“She seems completely unimpressed with everything I do and say.”
Sebastian laughed. “Good for her.”
Gus’s eyebrow raised. “You know how much I love a challenge, right?”
The blood in Sebastian’s veins began to boil at the thought. “You said you wouldn’t go after her.”
“She intrigues me.”
“Gus!”
“She did like the office, though.”
“The office?”
“I gave her the big office on the fifth floor.”
“You did what?”
“I thought she’d be impressed.” He got a little twinkle in his eye. “And she was. She started crying and everything.”
“You made her cry?”
“They were happy tears, bro.”
“You know it’s going to be harder for me to keep my identity secret with her in the same building, right?”
“I wasn’t thinking about that.”
“Yeah, I know. You were thinking about what you could do to get her.” It was Gus’s M.O. Use his wealth and status to get them into bed. And it almost always worked.
“I can see why you like her. It’s not just her looks. She’s smart and serious. Just your type.”
“I know.” Sebastian was losing patience.
Gus stood and sat on the edge of the desk. “Maybe she could be my type too.”
Sebastian looked around for something to smack his brother with, then shoved Gus off the edge instead.
Gus landed on the floor with a thud. “Not cool.”
Sebastian stared down at Gus. “Have you been drinking?”
“I was wining and dining.”
“Come on, Gus. I thought you were putting that behind you.”
“I only had a couple glasses with my steak.”
Sebastian kept his gaze on his brother.
“I can’t believe you really think I’d go after the first girl you’ve shown any interest in in years.” It wasn’t unlike Gus to steer the conversation away from his drinking.
Sebastian shrugged his shoulders. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Hey, that was years ago, and Macy only wanted one thing out of your relationship.”
“My bank account remembers well.”
“I did you a favor there. She was good for a little fun, but not the girl for you.”
It was the same with most girls Sebastian attempted to date over the years. At first, they seemed genuinely interested, acting like they actually wanted to get to know him, but as the relationships progressed, the topics of conversation often turned to buying this or that, going to fancy restaurants, taking the limo or the private jet on trips. It was never about their future, only about what he could give them or buy them. He’d only had one serious dating relationship in his life—Serena—but in the end, that had turned out to be a lie too.
When he’d sworn off dating, the fact that he might always be alone saddened him, but he’d gotten used to it over time. He had a family who loved him, and while at times he longed to be close to a woman, he was mostly happy with his life.
But now that he’d met Genevieve, the longing to connect on a deeper level was overwhelming. And the possible threat of his brother swooping in drove him crazy.
He almost laughed aloud thinking about wanting an honest relationship with her when he’d started theirs off with a lie. Kurtis? What had he been thinking? Why hadn’t he just told her who he was? She might have been embarrassed at first for insulting him unknowingly, but they could have moved past that awkwardness and at least she would have known who he really was.
But then he thought again about how relaxed and open she was with him. There were no barriers because of status, and that had felt amazing. It had reaffirmed in his mind that this was the right choice for now. At least until he knew if this could actually go somewhere.
“Hello.” Gus waved his hand in front of Sebastian’s face. “Are you in there?”
“Huh?”
“Gosh, I’ve never seen you so moony over a girl before.”
“Shut it.”
“You’ll be happy to know that she’s single. At least I think she is. She mentioned money being hard to deal with when you’re single.”
“Why were you talking about money?”
“I asked if she would rather marry a rich man or a poor man.”
“What?” He was so exasperated with his brother at times.
“I was trying to gauge her feelings about guys with money.”
“And that question was going to give you your answer?”
“She said it didn’t matter to her. That she’d choose a poor man if she was in love with him. And she thinks you’re poor, so … go and fall in love.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“It didn’t matter how impressed she was with that office, she clearly wasn’t impressed with me. She only asked about you … or should I say ‘Kurtis’.”
“She asked about me?”
Gus smirked. “Just go.”
“I already stopped by her office once today. I don’t want to seem too eager.”
Gus rolled his eyes. “She’s off and running already. You should’ve heard her talk about this event. The wheels are turning, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already set up meetings.”
Sebastian shook his head and smiled. “She’s so incredible.”
“Go!” Gus waved his arms, shooing him out of his own office.
“Have I ever told you how pushy you are?” Sebastian said.
“You love me.”
Nerves fluttered through Sebastian as he walked out of the fifth floor elevator. Partly because he was anxious to see Genevieve again, but also because he was nervous that someone would greet him by his name and ruin everything.
Sebastian moved swiftly toward the office at the end of the hallway. He took a deep breath as he knocked on the door.
“Come in,” her sweet voice rang out.
He opened the door to see her scribbling something on her notepad. “Settling in okay?”
Her eyes shot up to his and that beautiful smile spread across her face. “You’re just everywhere today, aren’t you?”
“Is that a complaint?”
“Not at all. Come in.”
Sebastian moved into the room, closed the door behind him, and sat on the edge of her desk. “How was lunch?”
“It went well. Mr. Schultz seemed very impressed with my ideas.”
Sebastian glanced around the spacious office. “Obviously.”
A shy expression crossed her face. “It’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
He shook his head. “It suits you.”
She looked up at him with a smile in her eyes. “You think?”
“I do.”
“Well, there’s plenty of room in here if you want to come help me get started on the regatta.” She gave him a coy look, which made his pulse quicken.
He suddenly realized that he’d been so distracted by the idea of his brother being interested in Genevieve that he’d forgotten to ask what they’d discussed at the restaurant. “He approved all your plans then?”
“He did. It’s going to be amazing.”
Sebastian wished he shared her enthusiasm, but he was annoyed with Gus for making decisions without running them by him first. He’d asked his brother to take over for one meeting, and he’d made it very clear that he was taking back the reins on this event.
“So, it was a good lunch then.” He tried to sound supportive.
“Yeah, but the meal itself …” She wrinkled her nose, which was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen.
“Not good? Cygnus has some of the best food in town.”
“I don’t eat red meat very often, and he ordered us steak.”
“You don’t eat red meat?”
“I stick to salmon or chicken, usually. A girl’s gotta watch her figure, right?”
Sebastian snorted, but with a slight blush to her cheeks, he could tell she was s
erious, and he couldn’t figure out why in the world she would need to watch her weight. She was beautiful just as she was.
“Anyway, how did you know we went to Cygnus?”
His heartbeat stuttered. Crap. “Someone in the office said.”
“Oh. Have you ever been?”
“Once or twice.” Truthfully, he’d been more times than he could count. “Their steak is very good.”
She grinned. “I would’ve liked to have made my own lunch choice, but when the boss orders for you, what’re you gonna do, right?”
It annoyed him that Gus had done that, but that’s how he usually was with women, and they usually didn’t mind him being all alpha male with them. Sebastian, on the other hand, was often awkward about how much money they had and how to spend it on people he cared about without coming off as pretentious. He wanted nothing more than to be like their father, Ephraim, who may have built their company into a chocolate empire and made them billions of dollars, but never once treated anyone as if they were less than and never flaunted the money they had. He was down-to-earth and good, generous and caring, and that’s exactly what Sebastian strived to be.
“Speaking of the boss …” he said. “Mr. Schultz wants us to work closely to plan and promote this, and I’ll help you in any way I can.”
“Really?” An adorable smile spread across her face.
He nodded. “What can I do?”
“Will you go with me to Holland tomorrow to meet with the coordinator at the yacht club?”
“Absolutely.” Nothing had ever sounded more wonderful in his life.
EIGHT
I’M FREE!”
Genevieve emerged from her kitchen later that night to see her sister, Rhonda, drop her purse on the side table by the door and raise her hands in the air as she did a little dance.
“The divorce is final!”
“Oh, Rhon, I’m so happy for you.” Genevieve walked over and hugged her tightly.
“It’s done, and I can finally move on with my life.” Rhonda gave her a hard squeeze before letting go. “How was your day?”
A smile spread across Genevieve’s face before she could control it. “It was good.”
“What was that?” Rhonda gave her a curious look as she tucked a blonde wave behind her ear.
“What?”
“That smile.”
“It was just a smile.” Genevieve ignored her older sister and walked back into the kitchen, opening the fridge to pull out a couple containers with leftover grilled chicken and steamed vegetables.
Rhonda trailed after her. “Oh no, you can’t get all dreamy-eyed all of the sudden and then pretend it was nothing.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Tell me about your new boss, Richie Rich. Was it love at first sight for both of you and now he’s going to marry you and provide for our family for the rest of our lives?”
“Have you been reading Jane Austen again?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t the families all live together in the same house in those books? You really want to live with Mom again?”
“If we had billions of dollars, heck yeah.”
Genevieve pushed her to the side with a bump of the hip. “You’re so shallow.”
“So, is he the reason for your smile?”
“What? No, I did not fall in love with my boss.” She pulled two plates from the cupboard and set them on the countertop, popping open the plastic containers. She could feel her sister’s eyes on her. “Fine. I met someone.”
Rhonda clapped her hands together and shrieked, causing Genevieve to jump and nearly knock one of the containers of leftovers onto the floor.
“Geez, Rhonda.”
Rhonda took both containers from her and reattached the lids.
“What are you doing? That’s our dinner.”
“Not tonight, it’s not.” Rhonda put the food back into the fridge. “We’re going out. I’ve got something to celebrate. And it sounds like you do too.”
Genevieve grinned as her sister led her to the bathroom and opened the cabinet, which contained what little makeup she owned.
“Now, start talking. I want to hear everything.”
“His name is Kurtis.”
“Kurtis! I love it. And?”
“That’s it. I just met him.”
“I need more …” Rhonda’s face screwed up as she opened a compact of crumbled eyeshadow. “How old is this?”
Genevieve laughed. “I don’t know. I stole it from you in high school.”
“Gross, Genny,” she responded as she tossed it into the garbage can. “You’re supposed to replace your eyeshadow every year or two.”
“Oops.”
Rhonda headed out to the other room and returned with her purse, dumping the contents onto the bathroom vanity and retrieving her own eyeshadow palette. “Tell me about Kurtis. What do you like about him?”
Genevieve thought about that for a moment. What’s not to like? “He’s really sweet and so easy to talk to.”
“Easy to talk to?” she raised an eyebrow. “Come on. Give me all the details.”
“He has dark hair and these amazing hazel eyes. I could stare into them all day.”
“That’s more like it. What else?”
“He’s got a nice smile.” She felt a blush coming on just remembering him smiling at her.
“Is he buff?”
“You are so obsessed with muscles.”
“I know, right? So … does he have any?”
“I mean, when I met him, he was in a T-shirt and workout pants, and he looked … pretty fit, I guess. But I didn’t gawk at his muscles or anything.” She waved her sister off. “I don’t even care about that.”
“You will.”
She shook her head. “You’re crazy.”
“You’re gonna want a guy who can pick you up and carry you to bed.”
“Rhonda!”
“Or push you up against the wall.”
“Okay, we’re done here.”
Rhonda started laughing as she applied mascara. She was so inappropriate sometimes. But after a long separation from her husband of ten years, it was understandable that she would be a little starved for affection, which was probably why she clung to every detail of Genevieve’s dating life and talked about guys as if they were a piece of meat.
“So, are you in the same department or what?” Rhonda asked.
“Yeah, they actually moved me from this tiny little cubby of an office to this amazing office in the marketing department.”
“Well, aren’t you special.”
“They just treat their employees well, I guess. It’s a nice change from my last job.”
“I’ll say.”
“You should see this office, though. It’s gigantic, and the view of the river is beautiful.” Happiness settled over her when she thought about it.
“So, you’ll see Kurtis again tomorrow then?” Of course, her sister would turn the conversation back to the guy.
“We’re working together on my first big fundraising event.”
Rhonda turned the curling iron on to heat it up. “How convenient.”
Genevieve watched her sister applying makeup expertly, but her mind wasn’t on what color eyeshadow to wear. When she’d been hired, she thought life couldn’t get any better, but meeting Kurtis … this was much more than she expected. She didn’t want to get ahead of herself, but there was definitely something between them, a special kind of connection she’d never felt with a guy before.
“You can borrow some of my makeup if you want,” Rhonda told her.
Growing up, Genevieve had wanted to be just like her sister—beautiful, tall and thin, never had to worry about her weight, always had boyfriends and dates. Genevieve was the exact opposite—always in jeans and T-shirts, messy braids, no makeup. She was the simple sister with the tomboy proclivities.
Looking at her reflection now, she was happy with who she was, but it had taken her yea
rs to get there after being told by their mother throughout her formative years that she could use some improvement.
She glanced over at Rhonda, who looked happier than she’d seen her in a long time. She’d become an entirely different person within the confines of her marriage to Nolan, a miserable shell of herself, and Genevieve was overjoyed to have her sister back. She deserved a man who would adore her, not one who was verbally abusive and unfaithful.
“You look beautiful,” Genevieve told her.
“Thanks.” Rhonda stepped closer and ran a brush through Genevieve’s hair. It had been years since she’d done that. “Are you ready?”
Genevieve nodded. “Let’s go.”
The girls headed out to a little club on the east side of Grand Rapids. The place was hopping, and they were lucky to find an empty table. A local band was performing, so it was a little hard to hear. They ordered some greasy fries and soft drinks and settled in to enjoy the music.
Genevieve scanned the room, taking in the people closer to the stage who were dancing to the music. She turned in the direction of the pool table when she heard laughter, and there, standing with a group of people, was Sebastian Schultz.
“Oh my gosh!” She quickly rotated so her back was to him. “That’s my boss.”
Rhonda craned her neck to see. “Your boss is here? Which one is he?”
She glanced over her shoulder in his direction again and saw that a curvy blonde had wrapped her arms around his neck and was leaning in to whisper in his ear. “He’s the one with the blonde draped all over him.”
“Yum! Don’t you have all the luck. I wish my boss looked like that.”
Genevieve turned her head once more, and this time, Sebastian’s gaze met hers, and his eyebrows raised when he recognized her. He said something to the woman beside him and began moving in their direction.
She turned back to Rhonda and groaned. “I think he’s coming over.”
“Hey, Genevieve,” he said as he arrived at their table.
“Sebastian.” She gave him a little smile. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Just playing a little pool with friends.” He turned his attention to Rhonda and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Sebastian.”
Not The Billionaire Page 4
