Read Online Angel in Armani by Melanie Scott - Free Book Online Page B

fly-the-chopper-in-a-manner-that-didn’t-make-him-think-of-imminent-death stakes.
    Sara didn’t swoop .
    The thought of Sara Charles and the fact that so far, he hadn’t found another chopper pilot who managed to fly the way she did, didn’t improve his mood.
    He scowled down at the field, currently empty with the team in Florida.
    “What’s eating him? Girl trouble?” Mal said from behind him. Lucas didn’t turn around. He wasn’t in the mood for Mal’s idea of wit.
    “Lucas doesn’t do girl trouble,” Alex replied, his voice somewhat amused.
    Lucas gritted his teeth.
    “Remember, he has his new tap-’em-and-toss-’em policy,” Alex continued. “No trouble to be had.”
    Lucas turned at that one. “I do not,” he said, trying not to give in to the urge to toss Alex somewhere, “toss women. We come to mutually agreeable terms”—he held up a hand before either of his so-called best friends could come up with some stupid joke about that—“and we part ways amicably.”
    “That’s what he thinks,” Alex said to Mal. “How much do you want to bet there’s a trail of women a mile wide across Manhattan pining for ol’ blue eyes?”
    “I don’t have to bet on that,” Mal said. “There’ve been women pining after ol’ blue eyes for the last twenty years. Ever since Texas.”
    Lucas rolled his eyes at Mal. “I never noticed you lacking for female company at college, either. Nor,” he pointed out in a steely tone, “do I see any sign of you having a regular girlfriend. And yet, I don’t think you’ve taken a vow of celibacy. Those who live in glass houses…”
    “I’m not throwing stones,” Mal said. “But if it isn’t girl trouble, then what’s put the bug up your butt? Because Alex was just talking to you about TV licensing and you nearly took his head off.”
    Had he? Fuck. He was more tired than he thought. He parked himself back in one of the chairs facing Alex’s desk. “I’m sorry. I need sleep.” He didn’t sleep on planes, and he’d gone straight into surgery and then come right on out to Staten Island for this meeting.
    Alex regarded him, head cocked to one side. “Are you sure that’s it?”
    “What else would it be?”
    “I don’t know, but you’ve been in a mood ever since you got back from that party at Margot’s a couple of weeks ago.”
    “Like I said. I’m tired. In case you hadn’t noticed, the schedule is kind of crazy around here.”
    “I noticed,” Alex said. “And I’m sorry you got the short end of the stick with the travel. I’m trying to get everything else set up as fast as possible so I can get to Florida more often myself. But these things take time.”
    Lucas nodded and dug his fingers into the muscles at the back of his neck. “I know.” Owning a baseball team was a lot more complicated than it sounded. And he’d been thorough about weighing the pros and cons before he’d agreed to sign up to this insanity. He’d gone in with his eyes open.
    This was just the hard part. Getting things established. They’d known the Saints were in trouble when they’d bought them, known there was work to do. So he just had to plow through and get it done.
    “You really need to learn to nap on planes,” Mal said.
    Lucas gave him a death glare. Mal, thanks to his years of being the globe-trotting soldier, slept anywhere at the drop of the hat. Lucas, who had also learned to catch any sleep he could as an intern, could usually sleep like a log in almost any situation, too.
    But he didn’t sleep in the air. Never had since that airlift to the hospital twenty years ago. It was irrational and he knew it, but he hadn’t managed to convince his body that if he fell asleep in a plane or a chopper, he wouldn’t wake up in a hospital again. Or maybe just not wake up at all.
    “You worry about your wheeling and dealing,” Lucas said. “Let me worry about me.”
    Alex and Mal both frowned at him. “You’re no good to us if you keel over,” Alex