Sexy Love (Sexy Series Book 4) (8 page)

They’re nice, I can’t say that I don’t find it a pleasurable way to travel, but they certainly don’t impress me. If I met a man with a private jet, it really wouldn’t be a factor in whether or not I’d be attracted to him. I’m just not interested in what a guy has. Take Sebastian for example, I’ve always known he owns a company with a majestic fleet of private jets, but I’ve clearly never been interested in him because of it.

A short while later, our food begins to arrive at the table. We decided to order an array of small dishes to share, which suits me perfectly as I’m not overly hungry.

It smells divine and the table is quickly covered. I’m immediately drawn to the beautifully arranged vegetable tart, it was my choice from the appetiser menu and my mouth waters as I anticipate the combined flavours of the many ingredients… goat cheese, roasted beets, zucchini, asparagus, tomato confit, balsamic vinaigrette and basil chips…
mmm
.

“That does look good, huh?” Sebastian says appreciatively, obviously noticing me studying the pastry.

“It’s delicious, I had it last time I was here.”

I look around at the other delicacies on the table, the frisée salad with bacon flan and poached egg, the chicken liver pâté and French baguette, the smoked oyster mousse with pine nuts, the Saucisson sec and cheese selection… it looks mouth-watering.

“Blimey, this looks amazeballs!” Tilly cries.

“Mmm, yeah it does. Well, dig in, everybody!” Bea smiles, holding her fork in the air, about to dive in.

~~~~~~~

The food is exactly as I remembered and as we had hoped. Delicious, excellently prepared and just the right amount for us all to feel adequately satisfied. I knew the girls would want to try the speciality St. Honoré dessert, so we ordered a selection to share so that we could try different flavours.

It’s the same dessert made with cream-filled choux puffs and Chantilly, set on fresh puff pastry, but with different twists. We ordered the pistachio, classic vanilla and strawberry rhubarb to share, and they were exquisite. One would be far too big for me to eat on my own, but they’re perfect to share like this.

“Wow…” Bea says, sitting back in her chair, resting her hands on her stomach. “I’m stuffed.”

“Me too, that was yum.” Tilly says, exhaling.

“Have you had enough, Lexie? You didn’t seem to eat a whole lot…” Sebastian asks.

“Oh yes, thank you. I wasn’t that hungry, but I ate sufficiently.”

“If you’re sure…”

“Oh yes, I’m done.”

The plates are taken from the table and another bottle of wine is brought over. I still have over half a glass, so I hold my hand on it to block it from being topped up. I’m going to be sensible tonight, and having just eaten should help with that.

The table is quiet for a while as the food goes down, and I notice Bea and Tilly drinking their wine quickly. Tilly raises her eyebrow at Bea and subtly twitches her head to one side, communicating silently. Bea nods and as I frown, they take one long, last sip from their glasses and begin to stand.

“Right, we’re going to leave you to it,” Bea says, bending down to collect her purse. “It’s been so lovely catching up with you, Seb…” she walks over to him to bend and kiss his cheek.

“Don’t feel you need to rush out,” I say, knowing they’re leaving so that Sebastian and I can be alone.

“Oh no, it’s okay, we planned to leave after we ate, anyway.”

“Are you sure?” I ask as she kisses my cheek.

“Yes, you two enjoy yourselves. Lex, thank you so much for today, I had the most amazing time.”

“No! Thank you for having me join you, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It really was a fantastic, memorable day.”

“It was, hopefully I’ll be seeing you at the weekend?”

“Yes, I’m sure we’ll be doing something.”

“Laters, Seb – look after my bitch.” Tilly says, hugging him.

He laughs, “I’ll most certainly try, if she’ll let me.”

“Oi, you…” she says, looking at me, “let him.”

I giggle, too. “Sure I will. But just so you know, I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she says, “give someone else that responsibility for a change. See you later, darling,” she continues, moving to hug me next. “Have a great night.” She pauses to bury her mouth in my hair before resuming in a whisper, “Make sure you get a good old rogering, you need one.”

She stands quickly and they both depart, waving as they reach the door. I have no idea what ‘rogering’ is, but I’m pretty sure I can figure it out, especially if it came out of Tilly’s mouth.

“Well they left pretty fast!” Sebastian says with a chuckle, holding his glass.

“Yeah,” I grin, “I think they wanted to leave us to our… whatever this is.”

“Date?” he asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

I tilt my head to the side and look up at him with a smile. “No, it’s not a date.”

“No? Oh…” he pouts like a child. “Maybe we can turn that around.”

“Sebastian, we’re friends.”

“Okay, okay; I know. So, what have you been up to since I saw you last? How was the rest of your Aspen trip?”

“It was lovely, thank you. I had a fantastic Christmas, makes me look forward to this year.”

“I had a great time, too. Shame I had to shoot off for work.”

“Yes, it was. Everybody missed you.”

He pauses for a moment and takes a sip of wine. “Did you?”

“Did I… miss you?” I ask, smiling.

“Yep. Did you miss me?”

“I enjoyed my time with you in Aspen. I enjoyed you spending time with my family, I thought you were a great addition to the group this year.”

“Yeah, but did you miss me when I left?”

“Sebastian,” I giggle, awkwardly. “I wouldn’t have minded if you had joined us again over the festive holiday, but we are just friends.”

“I know. I like how you’re evading answering me, but I guess it’s better than a straight out ‘no’, huh?”

I giggle, “I guess it is.”

“So, what would you like to do this evening? Should we stay here or move on?”

“I’m happy to stay here if you are.”

“Absolutely. But you’re going to have to help me out with the wine, I can’t drink all of this by myself.”

“Oh no,” I smile, “you’re not getting me tanked this time, young man. I’ve had enough today already.”

He grins, beautifully. His face really is so attractive, and that beard… it’s so…
beardy
… so unlike what I would usually find appealing, but it does so much for him; for me. I think I’m actually starting to
fancy
the guy, for want of a more ‘adult’ word.

Oh good God, I can’t possibly fancy Sebastian Love; he’s a playboy. No, it’s white wine. I’m not used to it. Red is my tipple of choice and I think this Sauvignon Blanc is making me a little delusional.

“Let’s toast,” he says, raising his glass, “to wonderful French cuisine, excellent company, a fantastic evening ahead, and Alexia
not
getting tanked, as she so elegantly put it.”

I laugh, “I apologise, how about… squiffy? Is that better?”

“Squiffy?” he cries, “I’ve never even heard that word before.”

“It’s in an old English play, ‘
An Inspector Calls’
, have you read it? Or seen it?”

“No, as a matter of fact I haven’t. But I shall make a point of finding a copy and reading it at my earliest convenience, just to see Alexia’s word ‘squiffy’ in print.”

“Okay,” I chuckle, “but actually I think it was Tilly’s word, prior to mine. She told me where to find it!”

“Have you read or seen the play?”

“Yes, I read it recently. It’s not long, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

“Well then, I will definitely read it and we can discuss.”

“Book club?”

“Yes, our own little book club. You look hot today, Lexie.”

I raise my eyebrows in surprise at his sudden change of subject. “Oh, thank you.”

“You always look hot, but I felt an urge to tell you.”

“Okay,” I nod, smiling, “it was kind of you to let me know your thoughts on my appearance.”

“Oh stop being so proper, take your jacket off, and unbutton that blouse. We both know we can be comfortable with each other.”

“This is who I am, Sebastian.”

“Oh I know this is who you are with strangers and acquaintances, but you forget that I have seen a very different, much more ‘relaxed’ Lexie.”

“That was inebriated-Alexia. She doesn’t come out much.”

“She should. I like her a lot.”

“She seems to like you a lot, too. You clearly make an good impression on her.”

“Exactly why I’d like to see her again.”

“Well it’s a shame that I’m not planning on getting drunk tonight, then.”

“I’m sure we could convince sober… or maybe even tipsy-Alexia to feel as comfortable with me - as drunk-Alexia.”

“You’ll have your work cut out.”

“Working hard comes easily to me. I love a challenge.”

“Let’s see how you get on then.”

I don’t think he realises how stubborn I can be. If I don’t want to do something, I just won’t.

The time passes pleasantly as we make engaging conversation and drink the wine slowly. I am doing a good job of keeping my wits about me, I’m not drunk at all and I’m determined to stay that way.

Sebastian isn’t doing anything that might make me uncomfortable, nor is he being vile or perverted, so I’m finding remaining sober quite effortless. I sound like a damned alcoholic – I am most definitely nothing of the sort – but I have managed to figure out that when he makes me uncomfortable by being crude and it appallingly titillates me, I feel the need to drink to stop feeling confused and disgusted at myself.

“So, who did you fly back into LAX with from Aspen?” he asks, talking shop.

“Um…” I think back. “It was… United I think. Yes, United.”

“Ah okay, what aircraft was it?”

I pause and frown. “Sebastian, it was an airplane. I don’t know what kind. As long as they have wings, wheels and brakes – I’m good.”

He smiles and his dense short beard creases into his dimples. “I suppose other people don’t think about these things. It was probably a Bombardier CRJ700. Did you travel in first?”

“Yes.”

“Three rows?”

“Um… yes I think so, two seats on one side and one on the other. It was a small plane.”

“Yeah, probably a CRJ700. It’s only a short domestic flight so you wouldn’t need a big jet.”

“Yes, only a couple hours. How far is it? I don’t tend to think of the distance, only the time it takes when I fly somewhere.”

“From LAX it’s about seven hundred forty or so.”

“Miles?”

“Yeah.”

“Doesn’t seem that far, does it? How do you know so much?”

Sebastian laughs. “Lexie, it’s my job to know this stuff.”

“I know, but with so many destinations, you think you’d have to look it up in a book or something when asked about a specific route or airport.”

“I do that route a lot, I just know. But we do have ‘
books
’, too, you can’t possibly know everything about every route by heart. ”

“Is it a tricky airport to fly into and out of? It seems a little hairy sometimes, as a passenger. Snow must make things difficult for pilots, too.”

“Well, things aren’t always straight forward, but it’s our job to find out the differences at certain airports and adjust the way we do things, accordingly. Aspen, for example, is a high altitude airport at seven thousand, eight hundred thirty seven feet above mean sea level, which means the crew need to calculate and cross check the aircraft V speeds.”

“V speeds?” I ask, totally flummoxed but thoroughly captivated by his knowledge and wisdom in this field. Something I know nothing about. It’s attractive.

“Yeah, VR which is the velocity of rotation, is the speed at which pilots must accelerate the aircraft to on the runway prior to rotating.”

“Rotating?”

“Climbing off the runway.”

“Take off?”

“Yes, take off. Lift over an aircraft wing is generated by the speed and density of the air that wing is passing through, so if the air density is lower, which it is at Aspen, then the aircraft’s VR will be higher, meaning you need a longer take-off distance than you’d need at an airport with a lower altitude. And in summer, the air temperature increases so air density decreases further so you require an even longer take-off distance.” He uses his hands when he speaks, fully immersed in his subject.

“That is fascinating, Sebastian, I love to hear about this sort of thing. I always think take-off takes a long time at Aspen, I worry we won’t take off at all! So I suppose it all depends on what type of aircraft you’re travelling on as to how long you’re on the runway?”

“Yeah, the crew often have to limit the take-off weight at Aspen and other such airports, by limiting payload… excess fuel, etcetera. It’s all to ensure that the aircraft can operate safely from the runway length available at the given temperature and density altitude. We usually refer to it as Mass and Balance calculations – we do this before deciding the fuel uplift figure of that specific aircraft.”