The Billionaire and His Driver

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Well if it ain’t the Hawk in the flesh.” Tex had been talking with the valet when he saw Brina walk out of the servants’ quarters’ exit and toward the boss’s Mercedes-Maybach. “Hello there Miss Sabrina Hawkins,” he said with a smile. “Long time, no see!”

Brina smiled too. She hadn’t seen Tex since the morning they spent at Ronny’s country club, eating breakfast in the car. That was three months ago. “It’s been a minute,” Brina said as she made it up to the two men. “Riding shot gun today?”

“You know it,” Tex said with a laugh. “Good to see you again.”

“Hey Brina,” the valet said.

“Hey Mike.”

“I’ll catch you later, Tex,” the valet added as he hurried back to his duties: he also did pool maintenance when a valet wasn’t needed. They all had several jobs in one.

“I didn’t think you’d be his driver today,” Tex said to Brina. “I thought I saw Jockey around earlier.”

“He was here. But he apparently was fired.”

“ Whaaat ?” Tex was shocked. “Mrs. Dash finally got rid of his ass?”

“I think it was more Mr. Bradshaw, but yeah.”

Tex nodded. “I believe it. He gives Mrs. D a lot of leeway with staff, but sometimes he has to put his foot down because she sees the good in every lost soul. But I think some souls are just lost.”

“Me too,” said Brina. “Drunk on the job? And you’re a driver? There has to be a zero tolerance policy in that case. You’re putting the boss’s life in danger.”

“You are so right,” Tex said, nodding his head.

But Brina also saw him looking down at her outfit: jeans, a tucked in sleeveless blouse, and a black blazer. It was what she brought over last night when Ronny told her to pack a bag, she was going to stay at the manor for a while. But Brina was uncomfortable when Tex's eyes lingered on her breasts.

Ronny saw it, too. Unbeknownst to them he had come outside from around the far side of the house where his home office was located, with briefcase in hand, and saw the two of them smiling and talking as if they were long lost friends. But when he saw Tex looking over her body, as if he was imagining what it would feel like to be inside of that, anger rose up inside of Ronny. As if he had caught another man trying to get next to his lady, and he wasn’t going to stand for it.

But was Sabrina his lady? Hadn’t he already signaled, when he told her she would be his driver and nothing else that he wasn’t going down that road with her? And Tex was so much younger than Ronny: over a decade younger. And Sabrina was a dozen years younger than Ronny herself. Maybe Tex was more her speed. Maybe she could find far more happiness with somebody closer to her age and social status. And Tex, he knew, was somebody with the ability to protect her.

Normally that would be a win-win for him. He’d be rid of her, and she’d have somebody to look out for her since it was obvious she was all alone in this world. But with Sabrina, it was the heart of the matter for Ronny. His heart was involved with her whether he liked it or not. And he couldn’t so easily toss that aside.

But that was why he hated entanglements. You always inevitably got ensnared.

When Brina and Tex saw him coming their way, they both seemed to stand at attention, as if the dreaded boss had arrived. Ronny saw how the smiles were no longer on their attractive faces, and how their demeanors suggested being caught with hands in the cookie jar.

“Good morning, sir,” Tex said cheerfully the way he always did when the boss showed up. Brina opened the door for him.

But Ronny, like always, got into the back passenger seat of his car without saying a word to either one of them. He didn’t give either one of them a glance. As if he wanted to make it clear: He was the boss and they were his minions. Don’t get it twisted.

But Brina found it weird as she closed the door. One minute he was upset that she had left his bed and went to work, and the next minute he wouldn’t even acknowledge her presence. He was just too much!

She walked around, got in behind the wheel as Tex got in on the passenger seat. She looked through the rearview at the boss. He was staring out of his side window. “Where to, sir?” she asked him. She certainly wasn’t calling him Ronny the way he insisted. She doubted if he wanted her to be informal with him in that moment anyway.

“His office,” Tex said as Ronny didn’t even look her way.

Brina was relieved to know she didn’t have to ask for directions. Bradshaw Technologies was located in Eugene, where she lived, and she knew how to get there. She shifted to Drive, and then drove away.