Once his unpacking was complete, he ventured out onto the porch and took a look around. The heat was therapeutic and made you feel like there was nothing in the world gone wrong. It wasn’t quite the same as laying out on the beach or sailing around on his yacht, but the feeling of being in the heat was still very much enjoyable. There was a wooden lawn chair on the porch, and he sat down in it. He yawned as he stretched his hands above his head. Yes, there was a lot of good that could be done to a place like this, and he intended on doing what he could while he was here.
The forest surrounding his cabin was lush, a green so bright that it almost hurt to look at the scenery. Joshua couldn’t believe that such places existed in the world. You just didn’t see places like this where he was from; New York was like a concrete jungle compared to Africa. He felt blessed to be in the position where he could help others. He would be able to do a lot of good for the village and couldn’t wait to get started. There was a hammock attached to one of the trees, and the sight of it pleased him greatly. He could imagine retiring in it at the end of a gruelling day hammering nails in the heat. Joshua smiled as he thought about the last time he was in a hammock; it must have been when he was a young boy. Probably behind his grandparents’ place, there was a hammock by the pond. He used to go back there and lay for hours in it, letting the breeze float around him. His own parents had died when he was around 10 years old, and he had been raised by an aunt for the most part, often spending time at his grandparents’. Which probably had a lot to do with the fact that he didn’t have a lot of attachments to other people.
Well, it was time that he got moving and introduced himself to the people running the site. He doubted he would be working that day but wasn’t too worried about it either way. If they needed him right away, he would do what he could. Excitement boiled up in him as he thought about making his way to the site and seeing how far along the school and hospital were. Talk about amazing projects, and people were there building them by hand. Joshua got up from the seat and grabbed a bottle of water before he made his way down the stairs. He followed a path through the lush forest towards what he hoped was the building site. He hadn’t seen anyone since he had been dropped off at the cabin, but they had left on the path, so he knew he would find someone eventually.
Joshua was anxious to talk to the head honcho about what the expectations were for him. All the supplies for the site had been paid for by him and shipped ahead of time, so he wanted to check to make sure they got everything they needed as well. It took a lot of supplies to build those two structures, and money meant very little to Joshua in the sense that he had plenty to go around.
Thankful for the hat he brought, he could already feel himself building up a sweat as he walked along the path. The sun was beating down, and even through the trees, there was not much escape from it. It felt good, though, it wasn’t overbearing in the least. There was none of the humidity that he was used to during the summer months. In Africa, the heat was dry, so it never felt as hot as it actually was. In fact, it was downright soothing.
The path broke open onto the building site, which was bustling with people. There was movement and action all around him, and it excited him even more. They were all clearly very busy, and a moment was never wasted. The energy in the place was inspiring, and there were local villagers around, sitting and watching the volunteers building. It looked as if they were checking out the new people coming and going. The local villagers looked happy though as if they loved the new visitors coming in to change things; hopefully, make them better. Joshua stood on the edge of everything watching as volunteers were unpacking and sorting through the supplies he had sent in. He was impressed to see that they already had the school’s frame well underway. It already was starting to look like something. Joshua felt pride for the camp and what they had accomplished in such a short time, and now he would be part of it. He was going to be able to make a difference, and that was all that mattered to him. As far as he was concerned, the media could kiss his ass. There was no way anyone could believe that he was involved in poisoning the ocean, it truly was ludicrous.
“Mr. Donovan, welcome to the site! We are so happy to have you.”
Joshua was startled by a voice beside him, and he turned to find a rather pale looking man. Considering they were in Africa, he was shocked that anyone could remain pale skinned, but sure enough, the man had the pallor of a vampire. His cheeks, however, were flushed, which gave the indication that maybe he just didn’t do that well in the heat and hot temperatures. It was a mystery, however, as to why the skin just didn’t tan or at least burn; instead, it lacked almost any color at all. He put on a warm smile and shook the sweaty palm of the man in front of him.
“Hello, are you the man in charge? I just got here and thought I would take a look around.”
“Yes, I am, as a matter of fact. The name is Ben, and it is quite a pleasure to meet you. Everyone is so excited that you have decided to join us in our ventures. We couldn’t be more grateful for the supplies you sent us; it was very generous of you. As you can see, we are well on our way to having a school, thanks to you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, and yes, I did notice that. It looks great, and I’m glad to have helped. And please call me Joshua; there is no need to be formal.”
“Indeed, you are right about that. I am head of the project here, and if there is anything that you require, please come and see me. We have many projects going on, all of which are running smoothly. I’ve been in Africa for over a year now running various projects through the very company that you contacted to join us here. Were you able to get settled in the cabin?”
“Yes, it’s great, thank you. I’m looking forward to getting involved here. I don’t think I’ll be able to stay as long as you have, but I’ll do my best for as long as I’m here,” Joshua said with a chuckle.
“Great, that’s all good news. Again, we are grateful that you have come to help; there is certainly much to do.”
“I wasn’t sure if you needed me to start up today or if I would begin in the morning. It’s been a taxing traveling day.”
“That’s totally up to you. Now what kind of work are you interested in?”
Joshua took a look around. Since his arrival to the site, he felt invigorated and decided to get going right away—there was no need to wait until the morning. Besides, he would only be putting a few hours in anyways before the site shut down for the day and people went off to dinner.
“I’m at your disposal, and I think I’d like to do some work today, after all. I’m okay with getting dirty, as well; you don’t need to give me any special treatment.”
Ben laughed. “Good man, that’s what I like to hear. How are you with using a hammer?”
“Great, just show me what you need.”
Just then, there was a tugging on Joshua’s leg, and he looked down to see a little girl with chocolate brown eyes. She was tugging on his pant leg trying to get his attention. She was very skinny, though she didn’t appear to be malnourished in any way. He smiled down at her and said, “Hi there, how are you?” The girl smiled back up at him, and he wasn’t sure if she understood him at all.
“This is one of our most frequent visitors. Plenty of the children from the villages wander over from time to time. Everyone is very excited that the school is being built for obvious reasons.”
“Do they not have a school?”
“They do, and you will see more children filter through during their breaks, but the school is rundown. If there is ever a hard rain, the school floods, and it’s still not even nearly big enough for the amount of children in it. They need an upgrade, and this school will mean the ability to learn without worrying about the school falling apart around them. So yes, I believe this little one should be in school, but they get so excited that some venture over whether they are allowed to or not.”
Joshua chuckled. “That’s fine by me, I’m looking forward to visiting the villages and meeting e
veryone.”
“I’m sure that they would love that. Come with me.”
Joshua followed Ben over to a group of people whom he introduced him to. It was obvious by the looks that were given him that they all knew that he was a billionaire. Not that it bothered him, he would win them over, eventually. He was no fake, and they would see that soon enough. He just needed to have faith in the situation. Joshua was used to that treatment wherever he went even in the Upper East Side. People treated you differently if you were rich. He was considered one of the elite, and usually everyone wanted a piece of him in more ways than one. But in New York, he was treated with respect automatically; in places like Africa, on a job site, he needed to earn his respect first. That he was okay with because he had never done anything to purposely hurt anyone, especially animals or nature. He always strived to try to make the world better not worse.
It was no big deal, though. He was confident that in a few days they would see him as he really was and warm up to him. He was no snob, and they would see that soon enough.
“Now that you have met everyone Joshua, how about we get you to work.”
“Sounds good to me.”
The people were smiling around him, but he knew they were anxious to see if he could actually do hard labor. What they didn’t know was that his grandfather used to be a farmer and he often helped him out at the weekends when he didn’t have school. He hadn’t always had a privileged life. Joshua followed Ben to where all the tools were being stored. He was handed a hammer and a few boxes of nails.
“You can start over there and work with that group. They’ll show you exactly what to do. I’ll check on you in a bit, okay?”
“Great and thanks a lot.” Joshua headed to the group where they showed him how they were framing the school. He got to work immediately hammering nails into the structure, creating a frame as they went along. There was no doubt about it, the work was truly soul cleansing, and he knew that going there had been a great idea indeed. The hard work was exactly what he needed to exorcise his demons. He took out all his pent up aggression on those boards, nailing them in deeper and deeper. He knew he was where he was supposed to be, and when the work was done, he would have a clear head and know exactly what was to be done about his company and the people in it. All the pain and anger from the past week were going into the boards, and he started to feel a weight being lifted off of him. By the time Ben came back to retrieve him, they had completely finished the framing of the school, and it looked amazing.
He stood up and joined the people staring at the hard work from the day. Joshua was sweating buckets, but he felt alive for the first time in a long time. “Great job everyone, this looks great,” he said. There were lots of high fives and slaps on the back to go around for everyone. They were all pretty proud of the performance that day, and Joshua couldn’t blame them. It was amazing what you could do when you had people working together as a team to get a job done. That was a perfect example right there.
As Joshua looked around, he had a great idea. Why not end his first day there with a bang, something that would make everyone feel wonderful for all the work that was put in that day.
“Excuse me, everyone. It would be my honor if you would all join me at my cabin for dinner tonight. Arrangements have been made for a great spread to be there tonight, and I would love it if you would all join me in having a celebration feast for a job well done. You deserve it, and I hope to see you all there. If the food isn’t enough to get you there, I also have alcohol.”
There was collective laughter all around, and the sound of it pleased Joshua greatly. They all started to cheer, which caused him to laugh. “Okay, let’s meet at my cabin in an hour. I need to wash off all this sweat.”
The crowd started to part, and Joshua made his way back towards the pathway when he was stopped by a kid that couldn’t have been more than 19. He had been introduced to him before, and his name might have been Jeff.
“Hi Joshua. I was just wondering since you invited us all to dinner and all.”
“Yes?”
“Well, there is another site, the one where they are putting up the hospital. We all usually get together for dinner after the end of the day. Would it be okay if I invited them as well?”
“Of course, we are all in this together after all. I say the more, the merrier.”
The kid smiled brightly, “Thanks, man, you are one pretty cool guy.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Joshua said with a laugh.
Chapter Three
There were plenty of tables set outside the cabin, and most of them were filled with food from the nearest town. Everything was hot and smelled fantastic. No one was late, probably because you could smell the food for miles, and everyone was famished after a hard day’s work. Joshua walked around and personally introduced himself to everyone; he wanted them to feel at home with him and not feel like it was a formal affair. As he was making his rounds, his eyes caught sight of a beautiful woman, her skin a light caramel color. She was easily the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and her beauty appeared to be natural. She had long black hair tied up in a messy bun that looked sexier than if she had it curled for a gala event. Even from a distance, he could tell she had startling blue eyes that seemed to draw in people all around her. She looked exotic, though he knew her to be an American as well. She was breathtaking, and it took all Joshua’s effort not to stand there and stare at her.
He couldn’t tell her age, not that it really mattered to him. All he seemed to be able to focus on was how her smile seemed to light up the whole area. Who was that beautiful creature? She must have been from the hospital site because he knew he would have remembered her from his own site. He probably would have followed her around all day. She was with a few friends chatting amiably and looking around at the feast in amazement.
She was tall and had the build of a professional dancer. He knew he had to try to focus on something else because he was having a hard time taking his eyes off of her. She was a stunner, and yet all she wore were cargo pants and a tank top, and yet she could knock the socks off of any high society girl from New York. She was eyeing up the food with her friends, and he was suddenly more pleased than ever that he had arranged the whole thing. The volunteers probably hadn’t eaten that well in a while, and he may not have had the chance to meet the girl had he not arranged such a dinner. Whether or not the groups collided in their work, he didn’t know, but this event allowed him to make his own introductions to her. He wasn’t about to waste any time getting to know her—he didn’t want anyone else swooping in before he had the chance to speak with her.
Joshua moved towards her immediately, and almost knocked down a few volunteers in the process. “So sorry,” he muttered as he made his way through the crowd. The closer he got to her, the more beautiful she became if that was possible. He slowly approached the group she was in as they were gathering up food on their plates. He was close enough to touch her and could smell her perfume. It was like sandalwood, and the smell made him want to pull her close to him.
“Hi there. Would you guys care for something to drink?”
She turned to him and smiled, and that was the best gift he could have been given that day. Her eyes sparkled when she smiled, and it took all his willpower not to pull her in for a kiss. Those lips, he wanted to claim them. Joshua never reacted in such a way around a woman; he was usually very cool about talking to women, but this one caused him to only think of his bedroom and what he could do to her there.
“Hi, Joshua is it? We have heard a lot about you. Thank you for inviting us to this party; everything looks delicious. I’m Caroline, and I work with the AIDS volunteers here.”
So she wasn’t from the other building site, she was just another volunteer. Well, the more, the merrier was what he liked to say. He welcomed all the volunteers to come.
“Caroline, that’s a pretty name. I’m glad that you could come, all of you.”
She blushed, a
nd he liked the way her cheeks reddened. She was even more beautiful.
“I’m famished. I was so thrilled to find out we had a place to go where there was already food ready. I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Oh, you are very welcome. Food has also been sent to the villages; they should enjoy the festivities as well.”
She smiled widely. “Well, that’s very sweet of you. I’m sure a hearty meal will do everyone good.” She was looking at him with interest, and he wondered if anyone would notice if he snatched her away. He wanted to take her into the cabin and touch every inch of her.
“Oh, it was nothing. I’m happy to do it.”
They stared at each other for a moment, and Joshua wondered if she was feeling the way that he was; there was a current of electricity charging through his body with her being in such close proximity. It was like they were the only two people at the cabin. He didn’t even care to talk to anyone else but her. She captivated him, and he wanted to put his mouth on her badly. She was staring back at him unwaveringly, and he had to wonder if she was having some dark thoughts herself.
“Well, it was really nice to meet you, Caroline.”
He held out his hand, and she took it. He shook her hand for an infinitely long time, and they were still staring at each other when he heard her friends giggling. The spell broken, he dropped her hand. Caroline was smiling as he tried to compose himself.
Breaking the Rules: A Billionaire Romance Page 27
