“Um, I don’t think you should say ‘whore’ and ‘God’ in the same sentence.”
“Posh.” Grandma waved her off. “I’m tired now. I’m going to rest my eyes. Goodnight.”
Apparently the conversation was over. Either that or the three glasses of wine had done Grandma in. She was snoring in seconds. Within the next twenty minutes they landed, and thus ended the weirdest and most terrifying flight of Char’s existence.
*
The very second the FASTEN SEATBELT sign went off, Char bolted from her seat. Grandma jerked awake and yawned.
“There already?”
“Yup.” Char wasn’t trying to be rude but she really wanted to put this nightmare behind her. As fast as humanly possible she went back to her seat where Beth was waiting patiently.
“We have to go, now!” Char ordered her sister. “Grab our stuff. We don’t want Grandma Nadine to think—”
“Char!” A familiar feminine voice yelled. “Char! I need help!”
Panicking, Char made a beeline—over chairs even—to Grandma’s side. The old woman was sitting patiently in her seat.
“Yes? Is it your heart? Are you sick? Are you—”
“My bags are heavy and I do believe I’ve had too much wine.”
Shock of the century. Last time Char had drunk that much wine in the course of twenty minutes she’d found herself face down in a dog bed next to a lab named Lucifer, who’d clearly taken advantage of her all night if the hair in her mouth was any indication.
“Carry them?” Grandma Nadine smiled so sweetly Char had no choice but to oblige. Which was exactly how she found herself at baggage claim an hour later with Beth, Grandma, and a swollen Jake in tow.
Chapter Five
The sunglasses weren’t helping. Staggering to the baggage claim, Jake tried the best he could to keep his eyes focused on the carousel; the minute his bags came he was bailing. Grandma was a grown woman. She could find her own damn hotel, and if he had to face Char again he’d either lose his mind and do something crazy, like stare at her lips, or strangle her. Truly, it was a toss-up at this point.
“Jake?” Grandma called to him. “Jake, did you find my bag yet?”
“No,” he ground out, “probably because I’m not looking for it. I’m looking for my bag. You can find your bags and go to the nice little hotel you always like in downtown Seattle.”
Grandma grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Oh, I already have a place to stay!”
“Fantastic.”
Grandma released his hand and pulled out her cell phone. “Yes, just the one limo, please. Perfect. Yes, we have two passengers.”
She waved to Char and another girl. Char ignored him completely, which was fine; he didn’t want to even remember this day had occurred. He walked to the other side of the baggage claim and watched as Char and the girl with her grabbed their bags and walked off. Good riddance. He just wanted to go to sleep.
On the bright side, at least Grandma was getting him a limo. It wasn’t that he was poor or anything, but being cut off from a multi-million dollar company wasn’t exactly a mark in his favor, not after living the lifestyle he’d been living for the past five years. He’d partied through college, spent money like there was no tomorrow, and didn’t care about anything except himself. Which would’ve been fine by him if the money hadn’t suddenly run out. Well, not run out, to be fair. He was still a millionaire, but without his inheritance from Grandma things were going to be tighter than normal. Good-bye impromptu flights to the Grand Caymans, penthouse suites, and six-figure birthday bashes.
This year was the year he was supposed to have taken over the company.
Instead, his grandmother had jumped out of retirement and taken full control of the board again, leaving Jake as a measly vice president. Without the paycheck of a CEO he was feeling a bit… ungrateful. Or maybe just irritated? He wasn’t sure. But he needed a strong drink and sex before he could even think about going to work come Monday morning. Maybe Sarah would be available? Or Natasha? She’d been fun for a while.
“There it is!” Grandma nudged Jake toward the giant pink leopard bag. “Grab it! Hurry!”
With a grunt he lifted it off the carousel and nearly toppled over. “What the hell do you have in there?”
“Oh, you know…” Grandma waved him off. “A girl can never be without her traveling outfits and makeup.”
“Right.” He saw his bag and grabbed it. “So where’s the limo?”
“What limo?” She pulled her dark Chanel sunglasses from her purse.
“The limo,” Jake repeated. Exhaustion from the plane ordeal was really getting to him. “You were just on the phone and you said you got a limo for two people. Where is it?”
“Jake, I’m sure there are lots of limos that fit more than two people in them, and to be honest, I have no idea where one is. I texted instructions to the driver to call Char and her sister.”