“Hey, Carson, wake up!” Hunter said.
“Leave me alone,” Carson mumbled, pushing at the hand shaking him. Rolling over on his back, he threw his arm over his eyes, trying to block out the bright light on the other side of his eyelids.
“Why is he sleeping out here?” asked Fionn, looking at Carson. “Why isn’t he in his bedroom?”
“I don’t know, pet,” Hunter replied, “but from the looks of it, I’d say he was working late.”
“Maybe you should let him sleep.”
“No can do. Paul says breakfast is ready…besides, we’ll be landing in Paris in less than an hour. By the looks of my cousin, he needs a shower and shave before he meets anyone.”
As the voices intruded on Carson’s attempt to snooze, he realized his cousin had a point. No matter how much his body craved sleep, he knew it wasn’t going to happen—at least not then. Sitting up, he groaned at the stiffness in his neck before turning his head from side to side. Then, opening his eyes, he stared crossly at his cousin and Fionn. “To answer your question, I fell asleep out here because I couldn’t fall asleep in my bedroom.”
“That’s too bad,” Fionn said. “Did the movement of the plane get to you?”
Carson opened his mouth to snap back a sharp retort but abruptly closed it when he caught Hunter’s eye. Shaking his head, he closed his laptop, slipped it into his bag, and turned to Paul who’d just arrived with their breakfast. “I’ve got to take a quick shower.”
“No problem, sir,” replied Paul. “I’ll keep it hot for you.”
“Thanks,” Carson said, giving him a smile before standing. Then, brushing past Hunter and Fionn, he made his way to the bedroom he’d been forced to abandon early that morning. Setting his bag down on the bed, he grabbed his toiletry bag and headed for the bathroom. Turning on the hot water, he hoped it would help get the kinks out of his body, put there by a too-short love seat. A sigh of pleasure escaped from his lips as the pulsating water went to work on his muscles. Placing his hands on the shower wall, Carson leaned forward, letting his head hang down as he closed his eyes. Exhaustion filled his body; the need to sleep was overwhelming.This must be what Colton was talking about…I bet I’m suffering from jet lag.
Trying to remember what he was supposed to do to get rid of it was more than his mind could handle and he dozed off only to be jerked awake when his head thumped against the shower wall.Shit!Quickly righting himself, Carson squeezed some shower gel into his hand before soaping up his body. Looking down at his groin, he snorted.No signs of life there. Grasping his cock, he slid his soapy hand down it, giving it a tug and twist before sliding it back up.A dead duck. Grimacing, he gave up, rinsing off before climbing out and drying off.
Wrapping a towel around his waist, Carson stepped over to the sink and, when he got a good look at himself in the mirror—bleary eyes, unshaven face, tiredness clearly reflected in his face—it had him hustling to the bedroom for his phone. There was no way he could meet with anyone today, especially the man who was his contact. Sending a text to Colton back at the pack house, he hoped his brother was on the night shift at the hospital. Staring at the screen, Carson waited for a reply, biting his lower lip. When it came back, he cursed. His brother advisedhim to do the one thing he couldn’t do today—get some sleep.
“Carson,” Hunter called through the door. “Paul said we’ll be landing in thirty minutes. Are you gonna eat breakfast?”
Fuck!“I’ll be right out,” Carson answered. Rushing back to the bathroom, he gave up on shaving and quickly brushed his teeth before stowing everything back in his toiletry bag and carrying it to the bedroom. After slipping on the clothes he’d picked out the night before, he repacked his bag before heading back to the main cabin. The jet was descending and it was now too late to eat anything. Inwardly sighing at the mess his morning was becoming, he could feel his anxiety rising. It was a holdover from his childhood and the only way to manage it was to make sure there were no surprises—which is why he spent so much time planning out his days.
Frowning, Carson knew others tagged him as boring, or worse, a stick-in-the-mud and, if he was honest with himself, they were probably right. The only time he could let loose was when he was with Cody and Colton. Then he could hand the reins over to his brothers, knowing he was safe, but even that had risks, as he found out. In the end, Carson chose paths that minimized surprises, content to let his brothers take the more unpredictable ones.
“Hey, do you want to stop to eat before we head to the chateau?” Hunter asked him.
“You don’t mind?” Maybe if he had some food, it would help him stay awake.
“Nope,” Hunter replied. “Frankly, we have no idea if there’s food where we’re going. We might have to do some shopping.”
“Did you ask Mr. Marchant…Remy?”
“According to Penn, this Marchant guy only manages the businesses. Before we left, Fionn called the chateau but no one answered.”
“I’d be glad to stop for breakfast. Maybe you can find out what’s going on at the chateau when Remy picks us up.”
“It’s worth a shot,” Hunter agreed. “At least he might be able to tell us a good place to eat in Paris.”
Carson’s stomach growled just then. Smiling at his cousin, he said, “Yeah, but from what Dakota told me, there isn’t any bad place to eat there.”
~/~/~/~/~
Once on the tarmac, Carson saw a man with silver hair standing next to a black SUV parked near the hanger. Giving him a brief nod, he then turned to Paul who was standing near the stairs. “Thanks, Paul. Great flight.” Then Carson waited for Fionn and Hunter, chuckling when he saw his cousin come down the boarding stairs with his mate slung over his shoulder.
“Hey Paul, thanks for everything,” Hunter said as he passed the steward.
“My pleasure, sir.”
“Nice seeing you again,” Fionn said, giggling, as he lifted his head and gave Paul a short wave.
Raising an eyebrow, Carson smirked. “Is this a French thing?”
