“My, uh…” I struggled to find the right words to describe Gwen. “My new PR expert will be with us. Not sure if that matters to you.”
“Fine, fine, no problem. I assumed you’d have a flock of people traveling with you, seeing as you had that big appearance last night. Great job, by the way.”
“Thanks,” I said, shocked that he’d watched. But then, maybe he’d been concerned about the effect it could have on the stock price. “I need to run, but we’ll meet you at the hangar. We’re on a tight schedule today, so don’t be late.”
My dad was never late, but I couldn’t resist.
“Of course. See you soon.”
I disconnected the call and tried to process just how awkward the flight was going to be. In addition to the standard-level awkwardness I was used to from every interaction with my dad—especially for hours at a stretch, in a pressurized tube where we couldn’t just avoid each other—there was the added Gwen factor.
And the Gwen’skissfactor. I’d figured we’d spend the trip sorting out how to navigate what that kiss would impact in our working relationship. But there was no way we could have that talk in front of my dad. He didn’t belong in the same zip code as a conversation about feelings.
Oliver Ashford wasn’t a harsh man—not to me or to anyone else. In my whole life, I was pretty sure I’d never seen him be deliberately unkind to anyone. He was just…very self-contained, and intensely private about his emotions.
Maybe he’d been able to be more open with Mom, but if so, they’d kept that kind of thing behind closed doors. It honestly would have been just as weird to me to walk in on my parents having a heartfelt talk as it would have been to walk in on them having sex.
So yeah, whatever was going on between Gwen and me, we’d have to sort it out after we got back to LA. Nothing was going to get resolved during this flight.
As planned, I met Gwen in the lobby. She looked typically breathtaking even though she was dressed for travel in a blazer, jeans, and flat shoes.
I scanned her as I walked across the lobby toward her, trying to imagine what my father would think of her. He’d rarely warmed to the people I spent time with, whether it was colleagues, friends, or girlfriends.
My father constantly warned my brothers and me about our family’s “edge,” which was his code for our immense wealth. He said it set us apart and made us targets for people looking to profit from their relationship to us.
Kevin was maybe the first of my friends he’d truly accepted. He never liked Miranda, but then again, he’d been busy taking care of my mom as she and I were getting together. I’m sure his grief colored how he saw the rest of the world.
I know it had for me as well.
“Good morning,” Gwen said to me, all business. She turned to point outside. “Great weather today. Not a cloud in the sky.”
Ah, so that’s where we were now. Small talk about weather.
“Perfect flying weather,” I agreed. “And good on you for not jinxing us, I suppose. You haven’t picked up any aviation superstitions working with me, have you?”
“Superstitions? What are you talking about?”
“Rule one of private aviation: never, ever discuss future weather conditions. Current skies? Fair game. But the second you start getting cocky about the forecast…” I shrugged.
“Let me guess…wisdom from personal experience?”
“I don’t do superstition, but you learn to respect the aircraft gods,” I replied. “Also…there’s been a change in our plans, though. My father is hitching a ride back with us.”
“Oh, wow,” she said. She frowned at me. “Is everything okay?”
I shrugged. “I guess? He didn’t go into detail about why he was here—or why he didn’t have his own flight already arranged. Anyway, let’s head out.”
We spent the drive to the airport rehashing the concert and checking social media posts about it to see if there’d been any mention about me being there. Thankfully, the coverage about me was a footnote, and the comments were pretty universally positive, which meant that the storm had finally passed.
All thanks to the woman sitting beside me.
We were the first to arrive, and I was tempted to take advantage of our last moments alone to try to make sense of what had happened in the hallway the night before. But Gwen dropped into her seat and immediately opened her laptop. I did the same, even though I was having trouble focusing.
I heard Dominic greeting my father just outside the plane.
“Incoming,” I sighed.
“Good morning, fellow travelers,” Dad announced as he stepped in. He walked to Gwen with his hand outstretched. “I’m Oliver Ashford.”
