SWNOVELS The Billionaire’s Big Bold Weakness: Chapter 2
‘I can’t wait until they get married,’ Cami Reynolds says, snuggling up against her husband’s side on a plush sofa on the far side of the bar. ‘They’re going to have the cutest babies.’
I’m not sure who she’s talking about, but everyone in their group seems to agree with her. I should probably feel guilty about eavesdropping from the backroom, but I don’t give two shits about whatever they’re up to tonight. I’m here for Jessa Jordan, my rabbit.
I want to spank her for not telling me she worked at one of my hotels. I also want to spank her for spending the last six months avoiding me. It’s driving me up the fucking wall. Jessa is my dream girl. She’s had my heart in her hands since the first time I met her. She turned her round face up at me and those big blue eyes and sweet smile bowled me over.
I’ve been obsessed with her ever since…and trying like hell to hide it. She’s a decade younger than I am and her brother is my best friend. Cyrus is one of the few people in the world I trust implicitly. He adores his baby sister. He’s also protective as hell of her.
If he knew the things I dream about teaching her, he’d lose his mind.
I can’t help it though. Jessa is the total package. She’s tall and curvy, with long blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes. She tries to hide those curves in pencil skirts and black slacks. I don’t think she realizes they just give her this naughty librarian vibe that makes my dick ache. Especially when she puts her hair up in a bun and wears her glasses.
Her pouty bottom lip makes me crazy. So does her mind. She’s incredibly smart. It doesn’t matter what we talk about, she always has something insightful to say. She can be sassy and sarcastic and gets riled up over the cutest shit.
She’s also about as sweet as they come.
The first time Cyrus dragged me home with him, she asked why I wasn’t celebrating the holidays with family. When Cyrus told her I didn’t have any family, her eyes filled with tears. She flung her arms around me and told me that they were my family now.
I think I fell in love with her right then and there.
Trying to resist it is futile. I’ve spent the last four years wrestling with my conscience, trying to convince myself that I can’t have her. That she can do better than me. That I won’t be the thing that comes between her and her brother.
I’m done trying.
Six months ago, my entire life imploded. When it did, she’s the only person I wanted to see, the only one who I knew could make it better. I finally caved about three days after inheriting billions and went to see her. I was drunk, and I was just done trying to do the right thing where she’s concerned.
I told her the whole sordid story about the man who has known about me my entire life, but still let me live on the kindness of strangers after my mom died when I was a teenager. I told her about inheriting his fortune, twenty years too late to save my mom. And about having no choice but to accept it because thousands of people would be out of jobs if I didn’t.
She held my hand, trying to comfort me. Told me how proud of me she was. Made me smile when she told me she would have destroyed his company out of spite. There’s no way she’d ever do that. She can’t hold a grudge for nothing, and she’s a sucker for people. She’s a caretaker, a mama bear.
I tried to kiss her that night, but she ran. She’s been running ever since. We went from talking damn near every day to her avoiding me for the last six months straight. I can’t take it anymore. Not having her sweetness in my life is slowly killing me. I’m surrounded by pompous jackasses, gold diggers, and sycophants…people who wouldn’t have pissed on me to put me out if I were on fire seven months ago.
Cyrus, Jessa, and their mom are the closest thing I have to family. They’re some of the only people who expect nothing of me and want nothing but the best for me. But Jessa is a part of my soul. I’m tired of trying to deny that to keep everyone happy.
She’s leaving for grad school soon. She doesn’t know it, but she’ll be leaving with my ring on her finger. I’ve spent the last six months learning the ropes and moving headquarters to Nashville, trying to deal with everything screaming for my attention so I can focus on what’s really important. Winning Jessa. When she goes to Nashville, I’m going with her.
One way or another, I’m going to convince her to give me a chance.
I know she feels something for me too. I see the way she looks at me, the longing in her eyes. She’s afraid to ruin my friendship with Cyrus, but I won’t have her hurting herself to spare me or him. This running thing is over now. I should have claimed her long before now because life just keeps getting more complicated.
I’m her boss now too. Dating her probably violates every policy HR has ever written. My new peers will judge me harshly. My board of directors will throw a fit. Thing is…I don’t give a fuck. Their opinions don’t matter to me. HR can rewrite policies. The gossips will find another scandal sooner or later. But there’s only one Jessa Jordan in this world, and she’s mine.
I’m tired of fighting the way I feel about her, of trying to convince myself that she deserves someone better than me. I’m not foolish enough to believe inheriting a fortune made me worthy of her. But it certainly changed things.
I can’t do this without her. More than that, I don’t want to do it without her. The last six months have been hell because she wasn’t by my side.
‘Did you know she could sing like that?’ Kasen Alexander asks Cami and her husband.
‘No. She barely even talks,’ Bentley says.
‘Olivia, your song is ready,’ Jessa calls, her voice soft.
‘What did you pick?’ Kasen asks, helping his pregnant wife to her feet.
‘Not telling,’ she says.
I tune them out, scanning the room for Jessa. I finally spot her at a table by the bar, fiddling with a tablet. She’s got her head bent toward it, exposing the elegant curve where her neck meets her collarbone. She’s so damn beautiful. Blonde strands have escaped her bun to dance freely around her face. Her bottom lip is between her teeth as if she’s concentrating hard on whatever she’s doing.
She keeps glancing up from the tablet, her gaze tracking Kasen and his wife as he leads her toward the stage. Cami and Bentley are whispering back and forth between kisses. Everyone is in their own little world, completely comfortable with Jessa here.
I’m not surprised. I meant what I told her earlier. Gretchen picked the best of the bunch as far as I’m concerned. There is no one more capable of handling a private event for celebrities of their caliber in a professional manner than Jessa. She radiates goodness and empathy and goes out of her way to make people feel included and comfortable.
It’s one of the things I love about her. It’s also the thing that makes me crazy with jealousy. Everyone loves Jessa. Everyone wants to be around her. She’s friendly, cute, and sweet as hell. I’m a possessive, jealous bastard who wants to keep her locked up in my house and monopolize every second of her time. She doesn’t date, thank God. I think I would have snapped long ago if she did.
Once Olivia Alexander reaches the stage and grabs the microphone from the stand, Jessa taps something on her tablet and the music starts. Cami and Bentley break apart to cheer her on. Kasen stands at the side of the stage, staring at his wife like he can’t look away from her.
Jessa takes the opportunity to look around, checking to make sure everything is taken care of, no doubt. She’s a perfectionist. It’s ridiculous how much that trait of hers turns me on. I want to mess up her neatly ordered little world just to see her squirm. She’s so cute when something is out of place. It drives her nuts.
I step out of the kitchen doorway, waiting for her to notice me.
It doesn’t take her long. Her eyes land on me and go comically wide behind her purple frames. They’re the most colorful part of her wardrobe. They make her blue eyes seem even bigger, even brighter, her blonde hair even lighter.
She swallows hard enough I expect to hear her gulp over Olivia belting out Reba McEntire’s Fancy. Her voice isn’t bad. It’s clear and sweet but she hits those low notes hard, her voice dropping into a perfect southern drawl.
I crook a finger at Jessa, silently calling her over to me.
She swallows again and slowly rises from her chair, scooping the tablet up. She presses it against her chest, holding it like it’s a flotation device and she’s in the middle of the ocean. It pushes her tits up higher in her shirt, stretching the fabric over them.
My dick stirs, lengthening.
She’s the only thing that’s gotten him hard in years and she doesn’t even have a clue. Jessa isn’t insecure. She’s oblivious. She has no idea of just how beautiful she is or how hard she makes me. She isn’t one of those women who tries to be sexy. With her, it’s effortless, something she doesn’t control or even realize.
Her wide hips sway, her body moving like a dream as she walks toward me.
I shove my hands into the pockets of my slacks, trying to keep them out of the path of temptation. She’d kick my ass if I dragged her into the backroom to taste that sweet mouth. I’m a desperate man though, ready to explode. Trying to stay away from her isn’t working. Trying not to love her is impossible.
I’m done trying to keep Cyrus in my corner by denying the way I feel about his baby sister. Losing his friendship will hurt like hell, but not making his sister mine is a death sentence. One I’ve been living every damn day for the last four years. I’m not doing it anymore. I’m not good enough for her. No one ever will be. But I’ll love her better than anyone else ever could. As far as I’m concerned, being able to care for her the way she deserves is the only good thing to come with the fortune Charles Concord left me when he died.
I don’t think she knows yet that I’m the one who funded her fellowship. She’d probably be pissed, but I know how hard she’s worked to get herself to grad school. I know how much it means to her to chase her dreams. I’ll be damned if anything stops her so long as I have a say.
‘Hey,’ she whispers when she draws close, that tablet still pressed tight to her chest.
I take a breath, inhaling her peaches and cream scent like a man starving for oxygen. She smells edible. I already know she’ll taste just as sweet, like juicy peaches and warm sunshine.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘I own the place, rabbit,’ I remind her…which will never stop being weird to me. Seven months ago, I was in Myanmar, rescuing child soldiers from a militia group. The only thing I owned was the one-bedroom apartment where I lived when I wasn’t on a mission, my truck, and my bike. I’ve spent the last six months visiting every property that came with Concord’s fortune, and I still haven’t seen them all.
‘Wow. Really? I wasn’t aware.’ Jessa rolls her eyes at me, which makes me smile. She does not take shit from anyone, least of all me. ‘I mean, why are you here now? It’s almost midnight. I thought you were dealing with a DEFCON Billionaire situation. What exactly is a DEFCON situation for a billionaire, anyway?’
‘According to my board of directors and my assistant, it’s a cruise ship stranded in international waters,’ I mutter, scowling at the reminder of how I spent the last six hours. The Board was practically shitting itself over the thought of our stocks plummeting because the engines crapped out on the Principessa.
I had the issue resolved in the first hour, with boats on the way to transport everyone to the nearest port with an airport. The last five were spent explaining to the Board of Directors that offering full refunds and a free cruise to passengers was a sound business decision. We take a small financial hit now but recoup it when they book with us in the future, confident that we’ll take care of them just like we did today.
We could finance cruises for half the United States and still be in the black. Concord was a real bastard, but he crapped gold. The men who fill his board are just money-hungry, greedy bastards. I have no doubts that a few of them would sell their firstborn just to protect the bottom line.
‘Ouch,’ Jessa says, grimacing. ‘Did you save the day?’
‘Something like that,’ I mutter, glancing over her head to the other occupants of the room. ‘You having a good time here? Everyone behaving?’
‘Of course,’ she says, smiling. ‘They’ve been really nice to me. They probably won’t last much longer before they wrap it up. Clayton and Addison already left for the night.’ Her smile widens, lighting up her blue eyes. ‘Karaoke with superstars is a lot more fun than normal people karaoke. It’s like my own private concert. Gwen is going to lose her mind.’
‘She’s a fan?’ I ask. Gwen London is Jessa’s best friend. She’s a sweet girl, good to Jessa. She and Cyrus butt heads a lot. I don’t think either of them have worked out why they drive each other crazy the way they do.
‘Cami is her idol,’ Jessa says with a little laugh. ‘She was giving me hell today about working this event without her.’
‘Invite her to the benefit tomorrow,’ I suggest.
‘I’m not working it.’
‘Good. Then there’s nothing stopping you from attending with me.’
She gapes at me, slack jawed and wide eyed.
‘You can tell me then why you’ve been avoiding me for the last six months,’ I say, reaching out to push her mouth closed.
‘I haven…’
‘You have,’ I say when she trails off, unable to finish that lie. She’s a terrible liar. She never can actually tell one. That guilty conscience of hers always stops her right in the middle. ‘Ever since I tried to kiss you.’
‘You remember that.’
‘You thought I’d forgotten?’
‘I hoped you had,’ she admits, her voice small. Her gaze bounces away from mine before coming right back. ‘You were drunk.’
‘You think I was too drunk to know what I was doing?’
She shrugs a shoulder, fidgeting.
‘I remember, rabbit.’
‘Oh.’
‘I shouldn’t have done it.’
That makes her fidget again. She deflates faster than a balloon with a hole in it, her shoulders slumping. Does she think I don’t want to kiss her? I do, but I’d much prefer to be sober when it happens. Considering it’s going to be my last first kiss, I’d like to be lucid enough to remember every second of it.
‘Are you avoiding me because you wanted me to kiss you or because the thought of kissing me is truly that terrible?’ I ask, hooking a finger under her chin to make her face me again.
‘Yes.’
‘Yes to which, baby?’
‘N-no.’ Her eyes widen in genuine distress. ‘We can’t have this conversation right now, Jax. I’m working. You’re my boss. It’s not appropriate.’
‘Then come with me tomorrow.’
‘I can’t.’
I narrow my eyes on her.
‘You’re my boss,’ she says again.
‘Is that all you want me to be to you, rabbit? Just your boss?’
‘I…’ She stops, her tongue darting out to wet her bottom lip. Her blue eyes rove over my face. I’m not sure what she’s searching for or what she sees. Does she have the first clue how fucking desperate I am for her? How much I miss her? How many times I’ve picked up my phone to call her, only to stop because I wasn’t sure if she felt the same way about me?
I’ve never lacked confidence or been insecure. I know what women say about me. I see the way they look at me. My SEAL team used to give me shit all the time for the way I look, and for the way women react to me. But Jessa is so far out of my league it’s ridiculous. I’m not nearly stupid enough to think I deserve her just because a man I didn’t know keeled over, leaving me a fortune I don’t want.
‘No,’ she whispers finally, allowing me to take a breath. I lose it again a second later. ‘But what I want doesn’t matter, Jax. You’re my brother’s best friend. We’re your family. I’m not breaking up our family just because I want things I shouldn’t. Besides, you’re my boss. It wouldn’t be any more appropriate for me to go with you tomorrow night than it is to be having this conversation now.’
I stare at her for a minute, trying to gauge whether or not I should push the issue. But I can tell by the look in her eyes that pushing her right now won’t get me anywhere but frozen out. She’s a scared little rabbit, running for her life.
I don’t know what she’s so afraid of, but it’s clear that she is afraid of something. I doubt it’s public ridicule for dating her boss. I don’t think it’s losing Cyrus either. She knows her brother wouldn’t ever abandon her whether she was with me or not.
I’m just not sure what that leaves.
I will find out though.
‘Fair enough,’ I mutter, letting her off the hook for now. This conversation is far from over, but I’ll table it for now, come up with a different approach. I lean forward and press my lips to her cheek. Her skin is so soft. I have to fight the urge to move a couple inches to the left to taste her lips. ‘I’ll wait downstairs to make sure you get home safely.’
‘You don’t have to do that, Jax,’ she whispers, her voice shaking.
‘I want to do it.’
She huffs like she’s annoyed at me.
I pretend not to hear her and slip back into the backroom, already working on a new plan.