The Independent One: A Billionaire Bride Pact Romance

by Cami Checketts

  “Enjoy.” He smiled and walked off down the hallway.

  “We can’t accept this.” She followed him back out.

  His dimples were on fine display as he saluted her. “Just try to resist me.”

  “Oh!” Dang this man. Was he talking about the room or…

  Taz ran through the living area, heading straight for the closest balcony with a whoop. Haley rushed after him to make sure he didn’t flip off of it. She noticed a huge gift basket with treats and drinks on the table. Whoever this Cal guy was and whatever his intentions were, she needed to be very, very careful.

  He’d told her his first name. Johnson couldn’t remember the last time anyone besides his mother had called him by his first name and here he’d shared it with a near stranger. Even his closest friends called him Johnson. He stared out the window of his office, not really seeing the beach and ocean beyond, but the exquisitely beautiful woman with her long, dark curls and those intriguing green eyes with gold flecks in them. He liked those eyes a lot. Her beauty made him think of an Egyptian princess. She looked fit and was about average height. He liked the mix of responsible mom and spicy girl he’d gotten a glimpse of.

  Cal had to admit he’d gone a little overboard upgrading her to a suite close to his own rooms, trying to comp her room, giving her money for room service and spa treatments, and sending up a gift basket. Hopefully she wouldn’t think he was too forward. He’d also let her believe he was a security guy or maybe a manager of sorts. Why didn’t he want her to know he was the owner? Usually women were impressed by that, but he sensed she wasn’t his typical date.

  Smiling, he thought about her little boy. What a cute kid. He’d only seen the end of his tumble down the stairs, but it was enough to make him want to make everything right for them. Maybe that was why he’d done so much for them. He thought of Haley’s beautiful eyes and smooth olive skin. Maybe there were other reasons.

  At least Taz wasn’t injured in the fall. Johnson really needed to do something about another elevator. The classic one was cool, but Taz wasn’t the first child to be scared by it and the hotel was wide enough he could add elevators on each end without having to change too much about the classic structure of the building.

  Johnson noticed his hands were trembling slightly. How could a woman affect him like this after all the different ladies he’d dated over the years? Was he just becoming desperately lonely? With Mama Porter and Braxton in the Grand Cayman house and Tucker married to Maryn, he wasn’t surrounded by his close friends all the time. He had a large social circle and was always planning adventures with a buddy or taking a girl on a date, but something about the beautiful woman and her little boy tugged at him. Maybe he was getting old and the thought of a family was sounding better and better.

  He wondered how long he had to get to know the exquisite Ms. Turnbow. Most guests stayed a week. His mind started spinning with ideas to make this a week she would remember and maybe, if she was half as intriguing to him at the end of the week as she was now, he’d go visit her and see if anything could come of this infatuation.

  Standing, he walked down the stairs to the pool area. Taz had been insistent about swimming. Cal would bet they’d show up here or at the beach pretty quickly. He smiled, wondering what her first name was and hoping she’d be interested in spending more time with him.

  Haley forced Taz to unpack his suitcase, eat a small snack, and sit still while she smothered sunscreen on any skin that wasn’t covered by his long-sleeved swim shirt and shorts.

  “Are my spots growing?” Taz pulled up his shirt and craned his neck to look at his lower back.

  “No, sir.” Haley swallowed against the half-truth. The albino-like marks on his abdomen, back, and neck were growing, but there was nothing they could do about it besides keep him covered with clothing or sunscreen and try to keep up on the expensive ointments the dermatologist had recommended. Vitiligo was a rare condition and sometimes she questioned why Taz had to have his beautiful olive skin spotted with white, yet she knew there were worse trials. It had been hard at first to see his perfect little body become speckled, but she constantly sent up prayers of gratitude to remind herself that besides the broken bones, cuts, and bruises, Taz was a healthy, fun boy.

  She rubbed the rest of the sunscreen on her face and neck and then clapped her hands together. “All finished.”

  “Sweet! Race you to the pool.”

  Haley grabbed for her bag and rushed to keep up as he banged out the door. “Hey. Let’s try the elevator this time.”

  Taz pursed his lips and finally smiled. “Kay. Then I won’t fall down the steps.”

  They waited a minute for the elevator and with only a little prodding Taz walked bravely in. The operator smiled broadly at him. He was a tall, thin gentleman probably in his late seventies. “Hello, young man, and what is your name?”

  “Taz.” He stuck out his hand and shook.

  “And what good manners you have.”

  “Thank you, sir. What’s yours name?”

  Haley smiled at his fake formal speech. It appeared Taz had paid attention to all the times she’d prompted him to shake hands and ask the other person’s name.

  “Mr. Rotel.”

  “Mr. Hotel?” Taz giggled.

  “Close, young man. R-r-rotel, like a rat and a hotel combined.”

  “A rat?” Taz held his stomach and laughed louder. “Are their rats in this hotel? Can I catch them, Mama?”

  Mr. Rotel grinned at Haley. “No rats. Only me with a name like a rat and you could probably catch me fairly easy.”

  Taz nodded. “Yeah, cause I’m fast. Ask my mama.”

  “Too fast,” Haley agreed, unfortunately remembering all the times he’d outrun her when she was trying to stop him from running in a parking lot or on the wet cement at the swimming pool.

  They arrived at the main floor and Mr. Rotel extended his fist. Taz bumped it. “Thanks, Mr. Rotel. I like your elevator now. It’s not scary. I’m going swimming!” He took off at a run and Haley dashed after him, apologizing to people as she dodged them. It was time for another “slow down” talk. Maybe this time he would actually listen.

  Taz was still in her sights as she burst onto the pool deck. He suddenly launched into some man’s arms and screamed in delight, “Hey! Throw me in the pool, throw me in.”

  “Don’t throw him in!” Haley cried out. She recognized Cal holding Taz and felt a bit of relief, at least it was someone they sort of knew. Hurrying to Cal’s side, she grabbed onto his arm. His very nicely-formed bicep, she noticed, getting sidetracked for a minute as she enjoyed the feel of his smooth skin and the musculature underneath.

  “Don’t throw him?” Cal asked, his blue eyes twinkling at her.

  “Yes, throw me,” Taz begged.

  “Please, no. He can’t swim that well.”

  “Ah, Mama.” Taz hung his head. “Can too swim good.”

  Haley forced herself to release Cal’s arm and focus on her son. “I’ll get in the pool, then if it’s all right with Cal… Mr. Johnson, he can throw you in and you can swim to me.”

  “All right, Mama. Get in!”

  “Okay.” She turned to Cal. “Is that all right with you?”

  “If you promise to call me Cal not Mr. Johnson.”

  She smiled and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “Cal,” she murmured.

  “That’s more like it. Now you just need to tell me your first name.”

  “If only you were so lucky.” She tilted her head to the side and smiled, liking flirting with him.

  “If only,” he murmured, his eyes sweeping her face and body.

  Haley blushed and wondered if he liked what he saw. Her tankini and board shorts weren’t too revealing. She was reasonably fit, but she wasn’t the type to flaunt her abs even before she had Taz.

  “I could just check the register at the hotel,” he said.

  “You wouldn’t. Invasion of privacy.” She actually batted her eyelashes. Oh, help. She was a mo
m, not some man-chaser.

  “Try me.” He winked and the pool deck must’ve swayed a bit.

  “Get in, Mama, so I can jump,” Taz insisted.

  “Hey, buddy.” Cal shifted Taz higher in his arms. “What’s your mama’s first name?”

  “Mama.” Taz looked at Cal like he was daft.

  Cal laughed and Haley joined him. She walked away from the two of them and set her bag on a chair, slipped off her sandals and board shorts and slid into the warm water. She noticed Cal watching her and really liked the look of appreciation in his eyes. She knew her body wasn’t perfect after having Taz, but she and Taz stayed really active and she ran around her home décor store all day, lifting and restocking, so she was lean.

  There were only a few children in the shallow end of the pool, but quite a few adults sitting in the lounge chairs. Some were reading or sleeping, but a few watched Cal and Taz warily, probably worried about getting splashed. Welcome to the pool.

  Haley swam out into the deep end and said, “Okay, buddy.”

  “Yay!” Taz cheered.

  Cal grinned, turned Taz in his arms and launched him into the water. Taz screamed with delight and hit the water with a huge splash. Haley grabbed his arm and hauled him up.

  “That rocked!” Taz screamed. “Again!” He kicked off of Haley and swam toward the ladder. Haley swam over also, clinging onto the wall. She looked up into Cal’s amused glance and quickly realized another throw from Cal was a bad idea. She’d bet her modest take home pay that those clothes were tailored. Clothes off the rack didn’t fit that well. Her face heated up as she tried to look away.

  Taz was already climbing out of the pool. “Taz, stop,” she all but begged. “You’ll get Cal’s nice clothes all wet.”

  Taz froze, his lip drooping in defeat. “That sucks.”

  “We don’t say sucks.” How many times did she have to remind him?

  “You don’t, ‘cept I actually do. Promise I do, Mama.”

  Haley rolled her eyes. Her boy used the words sucks, ‘cept, and actually like a teenager used slang.

  Cal laughed and crouched down. “How about I go get a suit on and come swim with you, then I can launch you in the water.”

  “Yes!” Taz screamed.

  “Are you sure?” Haley asked. “Don’t you have to… work?”

  “The work will still be waiting for me.” He straightened and winked down at her. “I’ll see you in a minute.”

  While they waited, Haley enjoyed playing with Taz in the water—catching him when he jumped, doing motorboat, and working on his back float—but she couldn’t stop herself from keeping one eye on the hotel entrance. She needed to ask Cal what he did for the hotel. How could he just decide to swim in the middle of the day? She also needed to keep him at a distance. She wasn’t some twenty-year old with no responsibilities who could just melt at a set of nice biceps and dimples. Taz was too important for her to allow some man they didn’t know into their lives. They had enough trouble with the men they did know.

  Cal walked out of the door and caught her eye with a grin. His dimples deepened. Oh, help. The contrast of his tall, strong body, handsome face, and those dimples that softened him and made him look almost boyish at times might prove to be too much to resist. He shed his shirt and her mouth fell open. He wore tailor made clothes and had a tailor made chest and abs to match. Wowza.

  Taz chose that moment to splash her in the face. Haley choked on the chlorinated water, not wanting to think about how many children might have peed in it, but at least it took her away from gaping at Cal’s very nicely-formed upper body. Haley spit the water out of her mouth, glancing to see if Cal had noticed.

  He gave her a cocky grin and then ran, wrapped his arms around his legs and screamed, “Cannonball!” His entrance rocked the entire pool. The children in the shallow end thought it was hilarious, especially Taz. Some of the adults sitting on the lounge chairs smiled, while others picked up their stuff and moved to a drier spot.

  Cal surfaced and swam to them, grinning.

  “Hotel management might kick you out,” Haley teased.

  That made him roar. “Oh, I’d love to see them try.”

  “Why, because you are the manager?” she guessed.

  “Something like that.” He pushed his dark hair off of his forehead. “Swim to me, buddy, and I’ll throw you.”

  Taz didn’t need to be told twice. He kicked off of Haley’s stomach and launched himself to Cal. Haley grunted, trying to school her expression so neither of them knew how hard he’d kicked her. Cal scooted back a few feet then tossed Taz in the air. He landed with a splash near Haley who quickly grabbed him.

  “Woo-hoo, again!” Taz demanded.

  “Sure, buddy, just a sec.” Cal focused on Haley. “Is that okay? I don’t want to scare you or get your hair wet if you’re one of those girls.”

  Haley flipped Taz in her arms and used all of her strength to launch him Cal’s direction. Cal caught him as he came down and chuckled. “Guess your mom isn’t one of those girls.”

  “No, sir, my mama’s the best. Throw me!”

  Taz’s grin was spread across his entire face as he flew back Haley’s direction. Haley wasn’t sure what she enjoyed more—seeing her son so happy or being able to drool over Cal’s chest without him realizing it. Oh, my, staying strong and independent of fine-looking men was suddenly losing its luster.

  Taz finally tired of the game and begged to go dig in the sand. They climbed out of the pool, grabbed their stuff, and walked down to the beach.

  “Do you need to go to work?” Haley asked, part of her hoping he’d say yes, but most of her praying for a, No, I want to spend all day with you.

  “I’m fine. Unless you want to get rid of me?” His voice sounded injured by the very idea.

  Haley ducked her head. This was her chance to keep some distance from him and protect herself and Taz from liking a man too quickly. What did she really know about him? He probably just found a new girl coming off the boat each week and had fun with them until they said goodbye seven days later. That was not the kind of relationship she needed or wanted.

  She glanced up and those smoky blue eyes were searching hers. Stuttering a step, she couldn’t stop her mouth if she’d wanted to. “Not yet,” she whispered.

  “Perfect. Let me know if you do.” Cal winked as if he knew that day would be a long time away. “Excuse me while I grab some chairs and sand toys.” Cal stopped next to a desk by the pool and they handed over two beach chairs, an umbrella, and a bucket full of sand toys.

  “Yes!” Taz danced by his side. “Thank you, Cal.” Taz took off running down the stairs from the pool and onto the sand.

  Haley hurried to keep up, unable to thank Cal also. Cal set up the umbrella and chairs then joined them as they ran in and out of the surf. The wind was strong this afternoon and the waves were pretty big for them to try going any deeper, at least for Haley. Thankfully, Taz must’ve agreed and hurried back to start digging with some of the sand toys. Haley sank into a beach chair, pushing her hair out of her face as the wind whipped it into her eyes.

  “Thank you,” she said to Cal as he sat beside her.

  “Sure.” He tilted his head to the side. “So, have I passed the test yet?”

  “What test?” Did he know how leery she was of men she hadn’t known her entire life? One of the dangers of growing up in a small town. Or maybe Brad had just ruined her for trusting any unrelated men in general, especially handsome, wealthy ones. And Cal was definitely one of the handsome ones and probably wealthy too, judging from his office and level of freedom on a workday.

  “The test where my prize is to hear your name.”

  “Oh.” Haley blushed. “I forgot you didn’t know it.” She wanted to toy with him a bit longer. “Hmm. You think a few tosses in the pool and getting me a beach chair warrant a name, eh?”

  He studied her and Haley knew she’d probably tell him anything he asked, after she teased him for a bit.

&nbs
p; A waiter walked their direction. “Can I get you anything, Mr. Johnson?”

  “That depends. If I get this beautiful lady a drink don’t you think she should tell me her name?”

  The bleached blond waiter smiled. He looked close to Haley’s age. “Maybe if you buy her a strawberry daiquiri. I’d tell anyone all my secrets for one of those.”

  Haley laughed. “Let me try it first and we’ll see. A virgin, please.”

  “The same. Thank you, Bryce.” Cal’s eyes never left Haley’s and the beach was getting a bit warm.

  “Coming right up.” The waiter smirked and walked away.

  “No alcohol for you?” Cal asked.

  She gestured to Taz who was thankfully staying in one spot as he dug a track then pushed a plastic bulldozer around it. “Not smart to dull my senses with this little man on the loose.”

  Cal smiled. “Spoken like a great mom. Did you drink before you were a mom?”

  Haley caught a breath, wondering what he saw in her eyes. No way was she revealing the reason she’d never drink again. The mistake she’d made at nineteen. “I was too young to drink before I had him.”

  Cal’s eyes widened. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-five. You?”

  “A couple years older than twenty-five,” Cal murmured.

  The waiter brought their drinks. He handed Haley hers first then waited while she took a sip. Sweet, icy, fresh strawberry goodness filled her mouth then slid down her throat. With the warm sand on her toes and the sun overhead, it was the perfect drink. She felt like some kind of upper class person. She and Taz went to the public beach in California almost every year, but they had never had this kind of treatment anywhere. “Ooh. That’s delicious. Thank you.”

  “Thank him,” the waiter said, handing a tall glass to Cal.

  “I’ll get you a tip later,” Cal said.

  “I never worry about that with you, sir.” The waiter gave a smile, but his tone of voice and smile were both a little sarcastic. He walked to another group of people.