Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

LOGAN

F lynn and Ariane were having a dinner party at their house, and I'd been invited. So had Jude and Mickey, Maverick and Penny, and Karson and Payton.

I didn't know the Neidums very well, but Flynn and Maverick had been friends since childhood, so it made sense they'd be here with their wives. Plus, since they were in construction, it would give me a good opportunity to learn about the industry and find out if there was room for me to expand into it a little more than I already had.

Flynn put a stop to that idea as soon as he opened their front door and took the bottle of wine I'd brought along from me. "Welcome to the chaos. We're glad you made it, but we have one rule for tonight."

"A rule? For a dinner party."

He nodded as he stepped aside and waved me in. "No one is allowed to talk shop tonight."

I groaned. "What are we supposed to talk about then?"

"Interests. Kids. Properties you bought recently and if they're child friendly for a group vacation there. Anything you want, except shop."

I chuckled as I walked into their cavernous entrance hall and whistled under my breath as I took a look around. I hadn't been to their house before, but I knew Ariane came from serious, old money and that Flynn had made a killing investing all his money from his time on the rigs with Jude.

These days, I wasn't so easily impressed with houses, but it wasn't the size—huge—or the furniture—expensive—that struck me as I moved inside. It was the fact that it felt like a real home. Despite the opulence, the open spaces, and modern design features, it was the basket of toys in the corner and the traces of tiny human all around that got to me.

The big, plastic trucks near the door that led out to an expansive backyard. The giant floaties on the infinity pool outside. The tea party with dolls sitting around a little table.

I'd never really thought of having kids of my own. Eventually, one day, I figured I might get to it, but I just didn't have that instinctual, primal need to procreate that I'd heard others had. Now that I was here and seeing this though, I felt something of a twang in my soul.

Not a need, but certainly a touch of something like possibility .

"This is a nice place you've got here," I said as I turned to Flynn, following him and his small man-bun further into the open-concept lower level of their house. "Why did you say it was chaos?"

He chuckled, shrugging as he tipped his head toward the hallway. "Karson has all the kids in the playroom right now, but as soon as they come back out, your question will answer itself."

"Riiiiight," I drew out the word, not really knowing how else to react.

As we moved deeper into the house, I suddenly became aware of faint shouts of laughter drifting down the hall, and then I saw Ariane, Jude, Mickey, Maverick, Penny, and Payton gathered around the table on the deck outside.

They stood up when we walked out, with Ariane and Mickey opening their arms to hug me while Maverick and Jude stepped forward to shake my hand. I didn't know Payton as well as the other women, so she didn't hug me, but she did give me a friendly wave.

"You made it!" Mickey said happily as she squeezed me. "I wasn't sure you'd come. A dinner party where half the guests are under six didn't seem like your thing. "

I returned her hug, grinning at her as I pulled away. "Nah. I like kids. Kind of. As long as their parents are nearby in case there's a diaper emergency or an injury, I'm all good."

"You like kids?" Ariane asked, her chin dropping and her eyebrows climbing on her face as she laughed. "I can't imagine that."

"I said ‘ kind of '," I joked before heading to an empty chair and setting my things down. "Are we drinking, or not so much?"

Looking around the table, all I saw were coffee mugs. Jude made his eyes wide at me. "What kind of question is that? Of course, we're drinking. We're just not drinking out of glasses because then all the kids want the same juice we have. They know mugs usually contain coffee and that coffee is hot, so they're not as eager if we drink out of mugs."

"Wow. That's…" I didn't even know what to say. Logically, it made so much sense, but jeez. "I guess there's a lot of tricks to having kids that don't make it to those cutesy movies about what to expect, huh?"

"A lot ," Mickey said while Ariane passed me a mug. "What can we get you?"

"I brought wine."

Flynn snorted. "Scotch it is. Trust me, you're going to want something stronger than wine once that hurricane arrives."

"Hurricane?"

"It's the most accurate description for a group of kids." Flynn shrugged, carried over a bottle, and poured some into my mug.

After that, Ariane passed me an ice bucket and I added a few cubes before settling in. Jude picked up the conversation, seemingly from where they'd left off before I'd arrived. "So then Logan bought the rig from us and Ariane has hated me a little bit less ever since."

Payton laughed, glancing at me with one eyebrow arching. "You're in the oil business now, huh? That can't be easy. I only know what I've learned from Flynn about it, but it sounds like a whole other world."

"You're telling me," I said emphatically. "To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting into and these jackasses neglected to tell me, but I thought we weren't talking shop tonight?"

"It's not shop," Jude protested immediately. "We're just catching Payton up on the last couple years. The twins have been keeping them pretty busy, so we've seen them, obviously, but it's been ages since we've been able to sit around a table and talk to her."

"Karson's been keeping me in the loop about what everyone has been up to, but my brain was mush for a while there. I have these vague recollections of entire months that just don't seem to have happened."

"Real talk," Penny agreed. "The first two years aren't a walk in the park. Thankfully, it does get better from there."

"Once they stop trying to kill themselves twenty times a day and don't fall as often anymore," Maverick agreed before glancing at me. "You bought the rig as an investment, right?"

"Right," I said, elaborating when he kept looking at me with curious eyes. "Jude has been helping me to invest pretty diversely. I get bored easily, so I won't necessarily withdraw from any industry once I understand it, but I do like to be kept on my toes."

Jude winked at Maverick. "He's also still chasing the big?—"

I shot him a look to shut him up. "Don't say it. You'll jinx me."

"The big B," Mickey finished for him with a satisfied smirk on her lips. "Sorry, but I don't believe in jinxes when it comes to business. You want to attain billionaire status and you're creeping up on it fast. How is saying it going to mean you don't get there?"

"I guess it doesn't. It just sounds obnoxious when you say it like that. Besides, it's not really so much about the money."

"It's about the thrill of the chase, huh?" Penny laughed, her head shaking. "What is it about this particular group of boys who can't just leave well enough alone? It's also right onto the next big thing."

"We're not wired to settle," Maverick said to his wife, leaning over to slide his arm around her shoulders and pull her into his side. "That's why you love me. I don't back down from a challenge. If I did, I wouldn't have you, now would I?"

"Fair enough." She rested her head on his shoulder, shooting him a loving, secret smile before focusing on me again. "So how's the oil business going for you? Is it going to get you closer to your goal, or is it a money pit? "

"It's actually going pretty well. My first visit to the rig after I became the owner was a disaster, but as an investment, it's yielding incredible results. So much so that I'm thinking of buying another one."

Flynn straightened in his chair. "What? You didn't tell me that."

"Yeah, it only happened a few days ago. Some guy called Stanislopoulos is selling his, and Slate put my name out there to him."

Flynn's eyes grew at least one size bigger. "Stanislopoulos is finally retiring? Wow. I didn't think that would happen while his heart was still beating."

"It seems you're in good company on that, but anyway, it sounds like he's got his reasons, so I'm going out there tomorrow to check it out with Mira."

"Are you going to be checking out the rig, or Mira?" Flynn teased.

Jude sighed, a warning flashing in his eyes as he glanced at his wife. "That's one of Mickey's best friends you're talking about, bro. Tread lightly."

Ariane didn't seem interested in this avenue of inquiry at all. "If you buy it, will it remain operational? I've got a lot of research on?—"

"Jude's already forwarded your research to me," I said. "I've been looking into a lot of it, not the stuff about turning it into a reef, but the rest about making the rigs greener."

"There's a way to make the rigs greener?" Penny stared at Ariane with a slight furrow on her brow. "Is that true? Like, would it really work or is it just one of those things people throw money at to put on a show?"

"No, this would really work," Ariane explained passionately, leaning forward as her hands started becoming animated. "It's not as good as decommissioning the rig, obviously, but there are some promising results coming out of the field from those who have tried. It's something, at least."

Meanwhile, Maverick didn't seem nearly as passionate about it, and while Ariane had his wife's attention, he turned back to me. "Mira. She was the dark-haired bridesmaid, right?"

"Yep. It turns out that she's my buddy's little sister. I hired him to be a consultant on the rig, and imagine my surprise when I arrived and walked straight into her."

"What's she like?" he asked. "I didn't speak to her much at the wedding, but she's got to be tough to be a woman in that business."

"She is tough, but she's also all kinds of uptight and bossy, and it's ridiculously hot. Especially when things don't go her way and she gets all flustered and annoyed."

Jude groaned. "Don't, bro. Just don't go there, okay?"

"Mira is a professional," Mickey reiterated. "She's had to work her ass off to claw her way to the top the way she has. It took everything she had to earn even an ounce of respect from the men, but she gave that and more, and now, she's widely regarded as one of the foremost experts in the field."

"I know, and I respect the hell out of her as a professional, but I'd still like to see her with her hair down again."

"Just be careful," Mickey said, her tone now lightly pleading. "If you pursue her on the rigs, you would be putting her in a very tough position."

I shrugged. "I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her work."

Payton had been following our conversation closely, but she only chimed in now. "Even so, it's unkind to put her in that position. If you really like her, you should let her come to you."

"What if she doesn't?" I asked, knowing she wanted me but not really believing she would do anything about it without at least a bit of a push.

Penny shrugged, chiming in as her eyes met mine. "Then you should take a step back and focus on growing your empire. If it's meant to be, it will be, but not at the cost of her career."

"It wouldn't…" I trailed off.

At the cost of her career? Meant to be?

I didn't mean for it to be anything other than a bit of fun, and their perspective definitely gave me something to think about over dinner. I certainly didn't want to cost Mira a career, but I hadn't once stopped to think about the position I would be putting her in. On top of all that, she was my best friend's sister .

A fact none of the women here had even touched on yet. What will they say to me about that if I keep pushing them now?

Part of me was curious to find out, but they'd already given me more than enough to think about. I just didn't quite know what to think about it all right now.