider ropes. Her home with Frank hadn’t been too far from Burlington.

“Flights out of Boston or Manchester are usually way cheaper,” she answered, digging her wallet out of her purse and producing her driver’slicense. “We didn’t travel much, but when we did, Frank was super particular about that.”

---