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“Jade.” Tanner nodded his greeting. “I never thought you’d be back in this town.”

She shrugged a slender shoulder. “Hadn’t planned on it, but I’m here for Olivia.”

“Why are you nice to everyone but me?” Melanie grumbled.

Now Olivia did laugh. “Calm down, killer. Tanner is headed out to work and I’m sure he’ll target other unsuspecting criminals.”

Tanner threw Jax a glance over his shoulder. “See ya, man.”

Once Tanner headed out the door, Jax turned his attention back to the small gang of women. He knew this was not just a simple social call and he was about to get bombarded with estrogen. He had no problem taking time from his day, and from the looming invoice, to see Olivia.

“I assume the three of you are not here to take me to lunch?” he asked, propping his hands on his hips.

“Not likely.” Jade glanced around the hangar before turning her attention back to him. “Place hasn’t changed much.”

Jax could tell from her tone that she wasn’t being judgmental. If anything, she was being kind because the place had changed. While it may have needed some minor repairs, he did most everything himself and definitely kept the place clean. Just because he was low on funds—story of his life—didn’t mean he was lazy. He worked his ass off to make sure this place stayed running. As long as the planes took his clients to and from, that’s really all that mattered.

“Is this where you all tell me about this grand idea to transform my airport into something on a bigger scale with fancier clients?”

“Not how we would’ve worded it, but sort of,” Livie stated. “Should we go outside or into your office?”

Jax shrugged, not really eager to do either. He still hadn’t given this a good deal of thought. Of course it had been on his mind, but he’d done a school project with Piper, then they’d baked cookies, and then he was scheduling future flights, and mulling over bills. So, the whole spending more money to make the airport “better” wasn’t something he’d focused on.

“We’ll go to your office,” Jade chimed in. “It’s hotter than Hades out there even in the shade.”

Resigned to the fact he was going to have to face this firing squad, Jax led the way back into his office. He gestured toward the sofa, which still had Piper’s sleeping bag spread out.

“Go ahead and sit on it,” he told them. “The couch is scratchy, so we keep Piper’s bedding out for when she’s here and naps.”

Suddenly he felt as if he were under some sort of scrutiny. Why was he explaining to them why he kept a princess sleeping bag on a ratty old plaid sofa? Maybe he liked princesses.

Once they took a seat, Jax still wanted to maintain some of the upper hand, so he propped a hip on the corner of his desk.

“Okay. Let’s hear the speech you rehearsed.” He held up a hand to stop them before they started. “Wait. Do you each have a part, like a play? Or are you winging it? Oh, no. Is this going to be a good cop–bad cop rendition?”

Melanie laughed. “How do you want us to deliver the message?”

Livie waved a hand. “We didn’t come for dinner and a show,” she stated. Her bright eyes came back to land on him, once again socking him right in the gut with arousal. “I’ve been thinking and Jade’s idea is actually brilliant and something that is a win-win for both of us.”

Crossing his arms, he made sure to look her right in the eye. She may be a corporate shark and used to negotiating, but he was a former member of the United States Air Force. He used to answer to the government. He wasn’t too afraid of three women. Though they seemed to be staring at him. Were they waiting to attack or were they evaluating him?

No doubt Livie had told them about the kisses. Women liked to chatter, to get opinions, to make sure their friends were in their corner. He didn’t care. If she was talking about their kissing, then that meant she was thinking about him. Jax was more than okay with that.

“And how will we be winning?” he asked. “Because the way I see it, we’d have to invest an amount of money I can’t even wrap my mind around, plus hire contractors, designers. All of that renovating would disrupt the flights.”

Jade held up her hands. “Wait. This can all be worked out. As far as the money goes, there are grants for this type of thing. The money isn’t going to be as big of an issue as you believe.”

“Grants,” he muttered. “So who will draw up those proposals?”

“Actually, I’m an attorney and Olivia works with budgeting and numbers all day.” Melanie offered a sweet smile and Jax immediately saw why Tanner had been so taken with the new girl in town. “Between the two of us, we’ll get it done.”

Her assurance seemed so genuine. He had no doubt with these three they would get the job done because Olivia and Jade were strong, independent women. He didn’t know Melanie, but if she kept company with these two, then she had to be cut from the same cloth.

“Where do you fit in?” He nodded toward Jade.

“Oh, I’m the mastermind,” she stated as if that should’ve already been known. “I’ve been working in business for years. I am more than capable of finding contractors and architects to draw up plans.”

Jax rubbed the back of his neck. Was he supposed to make a decision now? He had six eyes on him, the room wasn’t filled with tension, it was more like . . . uncertainty. How the hell was he supposed to know what the right decision was? If he knew the investment would be profitable, if they could get the funds covered, and only if his already established clients were not disrupted. Not to mention the pilots who rented from him. There were so many variables and not enough answers.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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