“No, I’ll be going down there soon. Just lock it up for me,” I say then end the call.
Grabbing up a bagel and slathering it with cream cheese, I place a layer of smoked salmon across it and take a bite just as a knock comes at my door. The maid hurries to answer it and I hold my hand up then wiggle my finger for her to come to me first.
She does so and I whisper, “If that’s Miss Saunders, tell her I’m not in.”
With a nod of understanding, the maid walks away and when she opens the door, I hear the shrill voice of the woman I was worried would be coming here this morning.
I made a grave mistake last night. The liquor got to me, I’m afraid.
“Where is Zane?” she asks. “I must see him.”
“He’s not home at the moment. I will be sure to tell him you stopped by, Miss Saunders.”
Easing out of the dining room just in case Meagan manages to get her head in enough to look around, I hide just inside the pantry in the kitchen. I feel like an idiot but seeing her is not a thing I can handle right now.
I still haven’t figured out how to tell her that was a drunken mistake that will never happen again.
“Let me in to wait for him,” Meagan snaps at my elderly maid. “He and I are a thing now. He’d expect you to let me in to wait for him.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Lois says, apologetically. “I cannot let you in without him telling me to.”
A loud huff is made, by Meagan no doubt. “Tell him to call me as soon as he comes in. I’ve tried calling him but it keeps going straight to voicemail for reasons I cannot imagine. He and I had an intimate night and I know he wants to see me today.”
“Of course he does, ma’am,” my maid says. “I’m sure his phone has run out of batteries. I’ll make sure to let him know you were here and would like to speak to him, Miss Saunders.”
“See that you do,” Meagan says with a snippy tone to her shrill voice. “I’ll be at the bistro on the corner. Tell him to come see me there.”
“I will, Miss Saunders.” The sound of the door closing lets me know I can come out of hiding and when I step around the door to the pantry, I’m met with a pair of disappointed, light blue eyes. “Really, Mr. White? That woman?”
“I know, Lois. My God, do I know. I had too much to drink and she swooped in on me when I least expected it. I have no idea how I’m going to shake her now.” Going back to the dining room, I sit down to finish my breakfast and suddenly don’t feel the least bit hungry.
“How long has it been?” Lois asks as she takes the feather duster out of her white apron and begins dusting the furniture. The lightweight particles fill the air and land on her black dress.
“She’s been after me for years. I haven’t kept count,” I say then sip my coffee. “Her position as a judge in this town makes her a necessary acquaintance for me. It makes the eviction process much faster for the real estate my company rents out to be settled in a timely fashion.”
“Money,” Lois says as she moves a tiffany lamp to clean underneath it. “The root of all evil.”
Her short, white, tight curls bounce a bit as she jumps up to reach the top of the lamp to dust it. I get up and hold my hand out for the duster. The woman is about four feet tall and I hate to see her trying so hard to do the littlest thing like taking the thin layer of dust off the top portion of the lamp.
“This is why you have that stepping stool I bought for you with some of that evil money you’re talking about. The same evil money that pays your wages. Nice wages, as a matter of fact.” I hand her the duster back after freeing the expensive lamp of the dust it had accumulated since yesterday’s dusting.
A nod precedes her words, “I’m only saying that you don’t have to make the judge your bedfellow to get justice, Mr. White. There is more than one judge in this city. Meagan Saunders is not the only one, you know. And she’s an aggressive piece of female. You’ve really put your foot in it this time.”
“I know that. I do. I think a trip out of town might be the thing to get her to forget about me,” I say as I pick up my phone to check out some exotic destination to hide from her at.
“I doubt that would work. She’s been waiting for you for quite some time. And now that you’ve given her a taste. Well, I doubt she’ll be easy to get rid of. Like a bad smell, you know?”
With a groan, I go and fall onto the expensive leather sofa in the living area and throw my arm over my eyes. “What am I going to do about her, Lois?”
“If you were married already, she could never have gotten to you in the first place. How long are you planning on waiting to find a wife? You’re thirty-five for goodness sakes. Most men have entire families by your age.”
“Most men don’t have the demanding job I have, either. It’s not easy accumulating the wealth I have, Lois. It takes lots of time, energy, and attention. Woman take that too. I don’t have enough for both.”
“Shame, then,” she says as her feather duster kicks up some more particles into the air that float past her nose, making her sneeze.
“Bless you. And it is a shame. But I don’t know what I can do about that.”
Chapter 3
ELIZABETH
With Sunday’s chores out of my way, I walk down the street to visit the old lighthouse. My grandfather has stayed on my mind all day long. The list of things I needed to do today, my one day a week to get things done, grew. Laundry, grocery shopping, wash my car, vacuum, mop, dust. It took nearly all day and the evening snuck up on me.
The summer air is nice and there’s a nice breeze coming in off the bay as I walk along to make what now will be a quick visit to the place Gramps and I would hang out so often. The sound of a hammer bangs away in the distance and has my natural curiosity looking around to see who’s doing what.
The sound gets louder the farther I walk then I see a truck parked at the edge of the little dirt road that leads to the lighthouse. A woman is sitting on the passenger side of the truck with the door opened.
“Hello,” I call out as I come up to her.
She turns and gives me a smile. “Oh, hello.”
Looking out at the lighthouse, I see a board is covering the door and it sends a chill through me. A man walks around from behind it and comes our way with a hammer in his hand.
“What’s going on here?” I ask the woman with confusion.
“This place has been bought by my husband’s boss. You’re soon to have a brand new set of luxury condominiums.” She steps out of the truck and offers her hand to me. “I’m Sandy.”
I shake her hand. “I’m Elizabeth. So the lighthouse has been sold? I had no idea it was even up for sale.”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you. I guess it was. My husband’s boss, Zane White, just acquired it. He told my husband to get down here and board it up and put up some fencing to keep everyone out.”
My heart stops and I look at the old place I may never get to see the inside of again. Not ever!
“This is terrible,” I mumble.
“Why?” Sandy asks me. “It’s just an old rundown building. The property will be looking fantastic in no time. You’ll see.”
“This place has a lot of memories for me. My grandfather and I used to have sleepovers on the observation deck inside. We used to watch sunrises there and some sunsets too. We use to look for shells on the shoreline and pick them up and take them home.” I look at the man who’s just finished boarding up the place and find myself near tears.
“Hi there,” he says with a friendly tone. “Troy Sandoval with The Sandstone Company. How do you feel about getting a brand new condo complex right here in your little town, miss?”
“I feel like I don’t want to see that there. I feel like I want to keep the lighthouse here instead of that terrible idea,” I stammer. “I’ve tried on many occasions to get this property declared historic but haven’t managed to do that yet. This place is special to me.”
“Oh,” he says and his green eyes droop a bit at the ed
ges. “I’m sorry to hear that. But the lighthouse might be sold and moved somewhere else. If the owner decides to do that instead of demolishing it.”
“Demolishing it?” I cry. “He might tear it down instead of keeping it intact and selling it? That’s terrible!”
The man seems stunned by me and goes around the truck. “Sorry, lady. The fencing will be done tomorrow.” He pulls something out of the back of the truck and I see it’s a sign on a wooden stake. A no trespassing sign.
I watch him take the hammer and pound it into the ground. “I can’t go look around anymore?”
He shakes his head. “Nope. Boss’ orders. Sorry, lady.”
I turn and start to walk away in a daze. The lighthouse is off limits to me. It’s been taken away just that quickly. I have no idea what I can do to stop this.
I’ve circled numerous petitions as has my grandfather to get the place protected and none have gotten enough signatures thus far. I don’t see how that will help this time either.
My head feels light as I walk back home. The truck comes by me as they leave the place I used to think of as our own little personal spot. The place we would hang out and talk about our day and our plans for the future.
The place Gramps and I could just hang out and enjoy each other’s company. And it’s going to be taken away. Gone like the wind.
It’s not fair!
It’s not a thing I can allow to happen. Maybe I should chain my body to the building. Maybe I should go back down there with my own hammer and take the plywood off the door and go inside and occupy the lighthouse to stop its destruction.
But maybe the owner will decide to sell it. Maybe I could get the town to buy it and put it in one of the parks or something. But it still won’t be the same as where it is now. On the bay where you can look out over it and watch the birds flying around.
We watched a storm come in once. I was afraid and Gramps showed me how the storm was a necessary part of our ecosystem. The lightning that filled the sky and made me jump was explained as he told me it brought nutrients to the ground that helped things to grow thick, tall, and strong.
Every day that next week, we went back to the lighthouse and he pointed out the new growth the rain and lightning had made to the area surrounding the lighthouse.
I remember being amazed that something that looked so destructive really wasn’t at all. The wind blew away trash, debris, and old leaves, leaving the area clean. The rain washed away bird poop that had accumulated all over the shoreline where birds would stand and wait for little things to get close to the edge of the water for them to grab and eat.
The whole thing was mind blowing to me and made me have a new respect and better understanding of nature. All because I was able to sit in the top of that lighthouse and look out the windows that surrounded the observation deck and watch the whole thing happen.
Now I’ll never be able to do that again. I’ll never be able to take my kids, if I ever have any, up there so they can witness the things I have. I’ll never be able to walk my dog, if I ever get one, up the swirling staircase to get some much-needed exercise. None of it!
And it’s all because of some dumbass who wants to tear down a piece of history to put up some damn condos which we have way too many of anyway.
I don’t know if I can just sit by and accept that.
Chapter 4
ZANE
“What do you mean, she refuses to go?” I ask my secretary who has called me to tell me some woman from Chesapeake City, Rhode Island is at our office and is refusing to leave until she can talk to me, personally.
“I told her you only see people who have made appointments and she said she wanted to talk to you and it would only take a minute or two of your precious time,” Lane tells me.
“Did she actually use the word, precious?” I ask as I walk down the sidewalk toward the building I own and our offices are located at the top of.
“Yes, sir.”
“Hmm.” I wonder who this piece of work thinks she is. “Did she give you any idea what she wants.”
“She’s muttering a lot about a lighthouse as she paces back and forth in front of your office door.”
“The lighthouse on the property I bought last week, I’m guessing. What the hell does she care about that?” I ask as I turn to the right and head up the sidewalk that will take me in the back entrance so I can take the private elevator up that goes directly into my office. That way I don’t have to come in contact with the woman who has plans on bothering me about such a mundane thing as an old building that was never hers.
“Yes, that lighthouse, Mr. White. I don’t think you own any other lighthouse, sir.”
Cocking my head to the side with my secretary’s curt remark, I choose to blow it off. The woman pacing around the reception area must be working her nerves as she’s never spoken to me like that before.
“I’m coming up but don’t tell her that,” I say as I use my key to get into my elevator. “What’s this trick’s name?”
“Elizabeth Cook.” Lane’s voice changes to a whisper. “And she is a feisty one, I can tell you that much. She has a very determined look on her face, sir.”
“Few people are as determined as I can be. Tell me, what color is her hair?”
“Blonde.”
“Light or dark?” I ask as I look up to see I’ve barely made it to the fifth floor. I’ll have to have maintenance check out this elevator, it’s going much too slow.
“A darker color, you know kind of like a golden color, skirting on the edge of brown,” she says.
“Short, long?” I ask.
“Long, past her shoulders,” she answers me.
“Pretty, ugly, fat, short, tall, tell me about her.” I watch the elevator slow to a crawl and get the feeling my ride on it will not take me all the way up.
“To be honest, I have to say she’s beautiful, sir. Pretty, dark green eyes, tall but not too tall, you know. Curvy, not rail thin. A real beautiful woman but let me tell you she has this look on her face like she means business. I don’t know exactly what it is she wants as she said she’s only going to tell you that but get ready to give it to her.”
“We both know when it comes to business, I don’t give in.” The elevator stops completely and luckily I’m on the eleventh floor and it didn’t stop in between them. “Call maintenance and have them see what the fuck is wrong with my personal elevator. It just completely crapped out on me. Now I have to come in through the front. Don’t greet me by my name when I come in. Call me by some other name and buzz me into my office. Act like I’m there with an appointment with me instead of me being me.”
I smile as I walk out of the elevator with my quick thinking. I can sidestep this broad for an eternity if I want to. Why bother with a conversation with her. I’m not about to give into whatever she’s wanting from me anyway.
Getting into another elevator, I end the call and place the cell phone into the inside pocket of my suit. It’s a new Saint Laurent virgin wool number in black and pretty expensive but she’ll never know that if she’s from Rhode Island. Two and two won’t be put together by the poor hick of a female.
A tremor of an emotion I hardly ever get runs through me as the elevator doors open when we stop on the top floor. Fear. For a second I wonder if the bloodhound, Meagan Saunders, is lurking about.
I’ve managed to evade her quite effectively since my mistake. I had to take one phone call. I told her I was sorry about everything. I never meant to use her and it would never happen again.
She replied that it would happen again and I needed to understand she’s out for more than a one-night stand. She wants me to be the father of her children, the yen to her yang, the groom to her bride.
She’s a very open book, that woman!
The amount of people on the elevator make it impossible to ease out of it and take in my surroundings for her. Meagan is thin and could be hiding behind the slimmest of furnishings.
A small tree limb moves in one
of the planters near the office door. I hesitate then realize it was just the wind caused by a large man passing by it. Relief is expressed with a loud sigh and I realize my hands are balled into fists.
Shaking off my anxiety, I open the door and step inside the office. Looking back, I close the door behind me as Lane says, “Good afternoon, Mr. Dungareepore. You can go right into Mr. White’s office. He’s waiting for you.”
A smile moves over my lips with her over the top, made up last name. I give her a nod as I hear another woman say, “I thought you said he wasn’t here.” A hand touches my arm and I freeze. “Please, Mr. Dunga, Mr. Dung. Oh for Pete’s sake. What was your name again, sir? I’m so sorry, I didn’t get the whole thing when she said it.”
Without looking at her as her voice is soft, sweet, amazing, and sensual without her realizing it, I look at Lane and give her a look that says I can’t remember the entire made up, ridiculous name she came up with either.
“This is Mr. Dungareepoop. Pore.” Lane’s face turns red. “Dungareepore. And you can’t bother him, miss. He has important business to see to.” Lane gets up and comes to pry the woman’s hand off my arm.
“Please, sir, please,” she begs me as her grip tightens. “I only need a minute with him. I just have to ask. Please.”
I try not to look at the woman who’s begging me and holding my arm and sending some amazing feelings through me with her touch and the sound of her sweet voice. Something takes me over and I can’t help it. I turn to look at her.
She’s a nice height, maybe five eight or nine. The top of her head comes to my chin. Her dark green eyes look kind and are framed with not overly-mascaraed lashes. Her lips are stained pink and her bottom lip is plump. Her cheekbones are high and rose colored. Her hair hangs around her face, framing it with golden hues.
“Hey,” I say like some kind of a dork.
“Hello, sir.” She lets my arm go and steps back, making her, below the knee length, royal blue dress move like fluid around her calves. With her hand extended, she introduces herself. “I am, Elizabeth Cook. I’m from Chesapeake City, Rhode Island and I really need to talk to Mr. White. If I could borrow only a couple of minutes from your meeting I’d be so grateful, you have no idea.”
The Billionaire’s Lighthouse Series: A Billionaire, Bad Boy, Romance Page 2
