Cannon lays a hand on my knee. “Well, it’s not everyday bullshit for Greer, and you’re not helping matters when it comes to salvaging her reputation. Unlike yours, which is for purely entertainment value, her reputation matters to investors who need to have confidence in the Karas family and all they represent. I don’t expect some former janitor to understand how that works.”
“Maintenance man.” Cav’s tone is dark. “And I get how it works. I’m not looking to do anything but help Greer, so you can back the fuck off.” He wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer to his side.
Cannon can’t mistake the possessive gesture, and neither can I. I just hope we can get to the jet without these two coming to blows.
That fucking prick Cannon leaves us at the corporate aviation building, and another driver takes us out to the tarmac where we climb onto the black Karas International jet. When I flew in here, I had visions of taking Greer on my own jet and flying her somewhere to impress her.
I forgot for an instant that I’m dealing with a woman who has probably never flown commercial, and a private jet is just another normal thing in her life. What can I give her that she’s never had before? That’s the question running through my mind as the flight attendant returns with our drinks and a few snacks. Greer knocks back her gin and tonic like it’s water.
“You okay, baby?”
She was quiet the entire ride out to the airport while Cannon and I shot daggers at each other. Her silence sets me on edge. Has she decided that getting pulled into the press because of me isn’t worth it? Fuck. I’m not letting her go now, so we’re going to have to find a way to deal with this.
Running away to a tropical paradise only works as a temporary solution. And honestly, I don’t understand why her reputation is so important to the investors of her brother’s companies.
“Greer, you okay?” I ask again because my last question received no answer. She’s lost in her thoughts, but my words finally penetrate.
She uncurls her fingers from around the tumbler, only to squeeze them tight again. “I’m fine. Just . . . thinking about how crazy my life is becoming. I went from working sixteen or eighteen hours a day at the firm to being unemployed, and now this. The last few days have been kind of surreal, and I’m still processing.”
“Do you want to go back?” The captain is just beginning to taxi down the runway, so any decisions need to be made right now.
She shakes her head. “No. I really don’t want to go back. That’s the part I’m trying not to feel guilty about.”
I wrap my arm around her shoulders and press a kiss to her temple. “Why would you feel guilty?”
“Because running makes me look like an irresponsible jet-setting little princess when that’s not who I am and it never will be.” She pauses for a moment before adding, “But I’m greedy because this means that I get to run away with you and leave the world behind. We don’t have to deal with all the bullshit for a few days, and can just have fun.”
I wish she added something about figuring out what’s going on between us and how this relationship is going to work, but I’m getting the message loud and clear that Greer isn’t ready for that. She’s not going to admit we have a relationship or a future.
That’s too damn bad because when I came back into her life, I did it with the intention of making this a permanent change. She’s going to have to find a way to deal with it because I’m not letting her go. Not this time.
Instead of pushing the issue, I lean closer and press another kiss to her temple. It’s becoming a habit that will be impossible to break.
“Let’s take this one day at a time and see what happens. I’ve got nowhere else I need to be, and I can’t think of anything I’d like better than you in a bikini on the beach before we go back to our room and I strip you naked and make you scream my name.”
Greer turns her body into me and lays her head on my shoulder. “I think I can handle that.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
I’m not sure what to expect from the very minimal description of the place Greer gave me, but when we land on an airstrip I’m not even sure is paved, I’m even more intrigued. The billionaire badass big brother wouldn’t send his treasured and protected little sister anywhere less than the best, though.
Three years ago, I dreamed of being able to steal her away for some extravagant vacation to impress her, and now we’ve been handed this golden opportunity. Greer once told me she wanted to be wooed, and now I’ve got a secluded tropical paradise and no paparazzi.
Game on.
A man in a golf cart waits just beyond the runway and waves us over. He smiles and holds up a handwritten sign that reads GREER.
“Bags?” he asks, looking somewhat confused at our empty hands.
“Not this time,” I reply.
“Okay then. Let’s get you to the house.”
I wrap an arm around Greer as we climb onto the backseat of the golf cart. The headlights cut through the pitch-black darkness ahead of us as he drives us along a rutted and bumpy road that appears to be packed sand. Dozens of blue crabs skitter to the sides of the street as the light touches them.