Page 136 of The Nanny and the Hothead
They couldn’t leave! Not like this!
She turned to her sneaky chef. “Mitch, we can’t go. We can’t leave Oscar.”
“I’ve got it covered. Rowen knows what to do,” he answered, looking more and more pleased with himself by the second.
“Mitch provided us with the code to his security system. We’ll stop by and get Oscar’s things. Honestly, even without the code, I could have hacked into his system,” Rowen assured her—which didn’t altogether leave her without some reservations. But at least Oscar would have everything he needed.
She pushed aside Rowen’s unsettling hacking comment and focused on the giant orange truck. “What about Louise? You can’t leave her here, can you?” she asked, still unable to believe he’d hired a freaking helicopter to whisk them away.
“Erick and Sergio are going to return it. And Raz volunteered to drop the teens off at their homes after getting Louise back in the garage. It’s under control,” he replied smoothly.
When had he planned this? She’d watched him all night.
She lifted her chin. She wasn’t done with the interrogation. “How did you get a helicopter to come here?”
“I told you. It’s a rich person thing,” Mitch answered with an unmistakable thread of amusement in his tone.
She glanced at Penny.
Her friend nodded. “Planes, helicopters, boats, houses all over the place. Mitch is right. It kind of is a rich person thing.”
Charlotte attempted to regain her bearings. “And us? Are we returning, or is that thing taking us across the globe?” She had to ask. It’s not like he’d supplied any information about this event.
Wincing, Rowen inhaled a tight breath. “You would most certainly crash and die if you attempted to pilot a helicopter around the globe.”
Charlotte gasped. This night could not include death!
“Honey,” Penny whispered, pushing up on her toes to whisper in Rowen’s ear. “That’s not helping.”
Rowen nodded. “Got it. How about this? If you did try to fly a helicopter around the world, your death would most likely be quick and painless and somewhere over the ocean.”
“What?” Charlotte stuttered.
Penny gazed at her fiancé. She did like the weirdos. “Let’s go check on the kids,” she suggested. “And Char,” she continued.
“Yes?”
“You’ll be fine on the helicopter, and you don’t have to worry about Oscar. He and Phoebe will have a blast. Have fun at the event. It looks like the two of you are going to have plenty of time to talk.”
Charlotte nodded, getting the message loud and clear. “Thank you,” she replied, holding her friend’s gaze.
“Yeah, thank you so much. We owe you,” Mitch echoed as Penny and Rowen set off for the food truck, and her little heart fluttered.
We.
She loved the sound of that.
Mitch turned to her, then scanned her from head to toe. “You’ve got your camera and your camera bag. We’re ready.”
“Ready for what?” she pressed.
“For tonight,” he answered, totally not answering her question and still looking as pleased as punch. He gestured for her to start walking, and reluctantly she fell into step beside him.
“I have a few questions—a few professional questions as your photographer,” she began.
“Shoot!” he said, taking her hand in his.
“Let’s start with the basics. Are we attending a real event?”
