“What fishing?” A low voice says behind me, and I move over to make room for Danny, who has come up behind Dylan and me.
“Hi, Mr. Walker.” Jackie beams at him. “We were just laughing about Charlie getting catfished.
It’s when someone creates a false identity to lure you in.”
My cheeks flame. “He lied about his job. I wouldn’t say he took on a separate identity.”
“Do you have an online dating profile, Mr. Walker?” Jackie asks, all flirts and smiles. “I’m part of elite singles.”
“No. I’m seeing someone.”
I shoot a sideways glance at him, but he’s smiling back at Jackie politely.
He’s talking about me, right? It’s the first time he has it acknowledged in public.
Her face drops in devastation. “That girl over there?”
He frowns, running a hand over the stubble of his jaw. “Martina? No, absolutely not; she’s my lawyer. We work closely together.”
“I’ve known her and her husband for 15 years.” he elaborates.
“What’s the company policy on office romances?” Jackie giggles, eyeballing him suggestively.
“There’s no policy. As long as it doesn’t affect your working relationship. We treat our employees as adults.”
“That’s good because Dylan and Charlie matched on Tinder,” Rory chimes in. “A new office romance.”
“Is that so?” Danny says, running his tongue over his teeth.
“We did not match!” I gasp. “I’m not even active.”
“You were active three days ago,” Dylan smirks at me, taking out his phone. “It says so on your profile.”
He turns his phone around to show the group my profile. I glance sideways at Danny studying the phone with an impenetrable stare.
My cheeks burn a hot molten.
“I think profile shaming a work colleague is against the rules of online dating.” I grit out. “We did not match Dylan.”
My arms flap wildly as they crowd around his phone to see him swipe through my profile pictures.
Dylan sucks in sharply. “You look sexy as fuck, Finnegan. You polish up nicely. Why don’t we see you in those heels and little red dress at work?”
“Put it away!”
Danny hangs back, raising his eyebrows at me.
“I’m not online dating right now,” I say sternly, addressing the group but looking at him.
He finishes the last of his beer and sets it down on a table beside him.
“Look at your messages,” he says in a low voice as he brushes past me to get to the bar. “Unless you’re too busy swiping.”
Confused, I reach into my bag and get my phone. There is a message flashing.
You have Friday and Monday authorised as leave. Tell Janet tomorrow.
I don’t understand. I type ?? and hit send.
He hears a beep and takes it out immediately.
Shit, this is so obvious, but the others are thankfully too busy laughing at my profile.
My phone beeps. I should have put it on silent. He looks at me impatiently as I turn to talk to Stevie. I’m too paranoid to check it yet.
After two minutes, I read the message.
I’m taking you to Scotland this weekend. Keep it between us.
I’ve no chance of playing hard to get or pretending I need to consult my social calendar. Before I can stop it, I’m smiling so wide it reaches my ears.
“See?” Dylan says. “She is happy we matched.”
Charlie
When we got to Gatwick, I found out that we were flying to Aberdeen. Danny hasn’t told me where exactly we are going or what we are doing.
Honestly, I would have boarded a flight to hell if he had asked me to.
As soon as the airplane doors open, the cold Aberdeen air hits my face and neck like needles, and I curse my lack of preparation.
I’ve got a few jumpers and scarves but have mainly packed for a sexy weekend. This cold is not sexy.
We’ve flown business class on the domestic plane, which is a complete waste of time as the only differences I could see were three inches more legroom and a complimentary bottle of water.
“I told you to dress for seven degrees,” he chides, watching me shiver.
“That’s very precise,” I mutter. “I’m not a meteorologist. Your instructions should have been to dress for arctic conditions where my bones will be replaced with ice.”
He takes my bag down from the overhead locker. “It’s going to get a lot worse.” “How?” I stare aghast as I gather up my belongings from the plane seat.
“We have one more flight.” He grins down at me. “A short one.”
“We’re not staying in Scotland?”
“We are technically but further north. The Shetland islands.”
I’m halfway to standing, and I stop in my tracks. Is he taking me home?
“That’s where you went to live with your grandmother when….”I trail off. “When the brute killed my mum. Yes. My grandmother is still there.” I suck in sharply.
“Don’t worry, our first dirty weekend away isn’t with my grandmother listening in the next room.”
He grins. “We are staying somewhere else.”
“Your grandmother will have nothing to listen to,” I grumble. “If you think you’re getting an inch of clothing from me in this cold, you have another thing coming.”
I wrap my useless scarf around me as we disembark the plane.
***
“We are flying in this thing?” We are at the foot of the steps of a small private jet.
“This thing is one of the best small planes made today,” he says as he beckons me to ascend the steps. “It’s a twin-turbocharged aircraft that can go up to 280 knots.”
“You think I know how many knots we need?” I reply as I step on board with the grace of a rhino wearing stilettos. The interior looks like a flying luxury city apartment with white leather seats and sexy lighting. I count eight seats, not including the cockpit.
“It’s just us?” I ask, twirling to face him. “Are we the only passengers?”
“Yes. It’s my plane.”
He opens the door to the cockpit, where a million lights, buttons, levers, and screens are flashing. I peer in. I’d never seen a cockpit up close.
“Take a seat, co-pilot.”
“I get to sit beside the pilot? Cool!” I say, stepping inside, and he follows me into the compact space. “When is he arriving?”
He reaches up, lifts a pilot’s hat from the top shelf, and puts it on. “Oh silly me, I forgot my uniform.”
“Ok, very kinky, mister, but are we really going to play dress-up with the cabin crew right here?”I ask, confused. “I’m not entering the mile-high club on this. It’s a small plane; they’ll hear everything.”
“No mile high club on this flight. I’m good at multitasking, but I can’t pleasure you and fly the plane at the same time.”