This rivaled any of the jets her brothers owned. She suddenly wondered just how much money Cal had. Was he also a billionaire?
As she washed her hands, she looked into the mirror and realized her cheeks were a little flushed. This was how she always felt around Cal, like all of her senses were heightened simply by being near him.
Lyssa reminded herself for the thousandth time to stop being ridiculous. Not only was he her boss, he was also one of her brothers’ closest friends and would never dare step over the line with her, even if he wanted to. Which he clearly didn’t. She dried her hands on the plush towel and walked back toward the lounge.
She couldn’t resist peeking through the door of the connecting bedroom, however. Yet again, her mind created fantasies she couldn’t banish—silk sheets against her naked body, strong fingers caressing her skin. What kind of lover would Cal be? Standing in his bedroom, she could easily imagine his kisses, his lips on her body, and how easily the tub in the bathroom could fit two people who were desperately hungry for each other.
He’d never been married, didn’t have kids. As far as she knew, he didn’t date long term either. She’d seen him in plenty of gossip magazines, always with a different actress or celebrity. But in the pictures, Cal always seemed a bit bored. Thinking about it more, she realized he’d never brought a woman to any Maverick function and had gone stag to Ari and Matt’s wedding.
Her brothers might know why Cal was still alone. Was there some big, dark secret in his past? Had his heart been broken, never to recover? Or was it simply that he’d never found anyone who made him want to give up his freedom?
She would never ask her brothers what they knew about Cal’s single status. If she did, they’d surely get wigged out about why she wanted to know. No doubt Daniel would start that he’s not for you business again.
Regardless, she wanted her job more than she wanted a glorious tumble with Cal on that big bed—a fantasy tumble that was as likely to happen as winning the lottery, which meant she had absolutely nothing to worry about. So once again, she forcefully shoved away all thoughts of attraction.
The steak and lobster were on the table by the time she returned, and her mouth watered at the delicious smell.
“Oh my God, this is so good,” she said around the first mouthful of butter-drenched lobster. Living off ramen and salads made her appreciate a hearty meal. Lyssa attacked every scrumptious bite with gusto. Looked like there would be no leftovers, after all.
“My chef will be pleased to hear you think so,” Cal said, laughter in his voice at her reaction to the food. “James is one of the best chefs in the business. I feel lucky every day that he agreed to walk away from his other clients to work with me.” Cal held up a bottle. “Would you like champagne?”
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do,” she replied. “I’m afraid champagne will make me sleepy.”
“Actually, it might be best if both of us rest after we eat. That way, we’ll be fresh when we get to London. There’s a bedroom in the back of the aircraft that you can use, if you’d like.”
She tried to will her cheeks not to blush at his mention of the bedroom after all the fantasizing she’d done. Especially when she thought she saw a brief flash of heat in Cal’s eyes. Talk about an active imagination. Why on earth would Cal ever look at her that way?
Whatever the look was, it disappeared in an instant. And it was enough to remind her that she was here to do a damned good job for the foundation, not to dream about kissing her boss.
“Actually, if it’s okay with you, I’d prefer to use this time away from distractions—” Especially something as distracting as sleeping in his bed! “—to keep powering through our to-do list before we meet with Mr. Harrington.”
“It’s rare to meet someone who works even harder than I do,” he noted with another smile. “I knew hiring you was a good decision.”
“The best one you’ve ever made,” she agreed with a cheeky grin.
With that, she settled back to eat her dinner, bound and determined to ignore her attraction to her boss. No. Matter. What.
Chapter Two
They closed their last research folder as his plane landed at Heathrow. Lyssa yawned, covering it with her hand. Having ventured all over the world on business trips for the past two decades, Cal was used to jet lag and dramatic time changes, but he figured Lyssa would need a little time to recover from the all-nighter they’d just pulled.
“You’ve gone above and beyond for the past eleven hours,” Cal said. “Why don’t you plan on hitting the sack for a few hours once we get to the hotel?”
“You went above and beyond too,” she pointed out. “And actually, I’d prefer to stay up until at least nine tonight to acclimate to the time change. Otherwise, I’ll probably be up in the middle of the night.”
Yet again, it struck Cal just how much of a go-getter Lyssa was. She’d been running at full speed since the day she’d started working for him six weeks ago.
The truth was that he’d hired her as a favor to the Mavericks. Evan had mentioned how much Lyssa hated her job in Chicago. Sebastian had noted what a great job she’d done helping his fiancée, Charlie, with the accounting for her sculpture business. And Daniel had hinted that his parents would love to move west, but only if Lyssa were there too.
Before he’d hired her, Cal had only ever seen her in party mode—at backyard barbecues, weddings, birthdays, holidays. She was always laughing, always having fun. He’d wondered if he’d regret taking her on, if she had it in her to be serious and get work done.
He should have known better. Lyssa was a Maverick. During the past six weeks, even when Cal had thought he might be overloading her with half a dozen projects, she got through them all in record time, then asked for more. Thus far, she had brilliantly managed the office, while also putting together research portfolios on potential contributors, plus outlining their plans for the future in alignment with Gideon’s vision for Lean on Us. Big plans that far outpaced the sixty million dollars he’d received for the painting. Cal had secured a few smaller contributions, along with funds from each of the Mavericks, but billionaire Dane Harrington was their first huge prospect.
Cal strongly believed in Gideon’s vision of helping soldiers returning from active service, given that they often experienced a hard time. Add to that injuries or PTSD or even a soldier’s death, help could be required for years by both veterans and families. Given Gideon’s past, he understood the healing process more than most. Cal was also glad that they would be helping foster children, another cause very close to Gideon’s and all the Mavericks’ hearts.
It was midafternoon by the time they cleared Customs and hailed a taxi to the hotel. He’d booked a suite, charging it to his own company, not the foundation. They’d used his plane for the same reason. At this point in his life, Cal liked a certain amount of luxury, but he certainly didn’t expect the foundation to pay for first-class accommodations or flights. Especially given that he was also planning to take care of his own business while he was here.
In the back of the cab, Lyssa smiled at him, looking a little bleary-eyed from staying up all night. He wasn’t sure she’d manage to remain awake until nine p.m., no matter how determined she was to acclimate to the time change.