Angel in Armani (8 page)
“That’s what he thinks,” Alex said to Mal. “How much do you want to bet there’s a trail of women a mile wide across Manhattan pining for ol’ blue eyes?”
“I don’t have to bet on that,” Mal said. “There’ve been women pining after ol’ blue eyes for the last twenty years. Ever since Texas.”
Lucas rolled his eyes at Mal. “I never noticed you lacking for female company at college, either. Nor,” he pointed out in a steely tone, “do I see any sign of you having a regular girlfriend. And yet, I don’t think you’ve taken a vow of celibacy. Those who live in glass houses…”
“I’m not throwing stones,” Mal said. “But if it isn’t girl trouble, then what’s put the bug up your butt? Because Alex was just talking to you about TV licensing and you nearly took his head off.”
Had he? Fuck. He was more tired than he thought. He parked himself back in one of the chairs facing Alex’s desk. “I’m sorry. I need sleep.” He didn’t sleep on planes, and he’d gone straight into surgery and then come right on out to Staten Island for this meeting.
Alex regarded him, head cocked to one side. “Are you sure that’s it?”
“What else would it be?”
“I don’t know, but you’ve been in a mood ever since you got back from that party at Margot’s a couple of weeks ago.”
“Like I said. I’m tired. In case you hadn’t noticed, the schedule is kind of crazy around here.”
“I noticed,” Alex said. “And I’m sorry you got the short end of the stick with the travel. I’m trying to get everything else set up as fast as possible so I can get to Florida more often myself. But these things take time.”
Lucas nodded and dug his fingers into the muscles at the back of his neck. “I know.” Owning a baseball team was a lot more complicated than it sounded. And he’d been thorough about weighing the pros and cons before he’d agreed to sign up to this insanity. He’d gone in with his eyes open.
This was just the hard part. Getting things established. They’d known the Saints were in trouble when they’d bought them, known there was work to do. So he just had to plow through and get it done.
“You really need to learn to nap on planes,” Mal said.
Lucas gave him a death glare. Mal, thanks to his years of being the globe-trotting soldier, slept anywhere at the drop of the hat. Lucas, who had also learned to catch any sleep he could as an intern, could usually sleep like a log in almost any situation, too.
But he didn’t sleep in the air. Never had since that airlift to the hospital twenty years ago. It was irrational and he knew it, but he hadn’t managed to convince his body that if he fell asleep in a plane or a chopper, he wouldn’t wake up in a hospital again. Or maybe just not wake up at all.
“You worry about your wheeling and dealing,” Lucas said. “Let me worry about me.”
Alex and Mal both frowned at him. “You’re no good to us if you keel over,” Alex said.
“I can do twelve-hour surgeries, I’m not going to keel over from a little travel.”
They both kept frowning at him. It was their way of expressing concern, he guessed. They both knew he didn’t sleep in planes, but he’d never let them know why exactly.
“Fair enough,” Alex said. “But don’t be stupid about it. If there are things that will make this easier, then do them. Whatever you need.”
What he needed was Sara Charles.
Wait. What? No.
He stomped down on the thought but it sprang back up with annoying persistence. Sara Charles piloting for him. Sara Charles doing—
He stomped harder.
Not
going to happen.
“What was that?” Mal asked.
“What was what?”
Mal cocked his head, dark eyes narrowing. “Your face went kind of weird.”
“My face is not weird.”
“Have you looked in the mirror lately?”
“No, because it broke last time you looked in it,” Lucas retorted.
Alex held up a hand. “Much as I love this little double act you’ve got going on, I have to agree with Mal on this one. You were thinking about something.”
“Is thinking a crime?”
“No, but that wasn’t your usual analyze-the-situation-six-ways-from-Sunday look.”
“I do not have an analyzing look.”
“Yeah, you do,” Alex said. “But that wasn’t it. What’s up?”
He started to say
Nothing
but then his mouth seemed to detach itself from his brain and said, “I think we need a helicopter.”
Alex’s eyebrows shot skyward. Lucas couldn’t blame him for that. He was pretty surprised by what he’d just said himself.
“You want us to hire a helicopter?” Alex said.
No
, Lucas thought. Then “Yes,” he said. “If I’m going to have the commute from hell then this will make life easier.”
“Helicopters aren’t exactly cheap,” Mal pointed out. “And there are many other things we need.”
“Leasing the chopper will work out cheaper than me chartering one several times a week, surely?”
“It’s a helo, not a chopper,” Mal corrected.
“I’m not in the army,” Lucas said. “Normal people call them choppers.”
“Normal people don’t rent helicopters all that often,” Alex said. He was wearing his usual combination of blazer, business shirt with no tie, and jeans, and he shoved his hands into his pockets while watching Lucas, looking vaguely amused.
“Yeah, well, normal people don’t buy baseball teams, either. And they don’t try and run a baseball team and a surgical practice at the same time. So I’m not putting myself in the category of normal just now. I’m putting myself in the category of guy whose friends are making him spend insane amounts of time traveling and whose life would be made much easier if he had a
helo
”—he grinned at Mal as he stressed the word—“on standby.”
Mal folded his arms. He wore jeans, too, and Lucas suddenly wished he had a job where he could wear jeans. But nope, his wardrobe was suits for patient consultations and business stuff and scrubs the rest of the time. Mal’s jeans were paired with a faded black Metallica T-shirt rather than Alex’s shirt-and-blazer combo and only looked even more appealing because of it. Why hadn’t he gone into security?
Because he didn’t want to spend the decade in the army being shot at in exotic locations prior to that? Right.
“And exactly who is going to be flying this on-standby chopper?” Mal asked.
“Well, obviously we’ll need to hire a pilot as well,” Lucas said. “Or come to an arrangement with one to be on standby. Though hiring one would be better. They could travel with me, fly me in Florida as well.” Okay, he was seriously losing his mind. Mal and Alex were going to have him committed.
“If the pilot travels with you, then the rest of us wouldn’t be able to use the chopper,” Alex said. “If we’re going to spend that much money, I think the rest of us should benefit, too. You’re not the only one commuting.”
“I’m the only one commuting to Florida. And it would save me the drive to and from Vero Beach,” Lucas said. “You’re welcome to use the chopper when I’m in New York.”
“So really you want to us to hire two choppers, one here and one in Florida?”
“We can probably make a deal with a charter firm in Florida to use a chopper,” Lucas said.
“You could do the same thing here in New York,” Alex said. “And use their pilots.”
“I want a pilot I can trust,” Lucas said. “I swear the guy who flew me today had a death wish.”
Mal looked unsympathetic. “Did you have someone in mind?”
“Perhaps,” Lucas said.
“Ah,” Alex said. “The plot thickens. Who is she?”
“Why do you think it’s a she?”
“Because you’re suddenly on fire to have a helicopter at your beck and call, which makes me think that maybe something else is on fire, too,” Alex said. “Who is she, Angelo?”
Lucas looked at Mal, who only shrugged and grinned at him, as if to say,
I’m with Alex on this one, buddy
.
“Well, as it happens, there is someone I used a few times who was reliable. Her name is Sara Charles.”
“Know any guys named Sara?” Alex said to Mal.
“Not that I can think of,” Mal said. “Sounds pretty female to me.”
Damn right she was female
. But that was beside the point. He wanted her for her piloting skills, nothing more. Part of his mind snorted at that. Apparently he wasn’t fooling himself very well. Hopefully he was doing a better job with Mal and Alex. “Yes, she’s a woman,” he said. “She’s also an excellent pilot and that’s all I care about.”
“Looks like Lucas has found a way to distract himself from his fear of flying,” Mal said. “Improve the scenery.”
Alex laughed.
Lucas began to wonder why he was friends with them. “I am not afraid of flying. People who are afraid of flying don’t fly multiple times a week.”
“You don’t enjoy it, though.”
“There are many things I do I don’t enjoy,” Lucas retorted. “It’s called being an adult.”
“So this Sara Charles … what is it? Do you like her or something?”
“I told you, she’s a good pilot. I trust her. Isn’t that enough? You said whatever I need.”
Alex raised one eyebrow. “I just want to be clear on what need she’s fulfilling. Because things are complicated enough around here.”
Lucas blew out a breath. “Look, she was the one who flew me down to Sag Harbor when there was that big storm. You know, Margot’s fund-raiser thing.”
“I remember,” Alex said.
“So she was good in a crisis.” He left out the part where she’d left him stranded. Up until that point she had been good in a crisis. Very good.
Very very good
, the unhelpful part of him piped up.
He stomped again. “And we need someone who can cope with a bit of chaos.”
“It’s a lot of money for us to spend,” Alex said, still looking somewhat skeptical. “Plus it’ll take some time to organize.”
“Surely one of your companies already has a chopper somewhere that’s not being used? You could lease it to us. Or sublease it or however the hell helicopter financing works.”
Alex shrugged. “Maybe. I’d have to check what’s in the fleet at the moment. And how it’s being used.” He opened his sleek silver laptop and typed something quickly.
Sometimes Lucas forgot just how much money Alex had. His own family was wealthy, but they didn’t keep a fleet of aircraft. “If you do, we can use it, and if it turns out we don’t use it as much as we think or that it’s not working out, we can give it back.”
“You’ve got this all planned out.” Alex flipped the laptop closed. “Have you asked her already?”
“No. I’m not an idiot. It would be cruel to make an offer I couldn’t follow through on.”
Mal nodded. “Yes, it would. As would giving her a job because you like having her around. So you need to be clear why you’re doing this. If you like this girl, then hiring her is not the smartest thing in the world. Just ask Alex.”
“I hired Maggie before I liked her,” Alex said. “And it’s worked out pretty well. But Mal’s right. It’s not an easy situation. If you are interested in her. So are you?”
“That’s nobody’s business but mine right now,” Lucas said.
“That means yes,” Mal said. “Which means it is our business. Literally.”
Lucas threw up his hands. “All right. Fine. I found her … interesting. Is that a crime?”
“No,” Mal said. “Just a potential complication.”
“That’s my problem.”
“Lucas Angelo dating a helicopter pilot,” Alex said. “Must be true that opposites attract.” He grinned then. “Have you introduced her to your mother?”
“No. And we’re not dating yet.” Lucas said shortly. “And even if we were, I would have no intention of subjecting her to that particular can of worms until I have to.” He knew his mother. Knew what her opinion of him being involved with a woman who flew helicopters and had no money was likely to be. He wasn’t going to put Sara through that just yet. Not until he was sure this was more than one of those odd high-intensity sexual things that burned themselves out.
He flashed on Sara again, asleep beside him in the motel. It didn’t feel like that. Hot sex. Mind-blowing sex. Yes. But he was interested in more than that. Wanted to know what made her tick. Wanted to know why he felt safe with her. “So you’ll look into the chopper thing?” he said to Alex.
“You really think you need it? That you’d be asking if the girl wasn’t … holding your attention?” Alex said.
She’d held more than his attention. But that didn’t change the fact that the helicopter was a good idea. “You must be getting tired of driving back and forth as well. With the chopper you can be back at Ice headquarters or your apartment in, what, fifteen minutes or so?”
“There’s the small question of where exactly this helo would land,” Mal pointed out. “We don’t have a helipad. And I think the grounds staff would revolt if we land a helicopter on the field.”
“There’s always the parking lot,” Lucas said. He had no idea if Sara could land a helicopter in a parking lot. He assumed so. Wasn’t that the point of helicopters, after all, that they could land in tight places? “Besides, the airfield where her company is based is only five minutes away. That’s how I found her in the first place.” On a drive back to Manhattan he’d passed the sign outside the airfield advertising charter flights. “Local business and all. Can’t hurt with that improving-relations-with-the-community thing you have going on.”
It hadn’t been all smooth sailing since the other MLB team owners had approved their purchase of the Saints. Along with players walking, there were a lot of nervous supporters eyeing the new boys in town and wondering if they were going to screw up their team completely.
Alex nodded. “I guess not,” he said. “All right, I’ll get Gardner to look into it and do some costing. If you’re okay, with that, Mal?”
Mal shrugged. “Far from me to get between Lucas and a girl. If it’s workable on the money side, let’s give it a try. I could do with some reduced commuting time now and then.”
“Okay,” Alex said. “We’re agreed. And now, speaking of community spirit, I want to get back to the subject of cheerleaders.”
“No cheerleaders in baseball,” Mal and Lucas said in unison and Lucas watched as his friend squared his shoulders and prepared to argue his cause once more.