Well, shit! Now, what do I do?
Chapter 5
ELIZABETH
The man in front of me is the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in real life. He’s tall, broad in the shoulders and wearing a very nice suit that feels like it’s made out a fabric I’ve never felt before.
His eyes are a mixture of greens and browns, a hazel color I’ve never seen quite the same before. His smile is nice. Not soft, not hard, just nice, really nice.
Too bad his last name is so jacked-up!
“So what do you say, Mr. Dungapoo?” I ask.
“White,” he says.
Feeling confused by his answer, I frown as I ask, “Huh?”
The secretary who was tugging at me stops and walks back to her seat behind the large reception desk. “I knew it,” she mumbles.
The hot man takes the hand I was holding out to shake his and turns it over. As he brings it to his lips which are the nicest color of caramel, I watch them touch the top of my hand and my knees go very weak.
His other hand moves through his dark hair that’s just long enough to lose your fingers in when they go through it. It looks soft as silk and I bet it smells great too.
“I was trying to avoid you, Miss Cook. I am Zane White. The man you’ve been looking for.” His voice is deep and flows like satin when he speaks.
“The man I’ve been looking for,” I repeat.
And maybe he is that man!
With my weak knees, my right ankle twists a bit and the high heel makes me kind of fall a little. His strong arm is right there to stop me. “Oops!” he says with a laugh. His arm goes around my waist to hold me up and he looks over his shoulder at the secretary. “Hold my calls will you, Lane?”
“Of course, sir,” she says as she pulls her glasses down and looks at him over them and shakes her head.
He smells so expensive he should charge women to breathe in his scent. I can’t even explain the smell as it has to be things I’ve never even heard of before. The best way to describe it is, money. Tons and tons of it. Because that’s what it would take to get this perfect mixture of sin, pleasure, and fantasy rolled into one smell.
The sound of a beep makes me look up as I’ve been watching my feet. They feel as if I’m floating but I am taking a step at a time. My black, heel covered feet walk next to his black, fancy shoe covered feet. Just walking next to him like this makes me feel poor as a church mouse. His attire alone probably costs more than the car I drive.
Opening the door to his office, his hand moves to the small of my back. “I’m so sorry about how this all started. I’ve had some issues lately. Please accept my apology, Miss Cook.”
His hand stays on me as we glide over the black carpeting. His office is a mixture of blacks, deep browns with some reds here and there. Masculine to the max.
“With the company name of Sandstone, I thought your office might be more of a neutral color. How wrong I was,” I say as he keeps his hand on my back all the way until I sit in the soft leather, black chair with tons of cushion in the back and the seat.
“I like dark colors. Sandstone came from the stone I chiseled for my father’s marker.” He moves around me to lean on the front of his large, dark wood desk that has not one thing on top of it.
“Marker?” I ask as I have no idea what the hell he’s talking about.
“He died when I was nineteen. He had cancer.” His eyes stay on mine and show no sign of pain in them at all which is amazing to me as he talks about his dead daddy.
“I’m so sorry,” I say. “I certainly didn’t mean to bring up anything so hurtful.”
He shakes his head a little and unbuttons the two buttons on his black suit jacket then leans back, using his hands to hold himself up. I can see the muscles of a six or eight pack of abs bulging under the white button down shirt. My mouth waters and so do other parts of my female anatomy.
“That was a very long time ago. No reason to be sorry.” He repositions himself to stretch out his long as hell legs that swell as his upper thighs give the fabric of the pants a workout.
I swallow hard as I watch them ripple a little. “You work out?”
His smile beams radiantly. “Yes. Do you?”
I shake my head. “No, sir. I mean, I walk a lot. All the time, actually. But I detest exercise. It’s boring to me. You know, too repetitious. I prefer walking and taking in the sights, over going to gyms.”
“Rhode Island offers you a lot of outdoor time, doesn’t it? You look fresh. Sun-kissed,” he says as his eyes roam over me.
I feel very odd with his gaze and try to recall why the hell I’m here. Here with this gorgeous man who’s looking at me with such an expression I can’t recall any other man ever looking at me with.
“The lighthouse on the property you purchased. It’s special to me,” I blurt out like a person with no social skills what so ever. I might as well be Frankenstein with all the diplomacy I used to say those words.
“How so?” he asks as his arms cross over that wide chest of his. It makes his biceps knot and the heat that’s been building inside of me goes two degrees higher. Five more and I most likely will spontaneously combust!
“My grandfather took me there when I was a kid. I watched a thunderstorm once from it.” I stop myself as my words are coming out all choppy and I just can’t think straight with the way he’s looking at me and smelling so great and looking so damn fine it ought to be illegal. “How’d you get so fucking rich?”
Oh shit!
The way he moves is like a cat. He leans forward and when his hand touches my chin, I shiver. “I work very hard, Miss Cook.”
Hard, now that’s a word I would definitely use to describe this man. I bet he does everything very hard. And now I’m sweating. Three, two, one. Am I on fire yet?
“I’m sure you do. So do I, Mr. White. You see, my grandfather and I have spent years trying to get that lighthouse under the protection of the historical society of our town. But we’ve never been able to. And that was okay, until you bought the property and now it’s just not okay to get rid of the memories my grandfather created for me there.”
His fingers leave my chin and I swear it burns! He moves back then his back turns to me as he gets up and goes to sit in his massive, black leather chair with a very tall back. He sits and laces his long, thick as shit, fingers together as he looks at me with those brown, green eyes which have gone dark. “You do understand the nature of business, don’t you, Miss Cook?”
“I do,” I say as I fidget in my seat. “But you understand the nature of memories and love, don’t you, Mr. White?”
He turns his head to the left and mumbles, “The nature of love isn’t a thing I know much about. My father was my only family and he left this world what seems like a lifetime ago, leaving me alone.” His eyes are dark as night as he looks back at me. “All I know is the nature of business. And business dictates that lighthouse has to go. One way or another, it has to go, Miss Cook.”
Well, what the fuck do I do now?
Chapter 6
ZANE
Her mouth hangs the slightest bit ajar as she looks at me then past me then back at me again. Now there’s a glimmer in her green eyes and she narrows them a little as she says, “Would you sell the lighthouse to the city or better yet, donate it? I mean, if you’d pay to have it demolished then why not give it away?”
“Why would the city want it?” I ask as I lean back in my chair and watch her fidget in hers. She’s completely adorable as she’s trying to look all business-like but she doesn’t realize the sun shining through the window behind me is making golden strands of her long hair glisten. It’s mesmerizing.
“Because it’s a lighthouse,” her eyes roll to the right. “Who wouldn’t want it?”
“Do you have any idea how much it costs to move buildings, Miss Cook?” I ask and find myself straining to see more of her legs as she crosses them, making her dress hitch up a bit more.
Her calves are just the right amount
of slender and plump. Her skin is a creamy color, like a very light latte. I wonder how she tastes.
“You have lots of money, Mr. White.” She licks her lips for some reason and my eyes dart to her mouth to see her little red tongue move over those luscious pink lips. “It should be no problem for you to have it moved. It would give you a leg up in the community and help you sell those condos you’re going to build.”
“I don’t need a leg up or any kind of help selling those condos. The fact is I have a handful of them that will be filled immediately after they’re finished. So I’m not into this idea of me having the expense of moving this old, dilapidated lighthouse.” Leaning forward, I lean my arm on the desk. “Have you spoken to the city about this thing you’re asking of me, Miss Cook?”
She shakes her head. I watch a lock of her golden hair flow back and forth over one very perky breasts. “No. The truth is I have no idea if they’d even want it. You see, this is about me and my memories. My grandfather passed away last year. That place is special to me. It holds tons of memories and.” She stops and looks all around before she continues, “I need it. Mr. White, I need to be able to look out the window of my bedroom each morning and see the thing. It’s all I have left. Can’t you build your condos somewhere else?”
Her sentimentality is sweet. “This is purely business. I don’t let things like sentiments get in the way of making practical decisions. I’d still be poor as a church mouse if I handled business decisions that way. Surely, you understand, Miss Cook.”
Getting up out of the chair she begins pacing back and forth in front of my desk as she wrings her hands in front of her. “Business is business, I get it.” She stops and looks at me with one wrinkle on her otherwise wrinkle-free forehead. I assume that means she’s very distraught. “But you have more money than most or I wouldn’t even ask this of you. Please just think about leaving the lighthouse where it is and building your condos somewhere else.”
“No,” I say and feel a little bit bad about having to say it. But only a little. I don’t cloud business with emotions. Not ever!
“No?” she asks with a deep frown. “Just, no? Not a, let me think about it? Not a, we can take some time and see? Just a simple, no?”
With a nod, I answer her, “No, just a simple word that lets you know I will not be doing as you have asked.”
Placing her hands firmly on my desk, she leans on them and her eyes go all shiny with unshed tears. “Please, Mr. White. I’ve never begged for anything and I am begging you to at least consider leaving the lighthouse where it is and build elsewhere. Please, sir.”
“You’ve never begged for anything?” I ask as I can see she’s not used to asking for anything more than once, obviously.
She’s very beautiful. I assume she always gets what she wants. How sad I have to be the first to end her run of getting what she wants. But someone has to be that person. The one who crushes one of her dreams. I wonder how many dreams she’s had that have gone uncrushed.
“I have never wanted anything this badly before. If you knew how my heart aches with the thought that I’ll never be able to go back inside of that place again you’d have more compassion for me.” One hand moves over her heart and inadvertently, her breast that has the blue fabric of her dress pulled tight over it.
I wonder how that breast would feel in my mouth.
“You say you’ve never wanted anything as badly as you want this building. And you want this building to stay where it is, really. You don’t want it to be moved into some city park. You want things to stay exactly the same way as you’ve always known them. But that can’t happen. Things change. Life goes on. The absence of that lighthouse isn’t a thing that should mean that damn much to you.”
“But it does,” she says as she moves her hand off her heart and down to her side. “It really does.”
“Then you really need more of a life, my dear young woman. Because most people wouldn’t put that much energy into a material object. You do know some force of nature could come in and remove that building, don’t you? I’m not the only threat to its existence. Yet I am the only one who you are pleading to.” I tap the desktop as I watch her mind working.
I’m offering valid points and she’s trying desperately to unseat them all. She’s up against me, though. I am a master at this. She’s so out of her league.
“I suppose if nature took it, I’d be fine with that. I’d miss it but that would be an act of God and I never second guess the man upstairs,” she says then brings her hand up to her lips and puts her index finger near them and nibbles on her short fingernail.
I laugh and get up, going to her. Taking her hand so she can no longer nibble at her already nibbled on nail, I bring her hand to my mouth where I deliver another kiss to it. “No reason to bite your nails over something so trivial as an old building. Tell me, Miss Cook, is there a man in your life at the present?”
She shakes her head and I can tell she’s not breathing as I’m so close to her and I can see she’s nervous. So I let her hand go and take a step back, I notice her exhaling then she says, “No. What does that matter?”
Going back around behind my desk, I take my seat again and gesture for her to do the same. She does as I’ve asked and I smile at her. “It’s just that I think if you have a boyfriend or husband then you wouldn’t be here right now. All the way in New York to bother me about this.”
“Bother you?” she shouts then jumps up out of the chair. Reaching into her purse, she pulls out a small business card and slams it on top of my desk. “Here’s my number. If you decide to grow a heart, give me a call and let me know about it. You heartless, son of a bitch!”
And off she goes to storm out of my office. Only the button has to be pushed to open the door and I’m not about to let her out of here just yet!
Chapter 7
ELIZABETH
Grabbing the doorknob, I try to twist it but it’s not moving. I pull it and still nothing and when his laugh comes from behind me, I spin around to find him standing right behind me.
“Hold on a minute, Miss Cook,” he says with that deep, sexy as hell voice that’s making me crazy.
His tall, lean body is merely in inch from mine and I can feel the heat of his breath on my face as he leans into me. I press my hands against his wide and awesomely hard chest. “What the fuck are you doing?”
His laugh is so deep I can feel it in his chest. “I’m showing you how the doorknob doesn’t work the way you thought it did. See.” He turns me around with his other hand and I can feel his body against my back. His mouth is near my ear, moving my hair with his words, “See, it doesn’t move. I have to push a button under my desk to get it to open. Won’t you please come back and sit down so we can finish our conversation. I don’t want you to leave mad. I’d like to make things a bit better for you if you’d let me.”
I’m shaking with anger and I think a little sexual frustration as well. I wait to turn around until he steps back then I turn and find his hand at the small of my back, gently pushing me to go back and sit down on the comfortable chair in front of his desk.
He goes back behind his desk and opens a drawer. When his hand comes back out of it, there are several things he lays out in front of me. One is the keycard to a hotel room, I see. Another is one of his business cards and his signature is at the bottom of it. The third thing looks like a credit card but instead of Visa or Mastercard, it has his name across the bottom and at the top, it has the words, Plaza Hotel.
“I want you to take my personal private jet back home,” he says as his finger moves the business card forward. “You can give this to my pilot at the airport and he’ll take you back to Chesapeake City. But not until tomorrow. For tonight, I’d like you to be my guest at The Plaza Hotel. Here is the key to a room I keep there. You can simply leave it on the table in the room when you leave.”
“I can’t,” I say but he holds his hand up to stop me so I shut my mouth and watch him move his fingers to the last item on his
desk, the credit card thing.
“This is my VIP card for The Plaza Hotel. You can use it at any of the bars and restaurants in the hotel. Feel free to use it all you want, it’s all on me. I don’t want us to part company with you absolutely hating me, Miss Cook.”
Looking at him I see his eyes are more green than brown right now and he does seem to want to get along. And maybe I should be trying to do that more so than begging and pleading for him to see things my way.
“I have a room for the night. Thank you, anyway,” I say as I lean forward and push the hotel keycard back to him. “The room comes with breakfast and since I’m not hungry, I won’t be dining at the hotel either.” I push the credit card back toward him. “And I have a round trip ticket so I don’t need to bother you with using your private jet.” I push the last piece of his offering back to him and give him a smile. “Thank you, though, Mr. White.”
“Call me Zane,” he says as he pushes the things back toward me. “And please accept my gifts. Surely you’re not staying any place nearly as nice as The Plaza. And I would assume that even if you aren’t hungry yet, you might get that way later.”
“I have no appetite with losing my lighthouse,” I say quickly.
His eyes droop a little at the corners then he says, “And your round trip ticket, is it in coach?”
I nod. “Of course.”
He smiles. “Then you will love the upgrade to my jet. And it leaves when you want to instead of the other way around. I won’t take no for an answer.”
I feel my eyebrows raise up and so does my voice, as I say, “Yet you expect me to.”
He nods and comes around to lean his ass against the front side of his desk. “I do. I don’t expect you to be happy about it, though. That’s why I’m giving you some things to cheer you up. A nice night in the big city. Something to remember your experience here with a little better sentiment than you would have if I allowed you to leave in a huff like you were about to do. Go to the hotel, have a few drinks and calm down. I’ll have your things taken from the hotel you’re currently in and brought to the new room at The Plaza.”
The Billionaire’s Lighthouse Series: A Billionaire, Bad Boy, Romance Page 3
