The Brazen Billionaire

by Elana Johnson

  They were all in, just waiting for her to name the time. They all knew what she’d been through over the course of this last year, and that she’d been working like a dog since Newt’s departure from her life.

  Three-thirty, she sent and then pulled up Macey’s number to see if the girl could come in an hour early so Sasha could go meet her friends.

  “There she is.” Esther grinned at Sasha as she trudged through the last few yards of sand to where her friends had set up the Women’s Beach Club. They were all there already, as she’d been hit with an after-school rush and had left The Straw fifteen minutes late.

  “Sorry.” She exhaled as she sank onto the sand. Exhaustion ran rampant through her muscles and bones despite being able to sleep in these past few days. Her eyes drifted closed, and the weak sunlight beat down on her, painting everything white and then red.

  “Are you going to nap?” Tawny nudged her with a bare foot. “I have some news too.”

  Sasha opened her eyes and sat straight up. “Oh my gosh, you do. It’s February tenth.”

  Tawny smiled and glanced around at the group of women.

  “Did he read the article?” Sasha hated being left out, and she examined everyone’s faces. She couldn’t tell if they knew or not.

  “You called this meeting,” Tawny said, lifting her chin and speaking in a higher voice.

  “Oh, come on,” Stacey said. “We’ve heard nothing from either of you for so long. Someone start talking.”

  Sasha met Tawny’s eyes, and said, “Might as well start with good news.”

  Her friend’s eyebrows went up. “So that’s me?”

  “Is it?”

  Several long seconds passed before Tawny’s mouth curved upward. “All right, fine. Tyler saw the article, and we got back together.” A squeal went up after her words, and Sasha couldn’t help the flood of jealousy that rushed through her. Her throat narrowed but she smiled and told Tawny she was happy for her.

  Which, of course, she was. Watching her these past several weeks had been painful, and Sasha was glad love could win out in the end. Of course, of all the women sitting on the beach, everyone seemed to have found exactly what they wanted—except her.

  “So.” Stacey popped the top on a can of soda, sending a clack-swish into the air. “You texted us today. Jasper isn’t coming back?”

  “He’s coming back,” Sasha said quickly. “But he was supposed to be home yesterday, and he’s decided to stay through the weekend.” She didn’t want to say Valentine’s Day, so she kept the words under her tongue.

  “You must like him,” Esther said. “To be worried about missing the most romantic day of the year with him.”

  “I didn’t say….” She watched the waves and added, “Yeah, I really like him. He kissed me last weekend.”

  “Ooh,” Stacey said with a giggle. She took another long swig of her soda, almost spitting it out when she said, “Oh.” She coughed and set her can in the sand. “I was supposed to tell you to call Fisher. He can meet with you in the morning.”

  Sasha’s spirits lifted enough for her to put a smile on her face. “That’s great. Thanks, Stace.” She’d called and left a message with Fisher, but it wasn’t a surprise to get a message back through his fiancée. “I’ll find out what time.” She focused on her phone so she wouldn’t have to vocalize any more of her concerns.

  Of course, she should’ve known better, because as soon as she looked up from her device, she found all four pairs of eyes on her. “What?” she asked.

  “He’ll be back in time for Valentine’s Day,” Tawny said.

  “He likes you as much as you like him,” Esther added.

  Sasha thought of the careful, controlled way he kissed her sometimes. The tender, gentle way he explored her mouth at other times. And the passionate, wild kisses they’d shared. She wasn’t worried about him liking her; she felt certain he did.

  But did he like her enough?

  Newton had liked her too. But not as much as Amber. Not enough to stick around. Simply not enough.

  And with Jasper as handsome as he was, and in a foreign country that he’d claimed to love several times this month, she wondered if she was a strong enough draw to get him to come back to Hawaii.

  The next morning, she arrived at Sweet Breeze twenty minutes before her appointment with Fisher, nerves parading through her stomach. She wiped her palms down her slacks as she stood in the expansive lobby and reminded herself that she could do this.

  She’d been kissing a billionaire, for crying out loud. This was just another man with a lot of money. She didn’t want to kiss him, but somehow Fisher had an inexplicable power over her she didn’t understand.

  She turned, half the thought that she should leave and get back over to the east bay and get ready to open The Straw. A rack of brochures caught her attention, and she walked toward it. The slots at the top held full-size magazines, with the row beneath more typical-sized brochures.

  The Spam Hut, The Roast, Two Coconuts, Mama Chu’s….

  There was no reason she couldn’t have a brochure here too. She spun, her determination strengthened, and walked over to the check-in counter with certainty in her step. “I’m here to see Mister DuPont,” she said to the well-dressed man standing at the corner. He wasn’t a check-in attendant, and he wasn’t all the way behind the counter.

  He still sized her up for a moment, and Sasha was extremely glad she’d opted for the shiny heels and the blouse the color of ripe plums. “You must be Miss Redding,” he said, his voice as smooth as silk.

  “I am.”

  “I’m Owen Church, Mister DuPont’s general manager. He’s expecting you.” He gestured her down the hall to the right of the counter.

  She smiled and stepped past him, her shoes clicking against the expensive tile.

  “The door there, on the left,” he said, and she reached for the handle.

  Fisher stood at a fish tank, his back to her, when she opened the door.

  “Fisher,” Owen said, and the other man turned. He extracted his hands from his pockets and beamed a bright smile at Sasha.

  “Morning,” he said. He was polished and poised, and Sasha could see why Stacey had fallen for him. “Stacey’s told me so much about you.” He crossed the room and shook her hand, holding on a bit too long. “Don’t worry. Jasper will be home by Monday, I’m sure of it.”

  Unsure how to respond, Sasha sputtered. Thankfully, Fisher took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk while Owen navigated around it, and said, “So I understand you want to do some advertising here at Sweet Breeze.”

  “I was hoping for a trade,” she said, sure advertising at Sweet Breeze would be astronomical in price. “I’ve seen the brochures downstairs for other local businesses, and I’ve seen cards and coupons for your restaurants, the movie theater, the aquarium, and your beach yoga classes at those local businesses.” She drew in a big breath, prepared to continue. “Now, I know I’m over in the east bay, but there are plenty of people over there who need to eat, and who stay in hotels without the amenities you’ve got here.”

  She folded her hands in her lap and flicked a look in Owen’s direction. The man stared at his computer, seemingly unaware of the conversation in front of him.

  Fisher regarded her for maybe half a minute, but it felt like a lifetime to Sasha. “What do you think goes best with your drinks?”

  Sasha hadn’t been prepared for a question and answer session. “Well,” she said, her brain whirring, trying to come up with an answer. “Pastries. A meal. Relaxation on the beach.” She waved her hand like maybe more answers would fall out of the sky.

  “But it’s about a fifteen-minute walk from your drink stand to my bagelry, my restaurants, or the beach here.” He steepled his fingers and looked at her, a challenge in his eyes.

  “So we just need a reason for them to go back and forth. I can give half-off drinks to anyone who eats in your restaurants. You get full price food sales; I get more business over in the e
ast bay.” Sasha felt one breath away from complete shutdown, but somehow she kept breathing, kept thinking, kept gazing evenly back at Fisher.

  She hadn’t expected him to simply say, “What do you want? I’ll do it for you,” but she hadn’t expected him to be quite so…closed to the idea. He obviously advertised for other businesses.

  “Yours would be the closest movie theater,” she said, seizing onto the idea. “And the aquarium, and the museum. I can advertise for those. The more people you have here, the more likely they’ll be to eat or shop while they’re here.”

  It felt like an eternity before a smile spread his lips. He simply said, “Owen,” and the man slapped a button on the keyboard, which sent a printer whirring.

  Seconds later, he stapled three pages together, and Fisher said, “My standard contract. Read it over and let me know if you have any questions.”

  Sasha’s heart pounded beneath her ribs, and she forced herself to focus on the words on the page. Everything looked to be in order. Honestly, even if it wasn’t, she needed her coupons or brochures in this hotel, where thousands of people stayed each week.

  Her eyes caught on Vendor will provide their own coupons or brochures, cards or other printed material, and it is Vendor’s responsibility to check the stock of such items at Sweet Breeze.

  So she’d need to get some coupons made as soon as possible. “Got a pen?” she asked.

  Owen held one out to her, and she signed her name, exuberant and thrilled she’d done something to help increase business at The Straw.

  “Thank you, sir,” she said as she stood.

  Fisher shook her hand and then reached for something Owen held toward him. “We’re trying to increase our indoor activities during the winter months,” he said. “I would love these to be given to each guest at The Straw who makes a purchase this week.”

  She took the cards from him, the professional quality of them beautiful and brilliant. “You have a bowling alley here?” She glanced up at him and then Owen.

  Fisher merely smiled, and Sasha nodded before turning toward the door. With her hand on the knob, she twisted back. “Who printed these for you?” She lifted the cards a couple of inches.

  After all, while she was here, she might as well get all the intel she could.

  Fisher looked at Owen, who said, “Simone Agrippa, over at Paisley’s.”

  “Thank you.” She opened the door and stepped through it, surprised when Fisher came with her.

  “I talked to Jasper this morning,” he said. “He said to tell you hello.”

  Sasha’s heartbeat played leapfrog with itself, and she couldn’t help staring at Fisher. “He called you?”

  “Oh, I called him.” Fisher moved with the power and grace of someone who’d had to do so in front of a lot of cameras. “He sounded tired. His family has a way of wearing him out.”

  He’d never told her as much with those exact words, but she’d gotten that idea too. “Should I call him?” She wanted to recall the words as soon as she’d said them, but Fisher didn’t break stride or look as if she’d said anything too vulnerable or too needy.

  He shrugged and said, “Depends on if you want him to know how you feel about him.” He gave her a smile, and someone called his name, and he walked away.

  Sasha watched him go, wondering how deep her feelings for Jasper were and if she cared if he knew or not.

  She pulled her phone from her pocket, because there was only one person she wanted to share this marketing win with, and he was currently halfway across the world in Switzerland.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jasper’s phone rang, and he couldn’t grab it fast enough. No, Dominique whisked it out of his grasp with that irritating smile he’d been enduring for three days. He’d thought he’d be meeting her at the bank, and he had.

  But they hadn’t been back there since. It was like Dominique had attached herself to him and she’d gone everywhere he had for seventy-two solid hours, even sleeping at the house like she was his parents’ long-lost daughter.

  His mother had been making comments about her beauty and his dad had dropped not-so-subtle hints that Dominique was single. Jasper had told his mother that he had a girlfriend on the island, but she’d developed selective hearing.

  “We want you to come back to Europe,” she’d said, like that meant it would happen.

  “Mom, I live in Hawaii. I’m happy there.” He loved his parents, but all the reasons he’d left Europe a decade ago were like bright, neon signs.

  In the end, since neither of his parents would listen to him, he’d decided to just let his time in Switzerland run out and get back on the airplane and get home as fast as possible.

  “Ooh.” Dominique’s dark-eyed gaze came back to him. “Who’s Sasha?”

  Before he could answer, she opened the call with, “Jasper Rosequist’s phone, Dominique speaking.” She tacked a giggle onto the end of the sentence like they were fifteen-year-olds instead of business professionals.

  He made a grab for the phone, but not before she pulled it away. “Yes, he’s sitting right here with me. We’re having dinner.”

  She made it sound like a date, and everything in Jasper groaned. “Dominique. Give me the phone right now.” He didn’t bother to keep the bark out of his tone.

  She laughed this time, as if he’d just told the world’s funniest joke, and held the phone out to him. He took it and glared at her before he left the table. The restaurant where they ate was certainly one of the five-star joints in Zurich, but he’d not enjoyed the food or the company.

  “Sasha?” he said, relief in both syllables as he stepped outside.

  “Who was that?” Her frosty tone carried all the way from Hawaii.

  “You would not believe me if I told you.” He sighed and ran his hands down his face, the fact that she’d called him comforting and…nice. It felt nice to have her reach out to him when he felt like he was the one constantly going after her.

  “Tell me anyway,” she said.

  “There’s nothing to tell.”

  “Jasper,” she said, and while he may not have had a girlfriend in a while, he could definitely detect the fury in her voice. “My boyfriend’s been gone for almost a week, and it’s two days from Valentine’s Day, and when I call, I get a giggly woman with an accent. You better start talking right now.”

  “Look who’s being brazen now.”

  “Jasper.”

  “Are you jealous?” The night in the city was cold, but cheery with all the lights on the buildings shining into the darkness.

  “You know my last boyfriend cheated on me, right?” Her voice was made of desperation, and he sobered.

  “I’m not cheating on you,” he said. “I would never do that.”

  “Keep talking.”

  So Jasper did, telling her all about his parents, their perfect little cottage snuggled into the snow, and the not-so-perfect woman his parents had decided was “the one” for him. “I’m on a flight in the morning,” he said. “That’ll be about nine o’clock tonight for you. And I’ll be home late tomorrow night. I promise.” Just in time for Valentine’s Day, he wanted to add. But he didn’t, because he’d been so busy here dealing with business and Dominique and everything else that he hadn’t had any time to plan anything romantic back on the island for him and Sasha.

  “You promise?” She sounded so small and so far away, and Jasper’s heart squeezed. He wasn’t entirely sure when she’d wormed her way inside his life, but he liked her there. Liked feeling like she needed him, as he hadn’t felt needed by anyone in a long time.

  “I promise,” he said again. “Will you be free for dinner on Tuesday?”

  “What’s Tuesday?” she asked, followed immediately with, “Oh, yes. Valentine’s Day. Yes. A late dinner, maybe?”

  “Define late.”

  “I’m closing at eight. I’ll be free after that.”

  “Sounds perfect.” He gazed up into the sky, wondering if she could see the same stars as him.
“I’ll call you when I’m boarding, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  They both sat on the line for a moment, and Jasper let the silence carry. It felt good to hear her voice, and he basked in the fact that he could just be himself with her, that he didn’t have to talk to be comfortable.

  “All right,” he said as he turned back to the warmth of the restaurant. “I’ll talk to you later.” He ended the call and instead of going back in to finish dinner with Dominique, he turned away and started walking down the busy streets of Zurich.

  The words he’d almost said bounced around inside his mind. “I’ll talk to you later,” he repeated. “Love you.”

  Did he love her?

  He sure did like her. A whole lot. She fit with him, and he’d never had someone do that before. So while he’d considered leaving Hawaii only a few short weeks ago, he now knew he couldn’t do it. Couldn’t leave Sasha on the island and return to Europe, even if his schedule was weird, even if it would be easier to do business.

  Because after a few days with Dominique, he knew he really liked Sasha, and he wanted to see if he could fall all the way in love with her.

  Jasper woke sometime in the night, the country stillness of Bern surrounding him, suffocating him. His phone bleeped again, and he lifted it from the bedside table to find two texts from Sasha.

  She tagged you in a photo, the first one read. Looks cozy.

  The second said, She might need to be told she isn’t your girlfriend…unless of course, she is. Then just tell me I’m not, okay?

  Jasper didn’t try to find the picture she’d referenced. He didn’t care, because he didn’t spend any time on social media despite having the accounts. He pushed his thumbs to type faster as he said, You’re my girlfriend. The end, and sent it to her.

  He really was too tired to deal with this, and he had to fly out in less than five hours. He exhaled as he laid back against the pillows again, knowing he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, not after getting the flight in his mind.