“Yeah?” I’d had similar suspicions, hence why I was talking to her, not him, when it came to appropriate clothes to pack. “Well, I’m not ringing him unless I absolutely have to, so help me out. What the hell can I take with me that will suit every single one of those possible contexts you just described?”
“What’ve you got in here?”Lucien asked as he hoisted my bag into the back of a very familiar car. I’d put a professional-looking pants suit on, made sure my hair was pulled back in a smooth bun, and my makeup was on point. Hopefully, that would work for whatever context I was about to land in.
“Everything,” I replied coolly. “You didn’t send me an itinerary, so I had to pack a variety of clothes to ensure I had outfits to suit any sort of occasion you might need me to attend.”
“Didn’t I?” Lucien smiled as he pushed my suitcase into the boot alongside his. “I’d have been happy to pay for anything you might need and didn’t bring.”
My arms crossed my chest, my fingers wrapping around my own biceps.
“Just like that, huh?” He just kept serving that smug bastard smile as he walked around to the passenger side door and then opened it for me. “Well, that’s an idea you need to put out of your head. Standard-sized women can trot into one of the many, many boutiques and pick up something suitable. Even women on the lower end of the plus size range can get something reasonable from a variety of places.” My hands went to my hips, my jacket flaring around me. “I can’t.”
I caught the moment the grin faded, when something else, something much more thoughtful, replaced it. He blinked, then looked down before moving around to the driver’s side.
I placed my laptop bag on the backseat with care, then slid into the car, trying to fight the memories that came as I slotted my body into the familiar interior.
“I’d apologise,” I continued in a much quieter voice, “but it’s not something I’m prepared to be sorry for. Most shops don’t cater for my sized body, and those that have items that fit don’t necessarily sit well on me. Plus size bodies vary a lot, from pear-shaped, hour glass, to apples. I’m good at sourcing appropriate pieces, and I won’t embarrass you at any of the events you need me at, as long as you give me sufficient notice about where we’re going and what the dress code is like.”
“Got it.” He seemed to bite off that answer, forcing my eyes to flick up to meet his, but they seemed haunted rather than angry. “That was good information to know. Keep communicating with me, Sage, and I promise I’ll hold up my end of the bargain.”
He flicked the indicator on and then eased the car out into traffic.
“Now, can you give me a quick rundown of what I’m walking into?” I asked as we took off towards the airport. “Or maybe just send me the itinerary once we get to the airport?”
This.This was what I was walking into.
“Well, well, my brother is joining us on a business trip,” a masculine voice said, coming up from behind us. Both Lucien and I spun around to see Beau Lockwood was standing there with a smirk on his face, and that was when my brain went offline.
Lucien was fucking hot, but he was fucking hot in the brusque, rough and ready way a rugby player might be. Beau? He had that kind of star quality a big-time actor might. His bone structure was impeccable, all high cheekbones and a jawline sharp enough to cut glass with, and that wasn’t all. His lips were full, curved now in a smile that invited you to do the same, and then there were those eyes—blue like a summer sky, blue like the Aegean Sea. They were pure fucking turquoise and sparkling with amusement right now.
When I looked at him, I felt an instinctive need to step back, away from him, like there were rogue packs of supermodels who might leap out and shove me out of the way at any moment. That was what someone this freaking beautiful deserved standing in front of him, not me, not due to my weight. I could be a perfect size eight and still feel the same way. He was like a light that flared too bright—somehow, it hurt to look at him for long.
Something he seemed to notice. Lucien mumbled something in reply, his manner with his brothers very different, but Beau’s eyes slid to me, an eyebrow cocking upwards at all of this attention.
“And you must be the new event manager. I’m Beau.”
He offered me his hand, and for a second, I just stared at it, before some sense of self-preservation had me taking it. His skin felt hot, too hot against mine, searing my palm as I clasped it firmly before pulling away.
“I’m Sage, sir,” I replied. “Sage Davies.”
“Sir…?” That came out as a purr, those bright blue eyes silvering slightly as he smiled down at me. “I do like that. Crystal never called me sir.”
“Because you’re a fucking dickhead. Let’s get through the check-in and go to the lounge. I need a drink,” Lucien grumbled.
“Just wait.” Beau held up a hand, and then, as if summoned, Max strode in through the sliding door, dragging a bag behind him. His decisive steps were stopped when his many carryon bags began to slip from his shoulders and he was forced to set the main one down and then rearrange them, taking a moment to look around, his face lighting up when he saw us.
“Max is coming as well?” Lucien stared at his brother in confusion.
“Someone needs to help us to decipher what the fuck Crystal organised,” Beau replied smoothly. “It also keeps him where we can see him. She might have been fired, but she isn’t going to give in that easy. Joey let me know that she’s upping the ante, trying to claw back a relationship with Max.”
“Fuck, that b—” Lucien shot a look at me, then rethought his response. “That opportunistic little cow.”
“Quite.”
“Hey,” Max said, looking a little flustered when he joined us. “So we’re heading to Sydney?”
“You got it, brother,” Beau said. “Business class all the way.”
Whereas I’d be back in cattle class. I turned to Lucien then, assuming he was the brother I reported to.