The Missing Billionaire

by Christine Kersey

  Frustrated, Chloe considered dashing to an upstairs room that overlooked the driveway, but by then it would be too late to see anything. Sure enough, twenty seconds later the car door came down. At that moment Chloe was standing right in the middle of the huge plate-glass window. And as she stood there dumbly, Nathan looked her way. Their eyes met. She’d been caught.

  Softly groaning in embarrassment, she scurried back to the kitchen, which was just bare walls, and when she heard the front door open and close, she took a calming breath as she prepared to face Nathan.

  Glad that he could finally be alone with Chloe—as alone as one could be when several men were working in various places in the house—Nathan smiled when he pictured Chloe standing at the front window obviously watching him and Misty.

  Had Chloe seen Misty attempt to kiss him and the way he’d avoided that, giving her a hug instead? And why had she been watching?

  Nathan walked across the main living space, glancing toward the window where Chloe had been standing moments earlier. Where had she gone?

  “Chloe?” he called out.

  “In the kitchen,” she replied.

  Smiling at how that sounded like something a wife would say to her husband when he got home from work, he strode into the space that would soon become his kitchen. “What are you doing?” he asked. Nothing was in the room and Chloe didn’t appear to be doing anything. Except trying to pretend she’d been there the whole time.

  “Uh,” she stammered, “picturing how your new cabinets will look once they’re installed.” Then she gave him a smile that was both beatific and an attempt to show her complete innocence.

  “And?”

  His one-word questions seemed to confuse her. “And what?”

  “How will the cabinets look?”

  “Oh, right. They’ll look fabulous.”

  Softly chuckling, he shook his head.

  “What? You don’t believe me?”

  “Chloe, why were you watching me and Misty?”

  Her eyebrows shot up like that was an absurd suggestion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  She tilted her head, really playing up the innocent act.

  “I saw you,” Nathan said, “standing at the window when I was outside with Misty.”

  She was silent, evidently coming up with some sort of excuse. And then she said, “I was just…seeing if…the other workers had arrived yet.” With raised eyebrows, she smiled.

  He wasn’t buying it. “What other workers?”

  “The ones who are coming to help.”

  Deciding to drop it—obviously, she wasn’t going to confess the real reason she’d been watching—Nathan said, “Show me the termite damage.”

  Relief flashed across her face. “All right.” With that, she led the way to a room where Keith was overseeing the removal of drywall. “How’s it going?” she asked him.

  Keith stopped what he was doing and came over to them, shaking Nathan’s hand.

  “The infestation doesn’t look like it’s as bad as we thought,” Keith said, looking between Nathan and Chloe, “but we’ll still need to mitigate the issue. I’ve already called a specialist to come take a look.”

  “Sounds like you have it handled,” Nathan said, glad experts were taking care of it.

  Keith showed him the damage he’d uncovered earlier, and after chatting about it for a few minutes, Nathan and Chloe walked back to the main living space, stopping in front of the floor to ceiling sliders.

  “I’ll call an Uber to pick me up,” Nathan said.

  “Don’t be silly,” Chloe said as she waved her hand. “I can drop you off at your office.”

  Surprised, yet pleased that she’d offered, he smiled. “Thank you. I would appreciate that.”

  What was she doing offering Nathan a ride? It was as if her mouth had taken over her head. And now she was committed. Or maybe she should be committed.

  Holding down the laugh that tickled the back of her throat, she smiled. “No problem.” Then she smirked. “I have to admit, I was kind of surprised you let Misty take your car.” She paused as she prepared to ask a leading question without actually asking. “She must be special to you.”

  Nathan stared at her a moment, then he grinned. “You couldn’t see us, could you?”

  Shocked that he’d figured her out, she took a step back and made a scoffing sound. “That again?”

  His shoulders began to shake with laughter. “Chloe, you’re a terrible liar.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “You’re calling me a liar?” Even though it was true, she didn’t like being called out on it.

  His laughter finally subsided, but in response to her question he just smiled as he shook his head. “If you insist that you weren’t watching me with Misty, then I believe you.”

  “What if I was?” she heard herself ask. What are you doing?

  Nathan’s head tipped to the side. “Shall we play Truth?”

  Time to own it. “No need. I admit it. I was watching you guys.”

  “Why?”

  “I was curious.”

  “About what?”

  The intensity of his gray eyes on her warmed her and she had to turn away. Then she pictured the way Misty had put her arm around Nathan as if to say He’s mine. That memory was quickly followed by Chloe’s imagination conjuring up an image of Nathan giving Misty a lingering kiss.

  “What were you curious about, Chloe? Truth.”

  She turned to face him, desperate to know how he felt about Misty because that played into how he felt about her. “I was curious to know if…” Her gaze fell to his lips before lifting to his eyes. “If you kissed her.”

  Nathan’s lips curved into a knowing smile while his eyes were locked on hers. “You mean like this?”

  Then, to Chloe’s stunned surprise, he leaned toward her and pressed his mouth to hers. Her lips softened and she let the kiss take her away. But then she came to her senses, and when Nathan stepped back she let her instincts take over. And those instincts had her lifting her hand and slapping him across the face.

  Nathan’s eyes widened and Chloe gasped. And then she heard a noise from behind her. She turned and saw Keith. His face was beet red. He must have seen the whole thing.

  Mortified, Chloe wanted to sink into the floor.

  “Excuse me,” Keith said before turning and hurrying away.

  Not sure if she should apologize to Nathan for slapping him or yell at him for kissing her when she was on the job, all she knew was that she couldn’t face him. And that she really, really liked that kiss.

  Maybe kissing Chloe hadn’t been the best idea, and Nathan could tell she was discombobulated by it. Did that mean she liked the kiss or hated him for embarrassing her in front of Keith? The slap only confused the issue.

  Okay, maybe the slap meant she hated him. It had seemed instinctual, so maybe that was the way she felt deep down. And clearly it wasn’t that deep because that hand had come up pretty darn fast.

  Regardless, Nathan had enjoyed their kiss. He hadn’t planned on kissing her, but that look on her face when she’d admitted she’d been curious about whether or not he’d kissed Misty was more than he’d been able to resist. She had looked forlorn and adorable all at the same time. And he could see in her eyes that those emotions had been genuine.

  Now, though, he needed to make this right. He’d overstepped his bounds.

  “I’m sorry, Chloe. That was uncalled for and clearly not wanted.” He had to work not to clench his jaw. “I’ll find my own way back to my office.” Then, not giving her a chance to argue—he was her client after all, so she would probably insist on taking him to his office even if she no longer wanted to—he turned and walked away, striding across the room and out the front door.

  Chapter Twenty

  Once again, Chloe found herself standing at the living room window, this time watching Nathan on his phone as he presumably called an Uber. His back was to her, although she wasn�
�t sure she cared if he knew she was watching.

  Everything had happened so quickly—the kiss, the slap, the apology, his departure. Chloe needed time to digest it all.

  Why had he kissed her? And then she realized he had never told her whether or not he’d kissed Misty. But why would he have kissed her if he was into Misty?

  It was all so confusing. And her slapping him hadn’t helped. It had startled both of them and had led to his apology and quick exit.

  Now what? She had no idea, but after a brief word with Keith, and after making sure Nathan was gone, Chloe gathered her things and hustled out to her car before calling Hannah.

  “He did not kiss you,” Hannah said after Chloe had told her about the incident.

  “He totally did.” Still rather stunned by the out-of-the-blue kiss, when Chloe remembered the way it had felt to have Nathan’s mouth claim hers, she felt warm and fuzzy all over again. But then she remembered the way she’d reacted. “And then I slapped him.”

  A loud gasp could be heard over her car’s speakers. “No!”

  “Oh yeah. I did. And to top it all off, I’m pretty sure Keith saw everything.” She thought about the way he’d avoided looking at her after she’d gone to speak to him, as if he was more embarrassed than she was.

  “What did Nathan do after you slapped him?”

  Softly sighing at the mess that her already complicated relationship with Nathan Hewitt had become, Chloe said, “He apologized, then fled.”

  Hannah was silent for a moment. “Okay, forgetting all the negative parts…” She laughed. “And there are quite a few.” She paused a beat. “How was the kiss?”

  Laughing, Chloe shook her head. “I can always count on you to cut right to what’s most important.”

  “What are friends for?”

  “Exactly.”

  “So?”

  “I wasn’t disappointed.”

  “Why does that not surprise me? Oh yeah. Because you like the guy.” She snickered. “Despite your impulse to slap him.”

  A blush climbed Chloe’s cheeks. She’d slapped a client. Then a frightening thought came to mind. What if Nathan complained to Samantha? True, she’d had every right to slap him since he’d kissed her without her permission. But still, what if he fired their firm? Yes, they could sue him, but the man was a billionaire and their firm was small. It wouldn’t be worth the money it would cost. If he fired her, it would be a disaster financially and for their reputation.

  She had to fix this. But how?

  “What should I do, Hannah?” Desperation laced her voice.

  “Why do you sound worried all of sudden?”

  Chloe shared her fears.

  “That would be bad.”

  “I know. So how can I fix it?”

  “Don’t panic.”

  But Chloe was already picturing how everything could quickly go south. She didn’t want to get embroiled in a scandal and she didn’t want to lose her job.

  “First off,” Hannah said, her tone calm, which helped to calm Chloe, “I don’t think Nathan will fire you. It’s not like you broke his jaw or something.” Then she paused. “You didn’t hit him very hard, did you?”

  “Of course not. It’s not like I balled up my fist and punched him in the mouth. It was an open-handed slap. In fact, now that I think about it, he seemed super contrite about the whole thing. Okay, he’s not going to fire me.”

  “All right. Good.” Hannah audibly sighed. “I think you should give it a day or two before you do anything. Give him a chance to reach out to you.”

  Chloe pulled onto her street, already feeling better about everything. “You’re right. I’m overreacting.”

  “You? No.”

  That brought a smile to Chloe’s face. “I’m just getting home. Thanks for the pep talk. I’ll let you know if I hear from Nathan.”

  “Okay. Love ya, doll.”

  “Bye.”

  Chloe pressed the button on her steering wheel to end the call, then she parked her car and went inside her condo, her thoughts on Nathan. Was he thinking about what had happened?

  Nathan couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened. That kiss had been the most amazing kiss he’d ever experienced. And the way she’d melted into him? Yeah, he’d liked that. Until the melting had stopped and the slap had come. He hadn’t liked that at all. And it wasn’t because it had hurt—it had barely stung. He hadn’t liked it because of what it had meant. Although to be honest, with the mixed signals Chloe had sent—melting into him one second, slapping him the next—he really didn’t know what she wanted. And he suspected she didn’t know either.

  Shaking his head, he wanted nothing more than to talk to Chloe and find out what was going on in her head. The question was, should he talk to her right away or give her some time?

  When he thought about the yachting accident and how his life had been altered in a moment, he knew he didn’t want to wait to talk to her. Well, he would wait until the next day, but that was all. Life was too fragile to put things on hold.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The next day, Saturday, Chloe spent the morning cleaning her condo. It was a weekly ritual that helped her feel grounded and on top of things. Normally. Today though, all she could think about was Nathan and the way it had felt to have his lips touching hers. Definitely not something that made her feel in control. Quite the opposite, in fact.

  For years she’d crushed on Nathan with varying levels of crushiness depending on what was going on in her life—if she was dating, how much she liked the guy, that type of thing. But after he and Lisa had disappeared on his yacht, and then after Lisa’s body had been found, that crush had morphed into anger.

  Now though, after spending time with Nathan, she was softening toward him and the flame that had been nearly extinguished had grown into a small, but brightly glowing ember. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. In a way, it felt like a betrayal of Lisa. But it also felt good, like maybe she would finally be able to truly move on with her life.

  Lost in thought, she pushed the vacuum across the carpet, back and forth, back and forth. Several minutes later she realized she was going over the same area. With an audible sigh, she turned off the vacuum and put it away, then she took out dust rags and dusting spray.

  Halfway through the job, someone rang her doorbell.

  Chloe had yet to shower and was wearing shorts and t-shirt, and come on, she was right in the middle of cleaning. She really didn’t want to deal with a salesman so she ignored the doorbell and kept cleaning.

  Then the person knocked. Loud and strong.

  Sighing in annoyance, Chloe went to the door, ready to yell at the salesperson to take a hint and go away.

  Lips compressed, she yanked the door open, but when she saw Nathan standing there holding a large gift basket in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other while wearing a sunny smile, all her annoyance evaporated, replaced by stark surprise.

  Then she became self-conscious. She’d been working hard and she probably smelled like she needed a shower. And she was still holding a dust rag and the dusting spray.

  “Good morning,” he said, his eyes focused on her face, which she was grateful for since her attire wasn’t what she would have put on if she’d known he was coming.

  “Hello.”

  Then his gaze ran up and down her body, stopping on her face. “Is this a bad time?”

  Yes, it kind of was, but since she’d been thinking about him the entire time she’d been cleaning, maybe it was a good thing he’d stopped by. And what was in that gift basket? She hadn’t eaten yet and it looked like it held some yummy food.

  “No, it’s not a bad time,” she said, then she stepped back and held the door open. “I was just about done cleaning.” Which was true. She just had a few things left to dust, but that could wait.

  Nathan walked inside. Chloe closed the door behind him and shoved her cleaning supplies into the coat closet. Then she realized that this was the first time Nathan ha
d been to her condo.

  “Nice place,” he said as he glanced around.

  She was proud of how she’d taken the relatively small space and made it a reflection of her.

  “Thanks. I like it.” Then she swept her hand toward the cream-colored couch. “Make yourself at home.”

  “These are for you,” he said, lifting the gift basket and the vase with the bouquet of flowers.

  “How lovely. Thank you.” She took the vase and set it in the center of the coffee table.

  Nathan set the gift basket on the coffee table as well.

  “Please, have a seat,” Chloe said, then she pointed in the general direction of her bedroom. “If you’ll give me a few minutes.”

  “Of course.”

  With that, Chloe walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her, then she took the world’s fastest shower before quickly making herself presentable, then she went back out to the living room.

  Nathan was sitting on the couch, his phone in his hand, but the moment she walked in, he put his phone away. Chloe appreciated that. It seemed so often that it was hard to get people’s full attention when they had their phone available.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said, but with the gifts he’d brought, she kind of figured he’d come to talk about what had happened the day before and so he probably wasn’t in a hurry.

  “That’s okay,” he said. “I didn’t give you any warning that I was coming.”

  “Why didn’t you?” she asked as she settled into a chair next to the couch, tucking her feet underneath her as she faced him.

  “Truth?”

  She grinned. “Always.”

  Then, with a wry smile, he said, “I didn’t want to give you a chance to leave.”

  Softly chuckling, she said, “I’m kind of glad you resurrected Truth.”

  Nathan was too, because he had an important question that he needed answered. Right now.

  “Just to be sure we’re on the same page,” he said, “we ought to agree to always be honest. Even if we don’t invoke Truth.”