Page 82 of The Cowboy's Bullfighter
One eyebrow lifted. “Write the check, Pete, and I’ll have Darren Trotter bring your straws out next week. Put it in writing, Pete. Now.” Damn, she was a ball-buster.
He liked her a lot.
“Now, darl.”
“No. Now.” She crossed her arms and stared.
Brooks stood up and waited, watching as Pete blew out air and grabbed his checkbook. “Will you call Noori on the way to the airport and offer him the job, Brooks?”
“I will.” He held out his hand, and Pete slapped the signed check into it. And it had the pay he’d agreed on as well as the competition commission he’d gotten. Good deal.
“If you need me to consult, I’m happy to do it on Zoom. But this is too far to come now that I have kids and a partner.”
“Fair enough.” Pete twisted his lips. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to bring your brood out here?”
“God no. I can’t imagine that many moving parts. Maybe for a vacay sometime, but right now, we’ve got a baby on the way and they’re still getting over losing their folks and moving in with me and Coop… It’s a thing. But thank you.” He did appreciate Pete for his career. He did.
“Let the man go. Mags, get Brooks a flight—business class, as soon as humanly possible. It’s an emergency.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Mags said to Wilma. “Go get your bags, Brooks, and I’ll get Jarvis to take you in and drop you so you can get to the airport.”
Jarvis was the helicopter jockey who got people places quick as a lizard drinking.
“My bag is in the cart.”
“Oh, good.” She beamed. She lifted the walkie-talkie shealways carried. “Jarvis. Brooks is on his way to you. He’s flying back to the States.”
“Oi, already?”
Already? He’d been here three weeks too long.
“Just get the bird going.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Thanks, Mags. Wilma. I appreciate it so much. Pete. Send those straws.”
“I will, mate. I will.” Pete stood and came to man-hug and handshake him. “Be safe.”
“I’m going to do my best.” He headed out, and he drove down to the helipad, where Cookie met him, handing him a bag of biscuits, grinning.
“Travel snacks.”
“Thanks.” He hugged her. “Hang in there.”
“Will do.”
“You ready to get the fuck out of here, mate?” Cookie asked, and he grinned.
“You have no idea.”
ChapterTwenty-Two
Coop wasn’t sure if Ryder or Kase was the one who was going to pick up Brooks, and he didn’t really care. He’d explained his situation, and he knew one of two things. First, one of the Chiaras was going to get paperwork signed from Miss Bella’s parents so she could stay here at the house. And the other one was picking up his cowboy tomorrow afternoon.
The kids were cleaning their little asses off.
He was drinking a lot of liquids and trying to flush stuff through his kidneys as best he could before he died.
