Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (31 page)

Chapter
Twelve

Emily

Trish
and I hopped the short flight from Vegas to L.A., and booked it to our plane.
We arrived just as the cockpit crew was boarding the plane and going through
their pre-flight checklist. I waved at Senior Captain Jeffers and his co-pilot
Flight Captain Morgan.

Trish and I exchanged looks when we saw
who the crew was since we didn't usually have two captains on one flight. I
shrugged and hauled my bag up into the overhead bin above first class, then
grabbed Trish's bag and stored it beside mine before I latched the bin shut.
There was something satisfying about being the first ones on the aircraft when
it was calm and silent.

We quickly went to work checking all of
the in flight service stations and making sure that the food and beverage carts
were fully stocked. Trish had been flying first class for over a year and was
well versed in prepping the area, so she ran through it with me pointing out
all of the ins and outs of first class service and giving me tips on how to
ensure that each passenger had exactly what they needed.

It was similar to what I'd been doing in
the business section, and yet so very different. The first class cabin was so
much roomier than business class and each seat had its own little pod that
could be closed off from the rest of the cabin. In the center aisle, the pods
could be separated or joined so that partners could travel and sleep together
during the flight. My job was to ensure that everything a first class passenger
could possibly ask for was there before they asked for it.

"Nothing like mind reading," I
muttered to Trish as we prepped the beverage station with wine and beer.

"Oh c'mon, you're married, you should
be an expert at this!" she laughed as I shot her a look that indicated I
had no intention of responding to her remark. "What's wrong, Princess?
Things not so good at home, eh?"

"Trish, that's the understatement of
the century," I said quietly.

"Hey, I didn't mean to hit a sore
spot," she replied as she patted my shoulder. "I was just
teasing."

"I know, but it's going from bad to
worse and I don't know what to do anymore," I admitted.

"Have you tried marriage
counseling?" she asked as she opened cabinets and pulled out a stack of
perfectly pressed linen napkins. "I've heard that it can be really
helpful."

"Tommy won't go. He thinks that
shrinks are for the weak," I said as we began folding the napkins into
artful little designs that would be given to passengers before we served
dinner. "Besides, he thinks that they'll just side with me and tell him
how awful he is."

"Well, he's being pretty awful, isn't
he?" she asked.

"I don't know, Trish," I sighed.
"He used to be someone who was fun and happy and who had dreams. But now
all he does is go to work and then come home and get drunk while he pretends to
work on cars in the backyard. Last night, he and Billy stayed up drinking and
playing music till who knows when. He didn't even wake up when I got out of
bed."

"That's rough, sweetie," she
agreed as she reached out and patted my hand.

"The truth is, I don't know about this
anymore, Trish," I confessed. "I don't know if I even love him
anymore. How horrible is that? The guy I've loved since I was fifteen, who I
married and bought a house with, and now I don't know if I even love him."

"There are worse things,
Princess," she said as a dark look flitted across her face. Trish had a
past, but she never talked about it and I didn't feel like it was my place to
ask questions about something she didn't willingly volunteer. "Lots worse
things, I guarantee it."

I nodded and we folded in silence for a
few minutes before I looked up and said, "Do you think it's possible that
he's not the one I'm supposed to be with? I mean, is it possible that he was
right when I was fifteen, but now we're not right for each other anymore?"

"Anything is possible,
Princess," she smiled. "I've heard that there are people we're
supposed to be with for short trips and then there are those who are supposed
to last for the long haul. The trick is figuring out which is which and hanging
on to the ones who belong on the long haul."

"Maybe I haven't found my long haul
person yet?" I asked. "Or maybe I have and I just need to try harder
to make sure he's strapped in and along for the ride."

"Only you can know that,
darlin'," Trish said thoughtfully. "But I have a theory about who
belongs and who doesn't. I think that those who are short hop people add
something, but it's something that's good, but not substantial. You know, kind
of like sprinkles on ice cream?"

I laughed out loud. Only Trish could make
an explanation like this into a discussion of ice cream toppings.

"While the long haul folks are more
like the things that actually make the ice cream," she continued.
"Like sugar, eggs, and cream. You know what I mean, right?"

I was laughing harder now, and somehow her
explanation actually made sense in the mess that was my mind.

"But what do you do when you've been
putting sprinkles on your ice cream for so long you forget how to eat it
without them?" I asked as the tears began to well up in my eyes.

Trish thought about this for a moment,
then patted my cheek and said, "You tell them that you really enjoyed the
flavor, but that you need to branch out and try other things now. Besides,
everyone knows that sprinkles are nothing more than sugar and eating too much of
that just isn't good for you."

I smiled at Trish. As I dabbed my eyes
with a tissue, she gave me a reassuring smile and a pat on the arm. Leave it to
her to find a simple explanation for something that felt so utterly
complicated.

Chapter
Thirteen

Austin

The
meeting with Daniel and his henchmen almost caused me to miss my flight, but
they held the door and I raced onto the plane. I normally hated having my
employees give me any kind of special treatment, but today was different.
Today, I needed to be on the flight to Sydney or else there would be hell to
pay.

I settled in and pulled the pod door shut,
letting the attendants know that I was not to be disturbed, and spent the
entire flight emailing and texting the teams in Sydney, trying to get a sense
of what was going on. By the time we landed at LAX, I had a clear idea of what
the hold up was and I was ready to draw up a plan on the flight. It would be a
long night and there would be a lot of coordinating needed to be done between
me, New York, and the team on the ground in Sydney, but I was confident that we
could make it all happen and that by the time I arrived, I'd be able to offer
them a deal that would keep the construction project on track.

Or at least, I hoped that's how it would
work.

"Welcome to Los Angeles,
California," the pilot announced as we rolled down the runway on the way
to the gate. "The time is 9:32 am and the temperature is 87 degrees
fahrenheit. We're supposed to see a high of 98 today, so you might want to shed
your sweaters and soak up a little sun at one of the lovely beaches if you've
reached your destination, and if not, we wish a pleasant stay until you make
your connection. If you need help finding a connecting flight, our customer
service representatives will be happy to assist you at the gate."

I tuned it all out as I realized I had
three hours before my connecting flight would leave, so I decided to head to
the Marks Air lounge to relax a little before the flight. I ran my card through
the reader outside of the lounge and by the time I'd walked past the front
entrance, there was an attendant waiting with a warm face towel and a menu
offering anything I could possible want at this hour.

"Good morning, Mr. Marks," said
the blonde with the shiny smile and the stunning figure. "Is there
anything I can get you this morning?"

"I can think of many things, Jenna,
but this towel will do for now," I grinned. One of the things I loved most
about the airline was that I had personally hired almost everyone who now
worked for it, so no matter where I went in the world, it was like I was
visiting a friend.

That was the experience I hoped to bring
everyone who traveled on Marks Air – that sense of feeling like they were truly
at home. Everyone thought I was crazy when I started the airline only a year
after I'd taken over as CEO, but I knew that if we were going to turn our
hotels and casinos into true full-service vacation spots, we were going to need
a way to link them. I chose the omni-channel route and built an airline, and a
rather successful one at that.

"Very well, Mr. Marks," Jenna
smiled. "If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to press the
call button and ask."

"Will do, Jenna." I smiled and
then added, "Hey, how's your sister doing? Did she get the tutor she
needed for her LSAT exam?"

"Now, you should know the answer to
that better than anyone, Mr. Marks," Jenna said with a grin as she shook
her head, and then seriously continued, "Thank you for that. She scored
high enough to get into a really good school and earn a scholarship on top of
it!"

"I didn't do anything," I said
with an innocent look. "She took the test and scored big!"

"Just the same, thank you," she
smiled.

I walked toward the room in the back that
had a desk, computer, and phone ready and waiting, and shut the door. I had a
lot of business to do in the two and a half hours before take off and I didn't
want to waste a minute of it. I pressed the call button and Jenna's voice
filled the small space. "Yes, Mr. Marks?"

"Jenna, could you bring me a fresh
pot of coffee and maybe a muffin or something?" I asked.

"Of course, Mr. Marks. It would be my
pleasure."

I palmed my phone and thought about
calling my mother, but I knew that if I got her on the phone, I'd have to
listen to the play-by-play of the Yankees win and as much as it made me happy
to hear my mother enjoying herself, I didn't think there was enough time before
take off. Instead, I texted her.

Austin_Marks: Mom, on my way to Sydney.
Want anything on my way back?

Mama_Marks: Why Sydney?

Austin_Marks: Business. Construction hang
up. Need to negotiate compromise.

Mama_Marks: Call me.

My mother had disliked Daniel from the day
she first met him, but she wouldn't tell me why, so I'd stopped asking. Now and
then, she'd give me some ominous warning about him before retreating into
silence. I'd given up trying to guess what she thought he'd do to me.

I looked up as Jenna entered the room with
a pot of fresh steaming coffee and a huge basket of muffins and laughed.
"One muffin would have been fine, Jenna!"

"Well, I didn't know what kind you
were in the mood for, so I had them send over one of each kind!" she
laughed as she set the tray down and quickly moved toward the door. I waved her
off with a friendly grin, and then I sat down at the desk, leaned back in the
chair, and thought about how to position myself for the next approach. Daniel
wasn't going to win this round, but I didn't want him to lose, either.

The question was how was I going to make
that happen?

Chapter
Fourteen

Austin

Two
hours later, Jenna tapped on the door and said, "Mr. Marks, they're
getting ready to board the plane now. You need to get to the terminal."

"Thank you, Jenna," I said as I
packed up my papers and slowly moved toward the door. I had drank way too much
coffee and desperately needed a pit stop. I ducked into the men's room at the
edge of the concourse and relieved myself. As I was washing my hands, I
suddenly remembered that my mother had told me to call her before I left for
Sydney. I didn't want her to worry, so I exited the men's room and pulled out
my phone quickly tapping her contact card and waiting for her to answer.

"Hello?"

"Mom, it's Austin," I said.

"Austin! I was getting worried about
you, dear," she called into the phone. "You were going to call me
back last night!"

"I know, Mom," I said
sheepishly. "I got a little busy and forgot."

"Were you entertaining a young
lady?" she asked breathlessly. "Ooooh, I hope it was Anna!"

"It was, in fact," I said
laughing. My mother knew me better than anyone on the planet, and for better or
worse, she also knew my taste in women. "But it's not like that,
Mom."

"Oh hush, she's a nice girl with a
great figure and you two get along so well," she shushed me. I didn't know
how to explain Anna to my mother – "friend with benefits" was not in
her 70s-era vocabulary and I didn't want to have to explain. I knew that I'd
let the relationship ride too long without explanation and figured that it was
better to let it go for now than to start this discussion as I was running to
catch a plane.

"Mom, I'm calling because I'm on my
way to Sydney this morning," I interrupted her list of reasons why I
should propose to Anna and settle down.

"I know, but you didn’t tell me why,”
she said.

"There's a problem with the new
construction project and I need to talk with the people in charge," I
replied.

"Who told you there's a
problem?" she asked.

"Bax, well, he got the information
from Daniel," I said.

"I thought so," my mother
replied in a terse voice. "Austin, I don't know how many times I have to
tell you to watch out for that man. He's a snake. He was a snake when your
father hired him and he's still a snake."

"I know, I know," I said.
"You don't like him or trust him. I'll be careful."

"Don't get snippy with me, young
man," she retorted. "I brought you into this world and I can sure as
heck take you out!"

"Mom, don't get so worked up," I
tried to calm her as I reached the gate and saw that they were starting to
close the doors. "I have to go, they're boarding the plane and shutting
the doors. I'll call you when I get to Sydney, okay?"

"Austin, please be careful," she
said in a very serious voice.

"I always am, Mom," I replied, a
little worried that she'd given in so quickly, but grateful that she had.
"I'll talk to you soon! Love you to the moon and back!"

"Love you to the moon and back,
baby," she repeated our sign off. She'd taught it to me when I was a young
child both an expression of love and a measure of protection in a world where
she had to rely on babysitters and neighbors to pick me up from school. She had
told me never to go anywhere with anyone unless they said it first, so it
became our secret password and the key to knowing who the stable people in my
life were. Now, we just said it to express our love for one another, and I
liked the tradition.

I quickly covered the gangway between the
gate and the plane, and as I ran onto the plane, I ran smack into a tiny
brunette flight attendant who was bent over and preparing the doors before
takeoff.

"Uff!" she cried as I ran
straight into her, almost knocking her face forward onto the floor. I
instinctively wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her up against me to
keep her from hitting her knees. She was a slip of a girl, not more than
5'3" and she couldn't have weighed more than a hundred pounds soaking wet,
but as I held her against me, I could feel her body practically vibrating. She
turned and faced me placing the palms of her hands on my chest and pushing back
now that she'd caught her balance. She looked up at me and smiled nervously for
a moment before the inevitable recognition sunk in and then it began.

"Oh my gosh, Mr. Marks! I'm so sorry,
sir!" she cried.

"There's no need for you to
apologize-," I trailed off as I bent down and studied her name badge.
"Emily. It was my fault for rushing and not looking where I was going. Are
you all right?"

"Oh I'm fine, sir," she said
breathlessly. "Are you all right?"

"Oh sure, I'm absolutely fine,"
I smiled as I tried to put her at ease. "It's not often that I get to
start a trip holding a pretty girl in my arms, so everything is just
great!"

The girl blushed as she looked at the
ground and tried to think of something to say, but no words were forthcoming
and she looked up with her mouth open in a way that made me laugh. Then I
leaned forward and said, "I think I need to get to my seat, they're saying
that I'm holding up the flight."

"Oh! Right," she shook her head
to get her bearings and then gestured to the front of the plane where my pod
seat awaited. I smiled and slipped past her, catching a whiff of something that
smelled like summer flowers and clean laundry. It was refreshing and I made a
note to ask about whether it was her or the clean linens we brought on every
flight.

As we taxied to down the runway in
preparation for take off, I overheard the girl taking about what had happened
with the curvy redhead also working in first class and I smiled as I heard her
say in a stage whisper, "I can't believe he's the CEO. He seems so
young!"