Shattered: A Billionaire Romance Series (Contemporary Romance Novels)

by Love, Michelle

  “Not yet,” Blaine says. “But I hope we will be soon. You see, I’m about to make an attempt to steal her away from here.”

  “How romantic,” the hostess says then looks back at us. She takes notice of Blaine’s arm around me then frowns. “Oh, sorry. I guess I misunderstood.”

  Blaine laughs and I nearly pass out as his lips touch the side of my head. “Not romantically. I’m going to offer her a job at my company.”

  “Now I get it. Well, she’s one hell of a worker,” she tells us then gestures to a booth, obviously she ignored my word when I said, table instead of booth.

  Blaine moves me into the booth and sits next to me, moving in so close our legs touch. I lean against the wall and find him leaning too, so our bodies stay touching. “How about a little cocktail with lunch. I won’t tell on you, Delaney.”

  “No,” I say, quickly. “No, drinking when in charge of people’s health. It’s a hard and fast rule I have.”

  “I was just testing you,” he says with a laugh. “You passed.”

  Patsy makes her way to us and nods when she sees me. “Nurse Richards, how’s my girl doing today?”

  “She’s blue,” I tell her. “But I think I have found something or someone to help.”

  Blaine extends his hand and she shakes it with a confused expression. “Hello?”

  “Hi, I’m Blaine Vanderbilt and I think I’m about to help your life become a bit easier for you. When can you take a break to talk to me?”

  “Blaine Vanderbilt? The man who owns that chain of stores called, Bargain Bin?” she asks.

  “That is me,” he says with a big old smile.

  “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t see how you could make my life easier,” she says. “Now, what can I get you all to drink?”

  “Sweet teas all around,” Blaine says. “Please give me a chance to tell you my offer. I think you’ll like it very much.”

  She looks at him for a moment then at me. “Can you vouch for him?”

  I don’t want to vouch for him. He hasn’t even told me what he’s going to offer her. But I find myself nodding anyway. “I can.”

  “Okay,” she says. “I’ll be back with your drinks then place your order and take ten minutes to talk to you.”

  “Great!” Blaine says. “You will not be disappointed.”

  She leaves us and I ask, “So, what are you going to offer her?” His hand moves over my leg and I nearly slap it away until I realize my keys he took from me back at the hospital are in it. I bite my lip with how hot his touch is making me and have to clear my throat before I say, “Oh, my keys. Thanks.”

  “I thought you might want them back. I forgot I had them until I sat down. They were making me uncomfortable.”

  Our hands touch under the table as I take the keys and hate the way my heart is pounding in my chest. I hope he can’t hear it!

  Chapter 5

  BLAINE

  She smells like sterile alcohol and some minty smell and it’s driving me crazy. “What made you become a nurse, Delaney?”

  “Um, the need for money. Nursing school was a shorter program and the need for nurses had me knowing I’d get a job as soon as I graduated,” she answers as she looks at the menu. “Do you think the chicken fried steak is good here?”

  “I have no clue. You should ask our waitress, Patsy,” I say as I look over her shoulder at the menu. Her hair smells like apples and I take a deep breath. “Man, I love that shampoo.”

  She makes a little huffing sound as if I’m bothering her and I know it’s not in the way she’s trying to make me think. When our hands touched, hers trembled. That only happens when you find the other person attractive. Her body is telling me more than she realizes it is.

  “The picture on the menu looks good, so I’m going to go for it,” she says then hands me the menu. “You seem to be looking at mine instead of yours, so here you go.”

  “I’ll have what you’re having. It does sound good.”

  “Me too,” Mr. Green says. “Thanks for inviting me. This place is pretty nice and the prices are reasonable. I think I might bring Mrs. Green here for dinner.”

  “That’s so nice,” Delaney says as she smiles at him. “How long have you been married?”

  “Thirty-seven years. We’ve got three grown kids and five grandkids. Life didn’t start out too great for me. I was nineteen and in prison when I met my wife. She came into the prison on a missionary project with her church. I fell in love with her the minute I saw her.”

  “Aww,” Delaney says then looks at me. “Did you know that?”

  I shake my head. “I’ve never taken the time to ask.” My eyes move to Mr. Green, the man who’s been my driver since the very beginning. “I’m sorry about that. It’s just that I thought of employees as just another part of business. I made sure to keep emotions out of every aspect of it.”

  “You won’t ever hear me complaining, Mr. Vanderbilt. I know many drivers who get caught up in the personal affairs of their employers. I’ve never had to worry about that with you.”

  “Well, never the less, I am sorry and I hope you know you can talk to me about anything you need. I know I’ve never been approachable in the past but I’m changing that. If you have something, you let me know.”

  Patsy comes back to the table with a smile on her face. “Here are your drinks and what can I get you all to eat?”

  “We’ve made it super easy for you. And take note, this is the last order you will ever have to take if you take me up on my offer, Patsy,” I tell her. “We’re all having the chicken fried steak.”

  “You did make that easy,” she says then turns to leave.

  “Hurry back,” I say. “I can’t wait to ask you.”

  She nods as she leaves and I find it hard to believe she’s not excited in the least. Delaney looks at me and says, “I can see you’re not getting her calm demeanor, are you?”

  “Not at all,” I say as I watch her walking slowly to turn the order in. “If I was her, I’d be jumping around with the want to hear what the offer is. She seems somewhat distracted.”

  “She’s having a hard time believing you can offer her anything that will actually help her. Her daughter is dying, Blaine. The only thing you can give her to make her happy or excited is to take the cancer away from her baby girl.”

  “Oh,” I say as I can’t comprehend what she must feel like. I lost my parents but to face the loss of a child would most likely be devastating. “I can see I shouldn’t expect much of a reaction. And you know what?”

  She shakes her head as she looks into my eyes. “What?”

  “That’s okay. I’m not doing this to get great reactions out of anyone. I’m doing this to help. That’s all. I don’t need to get a damn thing out of this. I just need to help where I can. Thanks for explaining that to me, Delaney. You really are a Godsend.”

  Her eyes cut away and I take her hand under the table. When she looks back at me she has glassy eyes. “I’m not anything like that.”

  Pulling her hand up, I kiss the top of it. “Yes, you are.”

  My attention is taken as Patsy pulls up a chair and sits at the end of the table. “Okay, tell me what you have, Mr. Vanderbilt.”

  I don’t really want to let Delaney’s hand go but do, as I turn my full attention to this woman who is having to live and work. Meanwhile her daughter might be living her last days or needing her more than she ever has since she was a baby.

  My soul fills with something it never has before. I don’t even know what the hell to call it. Maybe empathy. I don’t know. I just know it kind of hurts.

  “Patsy, I want you to know I have no idea how hard things are for you right now. I do know I can’t fix anything for you or your daughter. I can, however, give you time to be with her. I can give you the money you need. I can give you a job that will pay you until you can come do it. I’m offering you a job at the headquarters of my company. The position is as a consultant. The salary is six figures and it comes with immediate insur
ance benefits. I will personally pay the co-pays. You don’t have to worry about a thing. Just be there for your daughter in the time she needs you the most.” I take my wallet and pull out three thousand dollars and place it on the table in front of her. “This is your first bonus. If you take my offer, you’ll be paid every Friday, starting this coming Friday. Do you need a minute to decide?”

  “A minute?” she asks. “No, I don’t need a minute.” Tears start flowing in rivers down her pale cheeks. Her dirty blond hair hangs in limp strands around a face I bet was pretty before this fell on her.

  I hand her a napkin and she wipes her tears then breaks down completely. Delaney pushes me and whispers, “Give her a hug.”

  Getting up, I pull the poor woman up and hug her. Shushing her, I whisper, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  She can only nod as she cries and I rock her back and forth as I hold her quivering body that’s much too thin, in my arms. Her reaction is nothing like I thought it’d be. I envisioned happiness, pure joy, some jumping up and down, maybe a high five. Never this.

  I don’t know what kind of road I’ve stumbled upon but it’s certainly a lot more emotional than I ever thought it’d be.

  Chapter 6

  DELANEY

  The day hasn’t gone any way I expected it would once I found out I had to spend it with Blaine Vanderbilt. Watching him hand out the gifts he brought to the four kids he met today, is more than heartwarming.

  The best part about it is watching Blaine as something inside of him seems to be growing with each interaction. He seems to be gaining an understand of the human spirit. It’s kind of like watching a baby start walking and how amazed and scared they find themselves.

  “I’ll let you practice today but come tomorrow, I’m bringing my A-game, Terry,” Blaine tells him then gets out of the chair and hands him one more pumpkin lollipop. He turns back just before we walk out. “Hey, bro, you want to me bring you anything when I come back in the morning?”

  “No way,” the teenage boy says. “Dude, you’ve given me enough. But I tell you what. There’s this guy a little older than I am. He’s major bummed about losing his golden locks. Go visit him tomorrow, will you? His name’s Colby.”

  “Will do,” Blaine says. “And let me tell you that I think you’re one great guy. I think you’ll go far in this life.”

  “If I live,” he says.

  Blaine looks back at me and I can see he’s upset with what the kid said. I shake my head and hold out my hand for him to come with me. “Time to go see, Tammy.”

  He nods. “Bye, Terry. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Once we’re out the door, Blaine falls back on the wall. “Shit! This is hard!”

  I still have his hand and find him tugging me to him. “Come on, Blaine. Around here we suck things up. If you want to fall apart, you do that away from here. While we’re here, we are nothing but a tower of strength.”

  He pulls himself together and stands up straight. “You’re right. Okay, let’s go visit Tammy now. I hope she likes the wig you picked out. Is her mom here yet?”

  “I doubt it. You sent her to the salon to get all gorgeous. But she should be here soon, I’d think.” She gives the door a quick two tap knock. “Tammy, can I come in? I have a male visitor with me.”

  “Wait!” she shouts.

  We wait and then Delaney holds her hand up. “Wait here.”

  As I wait while she goes inside, I lean on the wall again and try to steady myself. I thought this would be like a walk in the park. An easy thing to do. Come to the hospital, give some gifts. Then I’d simply stand back and watch the kids smile about it. The huge waves of emotion are like a shot out of the dark.

  The door opens and Delaney looks around then over at me. “Again?” she holds out her hand. “Come on.”

  I take her hand and pull her out into the hallway. “Can you do me a favor and give me a purely platonic hug?”

  Her eyes go soft and she pulls me into her arms. “I know how rough it is. But I can see things are working inside of you, Blaine. Don’t let this give you a big head or anything but I’m growing proud of you.”

  The way she’s holding me tells me she’s great at making people feel better. “You have a gift, Delaney. You really know how to help people.”

  She lets me go and gives me a smile. “Hmm. Now, maybe that’s why I was sent in the direction to become a nurse. Maybe there was a bit of divine intervention that directed me to this place.”

  “Maybe so.” The click-clack of high heels draws my attention and I look down the hallway to see a tall, very pretty lady coming down it.

  “Would you look at her?” Delaney says then lets out a wolf-whistle.

  “Is that, Patsy?” I ask as I take a harder look.

  “It is,” Patsy says as she gets to us. “Thank you for the much needed pampering, Mr. Vanderbilt. And the job. I feel better than I have in a long time.”

  “You are welcome,” I say. “And may I say you clean up very nicely?”

  “You may,” she says with a bright smile. “And now to be with my daughter and try to rub some of this new, hope-filled attitude off on her.”

  “I’d say you have enough for that,” I say then we follow her into the dimly lit room.

  “Mom?” the little girl in the bed asks.

  Her eyes have deep, dark half-circles under them. She has a blue scarf around her head to cover her hairless little head. I want to cry but I know I can’t do that. So I look at Delaney and reach out for her hand.

  She looks at me with understanding and takes my hand as we stop and let the two of them have a moment.

  Patsy runs her hand with a nice pink manicure over her daughter’s cheek. “Hey you, I have the best news ever. I’m going to be able to stay here with you for as long as you want me to.”

  “How’s that?” the little girl asks. “You have to work. You didn’t get fired, did you?”

  Patsy laughs and looks back at me. “No, I quit my job at the restaurant. I’m now a consultant for the Bargain Bin chain of stores.”

  “What?” the little girl asks.

  “Tell her, Mr. Vanderbilt,” Patsy says.

  “I gave your mother a job so she doesn’t have to worry about bills. She doesn’t have to come to work until you’re better. She’s all yours, Tammy.”

  Tammy’s light blue eyes go to Delaney. “Did you have a hand in this, Nurse Richards?”

  “Maybe,” she answers. “You see when you tell someone what you really want, sometimes it happens. You should do that more often.”

  Terry’s eyes fill up with tears and my stomach knots as she says, “Then I better get this said, I want to get better. I want to feel healthy again. I want to go home. And I want my hair back!”

  Delaney laughs and pulls the wig she had stashed in her large pocket out and holds up the long blond hair. “Well, it’s not yours but will this do for now?”

  She can only nod as she starts crying. All I can do is stand back and try my best to hold onto myself. I can’t run out of here, bawling like a baby. But I also can’t trust myself to say a damn word as emotion is filling me up.

  Another nurse wheels a roll-away bed into the room and I step out of her way. “Here we go. Seems Mom’s coming in full time, I’ve been told. Nurse Richards, you’re officially relieved of your duty for the day. I’ll see you back here in the a.m. I have them in under my watchful eye for the night.”

  “See you guys in the morning. Have a good night, Tammy, Patsy.”

  “We will, now,” Patsy says. “And thank you again, Mr. Vanderbilt.”

  I nod and open the door, letting Delaney walk out in front of me. Instead of hurrying away, like I half-expected her to, she lingers in the hallway for me. “Are you okay, Blaine?”

  Shaking my head, I look down as I walk toward the elevator. I still can’t manage to talk with the knot that’s formed in my throat. This is terrible!

  “Want to go out for a drink?” she asks, shocking me.

&nbs
p; Chapter 7

  DELANEY

  With a nod, Blaine takes my hand and we make our way to the nurses’ station where I pick up my purse and then go to the elevator. I can see he’s upset and trying hard to hold on.

  Stepping into the elevator, I wait for the doors to close before I say, “I cried every day when we had clinicals in the nursing home. For three weeks, I left that place and cried for just about an hour the first few days, then it slowly dwindled down to nothing. Not that my heart got hard or anything like that. I just began to gain an understanding of life.”

  His Adam’s apple bulges as he swallows and the elevator doors open as we’ve reached the lobby. “Ride with me. I’ll pick you up in the morning too. You can leave your car here.”

  “I can have a couple of drinks, it won’t affect me for driving,” I tell him then stop as he makes an abrupt stop.

  “No. I have a driver. If you want to get a drink with me, you have to do it this way.”

  I find myself a little taken back. Honestly, I thought he’d jump through hoops to have a drink with me. So I test the waters a bit. “No, I want to drive or I’m not going.”

  “Suit yourself.” He lets my hand go and walks away. “I’ll be in my car if you change your mind in the next two minutes.”

  I’m stunned and a little shocked and really shocked to find my feet taking me as fast as they can up behind the man. “Wait!”

  He stops but doesn’t turn around. “Yes?”

  “What’s the big deal?” I ask as I get in front of him.

  “The big deal is I don’t let my friends drink and drive. After what we shared today, I consider you a friend.”

  “You do?” I ask and start walking backward as he begins to move forward.

  “Yes. So, are we on for drinks or not?” he asks and I find myself in the wrong position.

  I thought I was calling the shots here!

  His driver pulls up and jumps out, opening the door as I stand there, looking at Blaine and not completely understanding where I stand with him. I thought he wanted me and would do anything to have me. I might have been very wrong.