You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 480

Jackson had to spar with the office staff a few times before they finally let him take a look.

At four o’clock, he slid into the car, unscrewed his water bottle, and took a sip before saying, “Tina handles everything at Blue Ridge. All the accounts go through her. There’s nothing sketchy going on.”

Patricia spun her phone in her hand, looking totally relaxed. Her pale fingertips stood out against the soft green of her phone case, making her skin look even lighter.

“Let’s go,” she said.

Aiden glanced back at her, right on cue. “Should I let the boss know?”

“I’ll tell him myself.”

As Jackson started the car and headed toward the airport, he said, “Do you really have to check in with the boss for every little thing? Are you still in diapers or what? We haven’t even boarded the plane and you’re already stressing out. Is Mr. Padilla giving you a bonus for this?”

Aiden knew better than to argue with Jackson, so he just kept quiet.

Fine, treat me like I’m mute, whatever works, he thought.

But Jackson just shot him a look. “Come on, say something. You really think playing dumb is going to help you get away with things? Guys like you are exactly why women don’t want to get married anymore.”

“If I stopped playing dumb, you’d still be single. Maybe look at yourself instead of blaming the universe,” Aiden shot back.

The two of them kept bickering all the way to the airport.

Aiden had figured something out a while ago. He used to suck at arguing. But after hanging around Jackson, he realized that—other than Jackson himself—he could out-talk almost anyone. With everyone else, he was undefeated.

By the time they got back to Riverdale, it was already seven in the evening.

Patricia wasn’t in a rush to go home. Instead, she had Jackson drive her to the Martin Group building.

Their black car stopped in the shadow of the trees, almost disappearing into the night.

If the wind hadn’t rustled the branches and broken up the shadows, Aurora might not have noticed the car at all.

Aurora stopped her. “That’s enough. Any more and we’ll just end up wasting food.”

“If we need to hit the minimum, just add some wine. We can always take it with us.”

Patricia nodded and handed her the menu. “You pick.”

Aurora barely looked before quickly adding a few bottles of wine.

Patricia never asked about Aurora’s family, but she had a feeling there was more going on than Aurora let on. The wines she picked weren’t exactly something you’d know about if you didn’t come from money.

“Have you been here before?” Patricia asked.

“Nope,” Aurora said, propping her chin on her hand and looking at Patricia. “My dad loves wine. He kind of trained me for this.”

She explained it offhandedly, then grinned at Patricia, her eyes sparkling. “Boss, are you getting prettier every day or is it just me?”