A Convenient Arrangement (10 page)

“Cut the commentary.”

Justin dropped the ball and served. The screech of rubber bounc­ing off the wooden floor repeatedly sliced through their huffing and puffing until Justin slammed the ball into the wall and scored.

“You were saying there’s a woman in your life who warrants a
special
dinner.”

“Forget I asked.” Leo grabbed his towel and scrubbed it over his face. Like he needed his brother busting his balls.

“No, no, it’s just I never hear you mentioning taking a woman somewhere special for dinner. I thought your type of liaisons involved Chinese takeout and king-sized beds.”

“I have, on occasion, taken a woman out.”

“To an event yes, but those aren’t usually relationships, are they? Would you be seeking out a
special
place to take those women?”

Justin was right, yes. With the convenient arrangements he’d had with the assortment of exquisitely polished women he took to events, they often dined in all the right places but didn’t really do special things. But again those had been mutually agreed-upon convenient arrangements, disposable relationships. When he and whatever actress, model, or heiress he was bedding at the time worked through the physical attraction, the entire involvement ended. Those women were just as ready to move on to the next man as he was to move on to the next woman.

“What about flying her somewhere? That’s kind of impressive, isn’t it? Use the corporate jet and take her somewhere unusual.”

Leo shook his head. “Don’t think she’ll be impressed.”

“Seriously?”

Leo nodded. “It’ll take a show of the heart to impress her, not a show of capital.”

“Oh.” A knowing grin spread across Justin’s face. He stuffed his towel into his bag. “I see.”

“You see what?” His older brother’s superior attitude annoyed Leo.

“Well, when a man wants to do something special for a woman that involves an emotional component, that usually means there’s something deeper going on than just a ‘convenient arrangement.’”

“This…yes…well…this person may mean more than that,” Leo admitted.

“Well, well, well,” Justin cocked an eyebrow. “Who knew?” He slung the strap of his gym bag over his shoulder and headed through the door to the club’s locker room.  “The reports that you have no heart are indeed false.” Justin dropped his bag in front of his locker. “I told everyone they were wrong, you just hadn’t discovered the right woman yet.”

Leo grumbled. Who was Justin to give Leo shit about being a womanizer? Before Aubrey had reentered his life, Justin had been a bigger player than Leo.

“Have you considered cooking for her?” Justin opened his locker and pulled out a fresh towel.

“Cooking? Me? Cook?”

“It’s a special thing for a man to cook for a woman. Or they think it is.” Justin tossed his clothes into his bag. “Not sure why, maybe it’s us showing them our domestic side. Or vulnerability. Maybe it’s vulnerability.”

Cooking, eh? Leo’s cooking entailed a microwave and leftovers. He did not cook. Couldn’t even boil water.

“I don’t know that’s the way to start out…I…well, I can admit that I’m not a very good cook.”

“Neither am I, and to be honest, neither is Aubrey. You know what she did? I thought it was pretty genius. She’d bring the food in from Rockwater and then heat it up and put it in regular dishes. Took me about four meals before I figured out that she wasn’t cooking for me at all, but faking me out with her sister’s food.”

“Brilliant.”

“And breakfast, have bagels and cream cheese in the fridge. No one can mess that up.”

“I’m not sure I’ll need to worry about breakfast. I mean, I think it’s unfair to assume—”

“Wait, so you want to have a special meal with a woman, maybe even cooking for her, but you won’t assume there’ll be a need for breakfast?”

Leo nodded.

Justin slapped him on the shoulder. “I sure as hell hope this
special
dinner works out for you, because I think you may have met the girl who’s going to flip you on your ass.”

“I got the new gig!” Gwen called out as she marched into Aubrey’s kitchen and swung the bag of takeout salads onto the counter. Aubrey, standing by the refrigerator, smiled a knowing smile that said loud and clear,
Of course you did, silly
. Wait—Aubrey was in the kitchen? “What are you doing out of bed?”

“I needed some water.”

“Ramona can get you water. You’re not supposed to be up.”

“Ramona went to the store.” Aubrey grimaced. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to lay in bed all day, every day?”

“I don’t know.” Gwen lifted both boxes from the bag. “Sounds sort of fabulously decadent to me.”

“For the first twenty-four hours. Now I’m bored and cranky and I’ve watched more TV than any human should. I’m driving Nina crazy with my emails and texts. She banned me from texting her the rest of today. Unless there’s an emergency, I’m limited to ten texts a day.”

“Ten? That’s pretty generous.” Gwen opened a cabinet and pulled out two plates. “Go to your room. I’ll be there in a minute with lunch.”

“Fine. I return to my bed under protest and only because you’re here. I’m losing my mind. Thank goodness you came by.” Aubrey smiled again. “And you got the job!” She lifted her hands over her head in a triumphant gesture as she turned and tottered off toward the far side of the penthouse.

Five minutes later Gwen sat beside Aubrey on Aubrey’s bed, both with their feet propped up and their backs against the headboard. “Morgan Montgomery wasn’t anything like I expected.”

“She’s pretty awesome, right? Just really straight and down-to-earth. I knew you two would hit it off. You can’t imagine what a nightmare her last event planner was. The woman stole half the venue fee, and then there was no food because she forgot to finalize the contract with the caterer.”

“I guess there are a lot of flaky event planners.”

“That’s why your business is growing so fast. All you needed was a couple high-profile events—”

“Which I got thanks to you.”

“No, you got them because you’d done such a great job with the Teddy Bear Luncheon for five years. You were the natural choice for my charity events. Plus I like you.” Aubrey speared a piece of lettuce. “You bring me food, you let me whine, and you tell me when I need to get my ass back to bed.” Aubrey sighed. “I know it’s not much longer”—she rested her hand on her belly—“and I know it’s totally worth it, but I can’t help but feel there’s so much I should be doing.”

“Stop, just stop,” Gwen said. “Nina’s right, you’re growing a
baby
. Everything else can wait. Nina’s got Rockwater and I’ve got the baby shower and the launch. Your plans for world domination will simply have to be on hold until the baby’s born.”

Aubrey rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue. “Will you come over this Friday night to play cards? Shelly and Anthony and Nonna are coming for dinner. I’d love to have you join.”

A tiny thread of cold apprehension tickled Gwen’s stomach. Normally, she’d say yes. She loved the relaxed feeling of hanging out on a Friday night with Aubrey and her family, so different from all the time she spent being social at big events. They ate dinner, drank wine, and played cards. She was becoming quite the shark at hearts.

“I can’t,” Gwen said softly. “I…uh…I have plans.”

Aubrey’s mouth curved into a sly smile. “Plans, as in a date with the man who sent you flowers?”

Gwen smiled. Goodness, she wanted to fess up, and tell her best friend but Aubrey would flip if she knew the flowers and the date involved Leo.

“I see you’re playing this one close,” Aubrey said. “No worries, I can respect your need for privacy even if I’m dying to to know who’s sending you fabulous flowers and taking you out to dinner on a Friday night. I don’t like it”—She gave Gwen a teasing sidelong look—“but I can accept it.”

“Thanks,” Gwen whispered.

“Just hope this guy is worthy of you, because you’re a catch.”

“Me? A catch?”

“You’re beautiful, sophisticated, witty, and charming, plus you’re the owner of the hottest event planning company in Manhattan.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Gwen snuggled into the pillow behind her back, her gratitude for Aubrey’s friendship warming her heart. Every woman needed a friend to bolster her confidence now and again, didn’t she?

“You’ll let me know who this mystery man is when you’re ready?”

Gwen nodded. Guilt flickered through her chest. She couldn’t imagine ever being ready to tell Aubrey about Leo.

“Just know,” Aubrey smiled, “that I’m ready to hear all the details whenever you’re ready to tell.”

*

“We’ve finished the beta testing.” Todd adjusted his black stovepipe hat to a jaunty angle atop his bright green hair. “People are digging this app.”

The first few times Leo had met with Todd and Ilko, their clothing choices threw him. Over the last six months, however, he’d grown immune to their wardrobe oddities, although they still did, on occasion, surprise him. Today Ilko sported bright pink hair and wore a headband with cat ears and fingerless gloves that looked like paws. Because they were a brilliant tech duo, Leo had decided early on that Todd and Ilko could show up dressed in panda costumes and he’d say nothing. They were, after all, two of the most sought-after app designers in the world.

“What the public
really
digs, though, is you,” Ilko said.

“Me?”

“You,” Todd and Ilko chorused. They nodded in tandem, as though they shared the same brain. If there was an app for brain-sharing, Leo thought, they might.

“People are loving how the guy behind the app is the most ungettable single man in the world. Even women are buying into what we’re selling,” Ilko said.

“Sex without strings. No attachments. Simple physical pleasure.” Todd stroked his beard.

“All between adults who agree that this type of convenient relationship is what they want.” Ilko tapped her fingertips together.

“No messy love, just good times. The app version of Netflix and chill.”

A bright smile hovered on Ilko’s face. She looked as though she might purr. “That being said, this is the new campaign we’re going with.” She turned her phone toward Leo.

His brows creased. He remembered taking the photographs, but they’d been done for the launch materials, not an ad campaign.

“It’s like you’re a younger hipper Don Juan, but with more money and better clothes.”

“Me?” Leo squinted. “You want me to be the face of the Convenient Arrangement app?”

“You kind of already are.” Todd lifted his legs and bent them into a lotus position in the chair. “Everyone knows the app is a Travati product, and you’re the only single Travati left.”

“There’s Devon.”

Ilko and Todd exchanged a look.

“Right,” Ilko said, “but he’s off the market, in a way, with the whole possible criminal trial thing.”

“People follow the Travatis, and they know that that Justin and Anthony are hooked up. The only available Travati brother is you,” Todd added.

“Suave, single, hot billionaire who’s been living this convenient arrangement lifestyle for the last decade, way before it was even a thing. Hooking up with the world’s most beautiful women.”

“The kicker is, the whole convenient arrangement thing works. No one you’ve ever dated has anything bad to say about you. Your friends with all of the women from your past.”

Again, Ilko and Todd looked at each other and unspoken communication passed between them. Maybe there was a brain-sharing app they’d worked on.

“Steve Jobs did it,” Ilko said. “Embodied an entire brand.”

“Bill Gates would if they could figure out how to input charisma.” Todd typed a note into his phone.

“You’re the perfect spokesperson for the campaign. Plus, the app idea was yours.”

“Actually,” Leo said, “you guys came to me.”

“But only after you lived this life for how many years? I’m telling you,” Ilko continued, “all our research indicates that the app is doing so well, in part, because people are intrigued by you and your lifestyle and how you’ve made it work for you for so long.”

“With you front and center, we absolutely can’t fail.” Todd peered at him over the top of his round blue-lensed glasses.

Leo leaned back into his chair. Failure wasn’t an option. And Ilko and Todd’s pitch made sense. He’d wanted to work with them not only because they were the best in tech design, but also because they understood marketing and promotions as well as numbers and analytics.

“Send me the campaign. Let me take a look.”

Tapping on her phone, Ilko nodded. “Just sent it. Don’t take long. We’re meant to go wide with this in twenty-four hours.”

“Not leaving me much room.” Leo lifted an eyebrow. “Expecting me to say yes?”

“You’re a businessman,” Ilko said. “We expected you’d want to do whatever was best for the product and would get the most sales.”

This app wasn’t Ilko’s first rodeo. Since she was a profit participant too, she had clearly thought about exactly what words to say to get Leo to say yes, to earn her and Todd the most dollars.

“Got me there. I’ll look at the campaign and call you later today.”

“Text.” Todd stood. “We never answer our phones.”

“Text, right.” This dynamic duo not answering their phones was the sole thing he disliked about working with them. No matter what the question or the conversation, you had to text them or meet them in person. There were no phone calls.

“Okay, we’re out. Didgeridoo lesson in twenty.” Todd took Ilko’s hand and they nearly skipped from his office.

Leo’s computer dinged. He opened Ilko’s email and clicked on the images. The pictures had been taken in the fall. Him in a suit with an unbuttoned collar and his shirt sleeves rolled up. In the best one, the photographer, Lizzy, had captured his grin just as he’d started to laugh at a joke she’d told. Good shot and a solid campaign. Ilko would have numbers to back up her request—she and Todd always had numbers to back up everything. If they said his face, his smile, his lifestyle would sell the Convenient Arrangement app, he had no doubt they were right. So why the hesitation?