Page 71 of The Business of Love Box Set 1: Books 1 - 4

RICK

“ C hampagne?” I asked, pausing with the bottle poised over Kim’s flute on her tray.

We were halfway through our flight to Florida, where I had a little surprise lined up for her. I’d been enjoying spoiling her and showing her the true impact my money could have since I’d picked her up at her apartment four hours ago.

She blinked up at me, eyes still wide with wonder as they had been all morning, and nodded. “Sure. Thank you.”

I topped off her glass before adding a splash to mine and then took my seat beside her as she peered out the window at the sparkling ocean below as the sun beat down on it.

“I can’t believe this,” she breathed. “I mean, I do a lot of flying for work but in a private plane? I never would have dreamed I’d be one of those girls.”

“It looks good on you.”

She flashed me a charming smile. “Doesn’t wealth look good on everyone?”

“Not Verity.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Fair point.”

Making Kim laugh had quickly become one of my all-time-favorite pastimes. Her laugh was contagious, bubbly, and bright, just like her, and the more I heard it, the more I craved it.

She set her glass down and leaned closer to me on her armrest. “So are you going to tell me where you’re taking me yet?”

“Nope.”

“You’re such a tease.”

“You like being teased.”

She smirked. “Yes. Well, I don’t like surprises. There’s a difference.”

“Bullshit. Every woman likes surprises. Even if she claims not to.”

“Not true.”

I laughed. “Give me a break. Spontaneity is romantic and you can’t convince me otherwise.”

“Then I won’t try.”

I put a finger under her chin and guided her lips to mine for a sweet, champagne-flavored kiss. “Let’s pick up this conversation again tomorrow morning and you can try your damndest to convince me I’m wrong. Sound like a plan?”

“You’re on, buddy.”

“Buddy?”

“You heard me.”

We spent the rest of the flight taking jabs at each other and laughing.

The champagne probably didn’t help. By the time we touched down on the tarmac and stepped into the humid Florida air, Kim was going wild with guesses as to what we were doing or where we were going, and she came up wrong each and every time.

We piled into the back of a limo and began our journey to the marina. Kim didn’t catch on until we pulled into the parking lot at the docks and we were surrounded by boats of all different shapes and sizes.

She batted her lashes at me as we made our way down the dock. “Are you taking me sailing, Mr. Garrett?”

“Close.”

She pursed her lips thoughtfully.

I spied my boat up ahead waiting for us.

She was shiny, white, and pretty new. And three levels.

The sleeping quarters were down below. The deck boasted a plunge pool in the front and a soaker hot tub in the back, and up top, there was a flat deck for tanning and soaking up the sunshine.

There was a full kitchen on board, which was equipped with three staff who were already seeing to making dinner.

I’d also hired my usual bartender and waiter and two men to sail the boat while Kim and I relaxed.

We stopped at the boat.

Kim turned to me and gave me a sharp slap on the shoulder. “Rick! Are you serious?”

I laughed and put an arm around her waist. “Come aboard, my lady. Let me spoil you like you deserve.”

Kim didn’t protest. She let me walk her up the boarding plank and onto the second deck, where she gushed over every little detail on the yacht.

It took an hour of her exploring before she changed into her swimsuit and joined me on the top deck.

By then, we had long since left the marina and were sailing off the coast, catching the early evening sun before it got too close to the horizon, which would signal that it was time for dinner.

Kim lay on her back beside me with the brim of her hat folded to shield her eyes against the sun. She let out a contented sigh. “This is magnificent. Thank you. I feel so special.”

I put a hand on her thigh. “You should. You deserve this.”

“Have you taken Chessie out on this beast?”

“Countless times. She’s a sea lover, so she’s on the boat with me every chance she can get.”

“We should all take it out for a sail one of these days.”

Verity had never once offered to do such a thing.

She also had never come up onto the sun deck without her phone clutched in her perfectly manicured hand and demanded that I take fifty-plus photos of her posing every which way for all her socials.

Verity had been on the boat for how it would look to her near-million followers, but Kim was on it to savor the moment and be present. With me.

It was a refreshing change of pace.

We baked in the sun until the heat diminished and the sky faded from brilliant blue to a faded purple. The sun kissed the sky on the horizon at the very moment my waiter arrived on the deck to tell us dinner was served.

Kim and I found our seats on the back of the boat near the bubbling hot tub at a table for two draped in a white tablecloth.

A candle burned between us beside a single-stemmed red rose in a glass vase.

Silver lids were lifted from our plates, revealing our meal: tenderloin served over a bed of garlic mashed potatoes with pickled beets, peppercorn sauce, and crispy Brussel sprouts.

“My mouth is already watering,” Kim said.

I lifted my glass of red wine. “Cheers to our first official date.”

Her smile was as radiant as the sunset as she clinked her glass to mine. “Cheers.”

Then suddenly, her nose scrunched up, her eyes widened, and Kim twisted to the side to unleash a very unladylike sneeze into her elbow.

I almost jumped out of my skin.

“Bless you,” I said, resisting the urge to put a hand over my now rapidly beating heart.

Kim sniffled and peered up at me with her nose and mouth still hidden in the fold of her elbow. When she spoke, she sounded very congested. “Sorry.”

“Do you need a tissue?”

Kim wasn’t able to answer. Another sneeze took her, and then another, and then she was up on her feet and blinking furiously as she fanned her eyes and tilted her head back.

“I’m sorry,” she said again. I couldn’t tell if her cheeks were pink from her sneezing fit or if she was embarrassed. I got up and went to put a hand on the small of her back. She started laughing. “This is going to sound so stupid.”

“What will?”

“I’m allergic to flowers.”

I frowned and glanced back at the table. Then I marched over to it, plucked the rose out of the little vase, and went to the side of the yacht to throw it overboard. I wiped my hands together in a display of macho bravado. “There. The culprit has been dealt with.”

“My hero.”

“How long until this passes?”

“Twenty minutes or so.”

I covered our plates back up with the silver trays and called for the waiter to return them to the kitchens to keep them warm. Kim shook her head and insisted we eat right then. But that was silly talk. I didn’t want her to miss all the flavors of the meal because her nose was plugged.

So we sat back down and sipped our wine.

“Hold on a minute now,” I said, thinking over what had just happened in my head. “Since when are you allergic to flowers?”

She got a knowing look in her eyes and giggled. “Since always.”

“But you’re a wedding planner.”

“Mhm.”

I stared evenly at her across the table and she stared back.

Then I burst out laughing. “Talk about commitment to your trade.”

She grinned. “I’m glad someone sees it that way. Usually, people just tell me I’m crazy and should have gotten a different job.”

“You? A different job?” I shook my head. “Those people clearly didn’t know you very well.”

“Nope. Not at all.”

Her symptoms already seemed to be fading away. I leaned back in my chair with my wine and watched her sniffle delicately and try to keep her composure. “I guess I’m off the hook for buying you flowers in the future.”

She smiled. “You planned on buying me flowers?”

“Well, I hadn’t actively thought about it, but you’re the woman I’m dating, and therefore, there were bound to be flowers cropping up in your very near future. Perhaps on your doorstep in the morning with a cup of coffee.”

“That’s very sweet. It’s the thought that counts.”

I chuckled. “Verity would disagree.”

“Verity can suck my ass.”

I snorted into my glass of wine. Giant red bubbles exploded against the side of the glass and sprayed my face, and Kim broke into hysterical laughter before being consumed by yet another round of fierce sneezes.

Soon, we were both bent over in our chairs, clutching our ribs from laughing.

Tears were streaming down our cheeks. We hadn’t collected our composure when our meals returned and we started eating.

We snickered over our meals like preschoolers, sipped our wine, and poked fun at one another until the sky was a dazzling display of stars twinkling in the dark.

We found our way once more to the top deck with more wine in hand and bare feet. A blanket had been laid out for us. It was supposed to be littered with red rose petals but I’d seen to a quick last-minute change, opting instead for a few lit candles.

“Rick,” Kim breathed, “this is beautiful.”

“We have it all to ourselves until you want to go to bed,” I told her.

“We’re sleeping out here?”

I nodded.

Kim bit her bottom lip and tilted her head back to look at the stars. “You know, I could get used to this rich life of yours. But you have to make me a promise.”

“Anything.”

She looked at me out of the corner of her eyes and suddenly got very serious.

“If I ever start to remind you of Verity, you slap me silly and make sure I snap out of it. Deal? Because my worst nightmare is turning into one of those money-crazed bimbos who spends all of her time getting her nails done and worrying over what shoes to wear with what outfit—”

I silenced her by pulling her toward me and pressing my lips against hers. “I can make you a promise, Kim. No amount of money could ever spoil the good in you.”

Kim blushed and averted her gaze.

“There’s something I wanted to tell you,” I said.

Her eyes slid back to me and her lips parted. “What is it?”

I’d been meaning to tell her this all day but the timing hadn’t been right.

I also hadn’t wanted to bring up Verity unless completely necessary.

Kim and I were enjoying ourselves too much for me to waste a second or a breath on my ex.

But this was important information for Kim to be made aware of.

“I changed the locks on the house night before last. And I shipped all of Verity’s belongings to her father’s estate in the Bahama’s. ”

“I thought you told her you would put it all in a donation bin?”

I chuckled. “Believe me, I wanted to. But sometimes it’s wiser to take the high road.”

“Does it feel good to have all of her things out of your house?”

It felt good to have Verity out of every corner of my life: my home, my heart, my head. All of it. And it felt even better to be sharing this moment under the stars with a genuine woman who wanted the same things I did.

“It feels right,” I said.

And so does this.