“Does he use the service himself? I mean, if that was his goal...”
“Honestly, he's too busy,” Charlotte replied. “We both are. And, since he deals with the inner workings of it all, he's rather jaded on the whole thing. It's lost a lot of it's magic for him.”
“I could see how that could happen,” I replied, licking my fingers. “He would see all the failures and why people didn't work out. It probably helps him make the whole thing work better.”
“It does, but at a price,” Charlotte admitted. “Honestly, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see him look at a female and smile.”
I rather liked him smiling at me, too. I took a sip of my drink, feeling a happy burn deep down in the pit of my stomach. “Enough about Bastian for now. Tell me about this Leo person.” I waggled my eyebrows at her, ready to find out more about her secret crush.
Charlotte's face paled and her eyes went wide as she looked into the bar behind me.
“Are you okay?” I set my drink down, thinking I had made a serious error. I wanted her to be my friend. “You don't have to talk about him if you don't want to.”
“No, no...” she whispered, shaking her head but staring past me. “He's here.”
“What?” I turned to see an attractive man in nice khaki's and a polo shirt walking up to the bar and greeting Elijah. He was tall, but well built with untamed hair and big eyes. He was definitely a looker.
“Oh, he's cute,” I murmured appreciatively.
“He's mine,” Charlotte growled. As soon as she said the words, her eyes went wider and she clapped two hands over her mouth.
“Relax, tiger.” I giggled, a little loopy from the alcohol in my drink. “I'm still gun shy and he's not my type.”
Charlotte dropped her hands. “Oh, god. He's coming this way...”
I giggled again. For being a spitfire billionaire's assistant who seemed like she could handle anything, a cute guy walking in her direction sure had her vexed.
“Hello ladies,” said the man, coming up to our table. Charlotte looked like she might throw up. “May I join you? I don't want to intrude, but it's a busy night at the bar.”
I looked around to see that every table had a patron. Considering how good my drink was, I wasn't surprised.
“You're not intruding at all,” I replied smoothly. Charlotte's eyes were about ready to pop out of their sockets. “Please join us.”
I heard a metallic ping and Charlotte's lips thinned. I tried not to giggle, but I realized she had meant to kick me and had kicked the table instead. Served her right.
“Are you okay, Charlotte?” Leo asked, pulling out a chair and siting down.
“Fine,” she replied, her voice just a little too squeaky as she glared daggers in my direction. “I just bit my tongue.”
“I'm Ava, by the way,” I said, holding out my hand across the table and smiling. “You must be Leo.”
He stood to shake my hand, like a gentleman, and I immediately liked him even more. “Ava Fairchild? The woman who is running the appraisal at the mansion?”
“That's me.” I smiled as he sat back down. “I'm glad to finally meet you, Leo. Charlotte has only nice things to say about you.”
The kick from Charlotte connected this time, her heel digging into my shin. I managed to keep a grim smile as I glared at her. Those heels were truly wicked. She glared right back as we faced off in a silent battle of eyes.
“Have you eaten?” I asked, tearing my eyes away from Charlotte. “The special here is amazing.”
“I have actually, but thank you,” he replied politely, apparently oblivious to the kicks Charlotte was sending me under the table.
“What are you doing here?” Charlotte's voice came out squeaky and incredibly high. I was surprised Leo heard her at all. If he didn't know that she had the world's biggest crush on him, then he had to be the most oblivious man on the planet.
“I was in the neighborhood,” he replied nonchalantly. “And since I was coming out for the auction anyway, I thought I might come a few days early.”
“You flew out to a remote Caribbean island two weeks early because it was in the neighborhood? I want your job.” Damn, those drinks were stronger than I realized.
Leo looked over at me in surprise.
“Sorry.” I held up my empty drink. “Watch out, these things are strong.”
“I think I actually need another,” Charlotte said quickly. She raised her hand and caught the waiter's attention, signaling for another round.
Leo glanced back and forth between the two of us, obviously evaluating the sanity of staying with us. I couldn't blame him. We both looked a little crazy.
“That and with the new app launch, I figured it would be one less conference call with Bastian,” he explained, making the trip sound a little more logical. “Gabe is ready to murder both of us because we keep messing up the video feeds.”
Charlotte laughed, but it came out far too loud and forced. I could barely believe how nervous she was. The waiter set down two drinks, one in front of me and the other in front of Charlotte. She immediately sucked down half of hers in one anxious gulp. It didn't help that her phone started to ring.
“Here, Leo. Have mine. I haven't even finished my first one yet.” I pushed my new drink over to Leo as Charlotte held the phone up to her ear and hissed into it. Her embarrassed expression turned to worry.
“Ava, it's for you,” she said, holding the phone out to me.
“Excuse me,” I replied, taking the phone and standing up. I went to the corner next to the water where the sounds of the bar were just a little quieter, but I still had to press my finger into my ear to hear. “This is Ava.”
“Miss Fairchild? This is Dr. Verner.”
It was as if I were dunked in ice water. All the warm tipsiness of the alcohol was gone and suddenly all the colors in the room were too bright and yet had no color.
“Is my dad okay?” I whispered.
“He's having another episode.” Dr. Verner's voice was calm, and that was good. If he had sounded even the littlest bit stressed, I would have screamed. “I doubt we'll even have to shock his system, but I wanted to keep you apprised of the situation.”
“Episode...” I gasped, trying to comprehend what was going on. It was hard to breathe.
“I'm fine, Ava,” my dad shouted from the background. “The doctor is just being cautious, sweetie. Don't worry about me!”