at the ripe age of twenty-eight.”
“I won’t.”
“Speaking of Type A, how is your dad?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I have been busy. He’s been busy. I have barely talked to him at all. I really wish he would relax a little more.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s the pot calling the kettle black. You two are both wound very tight.”
“He made me this way,” I protested.
“Yes, he did.”
“Now that you mention it though, I probably should check in on him. He works way too much. When he isn’t working, he is doing something else that is far from relaxing.”
She gave me a knowing look. “Yeah, weird. It’s like I know someone just like him.”
“Ha. Ha.”
An idea popped into my head. I quickly jotted it down. When I looked up, she had her arms folded over her chest. She was right. I did work hard. I worked a lot. I liked working.
Chapter 3
Xander
I picked up a tool that I had no idea what it was. I examined it and put it back down on the table alongside Charlie’s workstation. I looked around the massive warehouse with various parts of cargo ships being manufactured or repaired. I knew exactly what I was looking at when it came to the bits and pieces of the ships.
“This baby is almost finished,” Charlie said, lovingly patting an engine housing.
I walked around the massive piece that would eventually be a part of one of the cargo ships I had designed. “It looks good.”
“Of course, it looks good. I made it.”
“I designed it,” I reminded him.
He grinned. “Damn straight you did. And I’m glad you did. If you didn’t, I wouldn’t be working as much as I have been. Look at this place. We have work lined up for the next two years. Your fancy ships are the bee’s knees.”
I rolled my eyes. “When did you turn ninety?” I asked, referencing his very old, outdated phrase.
“Do you want a tour?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nah, once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”
He flashed a smile. “That isn’t even remotely true.”
His mind was in the gutter. “Please do not regale me with tales of your latest girlfriend or whatever it is you call these women you date for a few weeks.”
“I call them my ladies,” he said with his boyish grin. “How was the trip to LA?”
I groaned. “As expected.”
“What exactly were you doing up there?”
“I was presented with an award. I wasn’t going to go at all, but my assistant told me it was a big deal. Then other people told me it was a big deal. I went to get it fucking over with.”
“What kind of an award?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, some environmental thing or something.”
He slapped a hand to his forehead. “How do you not know what it is for?”
“Because,” I answered. It was a lame answer, but I had no good answer. “I went, I got it, and that’s that.”
“Where is it?”
“In the backseat of my car, I suppose.”
“It’s pretty clear you have never actually got an award before,” he mused.
“Why do you say that?”
He smirked. “I bet the best award you ever won was one of those pretty little participation ribbons.”
“Fuck you.”
“It’s an award, man! A really cool bit of recognition. You did good! Celebrate it. Be proud of what you have accomplished.”
I supposed I was proud. Somewhat. I just didn’t see the need to boast. “I am proud,” I argued.
“You are a billionaire, and don’t deny that you are. I know you are. You don’t act like it, which is a good thing, I guess, but damn, be proud.”
I scowled at him. “You want me to act like a peacock? Should I strut around boasting about my wealth?”
He slowly shook his head. “Never mind. I’m just glad I knew you when.”
“When?”
“Before you became this guy. You are one step away from a big, bushy beard and living off the grid in a tiny little shack.”
That made me smile. “That isn’t a terrible idea.”
“Living is a good thing,” he started the lecture he usually doled out.
“Don’t,” I warned. “I’ve heard it. I like my life just the way it is.”
“Alone.”
“Unencumbered,” I shot back.
He laughed. “That’s a big word. But I guess coming from a guy that designed the ships that are changing the world, I would expect nothing less.”
“How is business?” I asked as my eyes scanned the massive building once again.
“Good. Like I said, I’m not worried about being laid off anytime soon. In fact, I talked with the plant manager