Page 20 of Summer Ever After
“I would have to give the factory two weeks’ notice.”
Her grip on my waist loosened. “Oh.”
“But I work the night shift. I could start days here, well, today if you needed me.”
Mrs. Graham looked me up and down. “Are you sure? That’s a lot.”
“I’m a hard worker, and I have a few days banked that I can take off. I can catch up on my sleep then.”
She shook her head. “I hate to do this to you, but you’re perfect, and if you think you can do it. You’re hired.”
I clasped my hands together. “I can do it. And, if it’s okay with you, I’d love to help you revamp your cleaning closet. There are some great environmental alternatives that I’d like to recommend.”
Mrs. Graham held up her index finger. “You’re hired. On one condition.”
The serious tone in her voice caught me off guard. “Okay. What is it?”
“You have to stay away from the Starling family. You need to be invisible.”
“Only speak if you’re spoken to?”
“Basically.” She scratched her head. “I know it sounds outdated, but this is their vacation home. It needs to be clean, but they don’t need to see someone doing it.”
“Trust me.” I gave her a big smile. “I don’t have any interest in getting to know any of the Starlings.”
It was one hundred percent true. I was the spy. Staying in the shadows and gathering intel for Christina and Chloe was part of my unwritten job description.
“Now, should we go save that dining room table?”
SIX
MAX
The sun beatin through the glass windows of my penthouse office. After a long winter filled with drizzle, slush, and meeting after meeting it felt like the city, and my body, was waking up. Spinning around in my chair, I rested my head against the back of the chair, closed my eyes, and let the sun beat against my lids, just like my cat Fanta.
“Mr. Starling?”
Blinking, I paused for a minute to check my watch to make sure I hadn’t just had an actual cat nap. Luckily, I had only been basking in the June sunlight for a minute. I spun around to face Eloise, my assistant. She held her hand over her eyes like a visor. I hit the remote and the blinds slid down, returning the office to the darkness of winter. “Yes?”
“I’ve got more budget items to be approved for the fundraiser.”
I shook my head. “Please tell me they got rid of the peacock idea.”
She laughed. “Once I played them their mating call, they were happy to strike them from the list. But you just wait.”
Eloise set the folder on my desk. “Your tee times for this evening are confirmed.”
“More great news.” I shook my head. Eloise knew that I’d rather be out on my motorcycle than schmoozing on the golf course, but if my new enterprise was going to be successful I needed to prove to my father that we could incorporate environmentalism into Yates’ image. “Thank you, Eloise.”
She nodded. “Your plane is fueled and ready at the aerodrome.”
Eloise’s desk lamp clicked off as she left for the day. I opened the folder and scanned down the new additions to the masquerade ball fundraiser. The executive director I’d hired didn’t seem to get the concept. We were raising money for environmental initiatives. The excessive opulence of the masquerade ball was a sharp contrast to the mandate of the charity. We had cleared the Windswan airport’s schedule that day to accommodate all of the private jets that were going to be flying in that day. He’d somehow convinced me that the money we’d raise would far outweigh the costs involved with bringing in the wealthiest investors in the country.
The peacocks had been removed, but an A-list country singer had taken their place. “A different kind of peacocking.” I muttered to myself but scribbled my signature on the bottom of the page. I dropped the folder on Eloise’s desk, pulled on my leather jacket, took my aviator sunglasses from the pocket, and headed for the aerodrome on my newest motorcycle – a custom café racer.
The circle of islands that make up Starling Cove dotted below me as I did a slightly too-low fly by, tilting my wings when I saw Trey on the gas docks. He waved and I could see his smile from the sky. I returned to a less cowboy altitude and set my sights on the Windswan airport. I hadn’t been back since that day with Daisy, and even though I knew that she didn’t live there, I did a slow circle over the subdivision where I’d last seen her.
My R9 was waiting for me at the airstrip. It wasn’t until I was on the open road, with my favorite bike between my legs, that I felt the stress of the city melt away behind me.
