Chapter 12
“Doesn’t this thing go any bloody faster?” I snap through the headset. My mate Tristan is flying Danny and I back to London in his helicopter from the wedding venue. Like children, we called dibs on the front seat and I won.
I’m too tired to enjoy the English countryside below us. I’ve had two hours sleep max, staring up at the ceiling all night imagining all the sordid acts I want to carry out on the angry Viking. Fantasising about every inch of her body. Thighs, wrists, neck, stomach, cheekbones, lips, eyes, even her damn ears when she blushes.
It took every ounce of willpower to close her door last night before she lost control.
How’s a man supposed to sleep after that?
The thirty-minute cold shower this morning did sweet FA.
Now my balls are so blue I’m surprised the chopper can take the extra load.
“No, princess.” Tristan chuckles through my headset. “A hundred and fifty miles per hour is the fastest I’m going to be able to deliver you into London. You want me to let you out and see if you can find a faster route?”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” my other mate Danny asks from the back. “You look rough as fuck. We were in bed at midnight last night. That’s pretty tame.”
Tame?
Tame is not a word I would use for last night.
Teasing. Torturous.
Cock draining. Those fit.
I grunt in response.
“Relax, man. What’s the rush?” Tristan asks. “We’re not playing golf until four.”
Shit, I forgot.
“I can’t today.” I sigh. “I have to visit the site.”
“Fuck off, mate,” Danny growls through the headset. “I got a pass for us to play golf. You are not letting me down. Do you know how difficult it is to leave the house with three kids under three?”
Of course I don’t.
“Sorry, I forgot, man.” I turn to him sheepishly. “I’ve no time for anything right now. There aren’t enough hours in the day.”
“You used to be the fun one of the three of us,” Tristan says dryly. “What the hell happened? You know you’re basically the annoying boss that interferes with everything, right?”
I grunt. “Stop busting my balls. They’ve had enough this weekend. You know this project is personal. It’s not just erecting nice digs for rich ex-pats.”
Tristan glances over at me. “Are you sure you should be so close to this project? You’ve been around the block enough to know emotions and business don’t mix well. Let Sean take care of it. He knows how important the area is to you.”
“Not gonna happen.” I clench my teeth. “This one stays with me.”
“Sure,” Tristan says, dropping it. “How’s it going?”
“Good. Phase one block of apartments is nearly complete. We’re ready to rehouse the existing residents.”
Tristan darts a glance at me again. “And that includes some of the Wicks family, right?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t build a gas leak into their flats. Even if they are murdering bastards,” I say with a calmness learned over the years. It would be nice to forget about my dad’s killers for one day. “Phase two and Phase three are kicking off. I’ve given phase three, the Motor Works factory, to Max and Bonnie’s company to design.”
Danny chuckles. “Such a shame Bonnie and Max have split up, isn’t it? He’s got a bit of a stick up his ass. Good thing you’ve stepped up to console her. She seems nice.”
“Don’t fucking talk,” I snap. “The woman gives me whiplash. One minute she’s grinding against me, then the next minute she’s acting like I’m the worst man alive.”
They laugh. I’m too tired for it.
I turn to scowl at Danny in the backseat. “Bonnie thought you were interested in her. Well, her friend did.”
“Everyone was watching you two dancing, if that’s what she’s thinking. Me included.” He chuckles, sprawled out in the back. “It was quite entertaining.”
“Sparks were definitely flying during that dance,” Tristan says. “What did you do wrong?”
“Nothing. I was an angel. I asked her out on a date like a gentleman. She got me all warmed up like a professional fluffer then this morning turned me down, said she was trying to make her ex jealous. She played me.”
Tristan smirks. “I’ll notify Guinness World Records immediately. This is a big one for them.”
“Perhaps we should drop you off at the hospital?” Danny adds. “Before you go into acute shock at being rejected for the first time in your life.”
The pair of them are two smug ass-wipes now they’re all loved-up. Both are older than me by a few years, as they like to remind me. Jealousy.
“Fine, let me off at the hospital,” I mutter. “Maybe they can do something about my big blue balls.”
“Mate, when you have twins under two and a newborn at home, you can complain. You and that dog of yours sit around answering to no one,” Danny grumbles. “And I’m sorry, Tristan, I know she’s your mother, but fuck me, I’m dying here. I don’t get a minute’s peace. I think she’s moved in and not told me. The easiest solution is for me to move out.”
Tristan laughs. “Rather you than me. Mum’s posting pics from your house every day.”
“Fuck’s sake. I don’t want my life splashed over social media. It’s a bloody security risk. I’ll need to rein that shit in and try to teach your mother about her digital footprint.”
“This is why I’m not having kids until at least forty,” I grumble. Danny is engaged to Tristan’s younger sister, Charlie, who he has three baby daughters with. The couple started seeing each other when Danny’s tech firm, now the largest in Europe, acquired the company Charlie worked for.
Tristan laughs again. “You do realise that’s only two years away, right?”
“Better make it forty-five then.”
“You’ll change your mind when you meet the right lass,” Tristan tells me. “Maybe you already have.”
“Nah,” Danny says. “She’s not interested. Poor wee Jack will have to put his tail back between his legs.”
The helicopter drops slightly. Tristan doesn’t flinch but I do. “When have you ever seen me give up on a challenge? The woman wants me. There’s just something holding her back. Maybe her ex, Max. Maybe she’s terrified of my massive dick.”
“Maybe she’s more terrified of your massive ego,” Danny scoffs.
“I have an ego for a reason, mate.”
And Bonnie is going to realise that very soon.
Truth is, I haven’t been rejected before and I kind of like it.
She can play the game of cat and mouse. I like the chase. It makes the catch all the sweeter.
It’s only a matter of time, darlin’.
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