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My period was fading three days later when the helicopter left the mansion. I was sitting on the terrace with my laptop when it returned two hours later. Tristan hopped out and strode toward the residence, wheeling his luggage behind him.
“Welcome back,” I said as he walked by the terrace.
“It is quite good to be back,” he said, stopping and sighing loudly. “As much as my countrymen and I romanticize the great world city of London, it never lives up to expectations. The requirement to visit my father and sisters whenever I am there certainly does not improve the situation. I was happy to leave.”
“Aw, that’s too bad. It’s on my list of cities to visit.”
He blinked at me. “You have never been to London?”
“Or England at all,” I admitted. “Well, aside from a layover in Heathrow on the way to Paris. Does that count?”
“It most certainly does not,” Tristan said with a healthy scowl. “I must apologize to you. I would have extended an invitation if I had known you had never been. I assumed you would have gone home to visit family during Pierce’s race.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t feel like seeing my family, so I decided to stay here.”
A thoughtful expression came over his handsome face. He looked like he wanted to ask me a question, but then changed his mind. He gestured at my laptop and instead asked, “Are you doing work here in this beautiful, tropical place?”
“I’ve been tinkering with a business plan,” I said. “Jotting down ideas as they come to me. With Pierce gone, I’ve had a lot of time to think.”
“Oh?” Tristan removed his suit jacket, folded it carefully over a chair, and sat down next to me. I felt my cheeks redden; it reminded me of the way he had begun undressing in my dream. “It has been too long since I have dug my claws into a thorough business proposal. If I may be so bold…?” He reached for the laptop.
“It’s only half done…” I said.
“Nonsense. Give it here.”
And he took my laptop and began reading intensely.
I grimaced as he reviewed the document. I really wasn’t ready for anyone to look at it, and it surprised me at how nervous it made me. He’s worked with a famous billionaire for years. I value his opinion.
Tristan finished reading the five-page document, then clicked on the menu in the top-left and saved a new copy of the file. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“Making some changes.” Tristan hunched over the laptop. “I wanted to preserve your original copy.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Hush now,” he said. “I’m concentrating.”
I sat there while he typed furiously. He copied some sentences and pasted them in new places. He reorganized paragraphs, and deleted entire sections. It was like watching someone reorganize a room in my house. A room that I cared about.
“I was a technical writer in another life,” he said absently, fingers never slowing.
“Really? I thought you’ve worked for Pierce since college.”
“I have known him since college,” he clarified. “However, I worked as a technical writer at Goldman Sachs for a year before quitting to join Pierce full-time.”
Tristan continued working for a few more minutes, the clack-tap-clack of the keys the only sound. Finally, he sat back and sighed. “Here. The bones of what you had are good, but I reworded a few things and tweaked others.”
I turned the laptop towards me and began reading with a sense of apprehension. Feedback was tough to accept, and I didn’t know how harsh Tristan would be. But I found all of his changes… acceptable. More than that, they were really good.
“This is fantastic!” I found myself saying. “Especially the summary at the end. I was struggling on finding a way to succinctly state the business goals, but you reworded it perfectly. You’re brilliant.”
“High praise, but it is merely years of practice,” he replied, standing up and stretching. “IF you have any other documents that need reviewing, please do not hesitate to ask. Lately, while Pierce has been in between major projects, I have found myself with more free time than any thinking man should possess.”
“I’ll absolutely take you up on that,” I said. And I meant it. His changes, all of them, made my document so much better. “Thank you, Tristan. Really.”
His sharp blond eyebrows narrowed in a frown. “You make it seem as though you did not expect me to be helpful.”
I laughed. “You seemed somewhat hostile when I first arrived on the Bellerophon.”
