“I do not.” His hand goes to his hip, and the noodles from his dish dangle from his chopsticks.
“Sure, you do. Remember when I told you Marilyn in the user interface group needed help? You ignored me, and she went out on stress leave.”
“I did that once, and not because I was ignoring you. I just didn’t want to hire anyone that might threaten Marilyn.”
I have many examples, mostly because it’s something that drives me crazy. “Okay, then what about when engineering wanted Mr. Pibb in the employee fridge?”
“What’s wrong with Dr. Pepper?”
“It’s not the same. You ignored me, and it cost us two days of work over some silly drinks.”
“Fine. I do it to all the women in my life.”
“No, you don’t. You don’t do it to the women you date,” I remind him.
“Of course I do.”
“What about the one who talked you into taking her to Vegas with you? It was evident to me you didn’t want her to go.”
He holds up his hand to stop me. “Okay, you’re right. I took her, and while she was there, she hit on the owner of the casino, so I dumped her.”
I’m giggling. “She must be pissed to know you won a beautiful place in Maui, and she’ll never see it.”
He smiles back at me. “No, she won’t. She’s never even seen this place.”
He mentioned before that none of his girlfriends ever come to his apartment. I need to explore that further, but not tonight.
“All I ask is that you try to listen. If you don’t like what a strong woman tells you, politely tell her you’ll think about it. Then you don’t look like an ass when you realize she’s right.”
“Great advice. Are you always right?”
I snort. “God, no. One small reminder: Bobby Sanders?”
Jackson rolls his eyes. “He’s an ass. But it’s his loss, certainly not yours.”
We have a lovely dinner. Jackson is fun and self-deprecating. He underplays his intelligence, and I love the twinkle in his eyes. When we’re finished, I look at the clock and realize we drank an entire bottle of wine.
“I need to pack for tomorrow,” I tell him. “Hawaii is typically casual. What should I be prepared for?”
“Pack a dress, as we may meet the guys from Hydro, so I want us to be ready. But otherwise you’re right. Shorts and bathing suits are all you need.”
“Shirts are optional?” I tease.
“I’m good with that if you are.” He grins wide and looks down at my chest.
He wouldn’t know what to do with my natural breasts. Ha!
Holy cow. My panties are soaking wet.
***
The next morning my office line rings before I can even take my coat off and put our coffee orders down. “Hi, this is Matt Bird, your pilot. The airport in Maui is having some runway work done. It’ll be closed from 8:00 p.m. until six o’clock the next morning. So, if you want to arrive today, we need to take off by 4:00 p.m. Otherwise we can’t leave until after 3:00 a.m.”
I thank the pilot and promise to get back to him shortly. When I go in to alert Jackson, he just looks at me.
“We can sleep on the plane,” I offer. The idea of sleeping on the flight doesn’t exactly sound restful, but it is Maui. “It’s up to you. We can work or sleep.”
He looks down at his desk and taps his pen.
“What does my schedule look like this afternoon?” He studies me carefully.
“Phone calls.”
“What’s on your calendar?” he asks.
“Fielding date and marriage proposals for you,” I quip.
“That’s so weird, isn’t it?” He quirks his face in confusion and disgust.
“No comment.” I think it’s psychotic, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“You know, if we leave before four, we can work on the flight and land in time for dinner. Can you alert the house staff we’ll be in for dinner?”
“Sounds good to me.” I feel like skipping out of the room.
Chapter 11
Corrine
No surprise here, but we’ve finished lunch, and instead of getting ready to go, Jackson’s on the phone. Brian and Ben patiently wait in the chairs outside his office, across from me. We’re running twenty minutes late.
I call the pilot. “We haven’t left yet. What’s the window?”
“We’ve got some time. The headwinds aren’t too bad,” he assures me.
I hang up with my stomach in knots. I know we can go later, but when I spoke to the majordomo, Jason Crier, and the cook, Leilani Palakiko, they were excited we were coming, and Leilani was planning a big feast. I’m already hungry.
I have about two dozen projects I could work on, but I know if I start on any of them, Jackson will walk out, and all of that work will be for nothing. Maybe if we need to go, I should do just that.
I open a file on my computer and begin balancing some account receipts for his expenses and try to ignore the passing time.
The light indicating he’s on the phone is still bright red. And we’re coming up on an hour past the time we needed to leave. I call the pilot again.
“We’re still good,” he stresses.
“We still have thirty minutes in clear traffic,” I explain. “We aren’t just across the street. And the longer we wait, the worse the traffic’s going to be.”
“Let me know when you leave, and I’ll file the flight plan.”
I sigh as I hang up. If he’s not stressed, I’m going to follow his lead.
Finally, Jackson’s light goes off, and relief floods me. I begin to save the file and gather up the receipts when dammit if the light doesn’t go on again.
This man
