mind. She didn't fool herself. She wasn't going on this trip with Ron because she was curious about the way supermoguls worked. She was going because she had fallen for him. More important than that, she was going because she hoped something would come of it.
That's the part that convinced her she was insane.
"Is this your private jet?" she asked.
"It belongs to the company, but I guess you could say it's mine."
It looked like the inside of an office or a conference room. There was a table with enough space for half a dozen people. There was a bar as well as deeply cushioned chairs that reclined for people who wanted to relax or take a nap. Televisions, computers, phones, just about every kind of machine you could need were placed around the interior.
"All you need is a kitchen and a bedroom, and you could live here instead of bother with a hotel."
"I have both, but we don't use the bedroom because it's too inconvenient to commute from the airport."
"We?" The kitchen didn't surprise her. We in the same sentence with bedroom did.
"My assistants fly with me most of the time. It gives us time to make last-minute preparations. We usually eat at least one meal on the plane."
Apparently no female companionship was wanted. She wondered if it was significant that he'd made an exception in her case. "How do you decide who cooks?"
"We have a chef."
She knew that. She was just trying to make a joke. Her nerves were getting to her. She'd never done this before, but she was going to take it as far as it would go. She didn't know why she thought anything could come of it, but something deep inside kept telling her she'd never find out if she didn't try. And if life was a gamble, maybe this was part of the game.
"Do you want something to eat? Something to drink?"
"After that dinner? I won't be hungry for a week." He'd taken her to his private club for dinner. Everything had been prepared by his chef, wines chosen from his private cellar.
"Do you want to relax? Watch TV? Watch a movie? We've got dozens of tapes and DVDs. We can take off as soon as your luggage arrives."
She'd called Ruby and asked her to pack a bag for her. She'd felt like a child talking to her mother, embarrassed about what she was doing, angry she was embarrassed. She was an adult and should be able to make her own decisions without feeling anyone had to approve them.
"You didn't tell me what you would need," Ruby had said, "so I packed something for every occasion." She had packed three bags.
She had been too mortified to admit she'd probably need very little. Ron would be tied up with his meeting, so she'd spend most of the day by herself.
"You're not sorry you came, are you?" Ron asked.
She smiled, hoping to mask her nervousness. "No, but I don't know what to do without feeling in the way."
"Do exactly what you want," Ron said. "I'm going to be a terrible host because I have to work."
"When are you going to sleep? We're getting there just in time for the meeting."
"I'll sleep tomorrow, or the day after. You might want to go to bed early. It's only eight o'clock here, but it's two in the morning in Geneva. We'll land in seven hours. It'll be 3:00 a.m. here, nine o'clock there."
Great. Not only was she acting crazy, she was going to be sleep deprived as well. No telling what she'd do and not even remember. A porter went by with her luggage.
"Let me show you the bedroom," Ron said.
It wasn't large, but what it lacked in size it made up for in elegance. "Did you design this?" she asked.
Ron smiled. It was a wicked kind of grin, the kind she was certain could have gotten him in all kinds of trouble had he been willing.
"The plane belonged to a movie star with a taste for luxury. I had the rest of it redone, but I didn't change this room since I never use it."
Kathryn loved it. It was beautiful.
"I'll leave you to unpack."
"Do you mind if I watch a movie while you work?" she asked. She wasn't used to going to bed at eight o'clock. There was a TV in the bedroom, but she didn't want to stay in the room.
"Maybe I'll watch it with you."
"Does that mean I have to watch some movie where the body