Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
“Philly, huh?” he asks. “I’ve got a place there. But my main house is here in Greenwich, Connecticut. Not that far. Have you ever been?”
“No.” I shake my head.
“Well, I’ve got a solution then.” Jason grins. He just grins, and it’s then that I realize he’s still holding my hand. We haven’t let go since we started shaking several minutes ago.
A moment goes by, and I see by the look in his eye what he’s suggesting. It doesn’t take a genius to understand.
“No…” I say, not in the actual sense of the word, but more like the Are you serious? kind of way, because I’m not quite sure I actually believe him. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying right now?”
“Yeah, why not?” Jason shrugs. He lets go of my hand to pull out his phone and begins typing with both hands. I feel an immediate sense of loss from no longer having contact of his skin against mine. What is this man doing to me? And so quickly? “Or would you rather stay here and try to make a bed out of these godawful chairs?”
Well, he’s got a point there. Sleeping at the gate would be a terrifying proposition, especially when surrounded by all the other passengers, who would certainly be growing angrier by the hour.
“But I don’t even know you. What if you turn out to be a serial killer or something?”
“Serial killer?”
“Like that gorgeous– that guy from You?” That was close. “Maybe that’s your schtick. You show up at airports, find women who have their flights delayed, offer them a place to sleep, and then chop them up into pieces while they’re–”
And then, something about the way he’s looking at me – amused, completely unfazed, a man who’s used to dealing with things and being on top of everything and handling it his way – just causes all the pieces to fall into place. And I get it.
“Wait a second!” I blurt out. “I know where I know you from now!”
“Oh, yeah?” Jason smiles.
“You’re Jason Rooke, the billionaire CEO of Rooke Industries!”
Jason tilts his head down in what could be considered a respectable bow. “Guilty as charged.”
I grab my carry-on and my to-go bag and stand.
“All right, Mr. Rooke,” I say. “Let’s get out of this place.”
2
JASON ROOKE
I knew the moment I saw her. The moment I saw her, I knew that this girl was special. I’ve made an incredibly successful career out of my ability to just know things. To be right on the money. People are always asking me how I knew this investment would be the right one, how that investment would be the right one, and very often I give them the same answer. I just knew.
And that’s how I felt when I saw Lucy.
I was walking to my gate – one down past hers – for a flight to Los Angeles (my private jet is currently undergoing maintenance), and I knew that moment that I just had to drop everything to talk to her. Even if it meant missing that flight to a very important business meeting, but I’m the boss, and being the boss means I can just reschedule for a later date.
It wasn’t just Lucy’s flowing blond hair or entrancing green eyes, her pink lips or rosy cheeks that drew me in. It was something about the way she carried herself. It was as if there was an aura around her that only I could see that was calling out to me. I knew I had to answer, so I went right over to her without an ounce of hesitation. And boy was I right.
I was instantly smitten, and as I walk with her outside, my feelings for her only grow stronger. This isn’t like me. This doesn’t happen to me. I keep myself away from women – at least in the emotional sense. I keep myself protected. Thirty-one-years-old and I’ve never been married. Never had a long-term relationship. I built myself up from nothing, and I couldn’t have done it if I let myself get distracted by a member of the opposite sex. And after I established Rooke Industries into the titan that it is today, I knew I had to be much more careful about who I let into my life, so the idea of a wife became even less feasible.
But now, here I am, walking out of the JFK airplane terminal section, toting a girl’s carry-on behind me, over toward the helipad, where I have a charter ready to take us to my house in Greenwich. If you’d asked me if this was possible even a half-hour ago, I would have said absolutely not.
When Lucy sees the chopper, her eyes go wide, and she turns to me. “Seriously? We’re going in that thing?”
“We sure are.” I smile. “Or would you like to sit in traffic out of New York City? Because I sure don’t.”