by Lisa Hughey
Queen of His Daydreams
Camp Firefly Falls #23 / Billionaire Breakfast Club #1.5
Lisa Hughey
Salty Kisses Press LLC
Contents
Queen of His Daydreams
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Excerpt from His Semi-Charmed Life
Excerpt from Everything He Wants
Acknowledgments
Also by Lisa Hughey
About Lisa
Queen of His Daydreams
Queen of His Daydreams
Camp Firefly Falls #23
Billionaire Breakfast Club #1.5
By Lisa Hughey
Copyright: August 10, 2018
Lisa Hughey
Salty Kisses Press LLC
ISBN: 978-09991951-3-0
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written consent from the author/publisher.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead, or places, events, or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Created with Vellum
Chapter 1
Thursday night
You can never go back. But why would anyone want to?
Raul Ramos Jr., RJ, to his friends and business associates, headed toward the last place he wanted to be. Camp Firefly Falls, the former summer camp for kids turned summer camp for adults, was not the venue he’d had in mind for this year’s company-wide meetings to discuss and plan the future.
For running his first corporate retreat as CEO of Ramos Classic Auto Restoration, he’d wanted someplace more businesslike and with a more serious atmosphere. Something that conveyed gravitas and importance and seriousness.
He wanted to make an impression on the employees. Many had known him since he was a kid. And now he was in charge. After a couple of potentially costly missteps, he needed to prove that he was worthy of the job his cousin had given to him. Cementing his employees’ respect was his number one goal for the weekend.
But he also had to accommodate his cousin and his sister, so here he was. Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. He’d followed his motto. Reluctantly.
RJ was personally managing the weekend. As the Pinecone Lodge came into view, his brain stumbled again.
Because, of course, his mind went back to last year, when they’d combined their retreat with another company to assess how Ramos CAR and London Automotive employees would work together and whether a merger between the two companies made sense.
It hadn’t gone well. It wasn’t that he hadn’t had fun last summer—his heart jerked a little at the memories of the extremely good time he’d had with Sherry…something or other, an employee of London Automotive.
RJ had begun the afternoon trying to keep her busy and away from his wealthy cousin, and ended it very inappropriately in her bed.
But that was back when he’d had a few lapses in judgement and a hell of a lot more confidence. He’d been cocky, yes. Secure in his appeal and down to have a good time, even if his choice of partner had been somewhat improper. That might have even made it a bit more fun. A bit more exciting.
At least back then he’d known why a woman was coming on to him. He’d been young. Athletic. Fun.
He was still young and athletic, but he could no longer vouch for fun.
Unfortunately, these days he pretty much assumed there was an ulterior motive behind any female interest in him. And it sucked.
He’d lost his mojo.
The only women he trusted at this point were his mother, and his sister, Zinnia, who was a freaking pain in his ass.
His sister had pushed hard for the retreat to be here. He had a difficult time saying no to her. So did Diego. As a result, here they were, arriving at Camp Firefly Falls the night before the retreat started.
He said to Zin, “You’re sure Michael Tully is available to meet?”
“I can’t believe you wanted to come early,” she said.
Zin didn’t get it. Everyone was depending on him to make the company profitable, to protect their jobs and enable them to earn enough money to support their families. The pressure was…intense.
RJ gripped the wheel of his Porsche 911 Turbo convertible as he drove slowly along the decently-maintained—but still hell on his suspension—dirt road. The car was his main indulgence. He remembered where he came from, and spending indiscriminately didn’t appeal to him. But he was CEO of a major car parts company. His image pretty much demanded the fast, crazy-expensive car. And damn, he loved fast cars. “I wanted to make sure everything was ready.”
“It’s supposed to be fun,” Zin argued. “We’re going to have the camp experience we missed last year. This isn’t supposed to be work. It’s more like…a reception.”
That’s where she was wrong.
He turned into the employee parking lot of Camp Firefly Falls and killed the engine. “This isn’t just fun. This is business. It’s not a fucking wedding.”
She got quiet for an awkward moment. Opened her mouth, closed it. “What’s got your panties in a twist? All you have to do is show up and be Mr. Bigshot CEO this year.”
He sighed.
Wrong. He needed to prove to everyone that he was the right guy for the job. His most recent mistake—dating a woman who’d been hired to conduct corporate espionage—had almost screwed the company. Fortunately, RJ had figured out that Tanya was after company secrets and not his body or fortune.
And yeah, between all the demands on his time, he hadn’t gotten laid in a while. But he certainly wasn’t going to complain to his sister about his sex life.
“Didn’t you have a date last night?” Zin clutched the door handle, pausing before she got out of his low-slung car. “I’d think you’d be a little happier. Unless….”
He couldn’t wait to hear what came out of her mouth.
“You struck out?”
“Struck out?” He couldn’t keep the outrage from his voice. Of course he hadn’t struck out The truth was he turned down plenty of invitations. Including last night’s. “That is definitely not the issue.”
“Then what is it?”
“I’ve got no problem with women wanting to sleep with me,” he snarled.
“Then, I’d think you’d be a little happier.”
“It’s why they want to sleep with me.”
And yes, dammit, he was whining.
“Well, aren’t you grouchy.” But she was teasing. He heard the lilt in her voice. “Hey, you know the thing with Tanya wasn’t your fault.”
RJ banged his head against the headrest. “I never know anymore if a woman is interested in me for me, or because I run a multimillion—”
“Billion—”
“—dollar business.” He ignored her correction. “And they think I’m loaded.”
“You are loaded.”
He shrugged. “Not like Diego.”
His cousin Diego had founded Ramos Classic Auto Restoration and built the company into a powerhouse. He had so much money it was unimaginable. But he’d quit the corporate life last year and turned the day-to-day running of the business over to RJ. So now he was the public face of the company, and that had made him a target.
He liked it better when he’d been young and poor-ish and unknown. Sort of.
“You know you can’t go back,” she said as if she’d heard his unspoken wish.
“I know.” And really, he didn’t want to. With exception of his current, self-imposed sexual dry spell, he loved his life. But it would be nice not to see dollar signs in the eyes of every woman who was interested in him these days. Or consider if they were somehow using him to gain access to the company.
The last time he’d had sex with a woman who he knew wasn’t interested in his bottom line had been last year at camp. Sherry. Sexy, flirty, sleeping-with-her-older-married-boss Sherry had been an afternoon camp fling. A fling he was mostly ashamed of. Even if it had been some of the best sex of his life. He assumed that was because of the element of the forbidden, for both of them.
But still…best sex of his life. Bar none.
“Boo-frickin-hoo. You have gobs of money and women throw themselves at you.”
When she put it that way….
“Time to let go of the woe-is-me stuff.” Zin dragged him out of the car. “You need to get over yourself. This is supposed to be a retreat. Fun. Relaxing. Getting out of the office and connecting in a more casual atmosphere.”
She was right, damn her. Still. He stood after the long drive and breathed in the crisp evening air. “Okay, brat.” He mussed her hair.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“Camp. Brings out the kid in everyone.”
She clapped her hands. “We’re going to have so much fun!”
“That’s what you said last year.”
“Last year was sort of fun,” she said defensively.
Were they remembering the same camp?
“Okay, we had some glitches last year,” Zin conceded. “Stupid Jeffrey London and that bicha.”
She might have been bitchy, but she’d also been hot as hell and sex personified.
“Thank goodness we won’t have to deal with all that drama this year.” Zin headed for the main house.
Just thinking about Sherry got his blood pumping. “Drama isn’t always bad.”
“Depends on who’s creating it,” Zin said. “On the other hand, Diego got Penny out of the deal.”
“She wasn’t some sort of camp trophy.”
Zin giggled. “If only we could give out that kind of prize.”
If only.
Who knew that when life imploded, picking up the pieces apparently involved sanitation and clean sheets?
Sherry Washington finished scrubbing the toilet in her last cabin of the day. She dropped the cleaning supplies into the bucket and stood. The scent of bleach and pine-scented bathroom cleaner irritated her nose.
After peeling off the giant, totally unsexy rubber gloves, she kneaded her aching lower back with her fists. Being a maid slash camp counselor slash Girl Friday was a lot harder than being a corporate CEO’s assistant slash girlfriend. She was older, wiser, and broke…and still, she never wanted to go back to that foolishly naïve and not-overly-concerned-with-morals girl.
Working at Camp Firefly Falls wasn’t exactly a glamour job, and yet there was an honesty to the work that appealed to where she was emotionally right now. The current situation had certainly afforded her time to reflect on her life.
But let’s face it, no one really wanted to be cleaning out someone else’s shit.
The truth was, she’d been a damn good assistant. And she’d spent this summer thinking about what she wanted to do next. Who she wanted to be. And what would ultimately satisfy her.
So here she was, getting the camp ready for some corporate retreat. And she couldn’t help but be amused by the irony. Her downfall had started last year in this very place with a corporate retreat.
Her job this week was to clean the cabins and the common areas and help with meals. Big step down from last year when she’d been a queen bee at the camp. She’d ignored the other employees thinking she’d pulled one over on all of them.
Of course, they had the last laugh since she was paying off the debt incurred by naïvely trusting that her boss and lover would take care of her.
Look out for yourself, her mother had always said, because no one else will.
That included dear old mom.
Unfortunately, Sherry hadn’t followed her mother’s advice.
Sherry shook her head at her old self, put in her headphones, and jacked up the volume on her music app.
She’d best get to it. She hefted the thick sheets and bent over the queen-sized bed. This bed wasn’t going to make itself.
Chapter 2
RJ walked along the bush-lined path from the Pinecone Lodge, circling the main meadow where the team building exercises would take place tomorrow. Pine needles crunched under his feet, the outdoorsy scent mingled with the sweet floral perfume from purple flowers that blossomed on the low brush. Normally the closest he got to nature was when Zin put a vase of flowers in his corporate office or the field at Fenway when he caught a Saturday afternoon Red Sox game. But this was kind of nice. The quiet woods were a far cry from his busy, bustling walk to his apartment in the North End.
He took the steps to his single cabin with an energetic leap. There were some perks to being the boss. Sleeping in his own large cabin was one of them. He’d have time and peace to go over the agenda for the weekend.
He and Michael Tully, the camp’s owner, had worked hard to come up with a balance of both business meetings and fun camp activities. The corporate office employees arrived tomorrow for events Friday and Saturday, then on Sunday all the employees would be here for the company-wide single night retreat and party.
RJ wanted to have a firm consensus from the management teams about the direction they were headed. And he needed to restore confidence in his decisions after the past few months.
His days were long.
He worked hard. Played hard. But beneath it all, he couldn’t help but feel that he hadn’t really earned his success. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that he’d be in charge at such a young age.
He strode to the door, barely registering that it was ajar. He pushed it open only to be greeted by a very delectable female ass, shaking and shimmying as its owner pulled the sheets on the bed and sang off-key to Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ the Vida Loca.”
And fuck him, his first—very inappropriate—response was that he hadn’t had this particular view of a woman in a long time. His cock approved. His brain couldn’t stop focusing on the round globes or their tempting luscious sway.
The khaki shorts were just short enough to bare the bottom of her ass, and if they knew each other, he’d be all over her, tempted to lick the crease between her ass and those taut tan thighs.
His heart thudded. He needed to look away, clear his throat, maybe knock loudly. But his reaction to the unexpected temptation before him had rendered him immobile. But his staring was seriously a bad idea and the quickest way to a harassment lawsuit.
With one last regretful look at her gorgeous ass, he banged on the door, hard.
The woman whirled around with a screech, ripping the earbuds he hadn’t seen from her ears. Her blond hair flew around her face while she clutched a pillow to her chest, but even without the puffy rectangle he knew she’d have a great rack.
Because as her chest heaved and her blue eyes widened in shock, he realized…he knew her. His hardening cock went full stiffy as he recognized his off-limits fling from last year’s camp. Sherry, assistant and employee and lover—let’s not forget that part—of London Automotive’s owner, Jeffrey London, the guy who’d tried to fuck over Diego and P
enny.
And his heart sank. He knew that ass intimately. The last time he’d truly enjoyed himself, knowing she hadn’t wanted anything from him but a good time in bed, was indelibly embedded in his memory bank. And if he were honest, she’d starred in quite a few of his spank bank daydreams over the last fourteen months.
But, dammit, that wasn’t happening again.
The level of disappointment that cascaded through him was surprising.
“What are you doing in my room?” His tone was harsh, unforgiving. Something the party boy from last year could never have carried off. But he’d discovered that being in charge wasn’t all fun and games and he’d had to adapt.
She blinked. Her startled recognition disappeared in an instant. She smoothed her soft hands, manicured perfectly with those white tips, over the pillow, then placed it carefully at the head of the bed. She looked different. He couldn’t quite place what the change was. A little thinner maybe. More subdued, for sure.
But she still had skin the color of cream, eyelids accentuated with glittery shadow and liner to look like a cat, lips plump and glossy. Her platinum blond hair was in a disheveled ponytail, as if she’d recently been in that bed instead of making it. But that was his fantasy since he could clearly see she was working.
Totally girly-girl babe with a hot sexy streak.
And dammit, he’d gotten harder. RJ shifted his overnight bag to block his erection from her view.
“Just about done making your bed, sir,” she replied quietly, “and then I’ll be finished.”
Sir?