The Brave Billionaire (Clean Billionaire Beach Club Romance Book 11)

by Elana Johnson

  She flirted with him shamelessly, only when no one else was looking, and he didn’t seem to mind.

  “There were whales out here earlier,” he said once he’d pulled in the sails and the boat started drifting. “But I don’t see them now. They often feed in the morning, though we do see them at all times of the day out here.”

  He sounded like a tour guide, but the kind she could eat lunch with as he educated her about the island. He was windswept, wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a tank top that showed he spent plenty of time taming sails. Or lifting weights. Anything but sitting behind his desk in that second-floor office in the corner.

  Who knew? Maybe he lifted weights up there and she just didn’t know it yet.

  He told them a bit about the aquatic life here, but they didn’t see any before he set the sails again and put them on a course back toward land.

  The sun was arcing toward the west when he finally docked the boat, and Maizee’s stomach grumbled for dinner. Could she ask him out? Would he go? If he said no, how could she look him in the face come Monday morning?

  She hung back as the other women disembarked, until it was just her and Lawrence left on the Tabitha.

  “So, did you enjoy yourself?” he asked, working to secure the boat. “Have you ever been sailing before?”

  “Lots of times,” she said. “I grew up on the island of Lanai.”

  “Oh,” he said, keeping his eyes on his work. “That’s great.”

  “But this was amazing,” she said. “We don’t have our own boat. We’d just rent little ones for the day or go sea kayaking.”

  “Sea kayaking?” Their eyes met, and Maizee actually fell back a step from the electric current running between them. “That sounds dangerous.”

  “It’s actually really fun,” she said. “And East Bay has some great currents.”

  “You’ve been?”

  “Not yet, but I’ve been reading up on the best places to go here.”

  “You have your own sea kayak?” He moved down to a new line and began reeling it in, tightening it like a real pro would on a sailboat.

  “Yes,” she said, feeling a bit defensive and then a bit sad. “But it’s at home, on Lanai.”

  He nodded. “I’m not what you’d call an outdoorsy guy.”

  “No?” She tilted her head to look at him closer, but he didn’t meet her gaze this time. “You were hiking when we first met.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s a loose term for what I was doing.”

  “What were you doing then?”

  He took several long seconds to answer, and when he finally did, it was only with, “Exploring.”

  Maizee wasn’t sure what that meant. “You’re a great sailor.”

  “Thank you.” He grinned at her and time seemed to stall completely. “Listen, this might be…I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about you since last weekend. Would it be weird if we went to dinner or something?” His dark eyes sparked with intensity, with hope, and Maizee felt a smile fill her whole soul, her whole face.

  “I’d like to go to dinner with you.”

  “I don’t normally date anyone who works for me,” he said, swallowing as if he was the nervous one. “If it’s too weird, I get it.”

  “It can’t be weirder than a billionaire pretending to be a sailboat tour guide.” She bumped him with her hip, surprised at her own boldness. After all, he was her boss.

  But he laughed, the sound dangling in the air like musical chimes, sweet and wonderful and making Maizee giggle too.

  “Tonight?” she asked when they both quieted. “Or are you busy after this?”

  “No,” he said, drawing the word out. “You want to go to dinner right now?”

  “Sure,” she said, her flirtation game thriving. “I’m starving.”

  He glanced around as if she’d been talking to someone else. “Then I just need to finish up here, and we can go.”

  “Did you want to change?”

  “Did you want me to change?”

  Maizee quite liked him in whatever he wore, so she shrugged. “Up to you.”

  Lawrence finished with one more line, and then he said, “I’ve got clothes downstairs. I’ll change and meet you on the dock.”

  “Sounds great.” Maizee wanted to stay and ask him another question, flirt with him under the setting sun. But she knew when to make an exit, and it was now, when he wanted her to stay. She walked across the deck and swung her leg over the side of the boat, climbing carefully down the few steps on the ladder until she reached the dock.

  Only then did the bird’s wings explode in her chest. A moan leaked out of her mouth, and she thought, What in the world are you doing?

  He’s your boss!

  No, he owns the whole blasted company!

  If things “got weird” with him and they broke up, Maizee wouldn’t be able to simply transfer to another Gladstone Financial branch.

  She’d be out of a job completely.

  Maizee actually left the dock, thinking she’d just head on home. Lawrence didn’t have her number, and she could barricade herself behind her front door. He wouldn’t look up her personal information anyway. She wasn’t sure why she thought that, only that he seemed like the kind of guy who’d realize what had happened when he disembarked and found her gone.

  They could go on pretending not to see one another when he walked right by her glassed in office, and she could figure out the timing of his schedule so their paths didn’t cross.

  Worry gnawed at her stomach, making it more upset than it already was that she’d underfed it.

  She wandered along the tree line that bordered the parking lot at the dock, her car still calling to her. Begging her to get behind the wheel and drive until she figured things out. She avoided it, clenching her phone in her fist, startling when it chimed.

  Had to be one of her sisters, and Maizee seized onto the idea. She could call Evelyn and ask her—hypothetically, of course—about dating the owner of the company. Evie would know what to do.

  But when she lifted her phone and looked at it, the message was not from Evelyn or Juliet. It was an unknown number, and it read Where did you go? This is Lawrence by the way. I called my secretary to get your number.

  Before she could tap out a single letter of a response, another message came in. I’m not a stalker. I’m just hungry, and you looked so great in that dress.

  Maizee’s stomach settled with such a sweet message, and she turned back to the docks. Went for a quick walk, she texted back. Trying to work my ankle a little bit.

  It wasn’t entirely a lie. She did like to give her ankle a workout every few hours, otherwise it stiffened up and caused her pain.

  I can meet you at my car.

  Maizee didn’t need to ask which one was his. Only a handful of cars remained in the parking lot, and only one of them looked like it cost six figures.

  I see it. Meet you there. She added a little limp to her left step as she approached his midnight blue Mercedes-Benz. It was sleek and stylish, and she supposed it was meant to show others that Lawrence was strong and not to be trifled with.

  He sidled up beside her, and said, “Hey.”

  When Maizee looked at him, she found a strong, masculine man who also happened to wear a sexy meekness right on his face.

  “Still starving?” he asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Their eyes met, and Maizee ducked her head, a giggle coming out of her mouth even though she was much too old for such sounds.

  “How’s your ankle?” he asked, ignoring both the comment and the girlishness. “I saw you limping.”

  “It’s good sometimes and then it hurts a little sometimes.” Maizee lifted one shoulder in a shrug, noticing that Lawrence’s gaze lingered there.

  “What do you like to eat?” he asked.

  “Pretty much anything,” she said, her pulse swinging around in her chest like a pendulum. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this excited about a date with Winn, and she’d kept an eye
on him for six months before he’d asked her out.

  Lawrence had only taken seven days, and Maizee liked that. Maybe he’d been wrestling with his feelings too.

  “I know a great Polynesian place,” he said, reaching past her to open the door. “Sound good?”

  “Absolutely,” she said. “My mother makes a killer poi.”

  He smiled at her, his teeth as straight and white as only good money could make them. She dropped down into his car, glad she hadn’t worn heels and wondering how she’d ever get out of this car even wearing her flats.

  He sauntered around the front of the car, and she drank in the dark slacks he’d changed into. The sky blue shirt, open at the throat, with a suave jacket over that. No tie. No cufflinks. Windblown hair.

  He was devastatingly gorgeous, and Maizee wondered—again—what in the world she was doing with him. What she really wanted to know was what he saw in her.

  He got in the car, and she noticed he wore loafers, not his shiny leather shoes. Everything about him said casual in a very extravagant way. The car started with a roar and then a purr, and he said, “So let’s start with basics. I know it’s impolite to ask a woman her age, so I’ll start and you can say older or younger.” He cut a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. “I'm forty-one.”

  Maizee may have looked up some information on him throughout the years, and she was ready to say, “I’m just younger than that.”

  “Ever been married?” he asked.

  “No. You?” she asked, though she knew he hadn’t. The marriage of Lawrence Gladstone would be the event of the century, wouldn’t it?

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Ever been close?”

  “Not even a little bit.” His fingers squeezed the steering wheel. “You?”

  Maizee waited for him to make a right turn, and then she said, “Yes, actually. I was engaged before moving here.” She didn’t say that her failed engagement was the reason she’d left Lanai and come to Getaway Bay, but Lawrence was a smart guy. He could hear the words behind what she did say.

  “Not wearing a ring now,” he said. “Any chance of that rekindling?”

  Maizee laughed and shook her head, her hair tickling her bare arms. “Not even a little bit.”

  He smiled at her, pulled into a restaurant that was bursting at the seams, and parked right at the curb.

  “Oh, I don’t think—” Maizee cut off when someone opened her door. A man in a uniform stood there, someone she hadn’t even seen. Now, the two dozen people milling outside the restauarant were definitely visible.

  “Hello, Mister Lawrence,” the man said even as he extended his hand to help Maizee from the car. “Two tonight?”

  “Yes, Kael. Thank you.”

  Maizee used Kael’s strength to help her stand, holding onto his hand while her weak ankle adjusted to holding her weight. Before she could let go, he passed her to Lawrence, who had come around the car to the sidewalk.

  “Right this way, sir.” Kael led them right through the throng, and Maizee’s senses felt like they would cause her head to explode. The scent of delicious food and Lawrence’s cologne. The feel of his hand in hers had every cell in her body firing on all cylinders. The way the onlookers watched as she and Lawrence walked right past them and inside the clearly busy restaurant.

  Kael stepped over to the hostess and spoke a few words Maizee couldn’t hear. He returned a moment later and said, “Katia will take you back, sir.”

  “Thanks,” Lawrence said again, and even though Maizee was busy taking in every little detail around her, she noticed him press a tip into Kael’s hand before they followed Katia back to a private table in the corner.

  She sat across from him, hoping she wasn’t about to make the worst mistake of her life.

  Six

  Lawrence wished he would’ve remembered it was a Saturday night at La Coconut. If he had, he would’ve taken Maizee somewhere else. Somewhere a little quieter, a little more off the beaten path.

  Having to walk through all those waiting customers like he owned the place hadn’t helped, as she was now looking at him like he owned the world. While he was used to such things, he certainly didn’t want it to come from her.

  “We can go somewhere else,” he said.

  “Are you kidding?” She unwrapped her silverware and spread her napkin on her lap. “I’ve never been here, and it smells delicious.” She looked around, obviously admiring the plates of the diners around them.

  “Where have you been on the island?” he asked.

  “Roasted,” she said. “And the grocery store.”

  “Ah, so you cook.” He looked up at the waiter, who carried a bottle of wine. “None for me, thank you.” He glanced at Maizee.

  “Just water for me,” she said, and Lawrence’s humiliation over not being a drinker fled. He grinned at her again as she said, “I don’t necessarily cook. But I like to bake.”

  “Oh, yeah? What do you make the most?”

  “Chocolate cake.”

  Oh, he was going to be in so much trouble. If she could bake a chocolate cake that tasted anywhere near as good as she looked, he could lose his heart to this woman. He pulled back on his thoughts, as this was their very first date. Just because he hadn’t been out with anyone in a long time didn’t mean he was ready to get married tomorrow.

  His feelings just seemed to stream through him so strongly, and he didn’t know how to tame them.

  “I’d like to try that,” he said. “I’m a sucker for chocolate.”

  She picked up her menu and started studying it. “Lualua. I’m having that.”

  “It’s one of my favorites too,” he said, leaving his menu on the table. He wasn’t on a first-name basis with the staff for no reason. “Their poke is also delicious.”

  Her blue eyes met his over the top of the menu, and wow, he forgot how to breathe.

  “Ah, with tuna. Sounds delicious.”

  He let a few moments of noise pass by. “I don’t really believe you.”

  She set her menu down and laughed. “Yeah, you shouldn’t. I don’t like raw fish.”

  “And you grew up in Hawaii?”

  “It takes all kinds,” she said, folding her arms on the table and leaning into them. “Makes the world interesting, no?”

  “Definitely.”

  The waiter returned, and he gestured for her to order first. She went with the lualua, and Steven asked, “Pork, chicken, or beef?”

  “Pork.”

  “Macaroni salad okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Poi?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Fried plantains?”

  “Bring it all.” She smiled at him, and Lawrence liked her charm, her wit, and her spirit. No wonder she made him feel alive. With a start, he realized he didn’t even know he was sort of dead inside until that moment.

  “And for you, sir?” Steven looked at him, and Lawrence was glad he got someone who knew how to wait on him. Steven would stop by once after the food was brought, and he’d refill the drinks as he kept an eye on them like a hawk.

  “Same as her.”

  “Yes, sir.” He glanced at the table. “No Dr. Pepper tonight?”

  “Yes, please. You know how I like it.”

  Steven nodded and left, and Lawrence wished he had his soda now to hide behind.

  “You know how I like it?” Maizee repeated, leaning forward even further. “Do you own this place, Lawrence?”

  He blinked at her and then laughed. “Heavens, no.”

  “What’s he going to bring you?”

  “A Dr. Pepper with cherry and coconut.”

  “Ah, like you were making on the boat.” She sat back, the playfulness in her eyes unlike anything he’d seen at the office.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I like a fun flavored soda.” He liked the burn of the carbonation down his throat, and the way the caffeine zipped through his system.

  “What else do you like?” she asked. “Fruity Dr. Pepper and choco
late cake.” She ticked the two items off on her fingers. “Sailing. Finance.” She stalled, watching him.

  “Sandwiches,” he said. “If you can put it on bread or a roll, I’m sold.”

  She trilled out a laugh, tucking her hair behind her ears, something Lawrence had the crazy craving to do too. But he would not be touching her again tonight. He was certain the only reason she’d let him hold her hand as they walked into the restaurant was because Kael had set it all up. The hundred dollar bill Lawrence had given him wasn’t even close to enough.

  “What about you?” he asked. “You like….” He didn’t want to list anything, because he wasn’t confident in getting them right. “Baking. Coffee. Sea kayaking. Paperwork.”

  She groaned and shook her head. “Paperwork? Who likes paperwork?”

  “Loan officers,” he said, grinning at her. Steven brought their drinks and made himself scarce, and as the conversation continued, Lawrence learned that Maizee liked almost anything she could do outdoors: hiking, sailing, kayaking, hammocking, and lying on the beach.

  So pretty much the opposite of him making his dirty Dr. Pepper and collapsing on the couch to watch his streaming service. She did like her job, but definitely not the paperwork part of it, and she definitely didn’t eat anything in the breakfast food family.

  The lualua was delicious, and Lawrence cleaned his plate, glad when Maizee did too. When it was time to leave, he threw a few bills on the table and stood, expecting her to move in front of him.

  Instead, she reached for his hand and he slipped his fingers between hers effortlessly, wondering if they should talk about this growing attraction between them. Did they need to, because they worked together? He didn’t need drama in the branch, and as they waited on the curb for Kael to get his car, Lawrence tugged her a little closer to him.

  “What are you thinking about this?”

  “About what?”

  “Us.” When she didn’t answer, he said, “I’m particularly concerned about what you want from me while we’re at work.”

  Kael pulled up and the conversation stalled while he opened doors for them, received another tip, and Lawrence pulled away from the still-busy restaurant.