Lacy's Billionaire Boss

by Francesca Lane

  Finally, she broke the silence. “You asked Lillian to show you the ghost house property. Didn’t you?”

  “You showed me that property, Lacy.”

  She breathed in deeply and looked out to sea, the waves lined with silvery foam. Evading the question. Lovely.

  “But, if you are asking whether I looked into it further with Lillian, the answer is yes.” He paused, giving her more time to reload. “Are you not on board with me delving into the availability of this property?”

  Once again, her feelings had been ignored. It rankled her. “No, I am not on board, Finn. That place was special to me and I never intended for you to—”

  “Investigate it further?”

  “Take the devil incarnate to my sacred place.” She paused. “Did you tell Lillian how you knew about it? Why it was so special to me?”

  “Of course not.” His voiced sounded terse.

  “But you took her up there, to build your dream resort.”

  He didn’t answer her.

  “I see.”

  “My intent was not to hurt you—quite the opposite.” A flitting of a concern crossed Finn’s features. She felt certain he had more to say, but he broke eye contact with her and took a step back. Finally, he said, “I am doing my due diligence. It is always best, in my opinion, to consider all options presented.”

  She knew this. Deep down, she did. But it unnerved her anyway, which brought on feelings of silliness again. And that irked her more.

  “Is it possible that some of what you’re feeling has to do with all you and your family has had to endure in the past year?” His voice turned kind and she felt herself blinking away tears again. “I’ve had to wonder what they had been thinking with such requirements.”

  “What do you know about my parents? They were—they were good people!” Conflict filled her, as did fits of anger. Her mother had been ill. Her father hadn’t said a thing! The tears wouldn’t hold back now and she bit back a swear. This is not how she expected to spend the end of an otherwise perfect day.

  Finn reached for her, attempting to hold her hands, but she resisted. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any disrespect. When Lillian told me about their will—”

  “When Lillian told you?” Lacy stopped walking. She dug a fist into her waist. “You mean, that night at the house … when I told you about my parents, you already knew?”

  He turned stone quiet. She was getting tired of seeing his stiff upper lip. Hadn’t hidden emotions launched her family into turmoil? She needed truth in her life. Transparency. Not secrets and half-truths. And certainly not the sense that her feelings—and wishes—were being ignored. She’d had enough of that for a lifetime.

  “Lillian mentioned it, yes.”

  “And what else did Lillian mention regarding me? Regarding my family? Any other little rumors out there I should know about?”

  “Nothing tawdry. If I had heard anything like that, I would have shut her down.” He paused. “I believe the only reason she told me about your parents’ will was because she is hoping to obtain the listing for the family home when you are all ready to sell.”

  “Fat chance we would let her have it.” Lacy spat out the words, her chest rising and falling in the aftermath. “Why would she think you cared about that anyway? You looking to buy a beach house?”

  “For the resort.”

  “That makes zero sense.”

  “Lillian says she has spoken to Wren Mcafee about selling her house when she is ready to move to an assisted-living facility. She proposed that we buy several beachfront homes, seek a zoning variance, and build our resort on the sand.”

  Lacy recoiled. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this? You-you came to my home. We drank wine. We—well, you know what we did. We could have talked all this out and I would have set you straight about Lillian and her, her fantasies. In fact, didn’t I do that?” She folded her arms in front of her chest. “Instead, you pretended you knew nothing about my parents’ will when all along you were planning to swoop in and buy up anything Lillian Madsen deemed unworthy to stand.”

  “That’s far, far from true.” Finn’s eyes darkened. “You make me sound deceptive.”

  She lifted her chin. “You make yourself sound deceptive.” Lacy shook her head and began walking again, faster this time, her only goal to get home soon. How she wished she had not suggested this walk and had taken his car instead.

  “And what about Rafael?”

  She stopped, pivoting. “What about him?”

  “You told me there was nothing between you, but there’s a rumor that you and he have a past. Maybe even a … present. I suppose Lillian made that up too?” He paused and she could hear him inhaling roughly. “I saw him walk out of the bakery the other day when you were there.”

  Ha. For a billionaire, you sure are so gullible!” Could this night get any worse? Anymore … high school? She looked straight at him. “You could have said hello and cleared up your questions in two seconds.”

  “I’m careful. Very, very careful. But I hear you and maybe you’re right.” He raked his hair with a hand. “You and Maggie looked too engrossed in your conversation, by the way.”

  “Got it. I understand. Protect yourself at all costs—protect Hastings Resorts at all costs.” She shrugged. “Some people choose money over love.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “Neither is the truth sometimes. Say what you want about Rafael, but he’s been a friend to this family since we were all kids. May be a little flaky at times, but he’s a catch, though no one I know has ever been able to rope him in. You asked me once about him and I told you the truth.” She blew out a breath and gave him a fairly level glare. “Jealousy isn’t a good look on you.”

  Finn bit his lip, his expression faltering, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he considered her. Finally, he said, “This is crazy. Listen to me, Lacy. I’m here now. With you. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

  “It tells me that my character meter needs adjusting. I’m beginning to suspect that the reason you agreed to come with me today had more to do with our property and convincing us to side with Hastings Resorts when the time came to rezone this whole area.”

  He scoffed. “You have to be kidding. You are, right?”

  Lacy shut her eyes tightly, wishing away this conversation. But really, what did she know about Finn other than he was rich, smart, and her boss? The thought tugged on her heart like fish on a line. He liked her. He had a caring side. She had witnessed those sides of him, and yet, she couldn’t find it in herself to trust him.

  Just like every man she cared for who had come before him. Trust was hard won in her—and he had failed to earn hers. That was the bottom line.

  She opened her eyes to find him staring back at her, his expression a mix of confusion and offense. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Lacy …”

  “But I just really, really need to be alone.”

  He dipped his hands to his sides and nodded. For the next few minutes, they walked home. In silence.

  Seabiscuit, Bella’s dog, skidded to the front door, barking his greeting. Lacy dropped to the ground, uncharacteristically in need of a hug from a dog. She scooped the mongrel up, kicked off her sandals, and melted into the living room couch.

  Chase wandered into view. “I came down to catch the criminal who was trying to break in.” He bent down and gave Seabiscuit a quick pet. “Scoundrel.”

  Lacy peered up at him. “Grace sleeping?”

  “Yeah. She’s more tired these days. Sleeping for two, they say.”

  “Best to do that while she can,” Lacy said, glad not to have to divulge anything personal at the moment. “Is Bella asleep too?”

  “I don’t believe so. I heard the shower on down the hall.”

  “Ah.”

  Chase sat across from her for a few moments before glancing around. “You’ve done a nice job rearranging the house. Between you, Jake, and Maggie, this place has improved.”

&nb
sp; “Really? It’s hard for me to tell. To be honest, I had forgotten what it looked like around here. I remembered the table and the map”—she glanced down—“and this ratty old couch, but that is the bulk of it.”

  He smiled. “Not the whale comforter?”

  “Right.” She nodded. “How could I forget that fat whale that we all fought over?”

  “Indeed.”

  Lacy laughed, sincerely. Leave it to a lawyer throwing around an indeed to cheer her up.

  “Lots of good memories of this place,” Chase said.

  “For you?”

  “Yes. Fell in love with your sister here, you know.” He glanced around. “This place was part of that—will always be. Despite your brother’s stalker-like behavior.”

  She swallowed back the natural sarcasm that arose in her throat. Jake liked to tell the story, ad nauseam, of hiding out in this place, only to discover Grace and Chase’s secret.

  It would be hilarious to relive if she didn’t feel so … dreadful.

  Chase slapped his lap with his hands and stood, yawning. “I’m going to head up now that I know Seabiscuit has everything under control.” He began to walk away then stopped. “You okay, Lacy?”

  No. No, she wasn’t. Instead, she nodded and cracked a smile, albeit a small one. “I’m good. Thank you.”

  She listened to the creaking of the floorboards as Chase wandered down the hall to the back stairway. Soon after, the bathroom’s vintage door handle squeaked followed by the sound of footfalls much softer than Chase’s. Bella peeked out from the hallway, a white terry robe wrapped around her body, a bright pink towel on her head. She must have brought her own towels …

  Seabiscuit shot up in alert, spotted his mistress, let out a yap, and sprang from her lap. Ingrate.

  “Hey, boy.” Bella scooped up her dog, nuzzling her freshly washed face in the animal’s fur. She plopped onto the couch next to Lacy.

  “I kinda thought you would be coming home a lot later,” she said.

  Lacy shrugged and faked a yawn, covering her mouth in dramatic fashion. “Maggie’s super-laid-back, casual wedding was actually exhausting.”

  “Aw. Thanks so much for all you did for Maggie. She was so surprised.”

  “Agreed.” Listlessly, Lacy petted Seabiscuit.

  “Finn is so handsome, Lacy. How long have you been dating him?”

  “About three weeks.”

  “Shut up!” Bella laughed. “No, seriously. You always seemed so distracted on our phone calls. Was it because of him?”

  “I’m being perfectly honest with you, Bella.” Lacy did not want to think about Finn. In fact, part of her wanted to run into the bedroom and throw herself onto that old whale bedspread and, well, wail.

  She took in a breath and told Bella how Finn ended up here. She mentioned that he was renting the place next door and that she had toured him around Colibri more than once. She left off the part about how she took him to her sacred space and he tore her heart out by trying to buy it without telling her.

  “That’s a lot of stuff happening in one week when you’re supposed to be working on the house, too.”

  “My other boss asked me to, so what could I say?”

  Bella pressed her lips together and watched her, as if trying to formulate a question.

  “What, Bella? Just say it.”

  She gave a little shrug. “Nothing. I’m confused about you two. I mean, how did he go from bossman to boyfriend so quickly?”

  Lacy’s mind ran backward, to the night Finn stopped by and found her flat on the floor. There had been signs before then that they were growing closer, of course, but that night, everything between them seemed to change. She slid a look to her sister. “I think he was as surprised it happened as I’ve been.”

  “That’s sweet, but, honey, you seem unhappy. Is everything okay with you two?”

  “No. Not really.”

  She nodded, solemnly. “I suspected.”

  “And I’m not in the mood to be coy about it.”

  “What did he do to you anyway?”

  Lacy shut her eyes again, as if doing so would help somehow. She growled, shook her head, and stood up.

  Seabiscuit growled too and tried to lunge forward, but Bella held him back. “Cool it, sugar.” She looked at Lacy. “Let’s go cuddle up and you can tell me all about it.”

  Lacy snickered. “We’re not twelve-year-olds, kiddo.”

  “Yeah, but we can pretend.” Bella led the way, carrying her pet in her arms. “I forgot to tell you, I already have wine coolers in there.”

  “You … what?”

  “You’ll love them, Lacy. They’re all natural and you can have your own bottle. Come try.”

  Minutes later, Lacy and Bella were curled up on the big old bed with Seabiscuit lodged between them. Bella shook out her hair and crimped it with her fingers. Then she laid her towel across her pillow.

  Bella took a sip of her rosé wine cooler. “Remember how we would sneak food in here sometimes late at night?”

  “Vaguely.”

  “Well, I do. I’d sneak out of the tiny bedroom next door and scramble in here. Mom always said we shouldn’t eat too late at night—”

  “We’d get a tummy ache.”

  Bella shot a wide-eyed smile at Lacy. “You do remember.”

  “A lot has been coming back to me this month. Things I never knew that I didn’t remember.” She cast a dubious look at the small, screw top bottle of the pink wine in her hand, but gave it a sip anyway.

  “Well, I remember lots of stuff about you.”

  Lacy froze, bottle in hand. “Like what?”

  “Like the way you always knew about the latest hair products and makeup styles. Kinda always thought you might want to be a hairstylist or makeup artist.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  Bella gave Lacy a wide-eyed look, surprise in her features. “Why would I kid you about that? You were always telling Maggie about stuff you were reading in magazines.”

  “She never listened.”

  “She just acted like it. I think she was listening the whole time, in fact, I know she was because she would beg Momma to buy her some of the stuff you told her about.”

  Lacy squinted, thinking back. She nodded. “Like body glitter.”

  Bella giggled. “Yes! Like body glitter … Daddy got so mad whenever he’d see all those sparkles in the bathroom.”

  “Ha! Yes.” She had forgotten about that.

  “Oh, and remember those fishtail braids you were obsessed about? Maggie finally learned to make them so you would stop bugging her.”

  Lacy groaned and put a hand to her face. “I can picture the little butterfly clips I made her put all over them after she was done.”

  “Oh my gosh.” Bella’s giggles practically foamed over.

  “Sshh!” Lacy said, laughing and putting a finger to her own mouth. “You’ll wake the preggo one upstairs.”

  Bella took another sip from her bottle of wine, a winsome smile on her face. “I’ve missed this.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I always looked up to you.”

  “Shush. You did not.”

  “Uh-huh, it’s true.” She shrugged. “You never needed anybody to tell you what to do or to think. If you were annoyed, you’d just get on your bike and pedal away. I was always too scared to do that, but I admired you for it anyway.”

  Lacy leaned against the headboard and took another long sip of the wine, hoping the sugar wouldn’t go to her head. “I had no idea.”

  “I thought maybe you didn’t so I’m telling you now.”

  “I’m sorry you were scared. I should have taken you with me.”

  “I would have loved that.”

  Lacy cast a look at her sister, whose eyes were beginning to droop. “Thanks for telling me all this, Bella.”

  Her sister both nodded and yawned at the same time. Gently, Lacy took the half-empty bottle of wine from her hands and leaned across her, placing it on the nightstand. Sh
e stared at her sister for a beat then hastily kissed her on the cheek. “Night,” she said.

  Bella settled into her pillow, her damp hair sprawled out on it, her eyes closed. “Night, Lacy. Love you.”

  “Love you, too, kid.” Lacy wriggled down beneath the sheets, thankful for the sudden, unexpected comforts of home that just might help her unravel the tangle of thoughts that vexed her.

  The next morning, Finn stared into the mirror, bracing his arms on the counter, the circles beneath his eyes unbecoming. He had not slept all night, and for most of it, wondered what he had been thinking these past few weeks. Did he really believe that falling for one of his employees was advisable? Especially one with such close ties to a potential resort project?

  “You ought to have your head examined,” he muttered. Then he cursed. And groaned. “Why must you always speak to yourself out loud?”

  He pushed away from the counter and picked up his phone to text Helene, asking her to send his pilot out to California as soon as possible. He had seen all that needed seeing. Finn rubbed his palm across his unshaven face and sucked in a breath. Telling Lacy what Lillian had divulged about her was a major faux pas on his part. He had slipped, a sure sign that the beautiful brunette had worked her way into the recesses of his heart.

  Maybe he should not have let that happen. The last time a woman got to him like this … he dropped his gaze to the ground, his breathing distinct, laboring. Paige had gotten to him. Had made herself at home in his heart—and then she’d torn it clear out of his chest.

  Finn blew out a breath. He flopped his suitcase open on the bed and began packing up, taking less care than usual. He would not be needing beach wear anytime soon. Besides, it all needed to be cleaned and pressed anyway. His phone rang and he checked the screen. Helene. Perfect.

  “Mr. Hastings, I’m relieved you answered.”

  “I take it you have contacted my flight crew?”

  “No, sir. Not yet.”

  He slammed a semi-folded shirt into the suitcase. “The reason for this call then?” His voice sounded testy, even to him.

  “It’s your brother. The other Mr. Hastings.”

  He stopped. “Adrian?”