playing hooky unless I want to get fired from my own company.”
“Get to the point, Henry. Enough trying to ease me into it. I’m a big girl—I can take it.” I nudged him as we crept down the hall at a snail’s pace.
“Now that you’re stable, why don’t you fly back with me? We’ll get you set up with some in-home care and rehab. There’s nothing they can do for you here that you can’t get back in San Francisco, in the comfort of your own home.”
I’d probably spent as much time in the hospital as I had in my condo in California. It was a far cry from comforting or home. “Thank you, really, but the thought of sitting in a cramped airplane for five hours makes me want to projectile vomit.”
“And thank you for that vivid picture,” Henry teased with a shudder. “But I wasn’t suggesting that I’d pack you in a commercial jetliner. We’d take my private jet, of course.”
“Private jet, eh? Aren’t we the big boy now,” I teased right back. “But really, Henry, there are starving children in the world. I don’t think I could live with myself if I took a private jet across the country when those thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars could be better used elsewhere. Like for food. For the starving kids.”
Henry let out a sigh. “Yet what you fail to realize is that yes, I might have to spend a large amount of money on my mode of transportation so I can get where I need to go, when I need to go, in order to keep my business healthy and strong. In turn, my business allows me to donate an obscene amount of money to starving children.”
I pretended to ignore him, but I didn’t miss the wide grin he shot my way.
“You can check out the company’s balance sheet if you’re so concerned with how much money we give to charities around the world,” he continued, “but I can assure you it’s in the neighborhood of a thousand times more than I spend on personal transportation each year.”
I knew with certainty that money wasn’t on the top ten list of reasons why Henry started Callahan Industries. If I doubted it, I just had to look at his choice of attire: a faded old band shirt, a pair of worn-in jeans, and a pair of casual sneakers. Henry was probably the only billionaire in the world who would be caught dead in an outfit that could have been pulled from a second-hand store.
“It’s a weak excuse, Callahan, but I’ll let it slide,” I replied with a smirk.
“So you’ll take the jet home with me?” His voice rose a note.
“That’s a nega—”
“Come on, Eve. It’s big, private, and it has a bed. What more could you ask for?”
I tried to keep a straight face as we waited for the elevator. We’d made it there a minute faster than yesterday. Score. “A bed? What kind of indecent proposal are you making?”
I’d mucked my way through enough Errands to know when I was close to getting a Target “nailed.” Henry wasn’t there yet, but that didn’t mean I would pass up giving him a reason to think about climbing into bed with me. A bed on a private jet included.
“The only proposal I’m making is offering a friend who can barely move without grimacing the use of a soft, comfy bed for a five-hour cross-country flight. If that’s indecent, then so be it.” Henry punched the first floor button and glanced at me.
“That’s indecent if I’ve ever heard of it,” I said under my breath.
“I’m loving this fun game of back and forth, but really, Eve, will you come? I hate the idea of leaving you here after what happened, and it’s not like you have any family or friends around to keep a close eye on you.”
My eyes narrowed at the shiny elevator doors. “How do you know that? You haven’t seen me in years. What makes you think I don’t have friends or family here, or in any city for that matter?” My tone wasn’t quite biting, but it was pretty damn close. Too close. I was supposed to be seducing the man, not alienating him.
Henry was silent the
“Get to the point, Henry. Enough trying to ease me into it. I’m a big girl—I can take it.” I nudged him as we crept down the hall at a snail’s pace.
“Now that you’re stable, why don’t you fly back with me? We’ll get you set up with some in-home care and rehab. There’s nothing they can do for you here that you can’t get back in San Francisco, in the comfort of your own home.”
I’d probably spent as much time in the hospital as I had in my condo in California. It was a far cry from comforting or home. “Thank you, really, but the thought of sitting in a cramped airplane for five hours makes me want to projectile vomit.”
“And thank you for that vivid picture,” Henry teased with a shudder. “But I wasn’t suggesting that I’d pack you in a commercial jetliner. We’d take my private jet, of course.”
“Private jet, eh? Aren’t we the big boy now,” I teased right back. “But really, Henry, there are starving children in the world. I don’t think I could live with myself if I took a private jet across the country when those thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars could be better used elsewhere. Like for food. For the starving kids.”
Henry let out a sigh. “Yet what you fail to realize is that yes, I might have to spend a large amount of money on my mode of transportation so I can get where I need to go, when I need to go, in order to keep my business healthy and strong. In turn, my business allows me to donate an obscene amount of money to starving children.”
I pretended to ignore him, but I didn’t miss the wide grin he shot my way.
“You can check out the company’s balance sheet if you’re so concerned with how much money we give to charities around the world,” he continued, “but I can assure you it’s in the neighborhood of a thousand times more than I spend on personal transportation each year.”
I knew with certainty that money wasn’t on the top ten list of reasons why Henry started Callahan Industries. If I doubted it, I just had to look at his choice of attire: a faded old band shirt, a pair of worn-in jeans, and a pair of casual sneakers. Henry was probably the only billionaire in the world who would be caught dead in an outfit that could have been pulled from a second-hand store.
“It’s a weak excuse, Callahan, but I’ll let it slide,” I replied with a smirk.
“So you’ll take the jet home with me?” His voice rose a note.
“That’s a nega—”
“Come on, Eve. It’s big, private, and it has a bed. What more could you ask for?”
I tried to keep a straight face as we waited for the elevator. We’d made it there a minute faster than yesterday. Score. “A bed? What kind of indecent proposal are you making?”
I’d mucked my way through enough Errands to know when I was close to getting a Target “nailed.” Henry wasn’t there yet, but that didn’t mean I would pass up giving him a reason to think about climbing into bed with me. A bed on a private jet included.
“The only proposal I’m making is offering a friend who can barely move without grimacing the use of a soft, comfy bed for a five-hour cross-country flight. If that’s indecent, then so be it.” Henry punched the first floor button and glanced at me.
“That’s indecent if I’ve ever heard of it,” I said under my breath.
“I’m loving this fun game of back and forth, but really, Eve, will you come? I hate the idea of leaving you here after what happened, and it’s not like you have any family or friends around to keep a close eye on you.”
My eyes narrowed at the shiny elevator doors. “How do you know that? You haven’t seen me in years. What makes you think I don’t have friends or family here, or in any city for that matter?” My tone wasn’t quite biting, but it was pretty damn close. Too close. I was supposed to be seducing the man, not alienating him.
Henry was silent the
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