Summer With The Billionaire (Blue Bay Beach Reads Book 3)

by Ellie Hall

  “I’m only six-five,” Rhodes said.

  “That means you only have twelve inches on me.”

  “So back to the ring. I saw some photos of your parents. Wouldn’t they have wanted to see you get married?”

  Her eyes clouded over. “They’d want to see me happy.”

  Rhodes opened and closed his mouth, not sure what to say first. “Are you unhappy?”

  “No. Focusing on the restaurant makes me happy. But love can come at a cost.”

  “What cost is that?” He leaned in, curious about what she was going to say.

  “How much it can hurt if the other person is suddenly gone.” Sadness rippled over her features.

  “Do you mean your mother?” His voice was soft, gentle.

  She sniffled as if the tears were still quick to come even if it had been years since whatever tragedy had befallen the Fisher family. “I had just turned one. My mother was driving home from Miami with friends. They’d been celebrating a birthday or something. They were hit by an oncoming car that had swerved into the wrong lane. None of the women survived, but the drunk driver of the other car did.”

  Rhodes got to his feet and took her into his arms. She clung to him like she needed a life raft. He wanted to melt her sadness, to shore her up, and protect her from the lingering pain.

  She clung to him for a while longer then pulled away, wiping her eyes. “In the end, my father forgave the man.” She shook her head then cleared their plates.

  Billie took a few minutes to clean up and collect herself while he waited by the door, thinking about love and marriage, hurt and forgiveness.

  After she locked up, she said, “You asked a personal question. My turn. Memaw said something suggesting your father and mother are no longer married.”

  “Sadly, there’s no redemption to be found there. As wonderful as Memaw and Papaw were, my parents were quite the opposite. I’m hoping it skips a generation.”

  “There’s that saying that’s something like hope is not a plan of action. You can’t hope to have a good relationship. It takes honesty and hard work.”

  “You’re right. Good thing I’m not averse to either.” He paused a beat. “My mother only had Scarlett and myself. My parents had a bitter, bitter divorce. My father went on to marry again and again. He’s had upwards of seven, maybe nine, wives. Who knows. I’ve lost track.” Rhodes did not mask the disgust in his voice.

  “Sounds like you’re not a fan of marriage.”

  They reached the end of the dock and he walked beside her in the direction, at least he assumed, of Egret Street.

  “Yet, I asked you to marry me.”

  “You were pressured by your grandmother’s talk about her mortality.”

  The truth was right there on his tongue, but he wasn’t entirely sure Billie returned or had warmed to the sentiment despite the proposal and explosive kiss. He revealed another fact instead. “My father is not a fan of me. Never has been. He never took to Scarlett either. Whether I was just an annoying kid or over-eager teenager trying to please him, I’m not sure, but he’s always kept a distance from me.”

  “Yet, you followed in his footsteps as an investor and resort developer.”

  Right then he followed her steps because he wasn’t exactly sure where they were in that section of town with all the streets named after birds. All he knew was that his cottage was on Cormorant.

  “Yeah. I guess...” Rhodes brushed his hand down his face. “I guess I feel like I had something to prove because I wasn’t good enough for his attention.” So much truth had been drawn out of him that night, he wasn’t sure what was left.

  “You shouldn’t have to earn your father’s love.”

  “No? That’s not how it works?” He took a breath to release the bitterness in his mouth. She was right, but he couldn’t reconcile it. He wanted to have a better relationship with Martin Bishop.

  “Why did you go through with the proposal?” she asked.

  “Maybe I thought we could prove something to each other. Maybe because I like you. Maybe because I want to escape.”

  “I am no paradise, Rhodes. And like I said, love doesn’t need to prove itself. It just is.”

  “Says the woman who challenged me to whether or not I can handle her.”

  “Why didn’t you warn me?” She paused on the sidewalk.

  “Why did you say yes?” he countered.

  “Because I’m a good liar.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  She harrumphed and turned away from him to face a modest craftsman style beach cottage with gray shingles. It was in dire need of paint, the lawn had gone to seed, and the fence was missing some slats.

  “And here we are again, at another impasse.” She crossed to the other side of the gate. “And my house.”

  “Maybe we just need to figure out what we both want.”

  “Well, that’s—” She stopped herself as though realizing he was right. “Yeah. Oh, and for the record, I hate Valentine’s Day.”

  It occurred to him that he wanted to change that.

  The sparks between them, whether caused by hate or love, practically lit up the night.

  “Don’t lose the ring,” he said.

  “We have to tell your grandmother the truth.”

  “Which one?” he asked vaguely, not sure what it was anymore.

  “I guess we should figure it out. But we should tell her we’re enemies.”

  “Are we?”

  Silence spread between them and pressed against the darkness.

  “Yeah, we could tell her and dash all her dreams.” He was beyond conflicted.

  “Whose dreams?” she asked.

  Rhodes wasn’t sure what he wanted, but his gut, his heart, and his brain were telling him who.

  She glanced at the ring on her finger. “What are we going to tell people?”

  “We’re not.” His tone was flat, commanding.

  She nodded, going along with it and thinking on the spot. “We’re going to delay the wedding because of something. Because you and your wrecking balls are going to destroy my town and my business. Irreconcilable differences. It just won’t happen. Your grandmother will live past September and she’ll understand.”

  Everything about what Billie said was like a collection of slivers in his feet, hands, and chest.

  She thrust her shoulders back and lifted her chin as though she’d resolved her internal conflict.

  He wasn’t the kind of man who gave up when he’d set his sights on something—a resort, property, or as it turned out, a woman.

  Everything about Billie, from her smile and beyond, was irresistible. It was almost worth lying to his grandmother. How was he going to get out of it? Or how were they going to go on with it? He had no idea but would figure it out, just as soon as he got up the courage to tell her how he really felt.

  “You know, we make a good team, bouncing ideas off each other and coming up with solutions like this,” he said.

  “I’d hardly call this an alliance.” She snorted.

  “But we’re engaged. We could form one. How about you go on a date with me? A proper one.”

  She glanced at her watch. “I have to get up in four hours and be back at the restaurant.”

  “Well, there’s always the gala.” He winked and started to walk away. “By the way. The ring fits you perfectly.”

  Chapter 9

  Billie

  Billie hadn’t pulled an all-nighter since her father was sick, but it didn’t look like she was going to get any shut-eye after the long, strange—and okay, she’d admit it, at times wonderful—evening spent with Rhodes. Never mind the fact that the rock on her finger was like a lighthouse with its own beacon, blinking for her attention or to warn her she was in troubled waters.

  His grandfather must’ve had old money for sure to have been able to afford a ring like that while he was serving in the war. Either that or the ocean returned a different treasure. In fact, the style of the band reminded her of a
cresting wave the way it curved into the stone. She slipped it off and turned it over. On the backside were the initials B.R. She didn’t know Memaw’s first name but assumed it started with the letter B. Her husband was Rhodes Thorpe. Definitely sounded like old money.

  Billie laid in bed, giving in to wakefulness as she reviewed the day from choking on a fly to Rhodes’s parting words. “The ring fits you perfectly.”

  But what was imperfect was the situation.

  They were rivals.

  They were at odds.

  They wanted vastly different things.

  Oh, and never mind the fact that when he’d started tickling her, she discovered a pair of her underwear had stuck to the fabric of her athletic tank top like Velcro—probably from the laundry. How she’d run from her house along the beach then have a dreadful coughing fit with it remained attached was a mystery. Had he seen it? She only discovered it once inside the mansion, because of course, she’d show up at a mansion with a pair of underwear clinging to her shirt. Thankfully, it was clean and, well, small so she easily tucked it in the band of her pants to spare herself further embarrassment.

  But it didn’t matter because her cheeks pretty much remained pink from when she and Rhodes had met on the beach to when they’d parted.

  It wasn’t the way he looked in his running gear. Hot.

  It wasn’t his voice. Mesmerizing.

  It wasn’t his lips. Drool-worthy.

  It wasn’t his eyes. Honest.

  It was everything about him.

  She’d seen different sides of Rhodes throughout the evening from how sweet he was with Memaw, to the staring contest, to the proposal, to dinner. Billie was torn, conflicted, confused. She couldn’t come up with one thing she didn’t love or hate about him. There was no middle road. There was no making sense of how quickly and completely she’d fallen in...

  No. She wouldn’t think it. She wouldn’t admit it. But she sure did feel it. And it was never part of the plan. Whatever the plan was, other than run the restaurant, anything more with Rhodes went against the plan. She loved her freedom… and never saw herself as the sort to settle down. Love just complicated things and ultimately led to loss. She couldn’t bear that. Her father had barely survived it and considering he died of a heart condition, she was certain it was because his heart was broken.

  As the sky paled with the dawn, Billie’s eyes finally drooped with sleep, but she forced herself to take a cool shower and get dressed for the day ahead.

  As she walked to the restaurant and the night flashed in her mind, along with the vision of the resort in its place, she told herself it was just like any other day.

  She’d pop the Bimini bread in the oven. She’d make coffee. She’d meet Alvin, Elmer, and the other regulars. “Just a regular day at the office,” she murmured as she neared the entrance to the restaurant.

  A bouquet of flowers in sunset shades of yellow, orange and pale pink that were as tall as the door handle blocked her path.

  “Oh, my.” Billie brought the arrangement inside and set them on the table by the entrance.

  Mercifully, the morning was as normal as they came until Eisley showed up for her shift. Several times, Billie caught Eisley giving her a quick second glance or a long side eye as though she wanted to say something but held back.

  “What’s up?” Billie finally asked during the lull. They sipped Pina Colado smoothies. “Is Ford in the doghouse and trying to make an apology or is he actually the sweetest guy on the planet.”

  “What do you mean?” Eisley asked.

  “The flowers.”

  Eisley tilted her head then shook it. Her gaze drifted to Billie’s right hand.

  She forgot to change out the ring and discretely tucked it behind her back.

  “Um, so Ford isn’t in the doghouse. But he’s building one for the rescue dog we’re going to get at the end of the summer.”

  “Sweetest guy on the planet,” Billie confirmed.

  “Actually...” Once more, Eisley’s gaze drifted to Billie’s hand. “My mother mentioned that one of the women in her canasta club had great news and couldn’t wait to share so she called late last night.”

  “Oh, really? What’s her name?”

  “Babs Thorpe.”

  Billie knew what was coming, but also learned that the B on the ring stood for Babs—probably short for Barbara.

  “Did she mention that what brought me to her house was the fact that I was choking on a fly or that I had a pair of underwear static clinging to my shirt?” Billie asked.

  “Or that you were with the guy who comes in here and flirts with you like it’s his job and oozes flirtatiousness—the muscly one that smells like wealth. The others call him The Suit, but I call him Dreamboat. He also happens to be Babs’s grandson. The very same person who asked you to marry him.”

  “Dreamboat?” Billie stuck out her tongue. “Also, he does not flirt with me.”

  “He flirts with his eyes. He flirts so hard.”

  “He also intends to replace our town with a resort. That’s his actual job.”

  “Correction. His job is wooing you.”

  “I’m not the type to be wooed.” Billie stacked a few cups and fussed with the supplies in front of her.

  “Well, he sure wants to give it a shot.” Eisley passed her a small white envelope. “This was nestled in with the flowers.

  Billie tossed Eisley an aggrieved look then opened the card.

  For my fiancé, who loves Valentine’s Day even though she has a hard time describing her feelings. Xo, The Suit

  She let out a long sigh that would easily have been identified as a swoony sound had the cook not called an order from the window.

  The unexpected delivery that Monday morning made Billie undeniably gooey inside. She’d never gotten a bouquet of flowers or a love note.

  The following day she received a box of chocolates that was as big as a pizza.

  The day after that it was a window box with herbs. The note said, For my fiancé, who loves cooking almost as much as I love eating the food she makes. Xo, The Suit

  The gooeyness turned into something thick, syrupy. He was trying to woo her alright.

  Thursday, she received a bouquet of doughnuts and on Friday a large box tied with a blue ribbon was delivered to the cafe. The card attached to it said, For my fiancé, don’t open until you get home. I’ll be out of town until next weekend. See you then. Xo, The Suit

  Billie wasn’t sure what Rhodes’s angle was, but she marched over to the temporary office on the edge of the proposed site for the resort, which was the whole town.

  The flowers hadn’t yet wilted, but she threw them down as she entered his office. She tossed what was left of the box of chocolates on the desk. She’d have brought the doughnuts, but the girls at the Café ate them all and the Betty insisted on keeping the planter with the herbs. As it was, her arms had been full so she wasn’t able to carry the newest box.

  “Hello. I was just leaving.” Rhodes reached to embrace her like they were an actual couple.

  “Now everyone knows that I’m fraternizing with the enemy.” She scowled.

  “Are we fraternizing? Don’t tell Memaw. She’s very devout. Strict about things like that before marriage.”

  “As a matter of fact, I am too.” Billie huffed.

  Amusement played in Rhodes’s eyes. “Am I really the enemy?”

  “If you’re intending to build this monstrosity—” She pointed at an easel propping up a tasteful painting of the resort. “Then yes.”

  “Let me prove that I’m not the enemy.”

  She’d listen if he proved it to her with his lips. Then she shook her head hard, hoping to cast the intrusive thought out to sea. “Okay, don’t build your resort.”

  “Go on a date with me,” he said.

  She folded her arms in front of her chest. Rhodes looked dashing in a dark blue suit, his masculine watch, and the light scruff on his face. Despite his handsome good looks, drawing her into hi
s clutches, she said, “No.”

  “Well, we can’t let down Memaw. We have to go to the gala. You’ll even get to meet my family.”

  “I was under the impression you don’t like your parents.”

  “Oh, I don’t.”

  “Are you introducing me to them to punish me?”

  He chuckled. “You did say I was the enemy.”

  “Where have you been all week?” she asked.

  “Busy.”

  “Too busy to visit your so-called fiancé.”

  “Clearing the calendar. August fourteenth isn’t that far off—our big day when we tie the knot.” He flashed his cocky smile.

  She prickled because he seemed to really enjoy teasing her. “It’s less than a month away.”

  “Do you think we can learn to tolerate each other in that amount of time?”

  “What and become friends?”

  “Or more.”

  “I am not marrying you, Rhodes Bishop.”

  He hitched a grin. “I beg to differ. You still have the ring on your finger.”

  Her nostrils flared. Her jaw tensed. Her fists clenched. No, he wasn’t trying to woo her. He was trying to best her. To wear her down so she’d roll over and give him the deed to the restaurant property. Trepidation gave way to irritation. “Wait just a minute.” She stabbed the air with her finger as she approached him. It all became clear. “You put Memaw up to that whole thing. You tried to get me to marry you so you’d have rights to my property, so you could get ahold of my restaurant and bring a wrecking ball to expand your empire.”

  “No, but Memaw helped pick out the latest gift. She really likes you.”

  “She’s a lovely woman, but—” Billie said, feeling slightly disarmed.

  “So are you.” He crossed the room and braced her with his massive hands. The weight of his grasp seemed to steady her, but she wouldn’t have been able to get away if she wanted to. He was like an anchor, holding her fast, but if she were to leave the shore, where would she go? She didn’t have an answer for that either.

  Rhodes dipped his head and met her eyes. “All of the above? False. Marry you someday? True.” He leaned in and kissed her. Again, she let him because woo her or outdo her, there was no denying that Billie had fallen for Rhodes Bishop.