Page 42 of The Money Man
“Great minds think alike. I asked him the same thing. He just smiled and said not to worry about that. However, Tully and I nearly had a heart attack when we found out how much it would cost. Leland’s answer was that you have to invest in yourselves and we needed to be fresh and ready to think when we got to the client site.”
“I suppose you could justify it that way.”
“Yes, except that the cost of the jet wiped out our cash reserves. However, it was almost worth it to hear how many times Leland managed to work our private jet into the conversation with the clients. Tully and I started counting after about the third one. The tally hit a dozen.” His face held remembered laughter. “The funny thing is that our inquiry calls doubled the next week. Leland swore it was because the Des Moines client had told everyone that we’d flown in on our own jet. Success breeds success, he kept saying.”
“Or the illusion of success breeds success.” Alice loved the daring of it. She would never do something so insane.
“We took full advantage of the plane’s bar on the way home. We figured we’d paid for it, so why not? Thank God no prospective clients called the next day.” Nostalgia colored his words. “Those early days at KRG were quite a roller-coaster ride.”
“The three of you went to business school together, right?”
“We met there. Leland needed a roommate for the apartment he’d rented, and I answered his post on the biz-school housing board. Tully was in my first-year learning team. At first, we were all a little afraid of him because he’d been in the FBI before he went to business school.” Derek smiled. “We got over it. At any rate, after a summer of interning at large corporations, we all decided we wanted to be our own bosses, so we made plans to start KRG when we graduated.”
“I can’t imagine just deciding to start a whole company,” Alice said, feeling a combination of awe and envy. “That’s a big risk.”
A shadow passed over Derek’s face. “That was pointed out to us on several occasions, but we were cocky enough to think we could pull it off.”
“And you did.” She wondered who the naysayers had been because they clearly bothered him still.
“Trust me, we had a couple of close calls.” The tightness in his jaw eased when he said, “You have your own company as well.”
“Not the same. I am a single-practice bookkeeper. I don’t have anyone else on my payroll to worry about.” She shrugged with a wry smile. “Except my two cats.”
He gave a choke of a laugh before the jet’s engines rose to a roar and the plane blasted down the runway to launch itself upward on a steep vertical. Alice grabbed the arms of her chair and peered out the window as the plane seemed to pivot on its wingtip, giving her a spectacular view of New York City from a bird’s perspective.
As the agile jet leveled off and headed away from the city, she turned back to Derek to find him watching her, a half smile curving his lips. “Thanks for giving me the seat with a view,” she said as she realized he’d chosen their positions deliberately.
“It’s nice to see someone enjoy it.” He made a wry face. “I tend to open my laptop the moment I sit down on the plane.”
The captain announced that they could unfasten their seat belts and move about the cabin. Derek unbuckled his and pulled his briefcase out from its storage bin before shifting to the chair that faced hers across the table. He seemed to fill her entire field of vision with his perfectly streaked hair, his perfectly pressed shirt stretched over wide shoulders, and his perfectly knotted tie that accentuated the muscles of his neck. Thank goodness the sunshine slanting through the window highlighted the slight bump in his nose so he seemed human and not a fantasy she’d dreamed up.
Flipping open his laptop, he fixed his eyes on her. “Before I dive into Argon, I want to go over our story again.”
She rolled her eyes. They’d been through this numerous times, fleshing out details with each pass.
“I know you think I’m overreacting but we can’t take any chances since we don’t know what we’re walking into.” He reached across the table to enfold her hand in his.
He’d been on edge ever since Barsky had called back to say that they would be meeting with BalanceTrakR’s president, Ted Murval. Derek wasn’t bothered by Murval’s title; he was bothered by the fact that his partners couldn’t find out anything about the man himself.
“Once more with feeling,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze. She couldn’t be annoyed with him because his overpreparation sprang from real anxiety about her well-being.
For a half an hour, they ran through their fictional business proposal, trying to find any holes they hadn’t seen before. Finally, Derek sat back and rubbed a hand over his face. “You’ve got me convinced.”
“You’re no slouch in the credibility department either. Must be that training as an actor,” Alice said with a grin.
“You should see me do a death scene. I’ve been told that it’s a special talent of mine.”
“Right, because you can fall without hurting yourself.” Alice sat back in her seat.
The amusement went out of his face. “I apologize but I have to focus on Argon now. Forgive me for being bad company.”
“Don’t worry. I brought my own work but I’m going to explore the plane first. I’ll probably never fly on a private jet again after today.” And just being in the same space with him made her happy.
“Feel free,” he said, sweeping his hand around. “If you get hungry, press the call button for Kai.”
She jerked her seat belt buckle open and started to stand but he was on his feet first, using their joined hands to help her up.
“Maybe one small kiss first,” he said as he walked around the table.
