Page 48 of Until You're Breathless

“But...but you haven’t even seen all of our concepts yet.”

Wesley tilts his head but his eyes are still dancing. “Are you questioning my decision, boy?”

Jagger chuckles, rising, holding his hand out for Wesley to shake. “No, not at all, sir. Not one bit.”

I rise, too, and then we’re all standing, shaking hands. “Now, you can go back home to the office with the good news.” Wesley informs. “I’ve taken the liberty of having my office draw up the papers. They’ve been sent to your inbox. Gives you something to peruse on the flight back home.”

“Yes, sir.” Jagger nods.

“And have your lawyers look over the papers, too. Feel free to take as long as you like.” Stephen adds.

“Will do.”

Wesley changes the subject. “So, what’s on your agenda this weekend?”

“Work.” I chuckle. “Lots and lots of work.”

“Nothing in your personal life?” Wesley inquires.

Jagger shoots me a look, like he’s confirming that Wesley does, in fact, have a crush on me. It’s like he’s saying ‘I told you so’ with his eyes. “It’s my sister’s birthday. We’re having a party.”

“A big party?” Stephen asks.

“She’s in PR, so yeah, that’s all she knows.”

“How long has she been planning this party for?” Wesley asks.

“Just a couple of weeks. She’s got another six days, so who knows what celebrity she’ll be able to muster up in that time frame.”

“And what are you doing, dear?” Wesley asks me.

“I’m going, too.”

“Do you know Jagger’s sister well?”

“We met in a...previous life.” I say, watching Jagger from the corner of my eye. He’s trying to be nonchalant, but I figured it out when he asked me. I’m just going to play along, acting like I don’t remember, but I do. And he’s going to shit himself when he realizes what I did because I remember...

Jagger

“No fucking way!!” I hear Axl shout from the back of the room. He’s decided to hijack my production team while me and Bowie have been away. We’ve just delivered the news that we got the European deal. I don’t mind. When Axl isn’t getting into trouble with the media, he drips creativity and motivation, and the team adores him.

“Woohoo!!!” My senior guy shouts, too. “I knew it! I knew when that old son of a bitch invited you two out there, that it was in the fucking bag! Yahoooo!!!”

I lift a hand. “Okay, so we’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m having our attorneys look over the agreement, but in the meantime, we’ve got to put together all the engines, not just the prototypes. And I want several, so that Drummond Motors can test them on multiple bodies.”

“Got it!” My head engineer states. “Okay, boys! Let’s get to work!”

That’s why I hired them. This fantastic team that I have. I look at Bowie and she’s already moving her way down the line, talking to some team members, giving them the scoop on what happened in London. We reconvene later, in a meeting, and I can’t take my eyes off her. The woman is luminous. Just full of everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner, both in business and in life. And I chide myself for thinking about such things at such a time, when this is the most important deal of a lifetime, but then it makes sense. If it weren’t for Bowie, I wouldn’t be here, and I’ll never forget that.

“So, how did it go there in London?” Axl asks me, once the throng of engineers and staff thin out.

“It was actually a fucking disaster if you want to know the truth.” I chuckle.

“What are you talking about?” He laughs.

“Well, the initial tour and hobnobbing was fine, but then Wesley took us to this restaurant and got Bowie totally fucking tanked. We both thought we were sunk, but she killed it, and then the next morning Wesley told us that he chose us for the deal.”

“I’m not fucking surprised.” He scoffs. “You worry too much, man. And everyone around here thinks the same thing. Do you know that I can count on both my hands how many of your staff want you to make engines with me, too?”

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