Free Bought: A Billionaire Romance by Sadie Keynes

question.
    Shoes! I completely forgot shoes and my case is already full. I’m going to have to unpack everything and start again.
    “Oh, I don’t know, black heels for the meeting and then something comfortable for the evening.”
    “Comfortable? Boring. You want to look hot,” says Kelly as she gets up to start rummaging through the small collection of shoes I keep under my bed.
    “How about these ones? They’d go great with that dress, you know, the black one,” she says, holding up a pair of strappy heels.
    “Fine. Whatever.”
    I tip out the contents of the suitcase and start trying to decide what to discard so I can fit some shoes in.
    Kelly returns herself to the comfort of my bed and turns on her side to face me, one arm dangling over the edge.
    “Man, I am so jealous of you,” she declares, “this time tomorrow you’ll be riding in a billionaire’s private jet.”
    “You’re a lot more excited about this than I am.”             
    “Clara, you need to relax and enjoy it. It’s going to be AMAZING.”
    I can’t relax. I’ve just spent the last few days going over the numbers again and again, including the weekend. I can’t stop imagining that I’m going to make a fool of myself at the meeting.
    “It’s easy for you to tell me to relax. In your job you only need to remember how to make a mojito. I’ve got to know the numbers in this report inside and out,” I exclaim, brandishing the report at her, “Last night I dreamed that I showed up to the meeting in my underwear.”
    “Oh yeah, that one. I used to get that all the time in college.”
    “Then there was that one time you actually did it. I’ll never forget the look on the professor’s face.”
    “What can I say? Vodka plus energy drink is a dangerous combination for me,” laughs Kelly, “So have you seen much of our favorite billionaire this week?”
    “I assume you’re talking about Kyan? No. I haven’t seen him since he asked me to come to the meeting with him. I guess he’s been busy but I was really hoping to have some time to discuss it beforehand.”
    “Well, you will have some time tomorrow. You’re going to be cooped up in his jet together for…how long is the flight again?”
    She’s right. What’s going to happen with just the two of us jammed together in a small space for so long?
    “I’m not sure. It’s a long flight.”
    Kelly has her phone out to search for the answer. She sucks a sharp intake of breath between her teeth when she finds it.
    “Wow. Fourteen hours. That’s fourteen hours in a metal box with a hot guy you keep telling me you don’t like but that you’re obviously attracted to. I’m calling it now, you’ll either have killed him or fucked him by the end of the flight.”
    “Kelly! Gross.”
    “Sorry, I keep forgetting you’re a good girl who would NEVER do anything like that. Ah, I forgot the return flight so that’s twenty-eight hours total, plenty of time.”
    “If last night is anything to go by I’ll be awake all night so maybe I can just sleep the entire flight.”
    “No way! This is a great opportunity for you to join the mile high club. Totally private, no having to sneak into the gross airplane toilet. Although, that might take some of the fun out of it.”
    “More like a great opportunity to work out how we’re going to deal with the Chinese.”
    “So what is this meeting about anyway?”
    “Well, the whole reason why I’m working with Kyan is because his company is undertaking a joint venture with Ellis Energy to introduce carbon sequestration to the Chinese coal power plants that Ellis Energy have invested in. The only complication is that the Chinese partners in the deal don’t want to pay for it. That’s why we’re going out to Beijing to talk to them.”
    “What’s carbon masturbation?”
    “Carbon sequestration is about capturing the carbon emissions of a fossil fuel power plant so they don’t end up in the atmosphere and contribute to global