“Something the matter?” Natashya asked.
“You could say that,” I said as I looked up at her from between my fingers. I dropped my hand and gave her a weak smile.
Natashya looked at me with concern. “Don’t you like your sister? She seems sweet.”
“Oh, she is,” I said. “It’s just a little weird bringing her along, considering what this is.”
“And what is this?” Natashya asked, teasing me with a coy smile.
“You know exactly what this is,” I said, giving her a faux-threatening look.
“Nights out on the town with a beautiful woman on each arm? Dancing, drinks, gambling, and filthy threesomes after we’re all tired of the nightlife?”
“Something like that,” I said. “Unfortunately, there’s a complication.”
I spent the next few minutes explaining the situation with Ashlee. I told her about Cartwright confronting me in the restroom of the Strange Mudd, and how Ashlee had been caught meeting with him the day I had been robbed. Natashya started off listening while reclining in her seat, but by the time I had finished, she was leaning forward with disbelief painted all over her face.
“And you invited Ashlee along because you want to use your wiles to get information out of her,” she said, guessing where I was going with this. She was a smart girl.
I nodded. “That’s basically it.”
She glanced out the window and asked, “What does she look like?”
“It’s strange, “I said. “She’s actually hot, but she also has this cute girl-next-door thing going, and the way she talks… she has a princess complex.”
“Does she have brown hair and light skin?”
“Yeah,” I said.
Natashya looked back at me. “Then she’s outside watching a man get her bags out of a car right now.”
“Shit! She’s here?” I said.
“I should make myself scarce,” Natashya said, standing up. “If she’s as jealous as you say, she may not like seeing me as soon as she walks on the plane.”
“Fuck,” I said, standing up with her, “I’m sorry Natashya. I didn’t mean-”
Natashya placed a finger on my lips, cutting me off. She immediately followed it up by leaning into me to give me a quick kiss.
“No need for an apology,” she said with a bright smile. “Playing spy with you will be fun. But… I don’t come cheap.” She reached down and caressed my cock through my pants. “Just because your little princess and sister are on this trip doesn’t mean you’re excused from putting this in me.”
“Believe me,” I said, “the first chance I get.”
“Good. Now, I’m going to go before she catches me. You should meet her at the door.”
Natasha and I parted ways and I headed back to the plane entrance just in time to catch Ashlee as she ascended the stairs. Despite my reservations about Ashlee, she looked magnificent in a short cream skirt and matching loose blouse that hung gracefully off her shoulders. Her dark brown hair was layered and blowing in the gentle breeze as she ascended the stairs. She looked up as she reached the last few and her green eyes immediately found mine, and her face lit up.
“Marcus!” she squealed and threw her coat down on the floor next to me as she threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and plastering her body on mine. I stumbled back a couple of steps then caught myself, wrapping my arms around her and giving her a tight hug. Over my shoulder I saw Chloe step past the newcomer and back into the room, smirking at me as we exchanged looks. I was starting to get a little annoyed at how amused Chloe was at everything happening to me. I know a lot of it was my own doing but goddamn… as much as I paid her, you would think she would show a little more discretion in the looks she threw me.
Ashlee finally let me go and dropped to the ground, backing off to look up at me. “Hiii!”
“Hey Ashlee,” I said with a smile. From what I’d seen she was a snake, but if her enthusiasm of seeing me wasn’t genuine, then I had to give her props for being a good actress. It was hard to not feel things when she was so good at hyping me up. “Did you have an okay time getting here?”
“It was alright,” Ashlee said, playing with her hair. “Though I did just get roughed up a little.” She glanced at Chloe.
“Apologies, ma’am,” Chloe said. “Part of the job. I’m sure you understand.” Then she looked at me and said, “Since Miss VanCamp is on board, I’ll go ahead and let Ryan know we’re ready.”
“Sounds good,” I said and watched as she walked away.
Ashlee drew my attention by slipping her arms around my waist and drawing close, looking up at me with a beautiful smile. “So, that’s one of your security guards?”
“Head of security,” I said, looking down at her, “And my bodyguard.”
“Head of security? Wow.” Ashlee glanced at Chloe before she disappeared through the door. “She’s really pretty for a bodyguard.”
“You got that right,” Erin said as she walked through the doorway on the other end. “It seems Marcus has an eye for lovely women.”
Ashlee eyed my assistant, and I could feel her arms tense around my waist. “Hey, Erin. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“‘Fraid so,” Erin said. “It’s what I get paid the big bucks for.”
That sounded like the perfect time to bring up the others. “Um… speaking of, we have a couple more guests on board.”
Ashlee looked up at me and blinked. “Other guests?”
“Yeah,” I said, scratching the back of my head as I braced myself for an explosion. “My sister decided she wanted to tag along. We got our wires crossed, and I found her here on the plane. I didn’t want to send her packing. She seemed so excited.”
“Oh,” Ashlee said, some of the tension in her arms draining away, “Emily, right? No, that shouldn’t be a problem. I enjoyed meeting her last time. She’ll be good company when we go shopping!”
I envisioned Emily and Ashlee in a boutique talking about me and making plans. I hated that idea thoroughly.
“Well,” I said. “It’s not just that…”
“Emily brought a friend with her,” Erin interjected. I glanced at her, but her attention was focused on Ashlee. “One of her theater friends, actually.” She looked at me and said, “I’m so sorry about the mixup, Mr. Upton. I don’t know how we got our wires so crossed.”
“Jesus, Erin,” Ashlee snickered. “Could you try to be worse at your job?”
“Hey!” I said, my attention snapping back to Ashlee. “Erin’s been a great assistant. I’d appreciate it if you left the criticism to me.”
Ashlee looked taken aback, and didn’t immediately know how to respond. The look of shock slowly faded into a frown, and I thought she was about to unleash a tirade of insults or start flipping tables. Then her small frown slowly crept into a smile and she pulled herself tighter into me. “Okay, Marcus,” she said. “I can do that. I’m sorry if I overstepped.” Her voice was syrupy sweet as she apologized to me, but I also noted that she hadn’t addressed any sort of apology to Erin. I was about to say something, but she slipped an arm around my neck and pulled me down for a kiss. Not just any kiss, but a toe-curling volcanic kiss. I ended up wrestling with her tongue before she ended it by sucking on my lip before pulling away. She let go of my neck and nuzzled into my chest, but I didn’t miss the look she gave Erin. My assistant simply raised an eyebrow as she stared back at her former college classmate, sending the message that she wasn’t very impressed.