Page 25 of Open To Negotiation

My hands itched to google it but I’d gotten this far blind, maybe I just kept that going. I just couldn’t decide if it would stress me out more to know about him, or less.

“So… Do you work for Knight Enterprises?” At first, I expected it to be a regular for-hire driver, but given Theo’s lingering scent in the car, I’m starting to think that might not be the case.

“In a way, I work directly for Mr. Knight, going on eight years now,” he said with pride in his voice.

“So you moved here with him?”

“Aye, me and my wife Shelly both work for Mr. Knight. When he decided to open the office here he asked if we wanted to come with him or continue to work in London. Not much driving I can do without Mr. Knight, and I didn’t really want to be assigned to someone else.

“The other boys use me sometimes, but since they’re all here too it just didn’t feel right. Shelly and I don’t have any kids so this was a good opportunity to travel. Plus, the man pays well.” It was interesting to hear how highly he spoke of Theo. It seemed Theo had built a family around himself took care of the people in his circle.

“Do you do this for Theo often?” I asked after a few silent moments, deciding he might be a wealth of information about the man I should have googled. I caught his confused look in the mirror. “Driving women around for him,” I clarified.

He let out a loud laugh as we came to stop at a red light. “Never, not once.”

He had no reason to lie to me and the surprise in his voice at my question seemed genuine. “Seriously? In eight years?”

“Nope, Mr. Knight sends cars, sure. But I’m his personal driver, he doesn’t use me for anyone else. Like I mentioned the boys once in a while but never women.”

“Huh,” I said, pulling on the sleeve of my leather jacket.

Why was Theo bothering?

Was it because I had turned him down?

Was he trying to show off or something?

We pulled up outside a large building in the warehouse district as the list of questions kept growing in my head. The building was large and covered in old brick. There was a food truck in the parking lot and it looked like the other buildings nearby weren’t open. Which was probably good considering how busy the place was.

The line outside the door was around the block, bouncers blocking the entrance. I was shocked how busy it was so early in the night. Even from inside the car I could hear the music and drone of voices.

“Here,” I said as we came to a stop out front. I unbuckled and passed him a bundle of cash between the seats. “I didn’t know how much but this should cover it.” Arthur turned to face me, keeping his left hand on the wheel with a strange look on his face.

“What is that?”

“Money…” The look on his face was heating my cheeks. “To pay for the ride,” I explained dumbly. “Thankfully I had the cash because it doesn’t look like you have a card reader. My grandfather always used to say that you should have cash on you. I never needed it before really and I sometimes forget I have it, but I’ve done it since I was like seventeen.” My nervous babbling out in full force.

“You’re trying to pay me?” he asked slowly. I scratched the back of my head, my other hand still holding the money out. This was the most awkward interaction.

“Umm… yes… you did drive me here.”

This time he threw his head back and laughed while I sat there frowning at him. He finally composed himself, wiped a tear away from the corner of his eye and smiled sweetly at me. “Mr. Knight sent me to pick you up and you think you need to pay.” It wasn’t a question, more of a statement.

“I told him I would pay!” This got another laugh and he shook his head, unbuckled himself and got out of the car. I had no idea what was so funny.

I huffed and then quickly shoved my money into the console between the driver and passenger seat. He would find the money eventually and hopefully think he’d just left it there at some point. I had just shut the thing and pushed back when Arthur opened my door.

“You can leave your jacket here,” he said as I stepped out into the warm night. By the look of the crowd, I wouldn’t need it inside. “I’ll be driving you home later.”

Now I was feeling even better about leaving the money. “I would like to argue that I could just take a cab, but I don’t think you’d listen.”

“You’re right about that, not unless Mr. Knight says otherwise. And if I thought that might be the case I would just sit here and wait all by myself in this boring car in the parking lot.” He lifted an eyebrow at me to see if the guilt trip worked.

It did.

“Fine,” I said on a sigh. I didn’t want to make him sit out here by himself all night.

“Mr. Knight can call whenever you’re ready, but you also have my number so just call when you want to leave.”