The Bashful Billionaire

by Elana Johnson

  “Yes, Owen, I need to know when Tawny Loveless is working next weekend.”

  “I have it on my calendar,” she growled. Her blood streamed through her veins, too hot and too fast.

  “Just in the morning on Saturday? Great, thanks so much, Owen.” He lowered his phone, a drop-dead gorgeous smile on his face. “You’re free that night.”

  She slicked her loose hairs off her forehead and faced him again. “Maybe I already have a date.”

  “Do you?”

  No, she didn’t, unless she counted her fluffy white dog. “Fine. I don’t have a date.”

  “You could.” He shifted his feet in the sand, almost like it was too hot for him to keep standing there.

  She sipped her drink, glad he’d brought her a cold one. “All right.” She held out her hand and flapped her fingers.

  “What?”

  “Give me your phone.”

  He handed it over without question, and she added her number to it. “Text me the details.”

  “Do you have a dress? It’s black tie, remember?”

  She stepped into him, and placed on palm flat against his chest. Yeah, okay, so he spent some time working out too. “Oh, honey, when I said text me the details, I meant the details of when we’ll meet so you can help me get ready for this…black tie event.” She patted his chest, maybe once more than she should’ve.

  “I wouldn’t wait long,” she said as she walked away. “I might need to order something from the mainland.” Tawny felt his eyes on her, but she refused to look back.

  “How about tonight?” he called after her.

  Tawny spun and walked backward, hoping with everything in her that she wouldn’t trip in the loose sand. “I’ll check my schedule.” Then she turned and left him standing there, chuckling, on the beach.

  Have you had time to check your schedule yet?

  Tawny smiled at the text on her phone from an unknown number. She saved Tyler in her contacts and re-read the words, hearing them said in a playful tone. She’d barely left the beach when the message came in, so she ducked behind a tree and looked back toward where they’d been talking.

  Tyler still stood there, his dog now lying at his feet, his sniffing needs apparently satisfied. When she didn’t respond, he cast a long look in her direction but Tawny felt certain he couldn’t see her. Sure enough, he bent and picked up a blue Frisbee and threw it, the dog taking off after it and then trotting back to his master.

  What time were you thinking? she typed out. I need to shower and I have a few things to take care of. Not entirely true, but she didn’t want him to think her only options on a Friday night after work was a shower and her TV while she painted and cut fabric.

  My schedule is completely open.

  Have you eaten?

  Tell me what you want, and I’ll meet you there.

  Tawny smiled at her phone, her stomach warring with itself. She definitely needed to eat, but doing so in front of him didn’t sound like a good idea.

  “You can eat in front of a man,” she told herself. She continued along the trees, down the beach to her house. It was a long walk, but she was tired of riding her bicycle to the hotel. Sterling had bought a rack just for her, but she just needed a break from that scene. She’d tried a few dates with the valet, because he was cute, polite, and employed. Her requirements for a date were getting shorter and shorter, and Sterling had been kind and charming. He was good-looking. But there had simply been zero spark between them—at least for her.

  And seeing Sterling day after day, and that bike rack he’d bought just for her…well, it felt like she was rubbing something into his wounds she didn’t need to rub.

  By the time she got home, she’d decided where she wanted to eat. The Noodle House, seven-thirty, she texted him. And can you pick me up? I don’t exactly have a car.

  Sure. See you soon.

  Giddiness accompanied Tawny as she burst into her beach house and exclaimed to her pup, “I have a date with the bashful billionaire!” She laughed and dropped her duffle bag by the front door. She bypassed the purple T-shirt she’d been planning to decorate and then cut into strips that night. She made all her own workout shirts, and she’d learned numerous ways to tie them into different patterns so she didn’t get ridiculous tan lines. Getting paid to work out on the beach had its benefits, but that wasn’t one of them.

  She showered, dressed, and dried her hair before checking her phone again. Tyler had texted again, asking for her address.

  She sent it to him and then decided her outfit was all wrong. She dialed Esther, and blurted, “The handsome beach guy finally asked me out.”

  “Tyler?”

  “Yes, Tyler.” She giggled as she pulled her sundress over her head. “We’re going out tonight, and I have no idea what to wear.”

  “What would you normally wear?”

  Tawny paused. The dress. “So the opposite of a flirty dress.” She pulled a pair of white shorts out of her dresser and paired them with a blue and white striped top. Made more of T-shirt fabric than anything else, it was casual attire, nothing like what she’d wear on a first date with a man she’d kept one eye on for the past four months.

  “Listen,” Esther said. “Just be you, okay? I know you’re doing things different or have new rules or whatever. But you are you. That doesn’t change just because he’s handsome and rich.”

  “Says the woman who already has the handsome, rich boyfriend.” Tawny managed to keep the bite out of her tone. Mostly. She jumped when a knock sounded on her door. “He’s here.” She wasn’t sure why she was whispering.

  “Beach tomorrow, all the details,” Esther said. “I’ll text everyone.”

  “Gotta go.”

  “Good luck!” Esther’s parting words spurred Tawny to find a pair of sandals while she called, “Coming!”

  She arrived at the door a bit out of breath to find him wearing a pair of blue shorts that could’ve been a swimming suit. He wore a gray T-shirt that looked brand new, and wow, he made casual wear look like a tuxedo.

  His long hair had been pulled back, and it looked wet along the top where he’d combed it. He hadn’t shaved, and his seven-thirty-shadow made her throat dry.

  “Sorry, I’m a bit behind,” she said. But she did not want to invite him in. She kept her house in a state of messy-chic, with piles stacked in specific places. She knew what was in every stack, and she had a method to her madness she didn’t particularly feel like explaining to him on the first date.

  “Did I rush you?” he asked.

  “No,” she assured him. “Just stood in the shower a little longer than normal.” She rotated her shoulders. “I’ve been working this one shoulder a little too hard lately.”

  “Yeah?” He looked at it and his hand twitched like he might give her a massage right there in her doorway. “You should have Fisher’s spa people fix you up.”

  “Yeah,” she said evasively. “I should.”

  “I’ve heard they’re good.”

  “Oh? You get tight from all the surfing?” She plucked her purse from the hook by the door and pushed closer into his personal space until he backed out onto the porch.

  “Surfing is actually very athletic,” he said. “So yeah. I might indulge in a little heat therapy from time to time.”

  Tawny smiled at him, thinking it must be nice to have time and money to do that.

  A hint of sourness filled her mouth, but she swallowed it away. Fisher would probably let her have spa appointments for free. He was generous with his staff and his low turnover rate proved they liked him.

  “So what brought you to Hawaii?” she asked.

  He cut her a look out of the side of his eye. “You’ve read the Internet.”

  “Surface stuff,” she said, which may have been giving away too much. She wanted more than surface stuff, and that didn’t sound like no strings attached. “You don’t have to tell me.” She moved toward his car, a sporty little number that came in the brightest red possible.
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br />   “I came because my mother died and I wanted somewhere beautiful and happy to wake up to each morning.” She spoke the words without a single hiccup, but the weight of living in a world without her mom hit her right beneath the ribs. She kept the smile on her face and added, “Isn’t Getaway Bay the most beautiful and happiest place on earth?”

  “It sure is.” He stepped around the car and opened the passenger door for her. He blocked her way, though, and said, “I’m sorry about your mom.”

  She looked right into his eyes, finding genuine warmth there. “Thank you. Me too.”

  He moved and she slid into the car. When he joined her, he said, “Both of my parents still live in New York City. Well, Queens.”

  “Do you see them often?”

  “No. But I talk to them a lot. My brother too. He’s older.” His jaw twitched, and Tawny felt like he had more to say but he didn’t.

  And while Tawny had a million more questions for him, she let the ride go by in silence, because it felt nice, comfortable, new, and casual. And she really needed something new and casual right now, even if it was only for a week. Even if he only needed her to hang on his arm for an event. Even if it had taken that to get him to come over and talk to her when she’d been ogling him for months.

  She swallowed back the doubt and reminded herself that at least she’d get the best noodles on the island and a new dress out of this, even if he really did mean no strings attached.

  Chapter Three

  Tyler liked noodles as much as the next guy, but to listen Tawny talk about them, they were the nectar of the gods. He liked her exuberance, the good vibes she put off, and the way her white shorts ended high on her long, tan legs.

  “So you’re kind of a celebrity,” she said once they’d gotten their food and found a table on the patio. An awning covered the whole thing in shade, and Tyler reached for his fork to eat the Japanese snow pea noodle bowl he’d ordered on her recommendation.

  He took a bite, the saltiness of the sauce a nice compliment to the sweet snow peas. “I’m not a celebrity,” he finally said.

  Tawny didn’t miss much though she kept her eyes on her own bowl of noodles. “But you do need someone to go with you to the gala.” She looked up. “Why?”

  So maybe she didn’t read the papers or the web as often as he’d assumed. He couldn’t see a reason not to tell her, so he said, “Last time I went alone, I got blasted in the media.”

  “Hm.” Her eyebrows went up and she stirred her noodles around. “Only celebrities get blasted for what they do or don’t do.”

  Tyler couldn’t argue with that, so he didn’t. “So the event will be mingling at first. Drinks and some of those little appetizers.” He hated mingling, and he’d been to way too many parties to enjoy hors d’oeuvres anymore. If he’d eaten one salmon canapé, he’d eaten them all.

  “Then there will be a fancy dinner. Sometimes there’s dancing.” He lifted his water glass to his lips and drank. “And a speech. There’s always a speech.” He hoped they wouldn’t call him up on stage. In fact, he made a mental note to call the event organizer and ask them not to. He didn’t need that scene, even if he had a date this time.

  “How long is the whole thing from beginning to end?” she asked.

  “Oh, hours.” He exhaled like he’d already been, already suffered through the night. “Probably about four. We can make a graceful exit by eleven.”

  “And I need a fancy dress.”

  “Something suitable for a cruise ship, or say, a wedding banquet. I can pay for it.”

  Tawny lifted those intoxicating eyes to his. “That would be great. My yoga salary doesn’t really pay well enough for sequins.” She smiled at him and indicated his noodles. “You don’t like them?”

  He picked up his fork, not having the heart to tell her he’d eaten fish tacos on the beach before approaching her. “They’re great.” A sense of pride filled him that he was out with a woman, talking to her, and that he was actually enjoying himself.

  He wondered what had taken him so long to talk to this woman who’d caught his eye months ago. Ducking his head, he knew why. If he started a relationship with a woman—especially one like Tawny Loveless—there would be questions to answer. Secrets to reveal. And his very private life to expose.

  But she already knew he was a billionaire, so at least that was out of the way. And she seemed like she’d be fun to spend time with, even if the event didn’t appeal to him.

  “I came to Getaway Bay to get away,” he said, scooping up another bite of noodles, bean sprouts, and shredded carrots.

  “Do you still play poker?”

  “No.” He barked the word and immediately felt bad. “Sorry, I…no, I don’t play.” He didn’t do anything in his life that he used to. He’d left it all behind. The adoring fans. The scads of women. The prestige. The ten-thousand-square-foot house.

  For a while there, he’d adored his life. Thought he’d gotten everything he’d ever wanted. But he hadn’t realized how shallow he’d become, and he couldn’t remember exactly when he’d become someone he didn’t recognize.

  He looked up and flashed her a smile that felt awkward on his face. “I’ll come pick you up, and there will be people who’ll want to take our picture together.”

  She nodded like she’d been through this numerous times. “I’ll practice my smile.” She gave him one and he thought it was already pretty darn perfect.

  “Shoes,” he blurted. “Anything you need.” He reached into the outside pocket of his shorts and slid a credit card toward her. “I’ve got a purchase watch on this card. I’ll see everything you buy, and from where.” He barely knew her, but the watch provided some sense of security. He had to reply to the watch notification before the charge would be approved. So he’d be tied to his phone while she made her purchases, but if she tried to use his card for more than a dress, shoes, maybe some makeup, he’d know and be able to refuse the transaction.

  Tawny stared at the diamond card, which was clear and sparkly. Then she swept her palm over it and it disappeared into her tiny purse. “Thank you.”

  “It’s just one night,” he said, not sure why he was reiterating that. Probably because he didn’t want her to feel obligated to meet with him again before next week, or that she needed to know anything about him for this event.

  “One night,” she echoed. “Right.” Tyler finished his noodles and drove her home. Sitting in her driveway, with her little white dog perched in the front window, he said, “Thanks for doing this.”

  “Sure. It’ll be fun.” She glanced at him. “Thanks for dinner.”

  “Sure. It was fun.” He looked at her, and the moment between them lengthened. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, because he hadn’t been interested in anyone in a long time. And the last woman had stolen his heart and never given it back. So while it thudded in his chest, the cracks in it threatened to give out. Apparently surfing in Hawaii hadn’t healed him as completely as he’d hoped.

  She blinked, breaking the moment between them. Clearing her throat, she reached for the door handle. “Thank you, Tyler.” And she was out of the car before he could fully process how gently she’d said his name, how much emotion the two syllables carried. She arrived at the front door, turned and waved before going in, before he realized he wanted to hear her say his name over and over again.

  Tyler paid Mo to take a drink to Tawny after her evening classes, and she texted him every time. He was much better through messaging than in person, because he could think through the answers, type and re-type them until he was sure they sounded the way he wanted them to.

  After years of quick thinking and showing zero emotion, Tyler liked having more time to formulate responses without having to worry about who was watching him.

  “Who are you texting?” Marshall sat down beside him at The Palm Palace, where the Nine-0 club was meeting that night.

  “No one.” Tyler flipped his phone over though it buzzed and he was dying to see what Tawny had
said. The Palace wasn’t Tyler’s favorite place, because the music was always so loud and the food could only be classified as mediocre.

  But the meetings moved, and they were really more about casual discussions and friendship, so Tyler went along with whatever. He hadn’t called a meeting since the inception of the group, so he couldn’t complain. If he had initiated a meeting, it would’ve been on the beach, and most of these guys would stand out like a sore thumb in their expensive suits and shiny loafers.

  Tonight, Marshall wore more casual clothes, something he’d been doing more and more of since he’s started dating his driver, Esther. His polo still looked like it was hand-woven from the finest silks, and his khakis were just a little too perfectly pressed.

  “Who’d you ask to the gala?” Marshall asked next.

  “Some woman from the beach.” He kept the emotion out of his voice, thankfully. “What about you? Are you going?”

  Marshall didn’t hide his status or money, and everyone knew he had it anyway. “Not this time. I don’t have anything to do with the hospital.”

  Surprising, as the Robison’s had something to do with everything on the islands. Tyler acknowledged Fisher as he wove toward them, along with Lawrence, Jasper, and Lexie.

  Fisher had called this meeting, and he wasted no time getting down to business. “So we’ve got some potential new members,” he said, waving away the waitress. “A pair of sisters stayed at Sweet Breeze last week, and they told me their relocating to the bay area. Sure enough, they’re here again, and they’ve got a house out by the western parks.”

  “What do they do?” Marshall picked up one of the folders Fisher had put on the table. He flipped through it and handed it to Tyler. He didn’t care about what was inside. Fisher was nothing if not thorough, and he prepared little dossiers on prospective new members of this club he cared so much about.

  “Online clothing.” Marshall looked at Tyler. “That’s up your alley.”

  “Lotta money to be made on the Internet,” Tyler acknowledged, opening the folder. “Oh, Clothia.com. Yeah, I know them. Big campus in New Jersey, they do a lot of selling through their website, and were the first to have an app for clothing purchases too.”