Dating Disaster with a Billionaire (Blue Ridge Mountain Billionaires, #1)

by Lynx, Elizabeth

  I liked this guy. He didn’t tolerate my brother’s bullshit either.

  “I wasn’t up to renegotiate our terms of exclusivity . . . just the amount to be delivered.” Rock’s eyes slid from me to Mica.

  Mica shrugged. “Okay, I’ll let Bea know that you’re fighting me on this. You know how I feel about helping small businesses . . .”

  I didn’t know who this Bea was, but the mention of her name struck fear in my brother. He lowered his arms, and I swear he shrank in front of me.

  “Bea Love is here?”

  “Yes. A family outing. I brought my niece again because she had such a splendid time back in the spring.”

  Rock’s jaw tightened, and he let out a groan. “Fine. We’ll renegotiate exclusivity. But let’s discuss this more at the meeting.”

  “Sounds good. Well, it was nice to meet you two.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mica, and thanks for making me the happiest man in the world.” I reached to shake his hand again, but he stepped back.

  “No problem. I think that’s great that you and your ex are on such good terms that you’re willing to help her like this.”

  With a gigantic smile I said, “Oh, we aren’t. She hates my guts. But I’m a dick, so it’s justified.”

  “Okay,” Mica said with an uncertain tone.

  Once they left, I threw my hands in the air and said, “I did it. I fixed Marika’s problems. She’s going to take me back now, I know it.”

  Monty shook his head with a groan. “You realize you barely took your first step toward the hot, fiery stones you have to walk on to get her back, right?”

  Chapter 25

  MARIKA

  “You like my gourds?” Susannah held up two medium pumpkins in front of her chest.

  “Just how I like them—round, hard, orange, and filled with slimy seeds.” I pointed to the tables by the front window. “Place them on those. I don’t have enough money to put a pumpkin on each table. We can at least give the appearance of October festiveness to people looking in from the sidewalk.”

  It had been two weeks since I last saw James and told him it was over. The smile on my face while I decorated the café for Halloween felt as hollow as the jack-o'-lantern that sat outside the front door.

  “That will look sad. Only two tables with pumpkins.”

  “This place is sad. A coffee shop without people drinking coffee. What’s sadder than that?”

  Susannah ticked off her fingers. “A wounded puppy. Someone grieving a loved one. Muscled-up Jack when they’ve run out of Cherries Jubilee at Sally’s Ice Creamery.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Fine. You’ve made your point. Those are sadder. But let me have this, okay? I want to wallow in my pity right now. In two weeks, when the shop is closed for good, I’ll stop being a sad sack.”

  “You’ve been a sad sack since James walked out of here weeks ago. I don’t think I can take another two weeks of it. Why don’t we go out tonight? Just the girls on the town.” Susannah placed the pumpkins on the tables and turned to me, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

  “Where? To Castle Moat? That place is filled with people living in the past. Every single one of them was prom king or queen or some star football player in high school. They never moved on. They never let go of the glory days. No, thank you.”

  “So what?” Susannah put her hands on her hips. “I know some of those people who go to that place on Friday nights. They’re nice. I was prom queen in high school, and you like me. Sometimes, Marika, you are so stuck on your own problems that you don’t see the good in people. Only what’s wrong with them. You did it to your mom. You’re doing it to the people who frequent Castle Moat. And you did it to James.”

  I sank into one chair near a table. Had I really been that judgmental?

  “But my mom left me. Left my dad.”

  Susannah sighed and sat in the chair next to me. She reached over and grabbed my hand. “I know, and I’m sorry. That wasn’t right. She wasn’t the best mom or the greatest wife to your dad, but she loved you. I remember coming over to your house in high school, and whenever you left the room to go to the bathroom or something, she’d always talk you up. She’d tell me how proud she was of you and that she was the luckiest mom in the world.”

  I never knew that. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She shrugged. “I thought you knew.”

  Thinking back, I remembered her randomly saying she was proud of me or that she thought I was the most beautiful girl in the world.

  I waved her off. “But all moms say stuff like that.”

  “No, they don’t.” Susannah frowned. “Sometimes they never even say they love you.”

  “What? Did your mom never say—”

  She cleared her throat. “That’s not important.”

  Yes, it was, and I was unnerved that Susannah didn’t agree. But she wasn’t ready to talk about it, so I let it go for now.

  “What is important is this idea that you think everyone will ultimately disappoint you, so you might as well just give up on them before they do.”

  “Okay, Oprah.” I snorted. “So, the guy who stuck his dick in peanut butter was me subconsciously giving up on him?”

  “No, he was an idiot, and I’m surprised you went on three dates with him. But the others, maybe. I don’t think you have awful luck with dates. I think you never want to get close to them, so you screw it up or find a flaw.”

  My ears burned. I didn’t like where this was going. Luckily, the door to the café opened, and I didn’t have to hear anymore.

  I stood and welcomed the man with a large box in his hand. “Welcome to Hard Grind. Is there anything I can get for you today?”

  “Yes, I’d like to speak to the owner.”

  “I run Hard Grind.”

  His brown eyes sparkled as his grin grew. He was handsome in a rugged way. The man stepped forward and pushed the box toward me. “This is for you. I got a truck full of more around back in the alley.”

  I froze. What was in the box? Several very disappointed fans the first week after the final episode of the contest aired sent me some not-so-pleasant things in the mail. Was this one of the angry viewers looking for revenge?

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t accept a package if I have no idea what’s inside. You know how it is these days . . .”

  “Oh, right. I get it. Can’t be too careful. Here, I’ll show you.” He set the box down on the counter by the register, and I stepped back toward Susannah. We both held each other with fear as the man opened the box.

  Please don’t be a Seven situation where I’m Brad Pitt. I chanted under my breath, “Don’t be James’s head. Don’t be James’s head.”

  The guy reached in and pulled out a red bag. I blinked. It was a bag of coffee.

  My shoulders sank as I let out a breath. There wasn’t a head in the box. Despite my relief, I became irritated that the guy was trying to sell me his coffee when I was closing in two weeks.

  “Didn’t you see the sign outside? We close for good soon and—”

  “No, you won’t close.” He smirked.

  Wow, this guy was sure of himself.

  “I don’t know who you are, but I think I know my business a little better than you do.”

  He stepped up to me and placed the red bag of coffee on the table. I studied the label and was shocked at what it said.

  “And I know my business better than you do. I think your customers might love my coffee enough to fill this place every day.”

  I lifted the bag, my hands shaking.

  “Oh my God, is that Fire Lake Coffee? That stuff is amazing,” Susannah said as she hovered over my shoulder.

  “Wait. You tasted Fire Lake Coffee before? When?” I narrowed my eyes at my best friend.

  Susannah’s high-pitched laugh didn’t fool me. “It’s the funniest thing. I really had to pee and was walking by The Blue Spot. You know that place is super fancy. Well, they would only let me use the bathroom if I bought something. And since I
was thirsty, I bought a coffee.”

  I blinked a few times but kept my eyes on her.

  “Okay, fine. That story wasn’t true at all. I had to find out if what everyone was saying about the coffee was true. And I understand if you never speak to me again, Marika, but that coffee almost gave me an orgasm. It’s that good.”

  “Thank you, I think,” the guy said, clearly uncomfortable.

  “It’s fine. I get it, Susannah. I did the same thing.” I patted Susannah’s arm before turning back to the guy with the coffee. “What I don’t understand is why you are sending Hard Grind the coffee. I never ordered it.” I cradled the bag to my chest for fear he’d change his mind and take it back.

  “Mr. Diaz bought you your first three-month's supply of my Fire Roast blend. He wanted to make up for the screwup of the contest.”

  My smile faded as I lowered the coffee to the table.

  “Oh, I see. You can tell James that I don’t want his coffee that he bought. You can send it to him.”

  “Marika.” Susannah tugged me aside. “If the man wants to apologize with orgasm-inducing coffee, then let the man apologize as many times as he wants.”

  I gazed at the red bag and wanted to pick it up and never give it back, but I couldn’t.

  “No, he can’t use money to fix everything."

  “Actually, it wasn’t James. It was Rock Diaz. He said since you technically won the contest, he used some of the money to buy you the coffee. Unless you don’t want it? I can take it back, and he said he would reimburse you the money. Obviously, he didn’t spend all the money on the coffee. Only a slight part. I’m supposed to give you the rest.” The man pulled a check out of his pocket and presented it to me.

  There was a lot of money left over. Most of the hundred grand was in the check.

  “No, I want the coffee.”

  Susannah threw her hand to her head like she was about to faint. “Oh, thank goodness! If you had given up on the coffee, I would reconsider our friendship. I love you, Marika, and you’re my best friend, but I’ll admit Fire Lake Coffee is my secret boyfriend.”

  “You have issues,” I said with a laugh, twirling around with the coffee bag in my arms.

  “That’s great. I’ll need you to let me in the back so I can unload the coffee.”

  I stopped twirling and almost dropped the bag as my head was dizzy.

  “I never got your name? I’m Marika. Marika Juggs.”

  “I’m Mica Angrov, the owner of Fire Lake Coffee.”

  We shook hands. I liked the guy more and more. He was hot, made the best coffee, and didn’t even glance at my chest when I told him my last name as everyone usually did.

  Things would get better, and I had a feeling I wouldn’t have to close the shop in two weeks. I felt a lump in my throat. Thoughts of texting James the news of the coffee popped into my head, but I couldn’t. We weren’t together anymore.

  And once again, the happiness turned to pain.

  Chapter 26

  JAMES

  “This won’t hurt, will it?” I asked the beekeeper for the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

  “If you wear the veil, no. But you aren’t going to do that, are you?” He stood there staring at me in disbelief as his thick golden hair shifted in the cool breeze.

  I thought about it for a moment, gazing around the vast outdoors of my property. Off in the distance, a red barn, freshly painted, popped against the golden, green, and orange of the autumn landscape.

  “No mask. That’s the plan.”

  “Why are you doing this again?”

  For Marika. It had been weeks since I last saw her, and I couldn’t get her out of my head.

  Mica had informed me that she had accepted the coffee two weeks ago, and I was glad Rock agreed she deserved to win the money from the contest. It helped that Laura—Rock’s girlfriend—was on my side. She felt Marika deserved the money since she legitimately won. Rock crumbled like blue cheese on one of Laura’s Blue Chip salads.

  The anger from the fans of the contest had died down thanks to multiple videos on my VidTube channel explaining that it was my fault.

  But there was one more video I had to do. And when I mentioned it to Pru, she was elated. I was switching things up at my channel thanks to some ideas Pru had. She suggested I do funny videos involving my farm.

  But it was still a joke channel, so I had to make sure entertainment was served. That’s why I stood here near the beehive Marika discovered over a month ago without a bee veil. I was the joke.

  I had one cameraman from the contest film my head when it would become swarmed with bees.

  “I told you. I have a channel on VidTube where I film funny stuff.”

  “What’s the name of it?” the beekeeper asked.

  “Joke’in James.”

  He walked over to pick up the smoke canister. “Never heard of it. But that’s probably because I don’t watch VidTube.”

  “Anyway,” I tried to steer back to why we were here, “I need to say something to the camera before I get the bees on me. Is that possible?”

  “Sure, just let me release some smoke to keep the bees away.”

  I motioned for the cameraman to get ready and moved closer to the beehive.

  He did a countdown and motioned it was time for me to go.

  “Hi, and welcome to Joke’in James. I’m James, and today I will switch it up. How, you ask? Today the joke’s on me.”

  I turned and pointed to the beehive.

  “As you can see, I’m next to a beehive, and while I am covered from the neck down with a bee suit, I do not have on a bee veil. That’s the big hat that covers a beekeeper’s head and neck. I won’t be wearing one today because I plan for the bees to swarm my face. I will invade their territory, and they won’t like that at all. Would you like it if someone walked into your place without being invited? No, you wouldn’t, and neither do the bees.”

  I waved at the beekeeper. “This is Dan. He knows all about bees and will make sure everything runs smoothly. You’re probably asking yourself, ‘James, why would you put yourself through this?’ I’ll tell you. I’ve been a jerk to many people in my life recently. You may have heard about the contest I ruined. That was my brother Rock’s contest for his resort, The Blue Spot, and I crashed it. I screwed up the winner’s chance to go on a date with a nice guy. That guy was fellow VidTuber Steele Carson.”

  Shaking my head, I went on, “As many of you also know, I was in a relationship with the winner of the contest. While we had just started dating, it wasn’t right of me to ruin her chance at the prize. We did our best to keep things private. And I had no influence on who would be a finalist or winner. That was one hundred percent you guys.” I pointed into the camera lens.

  “But when I found out Steele was going on a date with Marika, I’m ashamed to admit that I got jealous. I let my emotions cloud my judgment. And so today, for your entertainment, I’m going to let these bees be the judge and jury for my crime of jealousy.”

  I turned to Dan to stop the smoke, and I stepped closer to the hive. It didn’t take long for the bees to swarm around me. It was hard to see with so many buzzing around my face. The sound grew, and my heart rate rose higher as they began to crawl on my face.

  “Try to hold still,” Dan said from a distance.

  I wasn’t moving and felt good about the whole thing. Maybe I wouldn’t be stung. It was a strange feeling, having bees crawl all over my face. Sort of ticklish, especially when they tried to go up my nose and in my ears. That caused me to flinch, which apparently was the wrong move.

  One stung me. Then another, and another. They started to let me have it all at once.

  It felt like a thousand stabs to my skin. I wanted to run. I wanted to find that waterfall and step in it, but it would make it worse as they would cling to me.

  “Grrr,” was all I could get out because I was afraid to open my mouth.

  It felt like I had been here for an hour but knew it wasn’t that long. Dan
mentioned he wouldn’t let this go on longer than few minutes. I tried to calm myself using mind tricks, imagining I was in bed with Marika. But she kept taking pins and pushing them in my face. Not sexy and not helpful.

  I smelled the smoke. Within moments the bees started to leave me. I stepped further away from the hive.

  When enough of the bees were off me, I said, “There’s a waterfall nearby. Should we go to that?”

  “The water will only keep a few bees away, but if you still have a sizeable amount on your face they’ll hang around until you come out from the water. I’ll keep using the smoke until they’re gone.”

  It took a while, and as Dan used more smoke, we moved farther away from the hive.

  The last one was finally gone, and I could barely move my mouth.

  “It felt like I was being stabbed with a thousand needles at once. That was horrible. Remind me not to mess up contests again.”

  I didn’t know if Marika would see the video, and I didn’t do it for her to take pity on me. I did it to apologize the only way I knew how—by doing something extreme and making people laugh.

  “You look like you took a bunch of punches in the boxing ring,” the cameraman said.

  “I feel like I’ve taken a thousand punches.”

  “Uh, I think we need to go to the emergency room. Your face shouldn’t be that swollen,” Dan said.

  I turned to the camera, knowing we were still filming and said, “Hear that, folks? Got to end the video now because I need to go to the hospital. For anyone thinking of giving into jealousy, remember my face and think twice about that. Also, don’t try this yourself. This is Joke’in James signing off. Stay cool and stay funny.”

  I tried to do my signature wink, but my eye was already swollen shut. That’s when I realized I should have planned this out better.

  Chapter 27

  MARIKA

  “I’m Marika Juggs, here to see the moronic James Diaz. I believe he was brought into the emergency room earlier with multiple bee stings.”