we have better people in those positions now. Besides, it’s not like we have to test them out now. Cooper and I will be there.”
“Thanks,” I said sincerely.
“Keep in touch and let me know how things are going,” he instructed. “Now that Harlow is doing better, have some fun.”
“She wants to drive my Chiron,” I told him with a smile on my face. “I might have to take her out to the tracks. I’m pretty sure there’s a secret adrenaline junkie underneath that organized and rational exterior of hers.”
“And you’re actually going to let her drive it?” Hudson asked in a surprised tone. “That’s a hell of a lot of horsepower for a female with no experience driving something like the Bugatti.”
“She’ll be with me,” I told him. “I’m not about to see her get hurt, and I think she can handle it.”
“I’m sure she can,” Hudson agreed.
“She hasn’t asked me for much of anything, so I wasn’t about to tell her no. Harlow is trying to spread her wings, and I’m more than happy to help her fly.”
As a matter of fact, I was making it my personal mission to find so many new and different experiences for Harlow that I could watch her soar like an eagle.
Nothing in this world could make me happier than that.
Harlow
“I think you’re completely insane, Jax Montgomery. Who rents out an entire Michelin-star restaurant just to avoid being bothered by the press!”
There was no sting in my words, and Jax just grinned back at me as he enjoyed a glass of seventy-five-year-old cognac.
It wasn’t the first time in the last week that I’d wondered if Jax had gone completely mad, and I doubted it would be the last.
My eyes roamed over him. We’d dressed up for this occasion. I was wearing a black cocktail dress, and Jax was deliciously handsome in one of his custom suits.
I leaned back in my chair and took a sip of my wine. We’d been in the restaurant for hours, savoring each new course as it came to our table.
Luckily, the portions had been small, or someone would have had to roll me out of this beautiful restaurant on a cart.
“It’s your birthday, Harlow, and it wasn’t that big of a deal,” he remarked as he swirled his cognac around in the glass. “Did you enjoy it?”
“You know I did,” I scolded. “But you’re spoiling me shamelessly.”
“No, I’m not, but you nixed all my other birthday ideas,” he reminded me.
“Because every one of them included your private jet and an international destination,” I told him.
It wasn’t like I didn’t want to fly in his private jet, and escape to a tropical location, but my passport had just expired. It also would have been a very extreme gift for a birthday.
“I told you we could switch it to something in the US, Hawaii or Florida. We’ll get your passport renewed soon.”
“I think this is quite enough, thank you. It’s been an amazing birthday for me,” I said happily. “It was good to have a day without some kind of extreme adventure. I’ve loved every single one of them, but it’s nice to just be with you like this.”
We’d driven to Carlsbad earlier in the day so I could spend some time with Mom on my birthday. It was no surprise that she’d ended up hugging Jax like a long-lost son before the day was over.
Jax had a way of endearing himself to people by listening to them like he really gave a damn about what they were telling him. He found a way to connect with almost everyone he met.
He’d ended up bonding with my mother over mystery novels and cupcake flavors, two things that were near and dear to my mother’s heart.
I’d never known that Jax was so well-versed on those two subjects, but I really shouldn’t be surprised. He had a voracious appetite for knowledge on almost any subject, and he seemed to suck it up and retain it like a sponge.
The photo that had been taken of me and Jax hadn’t been completely scandalous, but the article had torn him to shreds…again. The media had gone from camping outside my apartment to Jax’s doorstep on Coronado Island. Luckily, Jax’s place was so secure that we barely even noticed them, unless we were going out and we saw the reporters as we drove through the front gate.
We’d been outside almost every single day since I’d gotten to Jax’s house a week ago.