The Billionaire's Heart: The Complete Series (Romance, Contemporary Romance, Billionaire Romance, The Billionaire's Heart Book 7)

by Nancy Adams

  My hair was wet, I stunk, and as I started out to take my place at the altar, Jim noticed that I had a big grease stain on the seat o my trousers, but at least I was there. Mike and John flanked me at the altar, while Dad took his seat next to Mom, and Jim went toward the Bride Room.

  The organist let out a long blast, and then the strains of The Wedding March began. I turned and looked toward the back of the church, and a moment later I knew why fate had tried to keep me away. Katelynn was the most beautiful, wonderful bride any man could ever imagine, and she was so much more and better than I deserved. I had thought it was some evil force trying to keep me away, but it was probably her guardian angel.

  She was coming toward me, though, and there was no way I was backing down, angel or no angel! This was my wife already, in the sight of God, so trying to scuttle this wedding wasn't going to work. I stood and watched her come closer and closer, and where she got those four little girls who were carrying the train was a mystery to me, but then she was beside me. The preacher, Brother Jimmy from back in North Platte, said his lines about who was giving her to me, and Jim said, “Her mother and I do,” and then he put her hand into mine and sat down beside his wife. Katelynn and I turned to face Brother Jimmy.

  He took the chance to talk about the solemnity and sanctity of marriage, and then began the ceremony. He asked me if I would take Katelynn to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to cherish and love and honor, to keep her in sickness and in health, and all the rest of that stuff I could never remember anyway, and I said I do.

  Then it was Katelynn's turn, and she listened to his list of do's and don't's and said, “I do,” and then Brother Jimmy looked at us and smiled.

  “I now pronounce you man and wife,” he said. “You may kiss your bride.”

  I pulled my wife into my arms and kissed her, then, and it was a kiss of so much power that I knew that nothing could have stopped this wedding. Every evil thing that could possibly try to stop us had done so, but still we were here, and we were now man and wife in every sense of the words.

  Brother Jimmy stood up beside us, then, and said to the entire congregation:

  “It gives me the greatest pleasure to present to you, for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Nathanael Simmons!”

  The people rose and applauded, and I knew that God had smiled on me. We walked out of the church to a standing ovation, with those little girls holding the train again, but when we got to the entrance her Mom stepped up and the train was removed. We went out the door and down the steps with people peppering us with birdseed, and got into the beautiful carriage that awaited us. Its six white horses began moving as the driver snapped the reins, and I glanced over at Big Bertha once more as we rode past. I nudged Katelynn, who hadn't even asked what had gone wrong or why I smelled funny, and pointed to the sign I'd made and put on the back of Big Bertha.

  She saw it, and read it, and then she looked at me with a gaze of pure love and wonder.

  The sign said, “Please, Dear God—Get me to the church in time!”

  BOOK VI

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Katelynn

  Chapter One

  The Honeymoon

  * * * * *

  Most of our friends don't believe me, but I honestly didn't notice that Nate smelled like oil and old hay until after the reception was over and we were on the way to the airport to leave for our honeymoon. Since we have our own plane, we had decided not to bother going back home to change, first, so Emerson, Nate's parents' chauffeur, was waiting with their limousine to drive us to our flight. As we climbed into the back, I suddenly caught a whiff and wrinkled my nose.

  “What is that smell?” I asked, and Nate began to laugh as he told me just how close we'd come to not having a wedding on schedule at all! He'd somehow gotten locked out of his parents' house, couldn't get to any car keys, didn't have his phone, the power was out all over the estate, and the only thing he could find to drive in order to get to the church on time was some Frankenstein's monster of a riding mower that he'd built in High School, and which the 6 O’clock News was happy to show video of as he drove it at nearly a hundred miles an hour down the freeway!

  And yes, before you ask, they were able to get a closeup on his face, so everyone knows it was him! As in, everyone in the world knows it was him!

  Once I got over the shock of almost missing my wedding and stopped laughing myself into the hiccups, I grabbed him and kissed him, grassy smell and all! I mean, after all we'd been through—blackmail, kidnappers, plane crashes, grizzly bears and even terrorists—how could a little thing like an oil stain on the seat of his two thousand dollar tuxedo slacks be anything to worry about?

  Somewhere during all of that explanation, the plane took off, and we were on our way to the islands of Hawaii. We had two wonderful weeks planned, doing not a whole lot more than spending time on the beach and with each other, and considering my absolute terror of flying, I decided to get it started early and keep myself from thinking about the fact that there was nothing but shark-infested water underneath us for the next six hours! I cuddled up to my husband and made sure he knew precisely how determined I was to let him know just how much I love him!

  The flight attendant was very nice, and spent most of the flight up in the cabin with the crew, so we enjoyed some delicious privacy. I won't go into any details, of course, but I can say it was one of the most satisfying flights I've ever been on! Nate said some other things about it, but I can't write them down without blushing happily.

  We landed at Honolulu at around seven PM, which was odd since we left at around four-thirty PM, but it all has to do with time zones and travel times and I think there's a wormhole in there someplace, I don't know. Did I mention that there was champagne at the reception and in the airplane? There was, and it tastes odd, but tickles your nose.

  My first impression of Hawaii was that it was beautiful, and I'd have to say that every time I looked around, I only saw it getting more so. We were met by a limousine, and Nate had the chauffeur take us for a long drive before we went to our hotel, the Kahala. I got to see sights I'd never imagined before, and the hotel itself was absolutely amazing! It was a complete resort, with so many things to do that we didn't ever really need to leave it! Entertainment, music, the beach, massages, you name it and they had it available to us! What a wonderful place!

  We had dinner at their restaurant, a fantastic dish called Kalua pig, which is pork cooked underground. It was awesome, and the dessert that came with it was called Haupia, a coconut pudding so thick it was cut into squares to be served. It was incredible, with a flavor I'd never experienced, even though I love coconut!

  Then we went to our rooms, and relived our original wedding night, the one that took place in the wild Rocky Mountains almost a month before.

  The morning sun woke us as it rose over the mountains to the east, and we lay there and cuddled for a bit. At last, I rolled over and smiled up at Nate, and then my eyes went wide and I jumped out of bed, running for the bathroom as fast as I could. I flung myself down on the floor by the toilet and began vomiting violently, carefully holding my hair back out of the way as I thought, “NO! I got done doing this in College!”

  And then it hit me: Morning Sickness! We'd already known that I was pregnant, probably from that first night together when we were lost in the mountains and said our private vows to each other before God, but until that moment, I'd thought I was going to be one of the “lucky ones” who escaped that dreaded curse!

  I heard movement behind me and looked up long enough to see Nate standing there, looking worried. “'S okay
,” I said, just before puking again. “Mornin' sick...” And again.

  I spent about a half hour hugging the stool before it subsided, then a shower washed away the worst of the feeling and got me back on my feet. Once I'd brushed my teeth, I was feeling like my old self again, and we were off to the restaurant for breakfast. I was a little nervous about it, but my coffee and waffles went down easily and didn't cause me any concerns, so I figured I was good to go—at least until dawn.

  “So, what would you like to do this morning, Mrs. Simmons?” Nate asked me, and I put my chin on my fist as I thought it over.

  “Hmm,” I said, musing aloud. “We could go walk on the beach. We could go shopping for souvenirs. We could go sailing. Oh, look, they rent jet skis, I've never done that!” I listed off a dozen more things that I had never done, and Nate smiled at me the whole time. When I got finished with my litany, he asked, “Okay, but which ones do you want to do today?”

  We decided to take it easy and just hang out at the beach, but it wasn't long before we realized that the beach can be pretty boring, so we ended up on a jet ski scooter thing anyway. It was a lot of fun, and we rode it for a couple of hours, then went and signed up for a scuba class. Nate actually was a trained Scuba Diver, but he took the class all over with me so I'd be more comfortable. Gotta love a guy like that!

  First, the trainer had us doing what he called “snuba,” which was like scuba except for you don't have a tank on your back. The tank is actually on an inflatable raft that floats above, and you have hoses that come down to you. As you swim along, it tows the boat wherever you go, and gives you an idea of what scuba is really like.

  I loved it! We swam along, watching so many different kinds of fish moving past us. Some of them were in large schools, and didn't even seem to care that a couple of humans were swimming through their midst, and others took off like rockets when we got within ten feet of them. All of them were beautiful, and I saw literally thousands of different types and colors, I'm sure. Angelfish, clown fish, oh, my goodness, so many different kinds!

  Then there were the other life that grow under the sea. I saw things I thought were plants that suddenly started moving across the sea floor! There were octopi, eagle rays (I thought they were sting rays, but our trainer set me straight), sea turtles, crabs, eels and so many other things I can't even remember or keep track! It was by far one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever known, and I told Nate that we'd be going scuba diving a lot in the future!

  Those adventures took up most of our first day on our honeymoon, and so we went back to our rooms to clean up and change for dinner, then Nate called for a limo to take use to a different restaurant in the city.

  We ate a wonderful meal of lobster and scallops, and then went to a theater where we saw a musical show about the history of Hawaii. I forget what it was called, but the music, the dance, the entire production was amazing, and I'd recommend it to anyone!

  And then we were back in our room, and once more I was in the arms of the most wonderful and romantic man that God ever created! We made love so tenderly, and yet with so much passion, and when sleep finally came, it was like a wave that knocked us out.

  Light. Morning. Ugh. Toilet!

  The only problem with being pregnant on your honeymoon is that you end up spending way too much time on the bathroom floor! My entire two week honeymoon routine began each morning that way, snuggling up to a porcelain bowl and wishing I could die for a half hour. I knew it would pass, and that I would eventually love the little monster that was causing it, but for that thirty minutes a day, I wanted nothing more than just to lay down in a hole and let someone shovel dirt in on me!

  It always did pass, of course, and we got to enjoy the rest of the time we were in Hawaii, doing things like swimming, boating (I got sailing lessons for a very small sailboat), cruising on motorcycles (I'd always been afraid of them, but Nate got me on one anyway, and I had a blast!) and just exploring the entire island. We spent a couple of days going island hopping, seeing the sights on the other islands in the Island State, and I have to say that I was truly having the time of my life.

  We rented a small motor yacht for a couple of days, and went out on the ocean just to experience it. The boat was an eighty foot Hatteras, and came with a small crew to operate it and make us comfortable; it was a lot like having an entire luxury hotel to ourselves! We swam in the ocean more than fifteen miles from any land, we lounged in the sun on its decks, and even watched movies under the stars that streamed from a satellite service. All the comforts of home, none of the hassles and the beauty of the ocean all around us—what more could anyone ask? When we got back to our hotel, Nate called a yacht dealer he knew back in San Francisco, and put in an order for one of our own. I was so excited that he got some extra special treatment, that night!

  Being married to one of the richest men in the country is pretty nice when it comes to being able to have just about anything you could ever want. I was still new to being wealthy, and wasn't certain how to handle it, but Nate assured me that he didn't expect me to change.

  “Babe,” he said, “money isn't all that special. Yeah, it makes it easy to have stuff, and do stuff, but it can't buy the most important things in life. It can't buy love or happiness. Those things have no price, because they come from within.” He caressed my cheek. “That being said, though, I do enjoy the fact that I can give you anything you want in the material sense, and let you do anything you want to as far as social or church works. Money makes those things possible, and if you don't let it go to your head, they can help you to find happiness. Let's just be thankful for what we've got, and always ready to do what God would have us do with it, okay?”

  I love this guy!

  The honeymoon was two weeks long, and other than the whole “praying to the porcelain god” thing, it was two of the most wonderful weeks of my life. Nate had bought me a fantastic camera before the wedding, and so I had video and pictures from everything we did, even the scuba diving and other underwater things. I couldn't wait to get home and show them off, and I'd already uploaded a ton of them to facebook!

  “Baby,” I said the night before we were to head for home, “thank you! This is the best honeymoon any girl would ever have dreamed of, and I'm so glad we came.”

  He kissed me and pulled me closer. “My pleasure,” he said, “and I do mean it's been my pleasure! Katelynn, I've never been as happy as I am now, and to be honest, I never believed it was possible that I could be.”

  I laid there, my head on his chest, and nodded. “I know. I feel the same way. I remember the first time I saw you, thinking, 'wow, what a man!' I never would have dreamed we'd end up here, married and on a fairytale honeymoon!”

  Suddenly he started to tickle me. “Fairy tale? Fairy tale? Do I look like a Prince Charming to you?”

  “Ahh, stop!” I yelled. “And yes, actually, you do! You look just like my own very special Prince Charming!”

  “Oh, yeah? So does that make you my Cinderella? Are you the poor little girl who had to work herself half to death before the good Prince came along and swept her off her feet?”

  “Oh, oh, oh, yes!” I cried past the tickles and laughter. “Poor little me, always working so hard, and big strong you had to save me! Where's my glass slipper, Prince Charming?”

  We both laughed ourselves out of breath, then, and fell together gasping. I clung to him, and then he was kissing me, and I was kissing him, and it made any kiss between Cinderella and Prince Charming look like a fourth grade peck on the cheek!

  Nathanael

  Chapter Two

  Hey, It's Good To Be Back Home Again

  * * * * *

  The plane touched down at just before two PM, and Katelynn finally let go of my hand. I flexed my fingers and tried to get some circulation back into them, but I knew it was going to take a while; the intensity of the tingles told me that!

  But I was home, and had my wife with me, and as far as I was concerned, nothing could be bette
r than that! We were finally on the way to being a family, starting with the two of us, but that bun in the oven was about to be noticeable enough that we might want to make an announcement pretty soon.

  “Honey, I think we'd better let the folks know about the baby,” I said, and she smiled.

  “Yeah, I was sorta thinking the same thing. I know we're supposed to have dinner with them tonight, so I guess the sooner, the better, right?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I'd say so. I'd planned to take them out, but let's just have them over to our house. We can tell them there, I think that would be better. I'd rather they know at least a few days before it hits the papers, wouldn't you?”

  She blinked at me. “Hits the papers?”

  I smiled, and nodded again. “Oh, yes,” I said. “Now that you're a Simmons, everything you do will be under a microscope, and sometimes you'll find out about things in our lives by reading it in the morning paper! Like if I try to buy you something big as a surprise, it's likely that someone would leak it to the news, and you'd read about it before I got the chance to spring it on you!”

  “So, when I make an OB appointment...”

  “Some reporter will hear about it, and there will be gossip columnists speculating about whether we're having a boy or a girl or twins or whatever! That's all just part of being wealthy, I'm afraid.”

  She sighed, and then the door opened and we began climbing out of the plane. Emerson was waiting for us right there on the tarmac, and he and the co-pilot were loading our luggage and packages into the trunk already. I opened the back door for Katelynn and she slid in, then I followed her.

  The car was filled with flowers and cards, all wishing us a happy future. I saw several from friends, including a few of my old Marine Corps buddies, and there were some from Katelynn's friends back in Nebraska. I saw one from her friend Corie, and thought for a moment that one of my surprises was about to be ruined already, but it just said, “Wishing you the best possible future, and way too many kids!” My surprise was safe!