Billionaire Unchallenged

by Scott, J. S.

  If not, he’d be hearing from me every single day.

  Brynn

  Day One:

  Brynn: I love you. I’m sorry.

  Day Two:

  Brynn: I miss you. I’m sorry.

  Day Three:

  Brynn: I love you. Miss you, too. I’m sorry.

  Day Four:

  Brynn: I’m not going anywhere. I’m sorry.

  I kept scrolling down the list of texts I’d sent Carter over the last two weeks, every one of them the same, but slightly different.

  I was ready to leave California, but my heart was heavy.

  My bags were packed, and I was waiting on my transport to the airport, but I still had time, so I plopped my ass on the bed of my hotel room.

  He hadn’t sent me a single response.

  You knew this wasn’t going to be easy.

  I had known, and I was ready to get back to Seattle to resume the fight to get Carter to talk to me.

  It hadn’t been easy focusing on my job. It was hard to try to be radiant when I felt like crap.

  And not hearing from Carter had worn me down more every day.

  Was he even reading my messages anymore?

  Did he care?

  Or was he just…done?

  I startled as my phone vibrated.

  My hand started to shake as I saw who had sent a text.

  Carter: It’s about time you finished your work there.

  I started to hyperventilate.

  Brynn: How did you know I was done?

  Carter: The CEO of the company is an acquaintance of mine.

  I smiled. Of course he could pick up the phone and call any executive. He was Carter Lawson. But why had he wanted to do that?

  I tried hard not to get my hopes too high. After all, I’d been texting him for two weeks with no answer.

  Carter: There’s a car downstairs to pick you up, and my jet is at the airport.

  Brynn: Now?

  Carter: Right fucking now. Get moving.

  I wasn’t about to argue about his bossiness. I was headed to the lobby in a little less than a minute with my suitcase and carry-on in tow.

  He’s willing to talk to me.

  He sent his plane and his car.

  Does that mean he wants me back in Seattle so we can rationally discuss what happened?

  I stopped short as I walked out the sliding doors in the lobby, mesmerized by what was right in front of me at the curb.

  I didn’t much give a damn about the fancy car.

  Carter leaning casually against that vehicle with a bouquet of red roses was a totally different matter.

  I let go of my bags as the chauffeur came to get them and put them in the trunk, and stepped closer to Carter.

  God, he looked amazing.

  He was put together in a gray custom suit, and another blue tie that complemented the beautiful blue eyes that were currently unreadable.

  “You’re here,” I simply said breathlessly.

  “So I am,” he replied as he held out the flowers to me.

  “They’re beautiful,” I told him as I took them.

  “You’re beautiful,” he corrected. “I could have sworn I asked you not to fly commercial.”

  “We broke up,” I stammered.

  “I never broke up. I just didn’t think quick enough. Come here.” He opened his arms.

  I flew into them without a second thought, my heart hammering as he tightened his arms around me.

  I breathed in his scent, the same masculine smell that always made me half crazy. “I love you, Carter. I love you so much. I’m so sorry. I was stupid.”

  “Stop!” he growled. “Just stop. I already know you’re sorry. You’ve sent me fourteen messages about it. That’s over. I don’t care anymore. It was just a mistake. All I want to do is hold you right now. Jesus, Brynn. I missed you so damn much.”

  I started to cry, blubbering all over his expensive suit until he opened the car door and helped me get in, then slid over beside me to take me into his arms again.

  But I didn’t stop crying. They were tears of relief. Tears of joy. Tears of happiness that Carter wasn’t going to hold my mistake against me forever. “When you didn’t answer my texts, I didn’t know if you were going to ever talk to me again,” I choked out.

  He swiped gently at the droplets on my cheeks as he said, “Don’t cry. I didn’t answer because if I did, it would have been in person. And I knew you had a job to do. But it fucking killed me not to. But I will now. I love you, too, Brynn Davis. Always will. No matter how many mistakes you make, or how many I make, we stay together. I have no doubt I’m going to fuck up in the future, but one thing I’ll never do is be with any other woman but you.”

  “I should have never assumed that you were,” I told him gently. “The ghosts of my past rose up to bite me. But it was never about you. It was about me. I should have stridden into that store, confident that you were with someone who wasn’t a romantic interest. But I was scared. All of this has been so good, and it happened so fast. I guess I was waiting for something to go wrong when it didn’t really have to.”

  He put two fingers on my lips. “Don’t, Brynn. I know about your past, and I should have been more sympathetic. But I didn’t know you were going to take off the next morning. I was at your door not long after you left, but you were already gone. By the time I finally thought about calling Laura, your plane had already taken off. I knew I was going to have to wait. But patience has never exactly been one of my virtues,” he said with a grin.

  I felt the car starting to move, and I lay back against him with a sigh, grateful that he’d been patient enough, even if he hadn’t liked it.

  Being in his arms was like coming home for me, and I didn’t ever want to leave again.

  “Thank you for coming to get me,” I murmured.

  “Did you think I wouldn’t?” he asked gruffly. “Hell, I missed you every minute you were gone. I wanted to come get you the moment I found out where you were. But I would have never left again without you.”

  I smiled. “I do wish you would have answered me at least once. I felt kind of stupid just texting for myself.”

  “You weren’t texting just for yourself. I waited for that damn message every day. I think it’s the only thing that helped me wait another day.”

  “I’ll try to be more secure. You’ve never given me any reason to doubt anything you said,” I explained.

  “I’ll make sure you never doubt a single thing about us,” he said huskily.

  I turned around in his arms, wanting to see his eyes. I didn’t get to see them for very long because Carter took my face in his hands and kissed me.

  And I sank into his embrace, finally realizing that, no matter what, he’d never let go.

  Brynn

  One Month Later…

  Things were almost perfect in my life since Carter and I had gotten back together again.

  He still said that we’d never really been apart, that he’d never broken up with me, and I didn’t argue with him.

  But what had happened had been my wake-up call to what life would be like without him, and that fear was something I never wanted to experience again.

  Not that Carter and I didn’t fight. When you put two independent, hardheaded people together, it was bound to happen. But it had never gotten out of hand again.

  We talked.

  We listened to each other.

  And we resolved our issues.

  And then we had make-up sex.

  The one part of the disagreements that both of us thoroughly enjoyed.

  “Hello, beautiful. What are you doing out here?”

  I looked up from the design I was working on to see the handsome man behind the voice.

  Carter.

  It w
as funny that my mouth still went dry every single time I looked at him. Was there ever going to be a day when my heart didn’t skitter when I heard his voice?

  God, I hope not.

  “I wasn’t expecting you quite this early.” He was home from work much earlier than usual.

  I was working from his penthouse, and I rarely used my condo for anything but storage anymore.

  There wasn’t a night that we didn’t want to be together, and I loved the fact that he had an amazing patio. It was getting a little bit colder in the evenings, but it was still warm enough for me to work outside during the day.

  “I missed you,” he replied simply.

  I rose from the lounger I was sitting on, and moved to put my arms around his neck.

  He wrapped me up in a warm embrace that never failed to make me feel like I was his entire world.

  “I missed you, too,” I murmured, taking a deep breath of him as he held me tightly in his arms.

  “Should we go out to celebrate the deal you made for your new line?” he asked in a husky tone.

  I’d just signed the contract with Alicia yesterday, and I was still reeling from the amount of money they’d offered me. But the best thing about it wasn’t the money. It was the freedom I’d bargained for to design and approve every new bag that went on the market.

  I’d been elated, but it was really just icing on an already sweet cake.

  I pulled back so I could see his face. “I’m cooking. And I picked up some of Ruby’s pastries when I met her and Lia at the coffee shop today. God, they look amazing.”

  I’d started to meet with Ruby and her best friend, Lia, often at the coffee shop that Lia owned. Ruby was Lia’s supplier for baked goods, and it was never easy to turn down one of those tempting pastries to go with my coffee fix.

  “Are you actually going to eat one of them?” he asked with a grin.

  “Already had one this morning, and I’ll have a second one with you if you help me work off the calories later,” I teased.

  “Deal,” he answered, so fast that it made my head spin. “But I did come home early for a reason, so don’t get me distracted with fantasies about later.”

  I looked at him, trying to figure out from his expression if something was wrong. “Is everything okay?”

  “I didn’t say it was bad news,” he remarked.

  “Is it?”

  He shook his head. “No. I’m hoping you’ll think it’s good.”

  I sighed. “Sorry. I’m still a work in progress. I guess I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

  My first inclination was to always assume something was going to go wrong because my relationship with Carter was so damn good, but I was working on that.

  “Come inside,” he urged, grabbing my hand to pull me through the sliding door, and then closing it behind him.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box that looked suspiciously like…

  Oh, God.

  When I described my life as almost perfect, it was because I’d never seen the ring that Carter had bought me again, nor had he proposed.

  I’d tried not to let it bother me, but it was in the back of my mind almost all the time.

  “I couldn’t give you the same ring, and I couldn’t get it from that jewelry store,” he said hoarsely. “Too many bad memories associated with both of them, so I went somewhere else to get another one that was custom designed. It took a while to get it sized and put together. But it finally came today. So I need to ask you the question I’ve wanted to ask you for almost two months.”

  He popped open the box, and I released the breath I’d been holding while he was talking.

  It was a different color box, but a gorgeous ring was still sitting in the center of a red velvet interior.

  And it was breathtaking.

  My eyes went from the spectacular diamond to Carter’s face.

  My heart started galloping as I looked at the serious intent in his gorgeous eyes.

  “Marry me, Brynn. Put me out of my damn misery. I love you. I’ll always need you. You’ve made me a much better man than I was before I met you.”

  I finally blinked, and that released a flood of happy tears that I couldn’t contain.

  “Oh, Carter,” I said in a breathless voice. “Yes. You know I’m going to say yes. I love you, too.”

  It touched my soul that he didn’t want to remind me of my mistakes, and had gone to the trouble of getting me a different ring from another store. And I was glad that I hadn’t let my insecurities run rampant because he hadn’t produced the ring again.

  I’d waited.

  And everything had been explained.

  My hand shook just a little as he placed the ring on my finger.

  “It’s gorgeous,” I said with awe.

  “I’m just damn glad to see my ring on your finger,” he said. “You better set the date pretty quickly or we’ll be making a trip to Vegas.”

  I hugged him, and he picked me up and twirled me around.

  I laughed, even though I still had tears trickling down my cheeks. “I wouldn’t mind a quiet wedding like that.”

  “Your mother wouldn’t be happy,” he warned.

  “She probably wouldn’t,” I conceded. “I’m her only child.”

  “I can wait,” he said in a voice that didn’t sound like he wanted to wait at all. “But make it soon. I’ve waited long enough for you.”

  I looked at him, knowing my heart was in my eyes, but I wasn’t the tiniest bit concerned. Carter met my gaze with his own open expression.

  He lifted his hand and tenderly wiped the tears from my face. “Don’t cry. I told you this was something good.”

  “Kiss me,” I requested, unable to wait any longer to be connected with him in some way.

  He bent his head and covered my mouth with his, and that embrace was a promise of all the things that Carter and I would experience together in the future.

  He was wrong about our engagement being something good.

  It was more than good.

  Carter was mine, and I was his.

  My life was now absolutely perfect.

  ~The End~

  Mason’s story Billionaire Unattainable is now available for preorder

  Read the preview for Ensnared, the first book in my new series, The Accidental Billionaires. Now available for pre-order. Coming October 16th!

  Jade

  Five months ago . . .

  “Just a few more minutes, Ms. Sinclair,” the secretary informed me as she hung up the phone. “Mr. Stone is running somewhat behind today.”

  Somewhat behind?

  I’d been waiting for close to an hour. I’d pretty much read every magazine in the waiting room from cover to cover, even the articles I wouldn’t normally bother to read. Did women really want to know how to attract a man, or how to get the attention of one of them who didn’t want to be with her?

  Pretty weird articles, really. Or was I the one who didn’t really understand? Judging by my not-so-exciting dating life, maybe I should have paid more attention to all those women’s magazines. I didn’t exactly have men beating down my door to go out with me. But then, it had always been that way.

  Can I have a dating slump when I never really had an incredible dating life in the first place?

  Because of work and school, I hadn’t been able to try out a lot of different guys, and to be honest, they hadn’t wanted to date me, either. I’d made one major mistake in college. I had to either blame that one on complete exhaustion and stress, or admit to myself that I’d let somebody use me for two years.

  I preferred the former excuse.

  I don’t really want to attract a guy who doesn’t notice me the first time he meets me.

  Wasn’t there supposed to be some kind of spark, some unknown r
ecognition that somebody was my soulmate? And wouldn’t they realize it, too?

  I certainly hope so, otherwise I’m waiting for something that’s never going to happen.

  Unfortunately, thanks to the score of women’s magazines in the room, I now knew how to get a man who didn’t want me, and what the moon and stars had in mind for my future mate, according to the horoscopes.

  Maybe the article about improving my orgasms would have been useful if I had any, but I could have skipped the piece on giving a guy a better blow job.

  Not exactly something I’d normally peruse, but I’d had an hour to kill, and after I’d read the interesting stuff like National Geographic, I’d still had time on my hands, so I’d pushed my way through the women’s magazines, too.

  I was pretty sure I wasn’t better off because I was now armed with the wisdom on how to deal with a commitment-phobic male, and I was getting restless.

  I smiled and nodded at the secretary politely from my seat in the plush outer office of billionaire and business mogul Eli Stone. It wasn’t the elderly assistant’s fault that her boss had left me waiting for way longer than anybody should have to wait for a scheduled appointment, even with a billionaire.

  I’m a billionaire, too. Isn’t there some kind of unspoken courtesy thing among the mega rich? Does one billionaire leave another one waiting for an hour to see them?

  Unfortunately, I hadn’t been rich long enough to know the rules.

  Mr. Stone had a net worth a lot higher than mine, but once somebody reached billionaire status, did it really matter?

  I dropped the last magazine I’d finished on the table with a sigh.

  I’m completely out of reading material, even the ridiculous stuff.

  I tapped my foot impatiently, wondering if this was the way billionaires treated each other.

  Truth was, I’d only been a billionaire for a matter of months, and I still had no idea what I was supposed to do with my newfound wealth. To be honest, all my money and investments terrified the hell out of me. I was a science-and-wildlife geek. Ask me any question about conservation or animal behavior, and I could go on for hours. But I had no idea what to do with a fortune.