Sweat It Out: A Billionaire Love Story

by Starla Harris

  Lucy and Michael never had a problem discussing sex with each other. In fact, it was one of their favorite topics whenever the occasion arose. Over the years, they had been there for each other through myriad men and failed relationships, providing indispensable advice and consolation to each other. Again, Lucy was convinced, whoever said that men and women can’t be friends never had a friend like Michael Dalloway.

  Michael talked about everything that happened during his night with Jeff in a way that made his eyes sparkle and his whole body come alive. Lucy smiled. She loved seeing him like this.

  “Wow,” she said softly. “You really like this guy, don’t you?”

  He flushed and looked at her straight in the eye and said, “Yes. I really do.”

  “What are you going to do? I mean, you live in Colorado and he’s in L.A….” Lucy let the words hang in the air. She knew she didn’t need to elaborate further. Neither she, nor Michael believed in long-distance relationships.

  “Actually…” Michael cleared his throat. “There’s something else I want to tell you about.”

  “Hmmm... What’s that?”

  “I didn’t just fly to L.A. just to rescue you from the pit of depression.”

  “Huh?” Lucy stared at him. “Not that it matters, but then why did you come out here?”

  “I got a job offer.”

  “Shut up!” Lucy gaped at him.

  “It’s as an assistant to a famous landscape photographer who lives here in town. I came out to check it out. It’s mostly just a formality at this point, really. We spoke on Skype a couple of times and it seems just like what I’ve been looking for. And he loves my work…or so he says,” Michael added modestly.

  “Oh my God! Why didn’t you tell me, Michael?” Lucy cried out. She could hardly believe her ears. Michael was an amazing photographer.

  “I didn’t want to jinx it.”

  “This is so exciting.”

  “I’m meeting with him this afternoon. I was going to tell you, but I wanted to wait until I knew for sure that it was the right gig for me.”

  “So you’re moving here?” Lucy felt giddy with excitement. She still didn’t quite dare to hope.

  Michael grinned. “Yep. If all goes according to plan.”

  “When?”

  “As soon as possible.”

  “Michael, that’s amazingly good news!” Lucy cried. “You should totally move in with me!”

  He stared at her. “Really? You mean it? ‘Cause I thought about it, but didn’t want to impose—”

  “Impose? Are you fucking kidding me? You’re my best friend. This is a dream come true!”

  He sighed in evident relief. “Well then, I might just take you up on that offer at least for a while until I can find a place of my own.”

  “You better, Michael! I’d be really upset if you didn’t.” Lucy immediately started making plans for when Michael would move in.

  After a few minutes, Michael interrupted her. “Now that we’re done with me, what’s going on with you?”

  “What about me?”

  He smirked. “Come on. You can’t pull one over on me. You’re wearing the same clothes you wore last night.”

  “Oh.” Lucy looked down at her rumpled clothes and blushed. “Well, last night took an interesting turn.”

  “Don’t tell me, you went home with him? After all that?”

  “Oh, Michael. I know what you’re thinking. But this time, it’s different.”

  “Well, for your sake I hope it is.”

  “It was incredible, Michael. I felt so in control.”

  “Well, Lucy. You certainly are the little vixen, aren’t you?”

  With that Lucy proceeded to tell Michael all about what had transpired with Elijah the night before. Michael listened with rapt attention.

  “Lucy, I…uh…” He took a deep breath. “Look, I’m very happy for you that you’re having such amazing sex and all, but are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  Lucy frowned at the bluntness of the question. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, it’s not like you’re just hooking up with some dude from college. This is a little more of a big deal than that.”

  She sighed. “Yeah, I know. I was thinking about it earlier today, actually. I think the situation has all the potential for exploding in my face.”

  “Yeah,” Michael said with an apologetic grimace. “Do you even know what you really want from all of this?”

  Lucy shrugged. “No, I haven’t the faintest clue.”

  “Oh, Lucy. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

  She shook her head sadly, “I know. I was thinking it might be best if I put some distance between us.”

  “You think?”

  “Yeah. I left him a note with my e-mail address on it and asked him to let me know should he decide to help me out with the Clean situation.”

  “Is that it?”

  “I think so. I think I need to keep it professional from now on.”

  “Do you think that’s even possible after all of this?” Michael didn’t sound skeptical, just genuinely curious.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You know I’ll be there for you no matter what happens, but just be careful.”

  Lucy nodded dejectedly. So that was how grownups talked. She wasn’t sure she was a fan.

  Just then, there was a beeping sound from her bag that caused her to jump. It was her phone. She had a new email in her inbox. Even though she was pretty sure it was probably just spam or something equally unimportant, she decided to check anyway. To her surprise, the email was from none other than Elijah Redford, himself.

  “It’s Elijah,” she said to Michael, not looking up from the screen. “He just e-mailed me.”

  “What does he want?” Michael asked, his mouth full of blueberry scone.

  “He says he’s sorry he missed me this morning.” When she finally looked up at her friend again, her eyes were wide with surprise. “And he wants to have dinner with me tonight before he leaves on a business trip to Florida.”

  “Big surprise there,” Michael said wryly. “And I guess you’ll be saying yes?”

  “Well…yes,” Lucy said. “But I’ll keep it professional, I promise.”

  Michael rolled his eyes at her. She didn’t have to tell him, but Michael could see that her heart was beating a mile a minute inside her chest.

  * * *

  The restaurant they met at was beautiful—one of the fanciest Lucy had ever seen. Elijah had reserved a table on the terrace overlooking the sea. The view was breathtakingly romantic.

  There was something different about Elijah that evening. His mood was lighter and he seemed more attentive than before as if he was genuinely interested in getting to know Lucy for who she was. To her surprise, he was also quite willing to open up about himself.

  Unwittingly, Lucy found herself feeling more at ease as the evening progressed. She discovered they had far more in common than just ambition and great sex.

  He was originally from Kentucky, where prairies and horses had been his everyday life for as long as he could remember until the day he left to follow his dreams in L.A.—much like Lucy had done. His Kentucky twang became stronger when he talked about his home growing up. He’d always loved animals and wished he at least had some dogs to keep him company now, but his lifestyle was such that it wasn’t possible. So when Lucy showed him pictures of Toby, he went absolutely crazy.

  Lucy had never suspected Elijah Redford could be so down to earth, which was further testament to just how good he was at not letting the world in. The more they talked, the more Lucy enjoyed herself. At some point during the night, however, she had the scary epiphany that despite what she knew to be her better judgement—she was indeed falling for him.

  She excused herself and went to the ladies’ room so that she could have a minute or two to herself. When inside the privacy of the bathroom stall. She took a few, deep, calming breaths. This isn’t part of t
he plan. She had to let Elijah go. It was the best thing for both of them. She made her way back to their table and found that he was already preparing to leave.

  He looked up when he saw her and smiled so deeply that his dimples seemed all but carved in his cheeks. “I thought we might take a walk on the beach.”

  Lucy swallowed hard. Elijah’s eyes were dark blue in the dim light of the terrace lanterns. All she wanted to do was lean in and kiss him. She resisted the urge and took his arm instead, letting him lead her out of the restaurant.

  “Wait,” she said as they were almost out the door. She reached for her purse. “What about the check?”

  He shook his head in amusement when she nodded. “I’ve taken care of it already.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Please, I could never forgive myself if I let you pay for dinner.”

  She smiled shyly at him. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. She wasn’t used to such chivalry from guys her age.

  “It was my pleasure.”

  When they were outside, Lucy forced herself to let go of his hand. She stopped as he took a few steps ahead of her before looking back.

  “I think I’d best go home now,” she said abruptly.

  “Home, Now?” He frowned. “I thought we might go back to my hotel and…well, you know.”

  “I’m sorry, Elijah. I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “I don’t understand.” He looked completely confused. “What happened? Why not?”

  “You’ve got your empire and I’m just starting out with my career.” Lucy said gently. “I don’t know if I can live in your world.”

  “I thought we were having a good time.”

  “Yeah, we were.”

  “Then what’s the problem? Don’t you feel there is something more between us?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “So?”

  “I’m sorry.” Lucy looked down at her feet. “I really think it’s best if we keep this professional.” The words sounded hollow and meaningless even to her ears.

  Elijah nodded. “I understand,” he said slowly. “You’re young. You don’t know what you’re doing.” He wasn’t being unkind, he was just speaking the truth. “Then, business it is if that’s what you want—but not before I do this.” Before Lucy could react, he quickly stepped forward and took her face between his hands and kissed her. For a split second, she thought about pulling away, but then instinct took over and she kissed him back. It was a deep, satisfying, soul-searching kiss—the kind that could make your toes curl. When they finally emerged for breath, there was a sad and heavy look etched on Elijah’s face.

  “Perhaps I’ll see you at a conference sometime.”

  Lucy nodded, still dazed from the kiss. “Yeah, maybe.”

  But they both knew it wasn’t true. As he turned and walked toward the beach, Lucy did all she could to fight the urge to go running after him.

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS were excruciating. It wasn’t that nothing was happening in Lucy’s life or that she had nothing better to do than sit around and think about Elijah. A lot was happening and all at once, and even so, she still couldn’t stop thinking about him.

  Michael’s meeting with the photographer went amazingly well. So well, in fact, that he canceled his plane ticket home so he could have more time in L.A. Or so that was what he said. Lucy, however, strongly suspected that the real reason Michael decided to stay was because he was so head over heels in love with Jeff that he couldn’t possibly bear to leave him just yet, even if for just a few days.

  Seeing the two of them so deeply in love definitely wasn’t helping her with the “let’s not think about Elijah Redford” mission. If anything, watching them together made her miss Elijah even more and made her question everything about her decision to let him go.

  She was feeling especially doubtful one night, when the three of them (and Toby too!) were watching a movie together at her apartment. She was genuinely happy for them, but at the same time, watching them fawn over each other like the star-crossed lovers they were, made her feel especially lonesome.

  She loved her best friend dearly. But there were some things about her that Michael just didn’t understand. Like her ambition, for example. Michael was all about beauty, peace and serenity. If something made him feel miserable, he couldn’t handle it. It was the same thing with ugliness in the world. Period. It didn’t matter that sometimes the path to something better or more beautiful in life was through misery, he just couldn’t see anything beyond what was right in front of him. By contrast, Lucy would rather die before she left something unfinished. Lucy was the type to dig in deep and embrace the good with the bad, warts and all. Elijah understood that about her—it was the drive and determination that leads someone to forget about everything else.

  Seeing the tenderness between Michael and Jeff, Lucy couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps she’d been too hasty closing the door on Elijah. While it was true that she felt like she needed to focus on her career right now, it was also true that some connections in life were rare and once in a lifetime at best. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss the one she had with Elijah.

  The ringtone from her phone startled her out of her daze. She snatched up the phone from the coffee table and scowled at the number, which she recognized immediately. It was Clean magazine. She had stored it her contacts when she was feeling more hopeful and optimistic about the possibility of having a future there. Lucy braced herself and took a deep breath before answering the call, “Hello?”

  “Ms. Smith? This is Amanda Booth.”

  * * *

  Lucy wasn’t quite sure what exactly had possessed her to accept the invitation to return to Clean’s headquarters. She wasn’t feeling quite as enthusiastic this time around, which was completely understandable, considering how burned she felt the last time she was called into Carey Wayland’s office.

  She supposed it was mostly out of curiosity. They didn’t tell her what the meeting was about or what to expect exactly. On the phone Amanda vaguely alluded to the fact that there might be an apology involved, which definitely piqued Lucy’s curiosity. She prepared herself mentally, however, just in case she happened to once again walk into some kind of ambush or setup.

  When she got there, there was no waiting around in the reception area. She was received immediately, quickly whisked into Carey Wayland’s office. Lucy didn’t quite know what to make of it, nor of Ms. Wayland, herself. While the woman’s attitude remained sharp and businesslike as always, there were softer edges to her personality that weren’t there during her last visit. Carey warmly greeted Lucy and invited her to sit in the same cerulean chair she sat in last time. Lucy accepted the invitation graciously, yet remained cautious of the woman across from her.

  “It’s good to see you again, Ms. Smith,” Carey said. “Can I offer you anything? Coffee? Water?”

  “No, thank you,” Lucy said. She wished she could say it was good to see Ms. Wayland too, but she just couldn’t bring herself to play along with such insincerities.

  Carey peered at Lucy from behind her black-rimmed glasses. Her gray eyes were as penetrating and sharp as ever. After a brief period of awkward silence, Carey Wayland spoke. “Well, there’s really no point in beating around the bush. I asked you here so that I could apologize to you in person about my behavior the last time we met.”

  Lucy stared at the woman sitting on the other side of the desk. Up until that moment, Lucy was pretty sure that Carey Wayland would have forgotten all about their encounter, or at least that was what Lucy had hoped. What the hell could’ve possessed this woman to remember her, let alone apologize, and why now?

  Meanwhile, Carey leaned back in her chair and held her hands in front of her body with just the tips touching while she stared out the window behind her desk. “I made a snap judgment and I’m really sorry about that. But you have to understand that we get so many crazy submissions around here on a regular basis. People make f
alse claims like you wouldn’t believe. I’m not saying this to excuse my bad behavior,” she added, almost as an afterthought. “I’m saying this to you because I want you to understand the kind of industry we work in.”

  “Thank you,” Lucy said after a moment. Somewhere during Carey’s speech, Lucy had begun to relax a bit. “I appreciate the apology. If I may ask, what changed your opinion of me?”

  “We received confirmation of your story directly from the source, who also incidentally gave you a glowing recommendation.”

  Lucy jaw fell open. Elijah had actually called and backed her up. She had hoped he might come around to this at some point, but she never imagined he would expose himself personally. She figured he would have his assistant or someone else who officially spoke for him contact the magazine on his behalf. Lucy’s stomach did a little flip. Lucy stared at the woman in open disbelief until the sound of Carey’s voice jolted her out of her reverie.

  “If you’re interested, we’d like to buy your story.”

  “Really?”

  Carey smiled. “Yes. It’s well written and one of the best profiles on Elijah Redford that I’ve seen. It’ll make an excellent feature in our next issue. What do you say, Ms, Smith?”

  Lucy beamed. She realized she couldn’t keep up the stone-faced cold professional act she tried so hard maintain. She couldn’t help but let her excitement and happiness show. This was her dream and it was coming true right in front of her eyes. “Why yes, of course Ms. Wayland,” she gushed. “I would love to give you my story. Thank you so very much.”

  “Excellent, Lucy. You can call me Carey. I’ll have the contract sent over to you later today. After you sign it and get it back to us, I’ll assign you an editor who will be in touch with you over the next couple of days to hammer out the rest of details. Any questions for me right now?”

  “Uh…I…no, not really,” Lucy stammered. “I’m sorry, I’m just really happy right now and grateful for the chance,” she admitted candidly.

  Carey Wayland laughed. “Well, I would be too. This really has the potential to be a career-defining opportunity.” She leaned forward in her chair and regarded Lucy thoughtfully. “One more thing, Lucy.”