Page 17 of Resisting Mr. Fancy Pants

“Mommy, you will come back?” Zoe asked.

I hugged her tightly. “Of course. I’ll only be gone a couple of weeks. Your nana will take good care of you. You can also call Aunty Avery if you want.”

“Will you call?” she asked.

“We are going to an island and there might not be good enough service for me to make a call, but I will when I can. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said, squeezing me tightly.

By the time I left with Avery, I felt guilty as hell. I’d never left Zoe before. I had to remind myself other parents left their kids from time to time. It was a normal thing that happened and likely this would be the first and last time I did it.

I’d asked Avery to drive me to the private airport and not Agan. I hadn’t seen a lot of my friend lately and I missed her. She hadn’t yet admitted her feelings for Nate Bowmen, but I had my suspicions. I figured when I got back we could trade notes about the men in our lives. For now, I had nerves of another sort when Avery dropped me off. I would be alone with Agan for two weeks.

We’d yet to take our relationship, or whatever you called it, to another level. It was likely going to happen now. I pushed the thought out of my head and took Agan’s hand as he led me through the building and out the other side to the small plane.

No matter how small it was, the plane was out of this world. There was a living room that included a real sofa, table and side chairs of the finest materials. Then there was a dining room with a table and individual chairs all around. A bedroom was not a surprising find after seeing the rest. There was an amazing, attached bathroom that put my bathroom in my trailer to shame.

“Wow,” I said after the tour.

“There’s another bathroom up front,” Agan said, taking a seat next to me on the couch. “We can eat, watch a movie, or whatever you like.”

“Is this how you travel all the time?” My insecurities began to surface.

He shook his head. “Not exactly. Generally, I fly commercial. But Dad’s plane was available. This is his project and your first flight. I thought it would be cool.”

It was cool. But honestly, I felt less like a woman who could fit in his life. Which led me to my next question. “Do we have to sleep on the bed?”

A chuckle escaped his throat. “We don’t have to use the bedroom at all. The seats there lie flat. Dad made sure there were all the creature comforts he wanted, which is why there is a bedroom.”

“It’s pretty amazing.” If Mom were here, she’d get her confirmation that Agan came from a wealthy family.

Not long after takeoff, a woman came in with a tray that held two flutes of champagne. “Thanks,” I said, taking my glass from her.

Agan lifted his glass once she left. “Thank you for coming.”

I clinked his glass. “Thank you. I’m still not sure why you needed me.”

“I like your ideas.”

“My one idea. This is an island.” I sipped my drink, waiting for his answer.

“Hear me out. On the island is an existing home with twenty bedrooms.”

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. “Twenty?”

“Yes. We needed to decide if we should renovate the home top to bottom or build out a new structure with more rooms.”

Immediately, questions popped into my head. “How big is the island? What else is on it?”

He pointed at me. “See, you’re already thinking. There’s nothing else on the island but the home. The island is only a few miles wide.”

“You’ve answered your questions. More rooms would mean not only more guests, but more workers. And if the island isn’t big, it may not support add-ons like restaurants and other activities for so many people.”

“This,” he said.

“I can’t believe you couldn’t hire people to tell you the same thing.”

“I did. I hired you.”

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