Page 74 of His Rules

The two men glared at each other for a few seconds before Drake looked away. “Have a good night, both of you.” He gave me a hard look before walking out.

“Wow. It’s chilly in here.” I rubbed my arms as if I was freezing.

“Yes, it is.”

“Has it always been this way between the two of you?” I wasn’t certain why it mattered, but there was a reason the two of them had went into business together.

“At one point, Drake was one of my best friends. Your father was always busy and rarely had time to get together. I met Drake at a fundraiser and we hit it off. I think I was twenty-three at the time. He was from a rich family and just waiting for his trust fund to release. We were playboys at heart, spending all our free time chasing after hot women, but there was a drive deep within both of us. At one point, he’d wanted to be a fighter pilot, but his eyesight disqualified him. But he had the same love of aircraft I did.”

“Interesting.”

He chuckled. “Not what you’d expect from me?”

“The playboy part absolutely, but not your love of flying. Are you a pilot?”

“I am. Small aircraft though. Sadly, I haven’t flown in years. I haven’t had the time. One night Drake and I were commiserating over whatever bullshit had occurred when he threw out an idea. What if we built the kind of planes that we knew should exist? Safety. Luxury. Style. Easy on fuel. You know. We were dreaming. But we kept talking about it. I was working in the corporate branch of my dad’s company and so was he. Neither one of us were happy. After his trust fund came online and with the help of a couple investors, we made our dream come alive. That took time, but we never let go of the idea.”

“And the rest is history,” I said, thoroughly enjoying the story.

“We had mostly bumps in the beginning, but we got some contracts, additional warehouse space. We were finally ableto hire the best designers and engineers and four years later when we were close to rock bottom, we made our first big deal. That was right around the time my father reintroduced me to Ashley, my ex. I didn’t know it at the time, but he’d already made arrangements with his best friend, Ashley’s father, that we should be married. They had competing companies and the merger would make the newly combined firm the most profitable in the world. No one would have been able to challenge their hospitality space.”

“Only you wanted no part of it.”

The way he looked at me left me with a stark feeling of sadness. “No, but from what I know, Ashley was sent in to woo me.”

“And you fell in love.”

“I hate to admit it, but I did. That began the rift between me and Drake. I was spending too much time with her while he was spending all his time trying to make our company stand out in a long line of airplane manufacturers.”

“You were used.”

“I was and I fell for it,” he snarked. “When I continued to refuse to have anything to do with my father’s company, our relationship went south. I stayed at the office more and she decided to seek company elsewhere. I honestly wouldn’t have cared except the divorce was very difficult as well as financially draining.”

“She’s still in the picture.”

“She is as a thorn in my side. She’s head of my father’s old company since Pops was bought out. A mistake. And one I need to rectify.” He got up from his chair, walking around his deskand sitting on the edge in front of me. He was so handsome, so debonair, and for a few seconds, I allowed myself to swoon from the scent of his aftershave alone.

I leaned in further, the closeness sending crackles of electricity all throughout my body. “You want to buy back your father’s old firm.” I felt like a kid who’d just been given the world’s best Christmas present. “You liked my idea.”

“More than just liked. You sparked something within me that I haven’t felt in one hell of a long time. Excitement.”

“That’s where you were today. You were trying to make this happen.”

“I was. And I will. It might take time and shoving Drake out the door will be arduous. He won’t go without a nasty fight. That means everything could get dragged through the press. I don’t want you involved in that.”

“Wait a minute. Part of this plan was my idea, but you’re pushing me out?”

“You’re the most intelligent, capable woman I’ve ever met, but I don’t want you hurt. I’m saying you need to find a job where you can be protected.”

My reaction was involuntary and I jerked up. “Hold on here. I know I haven’t been with this company for long, but I’ve already put in a lot of work including when I was in New York trying to get my life together in a few neat little boxes. I gave you a strong idea that you want to run with. I made certain you didn’t lose your best client because of your extreme arrogance and you want to push me out the door? Not a chance, buddy. I’m here for the long haul and I don’t give a damn what I need to do to prove myworthiness. You’ll never find anyone else like me in your entire life.”

He said nothing at first and that infuriated me more. Then his eyes twinkled even more vividly than they’d done before as a smile crept up on his face.

“Oh, my God. You were testing me. You wanted to see how badly I wanted to be a part of this? I’m right. Aren’t I?”

“Yes. Very good.”

I reacted even worse than I had before. I cracked my hand across his face.

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