The Proposal (A Billionaire Romance)

by Nikki Wild

  Dani shot an annoyed look at Shane. “Honey do you really have to talk about business now? This is a social visit. Isn’t Margie off the clock at this time of night? Perhaps this could wait until tomorrow morning at work?”

  “Danielle surely you……”

  Margie quickly interrupted Shane. “Danielle it’s okay. As Shane’s personal assistant I am technically on the clock, so to speak, 24/7. It comes with the job and I don’t resent it dear; I relish it.”

  Auntie May decided that was her cue to leave. She stood up and started gathering her presents together. “I think it’s time for me to go home now. Tanner business is not for my ears. Besides, it’s getting late. No need for anybody to get up, I’ll see myself out of the yard. Great seeing everybody.”

  Her friends hugged her and said their good-nights.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home May?” asked Shane.

  “No no, I’m fine. But thank you Shane.”

  She blew a kiss in their direction and headed for the backyard gate, but just before she reached the corner of the house she stopped abruptly. Then she looked back at them and said, “By the way, I know that Jon Ohana. My brother is married to that creep’s cousin. He’s a greedy slime-bag and I wouldn’t trust him if I were you.” A moment later she was gone from sight.

  “There goes a very smart lady,” laughed Shane. “I think I might be a little scared of her though,” he added jokingly.

  “You should be,” giggled Dani and Margie in unison.

  With May gone, the three of them were now able to openly discuss Tanner business so Margie returned to addressing Shane’s questions.

  “Okay so about your dad Shane. There’s no need for you to worry about him at all. He’s very preoccupied with some corporate legal matters in Chicago right now. Nothing serious but it’s enough to distract him. I’ve talked to him a couple of times and dissuaded him from coming out here. I told him you’ve got everything under control and our plan is going smoothly. He doesn’t need to know every little detail. Or any detail for that matter.” Margie smirked.

  “Great Margie. Chicago is the perfect place for him to be. I don’t need him coming out here and fucking up this land deal for us or asking Danielle and I questions about our relationship – real or otherwise.”

  “May I ask a silly question?” Dani interrupted. “Why are you so interested in that one particular piece of property on Lanai? Why don’t you just let Asian-Pacific have that one and you buy another piece? There’s a lot of beautiful undeveloped coastal property over there. Why stress out over this one?”

  “I can see why I it would look like that way to you honey,” explained Shane. “But that’s out of the question. I must have that glorious piece of land because it happens to be the ideal spot for a sister hotel to the Tanner Kaanapali Kai. Plans are already being drawn up for the Tanner Manele Bay Resort. The area even has an established ferry landing in place so we can easily set up our own inter-island hotel ferry. The rugged scenery is breathtaking and the views are unparalleled. I will not let Tony Fong and his goons have it. They’ll destroy the entire natural beauty of the land and the sea around it. It’s simply not an option. Period. They can kiss my ass.”

  “Oh wow I had no idea about all that,” admitted Dani. “The only thing I was involved with was getting the conservation groups to stop protesting Tanner development.”

  “And you did a great job Dani,” Margie assured her. “Of course Tanner International genuinely becoming ecologically friendly got everyone on their side. Now it’s Asian-Pacific’s development that’s drawing all the protests because they have an even worse environmental record than we used to. They’ve been trying to break into this Hawaiian market for at least as long as we have but so far they’ve been kept out. Now apparently they’re attempting to ride in on our coattails without any proof of cleaning up their act. There’s been a steady stream of demonstrations over there on Lanai the whole time you guys were away.”

  Shane’s anger grew as he processed Margie’s words. “Constant demonstrations? So let me get this straight. Hawaiians are loudly opposing Asian-Pacific with continuous protests but Jon Ohana still won’t commit to selling to us? That doesn’t make any goddamn sense. I can’t believe we still have no deal in place.”

  “I know Shane. I can’t even get the guy on the phone to arrange further negotiations between you.”

  “He’s a native Hawaiian isn’t he? How could he even consider selling Hawaiian land to that scumbag Tony Fong? Everybody knows he and his corrupt company don’t give a rat’s ass about protecting any part of these islands. Doesn’t Ohana care about being ostracized by the Hawaiian community? Something’s very wrong with this picture. I know he’s an asshole but why betray his own people and his own homeland if he doesn’t have to? I’m confident our bid is competitive. Ohana’s just purposely stalling to jack up the price higher. I think he’s gotta still be playing us both. What do you think Danielle?”

  Shane looked over at Dani and discovered she was fast sleep in the chair.

  “I guess it’s time for us to head home too Margie.”

  Twenty-Eight

  Over the next several days Shane tried in vain to arrange a meeting with Jon Ohana in the hope of finally securing the purchase of the coveted property. He had practically promised the deal to his father on a silver platter and originally that was the only thing that mattered; Tanner International’s Hawaiian conquest. But now he realized his cause had taken on a much greater meaning; he was fighting on behalf of Hawaii.

  “How can I move forward on this if that jerk-off won’t communicate?” Shane complained to Dani while they were both getting dressed for work.

  “Maybe he decided against selling altogether?” Dani was struggling to zip up her linen skirt. “Can you get this for me honey? I think the drycleaner shrunk my clothes again.”

  “Sure….there ya go,” he said as he cinched her in. “I guess that’s possible. That would be a real kick in the balls but I could live with that I suppose. At least nobody building on the land would be better than what Fong has planned for it… but I really wanted a chance to show the Hawaiians that Tanner could build a fully sustainable, eco-friendly resort from the ground up.

  “Well eventually you will, no matter what happens with this deal.” Dani sat down and shoehorned her feet into her suddenly too small designer pumps. “My feet are a little swollen today… I guess I need to lay off the salt.”

  “I don’t know what else I can do on this matter. I’m tired of leaving him fucking messages and so is Margie. By the way, how are the arrangements for the next charity fundraiser coming along? Is everything all set for this Friday?”

  “Yep. Everything looks great. The Hawaiian Conservation Alliance is ecstatic that we’ve chosen them as the beneficiary for the event. My friend Allyssa is coming also so I’m excited about seeing her. Paolo’s been helping me quite a bit with a lot of the details. He’s going to go with me to shop for a new dress after work today. He’s got such a great eye for fashion.”

  Shane’s phone began to ring in his pocket; it was Margie calling.

  “Good-morning Margie what’s up?”

  “You’ll never guess who left me a voice mail in the middle of the night. I just listened to it.”

  “Please tell me it was Ohana.”

  “Bingo. He said he wants to meet with you and Tony Fong. He’ll get back to us with a date and time.”

  “Fuck Tony Fong. I don’t need to meet with him, I just need to meet with Ohana. And what’s with the voice mail? Why doesn’t he want to speak to us directly?”

  “I think he’s just a cowardly little weasel. Anyway, that’s more than we had before. Does Danielle have a dress for the benefit this Friday?”

  “Uh.….she’s shopping with Paolo after work for one today.”

  Dani shouted into Shane’s phone as she passed by, “Do you wanna join us Margie?!”

  “Tell her I’d love to come. I’ll see you later at t
he office Shane. Bye.”

  Shane tucked his phone back into his jacket pocket and gave Dani the message.

  “Margie said she’s going to join your shopping excursion. Geesh! You ladies and your dresses. Women sure do spend a lot of time on their appearance.”

  Dani couldn’t help but balk at his last remark.

  “Excuse me? Did I just hear you say women spend a lot of time on their appearance? Puh-leeze mister twelve-pack abs. You make me laugh. How many hours a week do you spend working out?”

  Shane grabbed Dani and kissed her long and hard on the lips.

  “Oooh that was fun. What was that for big boy?”

  “Nothing. I was just trying to shut that pretty little mouth of yours. You’re so damn smug when you’re right. Ready to go? Guess we better take separate cars so you can drive your girlfriends to the mall after work.”

  They went downstairs to the garage, gave each other a quick peck on the lips and climbed into their his and hers Aston Martins. Following behind Shane on their drive to the Kai, Dani smiled thinking about her treasured friendship with Paolo. She had barely noticed that Shane called him her girlfriend because Paolo had referred to himself in that way for years. They hadn’t hung out much lately and she was really looking forward to shopping with him.

  Later that afternoon, Shane popped his head into her office.

  “Hey guess who just called me?” he asked her excitedly.

  “Don’t tell me. Jon Ohana? Are you finally going to meet with him?”

  “It was Ohana’s secretary actually but it appears so. Unfortunately the dishonorable Mr. Tony Fong will be joining us as well. He’ll be arriving here in a few days so the three of us will be having a lunch meeting on his mega-yacht this Friday afternoon. I’ll have to make sure I’m the one calling the shots on this deal.”

  Danielle frowned at his news. “This Friday afternoon? Does it have to be this Friday? What if the meeting runs long? I’d hate for you to be late to the fundraiser.”

  “I can’t exactly call everybody back and change it now, but there’s no need for you to worry about anything Danielle. I hardly anticipate it taking seven hours. How about this? Just to be safe, I’ll wear my tuxedo to the meeting so I can go to the benefit directly afterwards. Would that make you feel better?”

  Dani looked up at him from her desk and sighed, “I guess it’s alright.”

  Twenty-Nine

  Around one o’clock on Friday Shane was leaving the hotel to head over to the Lahaina Marina to board Fong’s yacht when he got a call from Tony Fong’s secretary saying the meeting needed to be pushed back a couple of hours. It seemed that the ship’s immense size was causing some logistical problems at the small marina, preventing it from docking. Shane wasn’t happy about the situation but he politely agreed to standby until further notice.

  He frustratingly returned to his office, purposely going out of the way to avoid encountering Danielle. He knew she’d be upset by any delay in the meeting and he just wasn’t in the mood for any more waterworks. He couldn’t help but notice how overemotional she’d been lately. At three-thirty he got another call to say the ship was finally docked so he immediately high-tailed it out of the hotel as inconspicuously as possible.

  Shane was graciously greeted on deck by his old nemesis Tony Fong, who in turn introduced him to his stunner of a secretary Nikko Yoshi. He became immediately skeptical of her “secretary” title, being reasonably sure she handled way more than just the old man’s day planner. While the three of them made obligatory small talk, the ship departed the marina and headed out into the channel between Maui and Lanai.

  “A tuxedo Tanner? You needn’t have dressed so formally for this meeting. This is a very casual gathering.” Fong said smugly.

  Shane looked down at his clothes. He had completely forgotten all about his fancy party attire.

  “I have a formal affair to attend as soon as our business is complete. Where’s Jon Ohana? Is he already inside?”

  “We need to pick him up on Lanai,” replied Fong. “He had a family emergency and asked that we give him a little extra time to prepare, so we stopped for you first. Won’t you come inside and enjoy our luncheon. Mr. Ohana said he wouldn’t mind if we started without him.”

  Shane realized he was in a bind now. The meeting was going to begin much later than he promised Danielle but he couldn’t cancel everything now. The land deal was far too important. Shit, I’m just going to have to call her and be honest about the possibility that I might be late to the party.

  “Nice little boat you got here Fong,” Shane said as he entered the almost comically large yacht. “The food looks great too, but first could you point me to the nearest restroom so I can wash up?”

  “Indeed. Nikko could you escort our guest to the restroom please?”

  “My pleasure sir.” She took Shane by the hand and led him down the stairs below deck.

  “Right in there Mr. Tanner.” She motioned. “If you’d like, I could accompany you.”

  “Into the bathroom?”

  She winked and encircled the edge of her deep-red painted lips with the tip of her tongue.

  “Thank you very much Nikko but I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Shane hurried in, locked the door behind him and pulled out his phone.

  That exotic little minx is coming on to me. Could she be any more fucking brazen? I need to call Danielle….

  For one brief moment he thought about how much he used to love women who came onto him like that. Now he was hiding from one in the bathroom.

  Dani answered her phone on the first ring. “Hi honey. All done with your meeting already? How’d it go?”

  “I have some bad news. There were some problems with the ship docking at the marina and long story short…….the meeting hasn’t started yet.” Shane winced at his own weak explanation. He decided it was best to omit the fact that Jon Ohana wasn’t even on board yet.

  “What? The benefit starts in a couple of hours. You’ll never get here on time. I just knew this would happen.” Dani’s voice started quivering.

  “Now calm down sweetheart. I might be a little late and I’m sorry about that but I’ll be there as quickly as I can. I can’t wait to see you in your new dress. I’m sure you’ll look beautiful as always. Just get dressed and go on ahead to the party without me. Try to enjoy yourself Danielle and make my apologies to the guests for me please?”

  “Alright but please hurry every chance you get Shane. I have something very important to tell you tonight.”

  “I will Danielle I promise. I love you honey. I’ll see you soon okay?”

  “Okay. I love you too.”

  Shane was pretty satisfied with how the call to Dani had gone and was especially relieved to have calmed her fears for the moment at least. He tucked his phone in his pocket and went back upstairs to the dining area where Fong was seated at an unusually long table set for only three people. Shane pulled out a chair and took a seat at one of the place settings.

  “Will Miss Yoshi be joining us?” asked Shane.

  “No, she’s tending to some necessary business. Nikko is a very efficient assistant.”

  “I’m sure she is. She seems extremely capable.” Shane said as he slurped a juicy shrimp into his mouth.

  Ohana’s obvious absence suddenly gave Shane an idea; without the greedy seller present, perhaps he and Fong could actually have a reasonable dialogue about the land deal and Ohana’s possible motives for stalling and keeping them in limbo. The problem of course was that he couldn’t trust Fong to be honest with him. Ultimately he decided he had nothing to lose by trolling the waters a little and picking Fong’s brain.

  “So Fong, can we both put our cards on the table for a minute and just cut through the pretense? You and I have known each other for awhile now and although we’re not exactly friends at least we have a general understanding of one another. Would you agree with me so far?”

  “I would agree with that statement Tanner.”

  “And would yo
u also agree that neither one of us knows Jon Ohana at all? I mean I’ve only met the guy one time.”

  “Yes I would agree with that as well. I have never met him.”

  “That’s what I mean. So just between you and me, why do you think he’s stalling on this deal? Don’t you think he’s just trying to get us into a bidding war with each other?”

  He could see Fong’s mental gears spinning as he mulled over Shane’s words and it appeared as though the suggestion struck a chord with him.

  “A bidding war? Yes I’ve considered that possibility myself. Once we pick up Mr. Ohana perhaps we can get to the bottom of this situation. It has been my experience that elusive men always have something to hide.”

  “I would agree with that statement as well Fong.”

  “Let us toast to our agreement then. Have you ever had this type of Japanese sake Tanner?” One of Fong’s servers brought out a tray with a pair of large dragon-shaped carafes and two matching porcelain cups.

  “Sake? Oh sure, dozens of times.”

  “This is not just any sake. It’s the world’s most expensive premium sake made with the rarest most pure strain of rice. It is like nothing you’ve ever tasted. Pure heaven.”

  Shane drank his down in one gulp. “That’s quite nice actually.”

  “Please have as much as you like. Consider this bottle a gift,” Mr Fong said, handing Shane one of the carafes.

  Shane filled his sake cup and raised it high, “Cheers Fong.”

  The two men continued with their meal. Once they were finished, Fong suggested they move their discussion topside to the front of the yacht in order to view the beautiful Maui sunset.

  As Shane headed up the stairs to the bow he realized just how much time had passed. If the sun was already setting that meant the charity function was underway and Danielle was tackling it alone. He also wondered why there was still no sign of Jon Ohana and why they still hadn’t reached Lanai. Had Fong’s yacht been cruising around out in the channel between Maui and Lanai for the last two hours killing time? Despite his now throbbing head he knew it didn’t take that long to get from one island to the other.