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The mere feeling of his touch as he escorted me to one of the chairs was enough to thrill me and send my head spinning again, the same way I’d felt when I’d been in his office. Jake was ridiculously sexy, there was no doubt about it.
“How did you do all this?” I asked him. Over the weekend I’d read up on CAA and Jake’s business empire, and I was completely amazed by his success story. Jake had begun investing in airlines as soon as he’d left the Air Force, and, after working up additional income as a test pilot, had founded CAA as a private chartering company. Six years ago, they’d gone public with Tom McLaughlin, and FAA approval had given them the ability to corner a market in domestic and international flights. Since then, the company had become worth 2.5 billion dollars, and the investments Jake had made over the last twelve years had made him a billionaire. It was an inspiring and impressive story, but the truth was, I didn’t need to know the man sitting across from me was incredibly wealthy to be interested in him.If he wasn’t Sam’s best friend …
“I’ll tell you,” said Jake, and I leaned in to listen, my eyes straying to his brilliant green eyes and his strong hands clasped across his lap as he spoke.
“Did you notice something about me this morning, Alicia?” he asked, casually leaning back in his chair. So confident … it bordered on arrogance at times, but there was something sexy about it nonetheless.
“What?” I replied. There were plenty of things I’d noticed about Jake, but none of them pertained to being a successful airline mogul.
“I didn’t bring any baggage,” he said. “And why would I need to? At my company headquarters in L.A., I have everything I need. At home, I have seven suits, seven shirts, and four sets of running clothes. It’s the same in L.A. It’s the same at my private beach resort in Florida. I don’t carry baggage anywhere. It’s my philosophy. I work alone. I live alone.”
“Completely alone?” I asked. “Don’t you find it … well, kind of lonely?”
Jake shrugged. “I’ve got friends. Your brother and I … well, we kind of go way back. I wouldn’t have made it through the Air Force Academy without him. But I’d never want to weigh anyone down. So, I travel light. And I don’t allow myself to get weighed down by anything. Or anyone.”
There was something about what Jake said that made me a little sad, though I didn’t understand why. We sat in silence for a little while, as I pondered how little room there would be in a life like that for love or companionship of any kind. And then, Tom McLaughlin and Stephen Andrews pulled up outside in their car, and suddenly I wasn’t Alicia Matlock anymore, but Miss Matlock, flight attendant extraordinaire!
Chapter 4
Jake
Iwasimpressedwithhow well Alicia handled herself on her first official voyage with CAA. She was cool, calm, and collected. But somehow a wall came between us, and it wasn’t just her getting into character when Tom and Stephen arrived. There was something else making Alicia act coldly toward me.
I noticed it when she started to serve our drinks—how she wouldn’t make eye contact with me. It only made me want her more, and by the time Tom and Stephen got to talking business with me, I was focusing on them while watching her busy herself about the cabin of the plane. Her stockinged legs and curvy waist drew my eyes as I watched her soft, brown hair fall around her face as she adjusted the drinks cabinet or strode past us to check on Jim in the cockpit.
Still, the time passed quickly enough, and in about three and a half hours we were touching down, having crossed two time zones. Tom made his usual joke as we landed. “Wow, it only took us an hour and a half!” Stephen laughed, but the truth was, my mind was on other things. The main thought was, why had Tom wanted to fly us out here, to company headquarters? Sure, it would be useful for acquiring Stephen’s investment. But Tom handled investments, while I shored up the business and practical sides of CAA. Why didIneed to be there?
We landed at LAX, at 9:30 a.m. local time. I had a private car waiting at the airport and sent Tom and Stephen ahead to ride to company headquarters.
“Where am I staying?” asked Alicia. “I assume we aren’t flying back until tomorrow.”
“I thought we’d stay at the Hotel Bel-Air,” I said. “If that’s okay with you.”
“You’re kidding,” replied Alicia. “That’s like, the best hotel in the city. And,” she added, suspicious again, “why areyoustaying there?”
“Because,” I said. “It’s your first time in L.A., right? And god knows what your brother would do to me if something were to happen to you.”
Alicia tossed her hair again and pursed her lips, in that way which stirred something in my groin and made the beast inside of me purr. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “You’ve got your own apartment in the city. Why are you coming up there with me?”
“So, I can keep an eye on you,” I said, casually.
“I don’t need anyone to keep an eye on me,” said Alicia. But I wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer. Our private car appeared, and we vanished into the sprawl of L.A. I dropped off Alicia and her things at the hotel, gave her the key to the room, and made it straight for the CAA offices.
I could tell something was wrong when I got to the sleek, elegant boardroom. I’d already been informed by my secretary at CAA that Stephen Andrews had left. He wished me well, but sadly, he was very busy and had a lot to do back in New York. It boggled my mind how the guy was spending more time on a plane today than he was out of one.
“I don’t understand,” I said to Tom, once we were in the boardroom with the executive staff. “What’s going on? Why did you bring me down here?”
“Well, we thought it would be good to have you at this investment and management meeting,” said Tom slowly.
“Why?” I asked quietly. I was tense. I’d heard rumblings and rumors of Tom’s activity down here in L.A., but nothing had been confirmed.
“I think I’d like to start,” said my head of finance, Karen Grappler, “by saying, first and foremost, how impressed we are with the business model you created, Jake.”
“Thank you, Karen,” I replied, “but I’d like to ask you again. Why are we here?” I hated this political boardroom talk. I almost longed for the days when it had just been me and Tom, dreaming up the idea for CAA alone in a bar on Hollywood Boulevard.
“Times are changing, Jake,” began Tom, slowly. “In general, there is so much future profit potential in CAA as it stands. No one doubts that. But,” he continued, making eye contact with a few, less scrupulous members of the board, “we feel that in order to prepare for the worst, it may be necessary to consider a change of strategy.”
“Up until now,” Karen continued, “CAA has offered a luxury or boutique experience as its principal selling point. People travel with us because they like to be pampered.”
