The Belated Billionaire

by Elana Johnson

  But that’s a long way from now, Katie told herself. After all, she wasn’t twenty-two this time, and she had Heather to consider in every single thing she did.

  Twelve

  Theo enjoyed holding Katie, and he liked even more that she didn’t jump out of his embrace when her daughter came back dripping wet. “Mom, I’m starving.”

  “Then eat something.”

  Heather opened the cooler they’d brought and started digging around.

  “What did you make?” he asked her. He hadn’t thought past a towel, his sunglasses, and the sunscreen he’d found at a convenience store on the way over.

  “Ham and cheese,” Heather said, holding up a sandwich. “And tuna with lettuce and tomato.” She pulled out another sandwich and kept that one, putting the ham and cheese back. Theo smiled at her as she took the beach chair in the sun.

  “See? It’s not too bad, is it?” he asked.

  “The water is choppy,” she said.

  “I heard they’re doing a demo on petrified lightning later,” Theo said. He hadn’t heard, but he’d already been to the visitor’s center and the worker there had told him.

  “Seen it,” Heather said in a bored voice. Theo shut up after that, trying to figure out how to get her to open up to him like she had the day before. In his arms, Katie lay very still.

  “Is she mad at me?” Theo asked.

  Katie’s shoulders started to shake, and while she tried to muffle her giggles, he could clearly hear them.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Nothing.”

  But it was clearly something. “Come on,” he said, keeping his voice low and one eye on Heather. He wasn’t an expert on the opposite sex by any stretch of the imagination, but he knew he’d never get Katie to be his if her daughter wasn’t on board.

  “She’s not mad at you,” Katie said, her breath tickling his collarbone. “She’s ten.”

  He blinked, trying to understand.

  “Sometimes she feels like talking, and sometimes she doesn’t,” Katie continued. “It only gets worse, I’ve heard.” She laughed again, the sound of it light as soft rain.

  Theo wanted to kiss her again, but he refrained. Instead, he said, “Well, this is my first time here, so I’m going to go to the demo.”

  “This is your first time here?” Heather asked.

  Theo looked back at her. “Yeah. You wanna show me around?”

  “Yeah, I do.” She shoved her sandwich back in the bag and got to her feet. “Are you wearing a swimming suit?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” No need to tell anyone that he’d bought it that morning, five minutes after the department store had opened. At least he’d remembered to bring a pair of scissors so he could remove the tag.

  He gently removed himself from Katie’s embrace and stood up. “I guess I’m getting the tour.”

  “Have fun,” Katie said, clearly not going to join them. She reached into her bag and pulled out a paperback book. Theo gaped at her, wanting to educate her on the beauty of an e-reader and how many books she could fit onto it.

  “Let’s go.” Heather danced through the sand in front of him. “Okay, so there’s this swimming spot that’s great. It’s just down the beach a bit.”

  Theo laughed and followed her, wondering if he should’ve brought a towel with him. But Heather didn’t have one, so he figured he was okay. He let her lead him around the point, listening to her talk about the fish she’d seen here before, and why she liked this swimming spot more than others.

  They laughed and played in the water, and he asked her, “Does your mom ever come out and swim?”

  “Usually, yeah.” She shaded her eyes and looked toward shore, though Katie had to be a dot on the horizon to his right from this spot. “She didn’t even put on her suit today, though.”

  Theo had noticed a very short pair of denim shorts that looked like she’d poured herself into them. And he’d liked them. He kept everything to himself though, and said, “Hm. Why’s that, do you think?”

  “Because she wants to look good for you,” Heather said simply.

  Theo needed to change the subject, and fast. “Is there a good place for snorkeling here?” he asked.

  “No, the water’s too rough,” she said. “The best snorkeling is on the beach between the two bays.”

  “Will you take me sometime?” he asked.

  “Yeah, sure,” she said, a happy smile on her face. “I don’t have gear though.”

  “Me either. I can get us some.”

  When Theo’s shoulders felt like they were frying, he made Heather get out of the water and they trudged back through the sand to where Katie lay asleep.

  He wrapped himself in a towel and checked his phone. He’d missed four calls from Ben, and the petrified lightning demo was about to begin. “You sure you don’t want to go to the demo?” he asked at the same time his stomach growled.

  “It’s not that great,” Heather said. “Honest, it’s not. You can look the same stuff up online.”

  He glanced toward the visitor’s center, thinking, thinking. “I need to make a call,” he said. “I’ll walk over there and see what’s going on.”

  “Okay.” Heather was back in her chair, this time with a can of soda in her hand.

  “You should put on more sunscreen,” he said, picking up his can. He needed to as well, and as soon as he was dry enough to do it, he would.

  “Okay,” she said, but she didn’t make a move to actually put any more on.

  He walked away, already dialing Ben. “Hey,” he said when he picked up. “What’s going on?’

  “Where are you?”

  “I went out to Lightning Point. What’s going on?” he asked again.

  “Lawrence was looking for you.”

  Alarm pulled through Theo. “Why? Everything with his project is on track. We’re not even supposed to meet for another month.”

  “I don’t know. He came by the office and said you weren’t answering at your place. So I got the key and came up and you were gone.”

  “I leave my condo sometimes.” Theo wanted to laugh, but at the same time, he knew he didn’t get out much.

  “Obviously. Are you with Katie?”

  “Yes.” He turned back to where she still slept in the sand. “And you freaked me out. You realize you called four times? I thought Island Airways was backing out.”

  Ben laughed, which only annoyed Theo further. “I’m hanging up now,” he said. “Text me if you need me.” He hung up before Ben finished chuckling, and he went to see if the petrified lightning demo was as bad as Heather claimed.

  Tuesday came, and the Island Airways paperwork got signed. He and Ben scheduled a group call with all the team lead developers in Dallas, and they had a big cheering session. Theo said they’d all get bonuses that month, and their shouts of excitement really went through the roof.

  “And I’m catering lunch tomorrow,” he said. “For everyone.” To feed four hundred people took some serious planning, and he ended up spending the afternoon calling across the ocean to four different places to get the job done.

  He didn’t care. He wanted his employees to know he valued them and the work they did for his companies. Happy employees meant less turnover and better production, and whatever Theo needed to do to make that happen, he’d do it.

  He celebrated with his Nine-0 Club on Thursday, and he kissed Katie like he was a dying man on Friday during lunch.

  “You’re happy today,” she said.

  “Yeah.” He grinned at her, not caring about the food in front of him. “What are you guys doing this weekend?” Theo actually had to work—he had a feeling most of his weekends for the foreseeable future would be filled with coding and meetings and more—but he wanted to pretend like he didn’t for a few more minutes.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I try not to plan too far in advance.”

  “What?” he asked. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

  She gave him a look that told him he di
dn’t know her well enough to make judgments like that. “Well, since I started Clean Sweep, which has to be so scheduled and regimented, it’s nice to not be like that on the weekends.”

  “Ah, got it.”

  “Aren’t you working?” she asked.

  “Well, yeah,” he said, ducking his head. “But I was hoping maybe I’d be able to sneak away and see you at some point.”

  “Sunday’s probably the best day. Heather wants to go pick pomegranates tomorrow, and I told her I’d take her. Claire’s coming too.”

  “Claire?”

  “She’s my best friend,” Katie said. “Cleans for me on Saturdays. I clean for her on Wednesdays.”

  “Wait.” Theo looked at her, feeling something sparkling and wonderful between them. “You two clean each other’s houses?”

  “Yes,” Katie said, grinning at him. “I don’t like to clean up my own messes. Plus, then my house is clean for the weekend.”

  “That’s so interesting,” he said.

  “She works for me too,” she said. “She’s actually more of a partner than just a maid.”

  “Ah, that’s what Ben is for me.”

  “How come I’ve never heard about this Ben before?” she asked playfully, and Theo laughed.

  “He has a key to my place and everything,” he said, reaching for his soda.

  “Are you trying to make me jealous?” Katie laughed, and Theo had once thought his life couldn’t get any better. The financial success he wanted. The tropical paradise. The club full of men as motivated and as smart as him.

  But sitting across from Katie at a simple, outdoor picnic table had added an unforeseen amount of joy to his life.

  His phone chimed, signaling the end of their lunch. “I have to go,” he said, rising. “I’d love to meet Claire sometime.” Again, Theo wasn’t a brain surgeon, but he knew best friends had opinions, and he knew Katie would listen to whatever Claire told her.

  “Too bad she has a boyfriend,” she said, collecting her trash and standing too. “Or maybe she and Ben would like to double with us.”

  “Ben would like that, even if she does have a boyfriend,” Theo said, and they laughed again. He stepped beside her and swept one hand around her waist. He looked down at her, wanting to lay everything he felt out before her. At the same time, he thought it was probably way too early for that.

  So he just said, “I sure like spending time with you, Katie,” and kissed her until she pulled away.

  She ducked her head, licked her lips, and smiled. “See you later, Theo.”

  He walked away from her then, thinking he’d just fallen in love with her all over again. And he was surprisingly okay with that.

  Thirteen

  Katie lay down every night, congratulating herself on keeping all the balls in the air for another day. Her maids, her daughter, her friends, her yard, and Theo. It was exhausting compartmentalizing everything, but it was a skill she’d learned a long time ago that had helped her from becoming overwhelmed if someone happened to call when she wasn’t expecting it.

  Of course, those phone calls were usually from the fourth district court in Kansas, and she’d been justified in breaking down, changing into sweats, and staring at the TV for hours on end.

  Theo’s workload increased, and she saw him a couple of times a week for lunch, and almost every Sunday. October turned the weather a bit cooler, and as the month faded into November, Katie started to make Thanksgiving plans. She normally hosted a small dinner for a few people from Clean Sweep who didn’t have any family in the area, a tradition she enjoyed.

  As she put out the email to get an idea of how many people she’d need to cook for that year, she thought about Theo and Ben. Maybe they’d like to come too. So she messaged him too, still using the GBS app. It was where they’d first started communicating, and it felt familiar to talk to him there though they texted and spoke on the phone too.

  Sure, he said. I’m in. I’ll talk to Ben.

  She still hadn’t met Theo’s partner yet, but she wasn’t in any hurry. Heather seemed to get along great with Theo, and Katie was grateful for that. But she wasn’t in a rush to get to a wedding, thinking she should see if his affection and her attraction to him had more staying power than a couple of months.

  He never said another word about her website or app, and she felt bad bringing it up when he had two very large, very able-to-pay customers. At the same time, he’d promised her he had time to work on it. But her old systems were still working fine, and she and Theo were getting along so well, she didn’t want to say anything.

  Another couple of weeks passed, and instead of going out on Sundays, Theo had come over to her house for two Sundays in a row. Before he left, he kissed her so completely Katie wasn’t sure how she’d made it through the week before he’d come back into her life.

  “Oh, I’m ready to talk about your app,” he said when he was halfway out the door. “What’s your schedule like this week?”

  “Insane,” she said. “Everyone wants their house clean for the holidays when their families come over.”

  “We probably only need a couple of hours,” he said. “Mornings are best for me. It’s when I do most of my administrative stuff.”

  She wasn’t sure why her app and website had been labeled as his administrative stuff, but she had no idea what he did at work each day.

  “I could do Wednesday,” she said, thinking she could get Claire’s house cleaned in the evening instead of before lunch.

  “Great.” He grinned at her, that bone-melting grin that made her sag against the wall where she stood. “Nine o’clock?”

  “Sure, see you then.”

  He turned to go, then turned around and came back over to her. She fitted herself right into his arms and received his kiss willingly, feeling herself lose another piece of her heart to him. Again. If she wasn’t careful, she’d give him the whole thing again and hope he didn’t crush it like he had last time.

  She pulled away, and he tucked her hair, whispered, “I love seeing you,” and left.

  She took out the word “seeing” and let the words play through her mind on a constant loop.

  Dangerous, she knew. But she didn’t know how to stop this relationship train now. It seemed to have a life of its own, and it was untamed and ferocious and all she could do was hold on and hope she didn’t get bucked off.

  On Wednesday morning, she didn’t dress in her usually cleaning clothes, but took extra time with her hair, makeup, and clothing. She actually put on a skirt—only one of two she actually owned—and added more blush to her cheeks than scrubbing toilets required.

  She drove down to the town center of Getaway Bay and navigated over to the Ohana Resort and Condos. The family really had done a great job on all the renovations, and while she’d never been inside one of the luxury units, a couple of her maids had and the reports were impressive.

  “What unit?” someone asked her through a speaker, and she fumbled for her phone.

  “Um,” she said. “I have it here.” Theo had texted the unit number to her, as well as directions for where to park. She’d been grateful for those, as the garages here all had numbers, and she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to part down the street or not.

  “1604,” she said into the speaker, almost yelling. Foolishness rushed through her, and she glanced around for a security camera. Of course there would be one, and someone in a dark room somewhere was probably laughing at her.

  “Singles Network?” the man asked.

  “That’s right,” she said. “Theodore Fleming.”

  “Elevator six,” he said, and the door clicked, indicating it had been unlocked.

  Katie lunged toward it, hoping she wouldn’t have to have another embarrassing conversation with a faceless intercom. Thankfully, the elevators were straight ahead, and they had very prominent numbers above them.

  She pushed the button for number six and heard a faint whirring sound. Just to see what happened, she pushed the button for
another car, but the light didn’t brighten. So interesting. She wondered how much someone got paid to talk to people through the speaker and activate elevators.

  The elevator dinged and she got on it, her heart racing. Why, she wasn’t sure. Only that she’d never been to Theo’s office before. Nor his house. He always came to hers. She thought of the first time he’d come and how nervous she’d been. Maybe he as just as anxious as she was.

  The elevator came to a smooth stop on the sixteenth floor and she stepped into a silent hallway and faced a sign that indicated there were only four units on this floor. She followed the arrow pointing her toward Theo’s and she arrived several moments later.

  She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to knock or simply go in, the way she would the grocery store. She ended up doing a combination of both, knocking while she pushed open the door. “Hello?”

  No one answered her. In fact, there were no lights on and the place had a general feel that no one had been here in hours.

  “Theo?” she tried again, but he didn’t answer.

  This place looked like a condo, with a decorative table by the front door. Everything inside was obviously made of the finest materials available, from bamboo floors to gorgeous curtains billowing gently way down at the windows in front of her.

  She walked that way, noting that the air held the slight scent of burnt coffee and that someone had taken great care in selecting and purchasing art for the walls and fancy glass-topped coffee tables.

  But there were no dishes anywhere. No errant mugs left behind after a morning meeting. In fact, when she checked, she didn’t even find any trash in the can in the kitchen.

  “So no one’s been here in a while,” she said out loud, almost cringing at the sound of her voice in this silent space. Or maybe Theo and Ben simply didn’t eat here.

  She didn’t know. What she did know was that Theo was not here for their nine o’clock meeting.

  The place had a pair of black leather couches that felt like they were made of goose feathers when Katie sank onto one. She sighed, put her purse beside her, and waited.