Page 12 of Until You’re Breathless (Insatiable #1)

Bowie

“Y ou can go back. I’m sure he’ll take you.” I say to Jinny, returning to her place, where I’m staying temporarily.

“Like hell I will.”

“Well, what are you going to do? You need to earn a living.”

“I could say the same thing to you.” She points out. “We both need to, but neither of us are destitute. Shit, I could take the next five years off and still sit proudly on this leather sofa.”

“That’s not the point. I could do the same, Jinny. But you and I, we’re not made like that. There’s a reason why we got to where we were.”

“I could open my own firm. Become a headhunter. Hell, I’m sure that Jagger’s brother Halen could even take me on. I bet you he’s got wet dreams if he’s got any brains and knows that I’m a free agent. You and I, Bowie, are hot commodities. We’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Sure. I’m such a hot commodity that Jagger turned me away. I got five minutes of his time, and I feel like that was too much for him.”

“Can you blame him?”

My gaze whips to hers. “What happened between us was years ago. I haven’t seen him in ten years, Jinny. Surely, he’s over that by now.”

“I’m sure he is, too, but that’s not what I mean. You’ve been sleeping with his archrival ever since. This has nothing to do with sex, my friend. This has everything to do with power.”

“Are you saying that he’s just doing this because he needs to show that he has power over me? That he can choose not to give me what he wants just to prove a point?”

“No, he’s proving that he holds the cards. He’s not a child, Bowie. A man with that much success has to behave like an adult.”

“Better than he did when he was in high school.”

Jinny points at me and glares. Her voice is firm. “There. That’s it right there.”

I’m confused. “What?”

“You maintain that you’re over it, but you’re not.

And he sniffs that out like a fucking Rottweiler.

You need to let that shit go, Bowie. God, you just said so yourself that it’s been years.

He was a kid. You were a kid. Get the fuck over it and let that shit go or good luck getting over what fucking Boston did to you. ”

I swallow and rake a hand through my hair. As I sit down slowly, I draw in a deep breath and release it. “Do you wanna know something strange?”

“What’s that.” She says, and then she licks her lips.

“It was like a switch.”

“What was like a switch?”

“When you told me about Boston and that slut. It was like one minute I was in love with him and the next minute I wasn’t.”

“But you’re still not over what happened. I mean, you lost your partner in business and in life, you lost your stake in the business that you worked hard to build, and you lost your fucking house, Bowie. Don’t tell me that you’re all over that, because I’ll tell you that you’re full of shit.”

I bite my lip. “The more I think about it, the more I realize how unhappy I was, Jinny.”

“Are you saying that you’re happy now? Homeless, jobless, manless? Not buying it, sister. Not even a little bit.”

“Okay, fine. I’m not pissed off about being manless, but the jobless and homeless thing is a little displacing.”

“A little displacing?” She says, her voice raising an octave. “You have no home, Bowie. You have no job. It’s just you and me and our bank accounts.”

“Is that so bad?”

She scoffs, shaking her head. “You’re fucking crazier than I am.”

“Well, you’re not at all upset about being out of a job, either, you know.”

A frown and a head tilt. “True. But then I’m flexible.

And I don’t mind change. Plus, my functions are transferrable.

The only thing that’s really going to change is my fucking office.

My assistant dealt with the day-to-day shit from current employees.

I just dealt with the hardasses and the newer hires.

My functions were top level. I can do that anywhere. ”

“Well, my skills are transferrable, too.”

“Sure, but CEO is something every company advertises.” She’s facetious. “Those jobs are always on Indeed.com.”

I turn the tables. “How do I know that someone won’t call me?”

“Is your phone ringing yet? The whole fucking northern hemisphere knows about the split by now, Bowie.”

“Well...not yet. But it’s still new, Jinny. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

“Why don’t you call Axl Lennon?”

“The train wreck? Sure, there’s a reliable source of employment.”

“Fine. I suggest you start sniffing around then. Because I can sit on my little lily pad for a while, but you, my dear, can sit still for a minute, and that’ll be it. I know that you’re already ready to crawl out of your own skin, Bowie, and don’t try to deny it. I know you too well.”

“I’ve already got a plan. Not to worry.”

But my plan gets shot to hell tomorrow…

Jagger

You guessed it. I’m lying in bed and sleep won’t come.

My mind is, once again, racing. This time, it’s racing so bad, the only solution is to go to work.

When there’s nobody there in the middle of the night, I find it’s the perfect time to clear my mind and gain better focus.

My prototype engine still sits on the stand, almost like it’s beckoning me.

The new parts sit on the sideboard, waiting for one of my technicians to install them, but that won’t do.

I’m in jeans and a t-shirt, knowing that I have a shower, and various suits in my office, so that I can feel free to play in my sandbox anytime I like.

And now’s the time...

The only thing missing is a couple of buddies and a brewsky.

And that’s how this whole company started.

My first engine block was made from a stupid idea that my brothers and my buddies helped me put together.

Two of said friends now work for me. One of them is my head engineer.

That’s what dreams are made of. As I fiddle with some of the pieces, greasing my gloves nicely, getting oil and grease all over my shirt, sort of like I was born to do this, I feel like myself again.

Sometimes focusing on the wrong things leads me down dark paths and bringing me back to my roots is the perfect way to get it all back.

Oftentimes, that’s when better ideas come to life.

This time is no exception. And it’s like the gods are watching me, or my brothers, same difference.

My phone beeps with a text message. I try to ignore it, but the messages keep coming.

It’s Rush. It’s four o’clock in the morning.

He’s threatening to call me if I ignore him as he knows from me sharing my location with him on my phone, where I am.

I pick up the phone on the first ring. “Yeah.”

“You’ve got a guest coming in five.”

“You? Since when do you call first.”

“It’s not me.”

“Do I get to guess?”

“No. Just open the gate and let her in.”

I exhale, exasperated. “Fuck.”

“Exactly.” He hangs up.

The door beeps a moment later. And when I expect to see Stevie on the other side of the door, I’m floored when I see Bowie instead. She’s also in jeans and a t-shirt, looking like she hasn’t slept a wink, either. “Insomnia. It’s a trait most successful people are graced with, huh.” She opens with.

I ignore her comment. “I’m working on an engine. Walk with me.”

She’s behind me, removing her purse from her shoulder, ready to dig in. I give her a quick rundown of what I'm doing, and she slides on a pair of gloves, joining me at the block. “I haven’t been this close to an engine in a while.” She comments.

“Yeah? How come?”

“Too much red tape to deal with.”

“I’m not much better. Sometimes I think that’s why I can’t sleep. Because I haven’t got my hands dirty enough that day.”

“Same.”

“You remember that Bel-Air my grandfather had?”

She nods. “Yeah. That thing was beautiful. Do you still have it?”

“Na. He sold it at an auction when he found out about the cancer. Not really sure why. I would have given my right arm to have that thing, but I think he was avoiding the family fights over it. Can’t say that I blame him. We all wanted that car.”

“Yeah. I’ve heard about family squabbles when the head of the family passes away. Sometimes the whole family is never the same.”

“He saved our family by doing that. Although I would have been the perfect fit for that car, but I think he knew that I thought that, and he didn’t want us to fight because of that.”

“Wise man.”

“That he was.”

She’s got grease all over her gloves, and a spot of it on her cheek, but I don’t dare wipe it for her. “So, how are you doing...you know...with all the bullshit going on?”

A shrug. “Surprisingly, I’m fine. I just...need to get back to work. Jinny’s telling me that I’ll drive myself nuts if I take any sort of sabbatical.”

“You staying with her?”

“Yeah. I didn’t need to deal with my parents or my siblings right now. None of them really liked Boston, anyway. My parents especially.”

Her folks loved me, but I don’t remind her of that. “How come? I mean, he’s a successful guy and he and you built that company together.”

“I think it’s more because he never wanted to marry me, but I don’t want to talk about that.”

“I get it.” I lick my lips. “No offence, but I wouldn’t get married, either. I mean, I’m married to this place. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“Well, I’m not saying that I wanted to get married, either. If I did, it would just be to appease my family.”

“Cool.” We fiddle around for a few more minutes, and she gives me some ideas, reminding me of how fucking smart she is.

We really get down to the meat and potatoes of an engine and how the old mixed with the new is the best way to go for speed, efficiency and fuel economy.

And I stop to look at her. “I’ve gotta ask. ”

“What.”

“Tell me you headed the goddamn development team at Kruger. Because if you were shoved in a fucking office, that’s going to break my fucking heart.”