Chapter 403: Airport Math

Lucas and the girls reached her first.

Bennett felt the stares before anyone spoke.

Not Gracie. Gracie looked mildly entertained, like she had already read the whole scene and was only waiting for the punchline. The others were different. Daisy, Mia, Debbie, even Richelle in a cleaner way. Their eyes moved over Bennett with the quiet precision of women measuring another woman in real time. Skin. Clothes. Posture. The way she stood. The way she waited. Whether she looked like a simple car contact... or a problem.

Nobody rushed the last few steps. That made it worse. The distance closed slowly enough for every second of inspection to land. A man passing with a suitcase glanced over, then glanced again when he realized the full group was moving together. Somewhere near the coffee stand, a woman openly turned her head. The terminal kept its normal noise, but around them the air tightened.

Lucas saw it too. It was painfully obvious.

Bennett did not flinch. She kept her expression even, shoulders relaxed, face polite without giving them extra material. She did not smile too wide. She did not look away. She simply stood there and let the moment arrive.

"Hi," she said, looking at Lucas first, then the rest of them.

"Hi," Lucas answered, already trying to take the temperature down.

He did not get the chance.

Mia stepped out from behind him with zero hesitation.

"Hi~"

Richelle moved like she had been waiting for exactly that.

She caught Mia by the wrist, pulled her back half a step, and slid forward with a bright, practiced smile that was a little too smooth to be casual.

"Hiii. I’m Richelle." Her eyes locked on Bennett. "And you?"

Bennett took the offered hand cleanly.

"Bennett."

"I’ll be showing Lucas some cars he’s looking to purchase."

Richelle nodded once, still smiling.

"Ohh. That’s nice."

The air around them died.

Five women. One man. One stranger. Too many eyes and almost no words. Around them the terminal kept moving, announcements rolling, suitcase wheels cutting across the floor, but their little circle felt paused. Like the whole group was silently deciding who owned the moment.

Daisy’s gaze stayed on Bennett’s face a second too long.

Mia looked her up and down again, slower this time, from shoes to hairline.

Debbie stood close enough to Lucas that her shoulder brushed his arm and stayed there.

Gracie’s mouth twitched, clearly enjoying herself.

Richelle held the polite center like she was the only adult willing to finish the scene properly.

Nobody asked another question. Nobody offered another introduction. The silence stretched just far enough to become intentional.

Richelle ended it before it could get worse.

"Okay then. Safe trip."

Bennett accepted the exit immediately.

"Safe trip."

They turned.

The second there was distance, the pressure changed shape. It did not disappear. It only moved with them. Richelle lowered her voice and redirected the whole mood with clean efficiency.

"Since we’re already out, why don’t we go around the city for a bit? We’re free. Might as well use it."

It worked almost too fast.

"That’s true."

"I’m down."

"Better than going straight home."

They agreed with the kind of sudden enthusiasm people use when they need a new plan right now. Daisy linked her arm through Debbie’s. Mia looked back once, just once, before facing forward again. Gracie laughed under her breath at something none of them said out loud. As they walked off together, heads turned across the terminal again. Five beautiful women moving in one group was impossible to ignore. A few people clearly recognized Gracie and still chose not to approach. One guy lifted his phone halfway, then thought better of it.

Bennett waited until they had cleared enough distance before she spoke.

"Your friends are... thorough."

Lucas glanced sideways at her.

"That’s one word for it."

"I was being polite." A small smile tugged at her mouth. "The shorter one looked like she wanted to check my pockets for a tracking device."

"That’s Mia."

"Of course it is."

They walked a few steps in silence. The thicker noise of the main terminal thinned as they moved toward private boarding. The crowd thinned with it. Fewer families. Fewer rolling carts. More staff uniforms and quiet glass. Bennett adjusted the strap of her bag, then looked at him from the corner of her eye like she was still doing quiet calculations she did not plan to share yet.

"So," she said. "Five of them."

"Does it matter?"

"I didn’t say it mattered." Her tone stayed light, carefully balanced. "I’m just counting."

Lucas almost smiled.

"You’re bad at math if you think that’s the whole number."

Bennett stopped walking for half a second.

Just long enough to look at him properly.

"You’re unbelievable."

"I’ve been told."

She shook her head and started walking again, but the little pause had already given her away. She was trying to sound unconcerned. She was not fully succeeding. Her pace stayed even. Her face stayed composed. Still, something in the way she looked forward was a little too deliberate, like she was choosing not to ask the next question rather than not having one.

"For the record," she said, "I’m not here to compete with anybody. I’m not going to stand in an airport and start marking territory."

"Wasn’t asking you to."

"Good." She glanced at him again, softer this time. "I’m here for a car. And company. In a normal order."

"Normal order."

"Don’t make it sound suspicious."

"I didn’t."

"You did."

That got a real smile out of him.

A staff member passed them with a nod and kept going. Through the glass ahead, the runway lights sat in clean lines. The private jet was already visible, sleek and quiet, waiting like the day had somewhere else to be.

They reached the private access point. Bennett slowed slightly, like she wanted one last clean line before the trip officially started.

"Just so we’re clear," she said, voice lower now, "I don’t need a full explanation about them. I’m not fragile."

"Noted."

"But I will ask questions later."

"Curiosity?"

She looked at him, held the look a second longer than a purely professional woman needed to, then faced forward again.

"Something like that."

"Sure."

"Don’t ’sure’ me like you already know where this is going."

"I don’t," Lucas said. "I just think later is closer than you’re pretending."

Bennett exhaled through her nose, almost a laugh, and kept walking beside him toward the quieter end of the terminal. Her bag strap settled against her shoulder again. The heels of her steps stayed steady on the floor.

"Later, then," she said.