Billionaire Barista: Love Demands a Holiday

by Rogue, McKenna

Alone at last.

  I moved into the closet toward her. “What are the two of you up to?”

  “Um, nothing really,” she said shakily, taking a step back from me. “Talking about fashion.”

  I couldn’t tell if the move was because she was nervous and uncomfortable, or if she was as excited as I was. I wanted to find out which.

  I kept advancing toward her until she was up against a display of high heels. I leaned into her, placing a hand on either side of her shoulders. Cassia wasn’t short like my sister. She was probably five foot ten, and in the heels she was wearing, she was just over six feet tall. We were almost eye to eye. I was taller than her still, but not by much now. Her cheeks were rosy. It took everything I had not to touch her.

  “You haven’t talked to me since we had coffee.”

  She cleared her throat. “I’m aware.”

  “You’re still mad.”

  “Still mad? For what?”

  “My guess is taking your virginity and then being a complete dick the next morning.”

  Her mouth fell open and then she closed it with a click of her teeth snapping together. “You’re a lot more direct than you used to be.”

  “Too direct?”

  “No, it’s good to know what you’re thinking. Something I never knew when we were…teenagers.”

  “Would you like to know what else I’m thinking about?”

  She didn’t answer, which didn’t clue me in one way or the other.

  “I’ll make this easy for you, Cassia. I’m going to kiss you and if you don’t want me to, then just tell me to stop.” Not sure where that came from, but I went with it. It was always better to just feel and go with it, then to over-analyze everything to death.

  More than that, I needed to kiss her. I needed to know if there was still something between us. Something more than hurt feelings and spilled latte.

  Her lips parted and I took that as my cue. I leaned down and tentatively brushed my lips against hers. No slap. No knee to the balls. My hands dropped to her hips and I pulled her roughly against me as I captured her mouth and pushed my tongue through her lips with no resistance. She moaned into my mouth and her arms wound around my neck. Her fingers glided through my hair at the back of my neck, while her other hand pressed into my shoulder blade, her nails biting my flesh.

  I shoved her roughly against the wall of shoes, making a few of them topple over. I pushed my thigh between hers, wedging it against her sex.

  Cassia pushed on my chest and I broke our kiss with a reluctant groan.

  “Your sister is going to be back any moment,” she panted. “And I should not be doing this with you.”

  “Cassia, let me make it up to you.”

  “By letting you into my pants?” She slid out of the space between me and the wall. “I don’t think so. Aside from my very stupid slip just now. I have no desire or need to do anything with you ever again.”

  “I bet your panties are drenched.” Fuck, she was making me crazy with need and a fucking caveman.

  Except she had just slammed on the breaks.

  Fire exploded in her eyes and her pouty lips thinned into a deep frown. “Don’t think you had any impact on my panties. I had a stupid moment of remembering or forgetting…and it’s over. For good. Never to resurface. I’m not stupid enough to think I mattered to you at all.”

  It grated on me that she wasn’t as enthralled as I was. “I don’t usually act like a Neanderthal.” I took a step back.

  “Then why with me?”

  “You’ve always left me off balance.”

  She jabbed her finger into my chest. “That’s because I was the only person you ever let in and I’m the only person who doesn’t fall for your stupid antics.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. She didn’t just hate me; she was still pissed. Maybe I meant more to her than I realized.

  “I just got caught up in our chemistry because it’s been a while for me. But it doesn’t mean anything. Chemistry is meaningless, especially when the guy is a complete ass-face.”

  I wanted to ask how long. I wanted to ask who the last guy was so I could kill him. I didn’t like the idea of anyone else touching her. She was mine first.

  Where the hell did that come from? Cassia was cluttering my head up fast.

  “Your sister and I are possibly entering a deal together. And I don’t want things to get messy. She wants this. And I think I do too.”

  “Great. I’m being cock-blocked by my sister.”

  Her gaze dropped to my crotch. I noted that her eyes widened by the tent in my pants. She blinked a couple of times.

  “Eyes are up here, Cinnamon.”

  Her brown eyes lifted to mine. “Ass.”

  I chuckled. “I could help you scratch that itch.”

  She waggled her finger at me. “That is a bad idea. And chemistry or not, I can do a lot better.”

  “Who?”

  “You want a name?”

  “I do.”

  She rolled her yes. “You don’t get anything from me anymore, Davenport. We can be pleasant or not talk at all. I want to work with your sister, and I don’t want you ruining that for me.”

  Sofia burst back into the room. “I’m so sorry, Cassia.”

  I moved around the bureau. Cassia had moxie and integrity and she didn’t care that I was rich, a Davenport, or anything else. But she cared about my sister and their possible partnership. And she cared about her own heart.

  “It’s okay. Christopher here was just keeping me company.”

  Sofia glanced between us. She didn’t say anything, but I did note her death glare. She didn’t want me fucking up her possible business plan either.

  “You can call me Chris,” I said tossing her a wink.

  “Maybe I should call you Mr. Davenport.”

  I smirked. Suddenly, I was picturing her in a secretary get-up—glasses, and a pencil skirt with her ass in the air just before I shoved her skirt up over that voluptuous ass and thrust my cock deep inside of her.

  “Whatever you want, Cin.”

  Cassia grunted and crossed her arms over her chest.

  Sofia cocked an eyebrow but didn’t ask.

  “It’s clear that I’m interrupting your bonding. I’ll be heading out. You ladies have fun.”

  “Good riddance,” Sofia said.

  As I headed out of the closet, I caught one more look at Cassia. She was staring at me with a deep frown over those perfectly kissable lips, and I wondered if she would really never forgive me.

  * * *

  I headed into the bar downstairs to find James slumped in the corner. “What is going on with you?” I asked grabbed a highball glass and filling it two fingers thick of whisky.

  James didn’t even look at me. He’d gotten his heart broken a few months ago, and he seemed to be in a permanent pissy mood ever since.

  “Seriously, James.”

  “Seriously what? You don’t take anything seriously,” James growled.

  I sighed. Typical family line. I was doing everything I hated in life, and I did it well, but somehow, I was still the black sheep. “Fuck you, dick.”

  He glanced over at me. “You’re right. Fuck me. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be an unbearable bastard. I just…I can’t seem to get out of this darkness. The joy has been sucked out of life.”

  I slid my glass of whisky over to him and poured myself another one. “She doesn’t deserve this. Don’t waste your time or energy on her. She’s not worth it.”

  “I wish it were that easy, man. She’s in my head.”

  I couldn’t imagine going through what he went through. He was in a relationship for six months and she completely ripped out his heart and stomped all over it.

  “Why did she get such a big piece of you?”

  James glanced over at me. “Why are you so curious all of the sudden?”

  I shrugged and sat back in the cushy chair. “You’re a powerhouse and you’ve never been taken down. But six months with a woman, and she complet
ely conned you. I just don’t understand how that happened. You’re an intelligent guy. You’ve never been taken advantage of in your life.”

  This time James shot me a glare. “What is your problem?”

  “My problem is that you lose five hundred thousand dollars to a scheming wench and the family just gives you space. Me? I do everything I’m supposed to and I’m not living up to the Davenport name.”

  James let out a long sigh and took a sip of his drink before he responded. “Because you’re miserable. I’m embarrassed and frustrated, but I’ll get over it. You’ve always been miserable. You hated school, college, interning, and now you’re working with dad and you hate every second of it.”

  I knocked back my entire drink feeling entirely too sober to have this conversation. “Nobody gives a shit about my happiness. Least of all our parents. They just don’t want to family name dragged through the mud.”

  James eyed me. “What’s going on with you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been pissed at the world since you were eighteen.”

  I didn’t respond. I poured myself another drink.

  “You know why Denise got me?”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”

  “Because she convinced me she was what I was looking for. And I’m pissed because I blew off my best friend for her because Denise asked me to. Denise didn’t like it that Alyssa warned me against her. I didn’t want to see it. I thought Alyssa was being a territorial bitch because I was spending so much time with Denise. And now my best friend, the one chick in my life who I could trust through and through, won’t even take my phone call or answer my texts. I made the biggest mistake of my life and it has nothing to do with being conned out of money or getting my heart broken.”

  “Alyssa has been your friend since you were kids. You really think she’s never going to talk to you again?”

  “I was an asshole. I don’t deserve her.”

  “Instead you’re going to be a miserable asshole?”

  “That’s the plan.” He looked over at me. “What’s your plan?”

  My thoughts drifted to Cassia, but then they drifted further. And I felt the itch in my fingers. “My plan is to go to bed.”

  I pushed myself to my feet.

  “Chris, I don’t know why you butt heads with everyone in the family. I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong. But I do think you’re as miserable as I am. Maybe you should stop worrying about making everyone else happy, and just make yourself happy.”

  “Don’t give up on Alyssa,” I said. “She loves you and she’s hurt. But she’s one of the gentlest souls I’ve ever met. I bet she’ll forgive you.”

  James’s eyes were the only thing that gave him away. It was clear he hoped I was right. “I guess we’ll see.”

  I left my brother to stew in his regret. I couldn’t bring him any comfort. He’d figure it out. He always did.

  Cassia and Sofia’s giggles traveled down the hall as I passed by it to go up another flight of stairs. I was glad Sofia had a project to focus on. She’d been having a hard time since mom had a medical scare. She was done with her tour and in a few months she would be heading back to the studio to make another album. She needed something to focus on.

  I made my way into my designated bedroom. I was still semi-hard from my interaction with Cassia. Her burning hot kiss still left a fire in my groin. The woman had sass and I liked that she turned me down. Of course, it only made me want to pursue her more. Typical guy, right? Loves the chase? Maybe, but I wasn’t done with Cassia.

  I reached between the mattress and the box spring of my bed and pulled out the sketch book and then threw myself onto the bed stomach first. There was a charcoal pencil in the spiral of the notebook. I flipped open the page where I’d been sketching earlier today. I looked down at the drawing. It was an incomplete sketch of a man and his daughter playing in the park. I lightly shadowed the areas around the man’s face trying to get some depth.

  There were times I wish I’d been born out of the limelight of money and fame. There wasn’t room for an artist in the Davenport family.

  Sofia got a free pass because she was making tons of money being a country artist and she was investing in all sorts of businesses to grow her fortune and make the Davenport name proud.

  Artists like me usually didn’t make a name for themselves until after they were dead. And even more than that they were rarely respected until after they were dead.

  I’d lost focus on the sketch and flipped to a clean page. Cassia’s face and body were wedged in my mind. The charcoal pencil moved across the paper and revealed her figure on the white page.

  I drew through most of the night, feeling inspired.

  * * *

  The next morning, I woke to my cell phone buzzing in my pocket. Grumbling, I pulled it out and slid my thumb over the screen to answer the call.

  “Chris here.”

  “I’m glad you’re awake.” My grandfather’s no-nonsense tone filtered through the phone, and I sat up a little more upright, as if he could tell how I was reclined. Of all the Davenports, Grandpa deserved my respect.

  “Hi, Grandpa, what’s up?”

  “Your father sent you on vacation and took the Cavanagh project from you?”

  “He did.”

  “And what are you doing about?”

  I sighed. “I’m going to Japan in a few weeks to sign a deal for twenty-seven million dollars for my video game project.”

  There was a pregnant pause before he started laughing.

  My grandfather was the only person I’d really shared my aspirations with. He was the only one who didn’t judge me. He was also the one that kept the entire Davenport family planted on the ground. He didn’t like ego. He respected humility and generosity. It was why he stayed as a staple in Jubilee Falls long after he made his first million. He had plenty of houses elsewhere now, but he always wanted to stay rooted to Jubilee.

  I secretly loved Jubilee Falls. It was Bayberry, but real. Everyone was nice to each other. There were kooky characters all over town. It had its fair share of violence and crime too, but overall, it was picturesque, serene, and comforting—like mashed potatoes.

  “That’s my boy. When are you going to tell your father?”

  “I don’t know, when I get back, I guess.”

  “Have you seen your sister’s Instagram feed lately?”

  Anyone who said that older people were afraid of technology had never met my grandfather. He loved computers and technology. And he adored social media.

  I put him on speaker and pulled up her feed. It was full of selfies with her and Cassia or Cassia modeling an outfit or Sofia modeling. They looked like they were having fun. And everywhere hinted of their partnership. I wondered if it was official, or if it was just Sof being optimistic.

  “What about it?” I asked as I gawked at Cassia.

  “Who is that woman with Sofia? She reminds me of your grandmother and that girl you liked at summer camp so much. And Sofia has nothing but good things to say about her.”

  “Your point being?”

  “You should ask her out.”

  I chuckled. “Grandpa, that is the girl from summer camp. It’s Cassia Carter.”

  “Oh! I always liked her. This is better. You should go out with her again.”

  “I don’t think she’s interested in me.”

  “Nonsense. Help your sister with her business venture until you head to Japan. Let Cassia get to know you now that your head is out of your ass. She’ll like you a lot more.”

  “Grandpa…”

  “When have you ever known me to be wrong?”

  He disconnected our call before I could argue any further.

  The thing that really drove me crazy was the excitement brewing in my chest. If I didn’t have to deal with Nash or the Cavanaugh deal, then maybe I could relax and sort things out before I sat down and had the conversation with my dad and headed to Japan.

  I just w
ondered if I could get Cassia to give me a real shot at redemption and more.

  6

  Cassia

  Ever since Christopher kissed me, I’d been flummoxed.

  That was a lie.

  Ever since Sofia said I was the reason she was in Jubilee Falls, I’d been flummoxed.

  The Chris thing was just bothering me because it was late at night and I was staring at the ceiling above my futon, trying to figure out exactly what I was going to do.

  Working with Sofia would change my life. It would have to.

  But it also would mean dealing with Christopher on a regular basis. And if he kept kissing me like that, I didn’t know if I could keep pushing him away. I didn’t want to be that girl. He had been so awful to me. There was no good reason to give him another chance.

  Except, the Chris I’d seen the past couple of days wasn’t entirely the same Chris who left camp that summer. Maybe we’d both grown up in the seven years since we’d been apart.

  Shaking my head, I rolled over onto my side, staring at the wall as if maybe this stretch of drywall held more answers than the ceiling had.

  I had an appointment with Allison first thing in the morning. She’d agreed to read over the contract and give me her legal opinion. But if I needed more than that, I just hoped she would be willing to keep helping me out until I could figure out a proper way to pay her back.

  Maybe it was all just a terrible idea. If I did this, I would have to quit the Bumblebee Café and These Paws were Meant for Walking. I loved my jobs. I loved the people I worked with.

  But they weren’t my dream.

  Sofia’s offer seemed like a dream come true. Things were never this easy, though. Not without some serious strings attached. Dreams weren’t handed out on silver trays. There was always a catch. Always something keeping them just out of reach.

  I’d already put in so much work, trying to eke out even a little success. And I knew I’d have to work even harder if I took the contract. But really, how much harder could it be?

  My phone chirped, distracting me from the circles I was running around in my head.

  I grabbed it from the nightstand and stared at the unknown number texting me.