Goddess of Vengeance - Jackie Collins [50]
Bobby’s vision was of a roof-top space with panoramic views of the city, incorporating a sixty-foot pool with underwater speakers, a forty-foot stone bar surrounded by a dozen private party cabanas, a kick-ass restaurant run by a world-class chef, a major dance space – and all with a tropical feel. Simple, stylish, the perfect hang.
The meetings took longer than expected, and he was so caught up in the details that when he checked the time he realized he’d never make his flight.
Damn! Denver was not going to be happy, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Too bad. He’d been looking forward to finally meeting her family.
Chapter Eighteen
The cleaning crew went to work like the well-oiled team of professionals they were.
Billy threw Max a triumphant look and said, ‘Y’see? They’re taking care of business. No worries.’
She had to admit he was right, they were fast and thorough. By the time the housekeepers arrived back, things were looking a lot better. Although once the women figured out what had taken place, they threw Max contemptuous looks and muttered under their breath because they knew if anything important was broken or missing, it was them who would get the blame.
Fortunately Billy spoke a smattering of Spanish, so he moved into action and charmed them into a hypnotized state, then made them assure him they would not utter a word of this to Max’s parents. After he was sure they understood, he handed each of them five hundred bucks as insurance.
Max was impressed. He was protecting her, which was more than she could say for Cookie and Harry – who’d obviously both taken off without a thought about how she was going to put the place back together. Man, they were totally selfish! She had a good mind to rescind their Vegas invitation. How dare they run out on her.
Or . . . maybe they’d tried to find her and couldn’t, which was a possibility because she’d been sequestered on the beach with Billy.
But, if that was the case, shouldn’t they have been worried about her?
On the missing list and nobody gave a rat’s ass.
Whatever . . .
Shortly after two, Billy glanced at his watch and muttered, ‘Shit!’
‘What?’ Max asked, still basking in the glow of his company. They’d been sitting in the kitchen where she’d fixed him a tuna fish sandwich while they’d watched the cleaning crew finish up. It was all good – in fact, it was all totally awesome.
‘I’ve kinda blown off a big interview with Rolling Stone,’ he announced. ‘My PR’s gonna be so pissed.’
‘Does that mean you have to go?’ Max asked, trying to hide her disappointment.
‘Yeah, but I guess I can turn up late. What’re they going to do – shoot me?’ he said with a wry smile. ‘Problem is, I don’t got a ride.’
‘I’ll drive you,’ she said, quick as a flash.
‘Nah,’ he said, with a casual shrug. ‘I’ll call a cab.’
‘Why would you do that?’ she asked, determined to hang onto him as long as possible, because who knew when she’d ever see him again? ‘Don’t you trust my driving?’
‘’Course I do, babe. But if I ain’t in the driver’s seat then I’m your front-seat passenger from hell. Believe me, you’d hate it.’
She was beginning to feel slightly desperate. ‘How about if you drive?’ she offered. ‘That way, I’ll be the one sitting in the passenger seat.’
Too needy, Max, calm down! Stop sounding like a stalker.
‘Wouldn’t work out,’ he said. ‘I gotta get my ass straight to the interview. It’s at the Sunset Towers, an’ driving up with you in the car is not an option.’
‘Okay then,’ she said, coming up with a plan that would assure her of seeing more of him. ‘You can take Lucky’s Ferrari, and I’ll pick it up from you later.’
‘C’mon,’ Billy said disbelievingly. ‘There’s no way Lucky would want me driving her car.’
‘She wouldn’t mind,’ Max lied, knowing full well that Lucky had a thing about her precious Ferrari, so much so that she wouldn’t even leave it with a valet parker. ‘I drive it all the time,’ she added. ‘Believe me, Lucky hardly ever uses it.’
Big fat fib, but hey – this was an emergency.
‘You’re sure about that?’ Billy said, still hesitating.
‘Dead sure,