Page 20 of Arrogant Playboy

My stomach should not be fluttering talking to this man. He is now a client. I don’t date clients.But that country cottage.It’s just a house and something that is going to look good in my portfolio. I slide through the pictures again of the home.

9

ROSIE

“Louis has a private jet?” Georgia gasps as we arrive at the private airport for our flight to the South of France, to surprise Emily.

This is exciting, I’ve never been on a private plane before. I get out of the car and the driver takes our bags and hands them to the staff.

“Holy shit, who the hell is that?” Ava gasps.

I turn around and my stomach falls out from me. What the hell is Daniel doing here? Then my brain clicks; the Daniel Georgia has been organizing this weekend with is him. He’s Louis’ brother, that is the family who he has been talking about. How did I not realize? It was there in front of me the entire time and I was too blind to notice it. Shit. He’s going to know I lied to him about this weekend. I watch as Daniel walks down the stairs looking like a damn supermodel, dressed casually in cream linen pants and a sage green linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up his tanned arms.

“That must be Daniel, Louis’ brother,” Georgia states.

“I’m calling dibs,” Ava states as she takes off her sunglasses to get a better look at him. I swallow hard, not liking the wayAva’s face has lit up. Jealousy starts to eat away at me as I mentally compare myself to Ava. She is this gorgeous blonde bombshell. She’s confident, sexy, alluring, has great breasts, and works out. She’s more like the women Daniel normally dates, and if she has her sights set on a man, they usually don’t stand a chance. I look over at my best friend who is dressed in a gorgeous white sundress, which shows off her curves and the legs that go on for miles thanks to her heels. Her skin is glowing, and her blonde hair is blown out to perfection.Then there’s me.

Daniel’s steps falter as his eyes land on me. He takes his aviator sunglasses off as if they are playing tricks on him.

“Rosie?” Daniel questions with a deep scowl.

I can feel Ava’s eyes boring into the back of my head. “Mr. DuPont, this is a surprise,” I say, holding out my hand, giving him the best professional greeting I can muster. His steps slow as she takes my outstretched hand.

“You two know each other?” Ava asks.

“We only met the other day when my boss took me to his gallery to help pull art for a project,” I explain, giving him a smile I hope hides the panic that is currently taking over.

“Yes, that’s right. What a small world,” he says as his lips thin. “I had no idea you were Emily’s friend.”

“Hi, I’m Ava,” she says, pushing out her tits while holding out her hand toward him. He takes it and shakes it, but his eyes don’t leave me, which makes Ava’s beaming smile drop slightly.

“And I’m Georgia, we’ve been chatting,” she says as they shake hands.

“It’s great to finally meet you. Come, let’s get you settled on board.” He smiles before turning and walking away from us.

“Anything going on between the two of you?” Ava asks as we slowly walk along the carpet toward the plane.

“No.”

“Good, so you don’t mind if I …?” she asks.

Do I mind? Yes, but is that what I say? No. “He’s a work client, so … you know,” I say.

“Great because that accent and those dimples. I’m going to be riding that face by the end of the weekend,” Ava declares as she strides off in front of us.

Now I feel sick.

“Are you okay?” Georgia asks, noticing me.

“Yeah, all good, just not a fan of planes,” I lie to her. It’s a half-truth as I haven’t been on many in my life.

“Me either,” she declares, linking arms with me as we walk up the stairs. When we reach the top, I can see Ava has already commandeered the seat next to Daniel and is proceeding to flirt with him. I can’t look at the two of them talking, it makes me feel sick.

“Let me help you with that,” Daniel says, jumping up out of his seat and standing behind me as I slide my bag onto the rack. I can feel his heat radiating against me.

“You lied to me,” he whisper-growls into my ear as he places my bag on the top bench before moving away from me and taking his seat back beside Ava. She crosses her legs, showing off how long and tanned they are, but Daniel’s eyes are still fixated on me. I frown at my friend and look away. It’s going to be one long ass flight if I must watch my best friend flirt with my one-night stand for the next couple of hours.

“You’ll have to excuse me, I have some work to do,” Daniel says, waving his phone in his hand to her.