The Billionaires Club- The Complete Series

by Leslie North

  Jackie gnawed at the inside of her lip, wondering how much she should admit. “She mentioned you guys used to date.”

  Daniel nodded, looking across the room. “Yeah, I figured. She always had a thing for me in grad school, and we finally gave it a try a few years ago. But it didn’t work out.”

  Of course it didn’t work out. Because it won’t ever work out with anyone. Least of all me. She scanned the room, trying to find the best diversion tactic. She spotted the bar across the room. “You want me to get us drinks?”

  “Let’s go together.”

  “No, let me grab them. That way you can mingle, you know? Chat with your friends. Your exes. Whoever.”

  Daniel narrowed his eyes. “Jackie. What else did she say to you?”

  “Nothing! I swear it was nothing. It was just…weird.”

  Daniel hefted. “Yeah. I bet. But if she made it out to be some grand romance, then she was lying—either to you or to herself. Believe me when I say that she was truly an unremarkable blip on my radar.” He must have caught a look on Jackie’s face that said she wasn’t convinced, because he added, “I can’t even remember what it was like with her. That’s how unremarkable it was.”

  He pulled her in for a kiss before she walked away, which she allowed, but if anything, his words only made things worse. Would there come a time when he was taking about her that way? That she was an unremarkable blip, while Jackie’s life might never be the same because of what they’d shared? From the way Tania had put it, Jackie got the sense that this was a chronic problem of Daniel’s—that women fell in love with him while he remained indifferent and unattached. He hadn’t seemed indifferent the previous night…but maybe he was always like that, in the moment. Maybe he made every woman feel special and treasured…right up until he forgot them to focus on business again. What if Tania was Future Jackie? Daniel might have altered her world just the same way. There couldn’t be any other explanation as to why she’d warn off a new love interest of Daniel’s. After all, the usual MO for women watching others date their exes was figure it out for yourself. Jackie’s skin buzzed with the unsavory revelation as she walked on wooden legs toward the bar.

  Nothing was guaranteed with Daniel—and she shouldn’t forget that. If anything, she needed to keep focused. In that way, Tania showing up was a godsend. Clearly, she’d desperately needed the reminder that Daniel didn’t stop for anybody. And in the long history of remarkable women and experiences he’d had access to…Jackie would do well to remember that years down the road, Daniel probably wouldn’t think twice about her either.

  By the time she ordered two glasses of Chambourcin, she was feeling lower than ever, which also made her feel guilty. This was Mila and Grayson’s rehearsal dinner—she should at least put on a good show and pretend to be happy and bubbly.

  Besides, if she was being honest with herself, she needed to screw her head on straight when it came to Daniel. Which meant keeping herself on track when it came to all the ways that she was falling head over heels for that man. The wedding was tomorrow—and they were leaving the day after that.

  And what then? She’d assumed that there would be more—that they both wanted more. But maybe she’d just been fooling herself.

  Daniel was lost in conversation with someone when she returned with their drinks. Daniel paused to introduce her as his girlfriend to the well-dressed man who turned out to be Mila’s brother, and then barreled on talking about the IPO of some company she didn’t recognize. She sipped her Chambourcin, nodding her greeting to people who milled by. The energy of the room was vibrant and light. And she needed to get on that same wavelength.

  She didn’t know how much time had passed before Daniel slid his hand over the small of her back. Completely lost in her own world, she jolted at the sudden touch.

  “Hey. Didn’t mean to startle you. Was that totally boring?”

  Her laugh rang fake to her ears. “No. What? Why?”

  He seared her with a knowing look. “Sorry. Let’s go find our seats. They’re getting ready for appetizers.”

  She followed him to their seats, holding onto the tips of his fingers. A gesture that would look natural to anyone else, but one that allowed her to feel like she was making some progress in detaching herself from him.

  Because that’s what she needed to do now. Full stop. Detach from Daniel and pump the brakes on all the wild, infatuated, love-of-my-life thoughts that had been swelling and blooming inside of her like an exotic flower.

  Maybe this was the wake-up call she needed, even though it was unwanted.

  Jackie did her best to put on a convincing show for the rest of dinner. She laughed, and feigned interest, and squeezed Daniel’s hand on regular intervals. But by the time plates were cleared and everyone was thinking about dessert or more drinks, Jackie was exhausted.

  “Hey. What do you feel like doing?”

  Daniel’s intense blue gaze waited for her, and she couldn’t hold it for long. She’d barely made eye contact with him the entire night.

  “Whatever you want.”

  “Let’s go back to the room.”

  Jackie gnawed on the inside of her lip, gaze darting across the room. Two hours ago, she would have jumped at the chance to go back to the room with him. Now, she just saw it for what it truly was: a danger zone of physical intimacy leading to emotional lies. Not even lies from Daniel, who had never promised her anything. Lies she’d tell herself because of how badly she wanted them to be true.

  This meant she needed to guard her heart more than ever.

  “That’s fine,” she finally said.

  Daniel watched her for a moment, scooping up one of her hands and bringing her knuckles to his lips. “Are you okay, princess?”

  “Just tired,” she lied. “The wine hit me. I feel like I could go to sleep right now.” Though that was only partially true. She needed to curl up into a cocoon right now, so that she could reinforce the new decision to herself. Make it turn into a stone wall around her heart.

  Daniel stood, pressing a hand to the small of her back as they said their goodbyes to the tables. Blake complained about Daniel leaving so early, but Daniel said he’d make up for it tomorrow at the wedding. On their way back to the room, Jackie tried to conjure even a fraction of her previous good mood—but at this point, it was a losing battle.

  “The wedding’s going to be great,” Daniel said, draping his arm over her shoulders. “I can’t wait to see you in your dress.”

  She smiled, but it faded quickly. “It’s so pretty. But it was so expensive. I feel like I should give it back once this is over.”

  Daniel sent her a sharp look. “No. All those clothes are yours. I told you.”

  Jackie nodded, a storm brewing inside her. She’d tried to reference what would come after the wedding—hoping he might say something about her having other chances to use the dress in the future, when he took her out—but Daniel hadn’t caught on. Or maybe he did. Maybe ‘once this is over’ was just another reinforcement that what they were doing here would be officially dead come Monday.

  The endless swirl of speculation was exhausting. Her eyes fluttered shut for a few steps, repeating to herself the new game plan: Keep your guard up.

  Because once they got into that room, just the two of them, she was going to need to protect herself at every turn.

  12

  Daniel rubbed at the back of his neck, staring at the steam rolling out of the bathroom. Jackie was in there, in arguably the world’s hottest and longest shower, and every inch of him wanted to join her.

  But something was off. He couldn’t tell what, but she’d been acting differently toward him all damn night. Part of him wanted to blame Tania, but that seemed almost too easy. She wasn’t the malicious type, and their break-up hadn’t been ugly in any way. He didn’t think she’d make up lies about him and there was nothing damaging about the truth—that things just hadn’t worked out. He and Tania had never been serious, even though she had clearly wanted it
desperately. Their easygoing friendship all through grad school had naturally morphed into something more as they were both starting their careers. But the timing was wrong—and besides, they were too much the same person. Being with Tania had always felt like dating himself. And that’s not what he wanted.

  He’d thought that he didn’t want anything—or anyone—at all. But Jackie was showing him that he wanted someone exactly like her.

  So whatever she was going through, he should be there to help snap her out of it. Maybe she really was just tired. They were still getting to know each other—it stood to reason that he had much to learn about her moods and cycles. Just as he was getting ready to take his clothes off and surprise Jackie in the shower, his phone rang.

  Dad.

  Daniel steeled himself before he answered the phone, switching it to speaker so he could continue undressing. “Hey, Dad. What’s up?”

  “Listen, any chance you have the Bangladesh proposal ready early?”

  Daniel frowned. He still had three more days to finish that enormous project, and would need every one of them to complete it. “No, unfortunately. Why?”

  His dad sighed tersely. “Any chance you could get it to me by the end of the day?”

  Daniel’s head dropped into his hands. Here they went again: back on the eternal work merry-go-round. Just as he was actually enjoying the closest thing he’d had to a vacation in too long. “No, Dad. I’m out of town. Remember?”

  His dad scoffed. “For what?”

  “Grayson’s wedding.”

  “Jesus. Isn’t the wedding tomorrow? Why are you up there today?” He asked it like it was the most preposterous idea in the world. His dad would probably have a coronary if he realized that Daniel had spent the majority of the week up here.

  “Oh, just trying to help my friend celebrate the biggest moment of his life.” But he knew it was pointless to get into it with his dad. His father would never prioritize anything that wasn’t amassing wealth.

  “You are leaving for two weeks on Tuesday. What the hell are you doing spending the weekend in Napa when you need that proposal ready by COB Monday?”

  “I already told you, Dad—”

  “No. Listen, I thought you had your head in the game on this one. What business advantage do you get by taking the weekend off?”

  “I’m hardly taking the weekend off. I’m still working on that proposal—I’ll have it ready on time. And anyway, I’m closing out the bet with Grayson, remember?” Maybe that would get him off his back. As long as there was some possibility of winning something. Something to remind his dad that his time spent here was somehow worthwhile in his eyes.

  His dad harrumphed. “And you’d better win.”

  “I will.”

  “In our family, we are winners.”

  “I know it.”

  There was a long, tense pause. Then finally, his father said, “I need to get back to work. We’ll talk more on Sunday.”

  When the line went dad, he realized that had been his father’s concession: giving him an allowance of the actual wedding day to focus on the bet instead of business. Fully expecting him to resume his workload on Sunday.

  But this was nothing new. Even though it still stung, still irritated, still got under his skin, Daniel had expected all of it. A long sigh rattled out of him as he tossed his phone onto the bed behind him. When he lifted his head, he noticed Jackie standing in the doorway of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her while she combed her hair.

  The way she was looking at him told him she’d probably heard the majority of that conversation…if not all of it.

  And that realization made a sick knot twist tight in his gut, though he wasn’t entirely sure why.

  Jackie offered a plastic smile before breezing past him. “Who was that?”

  “My dad. Complaining yet again that I’ve taken more than three hours to myself.” He sighed, easing back onto the bed. He missed his chance at a steamy shower with Jackie; hopefully she’d want a steamy night under the covers.

  “He’s such a hard ass,” she commented, her voice muffled from inside the walk-in closet.

  “That’s how he grew his business.” Daniel stared at the ceiling, unable to pinpoint what, exactly, was the source of the swirling discontent inside him. But damn, it was raging strong today. “That’s how he provided for his family.”

  “You don’t seem particularly inspired by the hard-ass tactics,” she said, emerging in her trademarked booty shorts. But this time, she had an over-sized T-shirt on that hid her curves. She raked a hand through her hair as she came to the bed.

  “Well, I’m not.”

  “So why don’t you find something else to do with your life?”

  Her question hung heavily in the air. He wasn’t sure how to respond: whether to brush it off immediately, or to actually consider such an outlandish suggestion.

  “That’s not possible,” he finally said. Because it wasn’t. Not in this lifetime or the next. Daniel Trent was married to the family business. It’s what he’d been bred for. It’s what he wanted to do…in theory, at least.

  Although more and more, he was hating everything about his job and the life it brought along with it.

  “Why not?” Jackie’s questions were light and airy. She still hadn’t looked at him, which was a little disorienting. It was like he wasn’t even there, even though they were talking to each other.

  “I have no idea what I’d do if I wasn’t in the family business. It’s the only thing I’m cut out for.” As the words passed his lips, he realized how pathetic they sounded. But they were true. Sort of.

  “You’re only cut out for being bullied by your father into sacrificing every minute of your life in the name of profit?”

  It sounded ridiculous when she said it, but she wasn’t wrong. “Basically, yes.”

  She laughed bitterly, fluffing the pillow beneath her. She lay out on the bed, reaching for the remote control on the nightstand. “Well, I guess if that floats your boat.”

  Her voice held a new edge. Something he’d never heard before. Something that didn’t bode well.

  “It’s not that it floats my boat,” he said. “It’s just the boat I’ve been dealt. Or something.”

  “You know you can trade boats? Sell yours, and buy a new one? That’s a thing.”

  He frowned. “My career isn’t a boat show, okay? I’ve worked really fucking hard to get where I am.”

  “I’m not denying that,” she said. When she opened her mouth to add more, she clamped it shut suddenly.

  “What?” he prompted.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know anything. I’m not from your world, so I don’t get it.” Her gaze was stuck on the TV, flipping through channels. “That’s all.”

  That wasn’t all—Daniel knew it down to his bones. But suddenly, he was too tired to keep the conversation going and opted for a shower instead.

  Maybe once he’d showered, they’d be able to smooth things over with a relaxing evening in bed after all.

  Against the hum of the shower, Jackie repeated her mantra to herself:

  Two more days. Two more days. Two more days.

  It was one of many mantras she was employing to keep herself sane. Because she needed the help—that much was certain. Now that she’d been reminded by Daniel’s crazy father that anyone born into the Trent family was destined to continue their workaholic lifestyle, it was the final nail in the coffin of any dreams she’d had about the two of them having a future together. She wasn’t willing to lead that kind of life, and Daniel wasn’t willing to leave it behind.

  He was never going to change. Not for her. Not for anybody. So Tania had been right.

  Jackie just needed to start preparing her heart to let him go.

  Hearing that conversation shouldn’t have hurt so much. It only confirmed what she knew in the darkest reaches of her heart—that for Daniel, this had only ever been a charade. Even though she’d been swept up in the magic of the moment, she sho
uld have known better than to let her heart get involved.

  How could you have been so stupid?

  The thought kept crashing back into her, bringing choking waves of regret. She should have known better, and she had known better, yet still she managed to find herself here. Skittish and the first to have a broken heart. Even if it was pre-emptive.

  It hurt like hell—but she reminded herself that she should be grateful. To Tania, for helping bring her down to earth before things got really out of hand. To Daniel, for allowing her to have a little escape from her regular life—even if it meant she’d be missing him for the next year.

  But the truth was, they’d never had a chance. Not in a million years.

  Daniel embodied everything that was silver spoon and acquiring more. And she was…well, she was hard-scrabble and intent on squeezing out joy where she could find it.

  The two of them never would have worked.

  But no matter how many times she repeated it to herself, it didn’t prevent the tears from pooling in her eyes.

  When the shower snapped off, she turned off the TV and buried herself in the covers.

  She wasn’t fit to talk to Daniel anymore today.

  She just needed to focus on making it through the wedding tomorrow and eventually getting out of here with her heart intact.

  13

  Silverware clinked as Daniel and the rest of the men settled around the long table at a local restaurant nestled in the rolling hills of Napa Valley. This was the guys-only breakfast on the morning of the wedding. The women were doing the same thing at a restaurant a few miles away.

  The sun was shining through the enormous windows of the breakfast café, the smell of home fries hanging in the air. His stomach had started grumbling from the second they stepped foot inside here. He was determined to make this the best day of his year, or at least one of the top contenders. No work. Just relaxed fun involving his best friends, and the unexpected beauty he’d convinced to join him. Even if that unexpected beauty was still kinda-sorta acting strange around him.