Cocky Billionaires: A Contemporary Romance Box Set

by J. P. Comeau

  I felt tears rushing down my cheeks as I turned to Zane.

  “Don’t you ever invite Zane out whenever I’m around. We can’t be partying together. Not anymore. He’s my boss, you idiot.”

  “Hey! Don’t you talk to him like that,” Karina said.

  I held up my hands. “Trust me. It won’t happen ever again.”

  There were so many emotions flooding my system all at once. Anger and depression. Frustration and confusion. Plus, I felt shitty for being such an asshole to Clint. If I ever had Karina or Kelly die right next to me, I’d never be able to function again. Even with the argument, we were having, I loved those two more than I could stand. I couldn't imagine what Clint had seen during his stint in the Navy, especially as a SEAL. And part of me hoped he returned to the party.

  “Cake time!” someone exclaimed.

  “Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you!”

  I slowly turned around and saw some of the casino staff, bringing out a three-tiered cake. Everyone else around the table was silent, but the cake looked phenomenal. The royal blue fondant base made the glittering silver decorations pop. The bottom layer was polka-dotted with glistening silver circles of all sizes, and the middle layer was decorated with a sparkling edible silver purse, a pair of matching edible silver high heels, and a tube of silver lipstick with a crimson color spilling out over the royal blue of the cake. But, the last layer was what really took my breath away. Because in between the candles and the lit sparklers and the twinkling silver liquid that seemed to drip down the sides of the royal blue topper were two numbers. They were two small numbers that stopped me in my tracks.

  A two, and a seven.

  “Happy birthday to you!”

  I’m twenty-seven years old.

  “Well, go on, Roxy. Make a wish and blow out your candles,” Zane said.

  As the girls stared me down with hatred in their eyes, I couldn't move. I felt paralyzed from head to toe, and suddenly I wished Clint was here to get me out of this situation. He always did that at work. He always had a way of cropping up at the best times to get me out of sticky situations with people who walked into his office at any given moment. And I yearned for him to walk up behind me with an excuse to pull me away from this insane evening.

  Please, Clint. Come back. Help me.

  Those two numbers taunted me as the servers set the cake down in front of me. I felt everyone looking at me as my eyes danced between the two and the seven. I was the oldest girl here. Hell, I was the second to oldest person there. And what did I have to show for my life? Karina was the head of Zane’s H.R. department. Brenden and Zane had their own multi-million dollar company. Kelly had her own damn fashion line that was making the big bucks now, and Clint was a war hero with a budding security company of his own.

  And me?

  I was a secretary, making an average wage, trying to dig myself out of credit card debt, with nothing to my name. No investments. No property. No savings account. Nothing.

  “Roxy?” Kelly asked.

  I blinked rapidly. “Here it goes.”

  Then, I blew out the candles on my 27th birthday.

  Everyone clapped, and Brenden even whistled. Food started coming out of the kitchen as I slowly sat back down into my seat. I felt the alcohol trying to drown out my own thoughts, and when the waiter placed a massive steak in front of me, my stomach growled out. I needed to eat something. I’d never get home safely if I left like this. And while I didn’t want it to seem like Kelly and Karina had won tonight, I didn’t have a choice.

  I had to eat before I could leave.

  “Are you feeling better?” Karina asked.

  Zane whispered harshly to her. “Not now. Just eat.”

  At least I didn’t have a man telling me what to do all the damn time. Though, I did toss Zane a glare.

  “She can do whatever she wants, all right?” I asked.

  Then, I sliced into my juicy steak and shoved a massive bite into my mouth.

  And I found myself wondering what Clint was up to.

  6

  _____

  CLINT

  “You’re better than this,” I said.

  I stared at myself in the mirror, donning nothing but sweatpants and a white t-shirt. My head tilted off to the side as I studied the furrow of my brow and the crow’s feet at the sides of my eyes. I ran my hand over the scruff on my face. I’d have to trim up and shape up tomorrow morning. It would be too wild once I woke up, and I’d have to put in some effort to make it look right. But, the few gray hairs in my beard caught my attention, causing me to think about the past few years of my life.

  “Jealousy doesn’t look good on you, man,” I murmured.

  It was true, though. I was incredibly jealous of what my brothers had. They’d met the love of their lives, and it showed on their faces. I’d never felt like that with my ex-wife, which was probably why she had cheated on me in the first place. Other than giving her great sex whenever I was home, she needed more than I could provide while being a Navy SEAL. She always accused me of never being present. Of always being different every time I came home, so it was like relearning how to live with me. She complained of never getting to a point in our marriage where we were comfortable with one another because, with every deployment, it changed the game.

  Then, I was diagnosed with PTSD.

  “Son of a bitch,” I murmured.

  I looked down into the sink as I pressed my hands against the bathroom countertop. I closed my eyes and tried to push the memories off to the side, but I couldn't. Every time I saw my brothers with Kelly and Karina, it made me relive the horrible chance I took at love. At a new life. At a family and happiness, and serenity.

  “You don’t deserve it,” I whispered.

  Somedays, I questioned why my ex left. But, times like this? I knew why. I couldn't give her what she wanted. Maggie had this glorified view of what it meant to be a military wife, and when it didn’t live up to her expectations, she blamed me for it. And that wasn’t my fault. But, it was my fault for not preparing her ahead of time. It was my fault for not taming her expectations. I should’ve been able to step up and take the reins. I should’ve been able to guide her and get her to understand rather than giving her a crash course in that shit once we got hitched.

  “You’re so stupid!” I roared.

  I pushed away from the counter and stormed out of the bathroom. I charged over to my small kitchenette and pulled a fresh bottle of tequila from the cabinet. The only thing to do with tonight was to drown it out. That was the only choice I had. But as I stood there, with that bottle clutched in my hand, my mind decided it wanted to torture me a little more.

  Roxy looked good tonight.

  I opened the bottle and held it up to my lips, refusing to charge down that road tonight. It was the last thing I needed, especially since it was true. I didn’t need to use Roxy as a distraction, and I sure as hell didn’t need to be focusing on an employee like that.

  Hell, me being drawn to her was one of the reasons why she was my first hire.

  I flopped down into my recliner and took another swig of tequila. I set the bottle between my legs and reached for my remote, turning on my television. And the first fucking thing to pop up on the screen was a commercial for baby powder.

  And I was entranced by the scenes the father had with his son.

  “I wouldn’t mind a son,” I murmured.

  Someone to take hiking and fishing. Someone to do outdoor stuff with and teach how to hunt. A young boy to raise into the kind of man society needed instead of the men society kept getting.

  The thought made me grin.

  At one point in time, I wanted a family with my ex-wife. I wanted to have her pregnant and swollen with my children. I wanted a big family, too. At least four children. All healthy, happy, and loud as can be. My grin grew into a smile as I thought about it. With the commercials flipping in the background, I forgot all about the tequila between my legs as my thoughts pulled me back. />
  It was closing me off from the rest of the world.

  The life I’d led after my divorce wasn’t one to write home about. For a few years after my wife and I split, I drank myself stupid every night. I went out with Bryce on the weekends before he got married to pick up ‘bunk bunnies’ and fuck them senseless before sending them home walking funny. Then, four years after losing my wife, I lost my best friend.

  “Bryce,” I whispered.

  I lost the only person that really mattered to me—my brother. He was my confidant. The best friend I’d ever had. I became a drunkard, which was why I was sidelined from missions. I became unkempt, which is why I was dropped to pushing papers instead of getting out there with my SEAL buddies. Then, it came time to re-up my contract, and I figured leaving was better than staying and being reminded of everything the Navy took from me.

  Only to find myself in Vegas doing the same damn thing.

  Every weekend, I went out and threw back some drinks. Every weekend, I brought a new girl back to this dumbass studio apartment for a rousing night of debaucherous pleasure. And once the first glint of sun came around the next morning, she was in a taxi headed home—courtesy of my wallet.

  It was getting old, though.

  “I’m getting old,” I whispered.

  I thought back to Roxy and her party. I thought back to the cute little number she’d been wearing and felt my sweatpants getting tight around my pelvis. That woman never ceased to be the sexiest thing I’d ever laid my eyes on. Especially when I first met her last year. Roxy working to get her sister laid tickled my funny bone, but watching her work that hard over something she cared about is what drew me to her. Yeah, the idea was stupid. Yeah, the idea was frivolous. But, she threw her all into it while making sure her sister would be safe.

  I liked that about her.

  I liked a lot about her.

  Now that she was working for me, though, any idea of asking her out on a date was forbidden. Dating an employee would be like an officer dating an enlisted individual in the Navy. That shit got people dishonorably discharged left and right. That’s one of the reasons why all of the men I hired were ex-military. It wasn’t just because they had training and experience already underneath their belts. But, it was also because I knew they’d be able to follow the rules I set forth for them. Plus, the last thing I needed was to compromise the face of my business. Not myself, of course. But, her.

  So many of my clients had come to view Roxy as an integral part of my entire company, and the last thing I needed was to lose that.

  Maybe she knows why some girls were eager to get my attention…

  I chuckled as I reached for the tequila between my legs. As the television rolled in the background, I tipped the bottle up to my lips again. A few months ago, I’d come across a rumor that made me chuckle every time I thought about it. And that was the fact that the few women I did employ whispered and giggled behind my back about something. I’d never asked why, of course. It didn’t seem fitting for a man of my stature at my own company to ask such a question. But, that didn’t mean my curiosity wasn’t there.

  “Maybe Roxy would answer if I asked,” I murmured.

  I set my tequila bottle off to the side and stared at the television. I didn’t know what the hell I was watching, but the explosions on the screen made my eye twitch. My hand started shaking as I reached for the remote, and I fumbled around with it so much that I started to sweat. I slid the remote into my lap as my quaking fingers reached for the power button, ready to turn the damn thing off.

  Then, a loud blast pulled me from my seat and forced me to the floor.

  “Riley! Matthew! Take cover! We’re taking fire!” I exclaimed.

  I covered my head and rooted around for my gun. I needed to get out of here. I needed to get away from this war zone. I scrambled behind the recliner and saw the remote control on the floor before a massive thud sounded directly below me. I blinked a few times before I slammed my fist against the remote control. The television turned off, and I sighed, trying to pick myself up off the floor.

  But, my head slammed against the underside of the table.

  And I listened as that entire bottle of tequila fell to the floor.

  “Fucking--are you kidding me!?”

  Everything around me was foggy as memories kept flipping between Roxy and work, war, and Bryce. Roxy, work, war, Bryce. Roxy, work, war, Bryce.

  “I need to get out of here,” I breathed.

  I picked myself up off the floor and scrambled to get to my bed. And just when I sat on the edge of it, my phone started vibrating against my leg. I jammed my hand into my pocket and pulled it out, ready to ignore Zane’s phone call.

  Then again, he might need help with something down at the casino.

  So, I answered it.

  “This is Clint.”

  He paused. “You okay?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, why’s that?”

  “You sound like you were on the run.”

  I smirked. “Just doing some in-home exercises. Can’t sleep.”

  “Well, if you can’t sleep, you could come back to the party.”

  I shook my head. “I think I’m in for the night. Another time, though.”

  “Clint, you don’t have a choice in the matter.”

  “Yeah, pretty sure I do.”

  “You need to come out. You need to talk to people. You need to do something other than work.”

  My eyebrows rose. “That’s rich, coming from you.”

  “Look, Brenden and I are exact role models of what you shouldn't do. And when we decided to focus on other things but work--.”

  “I’m not going to sit here and listen to you insinuate that I might find some love of my whatever simply because I come out tonight. It’s not going to work.”

  “All I’m saying is that you can’t expect to live life to the fullest if you’re constantly telling yourself why you shouldn't go out and do something. Just come to the damn party. It’s been such a bullshit waste up until this point, and you might be just what we need to salvage it.”

  I chuckled. “And the real reason comes out.”

  “Just think about it, will you? Yeah?”

  “So, now we’ve gone from demanding me to letting me think about it? How long do you guys plan on partying tonight?”

  He sighed. “As long as it takes for Roxy to smile again.”

  Worry filled my gut. “Why? What’s happened?”

  “Look, it’s nothing. But, Roxy and the girls got into a bit of a spat, and now they aren’t talking with one another.”

  “Sounds like a smidge more than a ‘bit’ of a spat.”

  “Will you stop analyzing shit and just get down here? Please?”

  I looked down at my clothes. “I need to change first.”

  “I thought you already changed?”

  “Yeah, into sweatpants and a t-shirt. I wasn’t planning on coming back out.”

  “Fine. Wear whatever. Just get over here? Please, Clint?”

  I snickered. “No need to get on your knees, Zane. I’m getting changed now.”

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I owe you huge.”

  “Are you sure Roxy wants me there, though? She wasn’t too friendly when we first ran into one another.”

  “Because you told her you were working when you weren’t assigned to work. Maybe just come and tell her you want to celebrate her birthday. Try the truth.”

  I drew in a deep breath. “Fine, okay. But, if Roxy is weird about my being there, I’m dipping out. Got it?”

  “All I’m asking is that you come and try. That’s it.”

  “All right. Give me thirty, and I’ll be there. But, don’t be shocked if I’m the killjoy of the evening.”

  “See you soon. And you won’t be a killjoy.”

  I walked over to my closet. “It’ll be like Dad showing up to this thing.”

  Zane chuckled. “Dad’s horrible at telling jokes. At least you’ve got great jokes on your s
ide.”

  I flipped through my suits. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

  “I’m not sure where Roxy stormed off to, but the rest of us are in this back private room eating cake and the food we ordered. Just come find us when you get here.”

  Or find Roxy. “Got it.”

  “See you soon, Clint.”

  “Yep.”

  I shook my head as I tossed my cell phone onto the bed. If they wanted me to come out that badly, I would. But, I wouldn't stay if it was only going to make Roxy’s night worse. I wanted to know more about the fight, though. I wanted to know if she stood up for herself because I knew what was bothering her. Roxy had always been easy to read. And with training in the Navy regarding non-verbal body language, it only made her easier to figure out on a daily basis.

  I knew things about Roxy she probably didn’t know I knew.

  So, maybe I could play that to my advantage tonight.

  7

  _____

  ROXY

  I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Roxy?”

  I sighed. “What, Kelly?”

  “Can we talk?”

  I shrugged. “Sure, why not. It’s only my birthday.”

  Karina sat down beside me. “Me, too. I want to talk.”

  I nodded. “At least I have you guys here now.”

  I gazed up at the dark night sky as I stood on the small back patio of the casino. There was no one sitting out here except for a very drunk man that needed to be taken home, and I wanted the space. I wanted silence because I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to stay for the rest of my party.

  “So, I’ve been thinking,” Karina said.

  I nodded. “Usually, a good thing.”

  Kelly scoffed. “Roxy, come on.”

  I looked over at my sister. “I’m not making this easy on either of you guys. Because you haven't made it easy on me.”

  Karina took my hand. “We know.”