We rode in silence. It seemed too dangerous to say anything. At least, I was afraid I would slip. And the view from up in the blue took my breath away and made me speechless.
Beside me, Justin held my hand and smiled. It was clear we were both trying to guess where we were going. It could have been anywhere. The peninsula, Whidbey Island, the San Juans, the mountains…
As we turned more and more directly east, it became evident we were heading into the Cascades. Deeper and deeper into wooded, mountainous territory. Higher and higher. I was flying inside, too.
For an instant, I wondered why I had even hesitated about marrying a billionaire. This was the life.
It was almost a pun, but the ride flew by. Gary piloted the copter deep into the woods, high up into the mountains. To a place in the wilds where the roads ended. Over the rugged terrain until a cleared patch on the side of the mountain came into view. And a retro hunting-style lodge from the 1940s era. In the back, a deck cantilevered out over the mountain. A deck filled with people casually mingling and a glass-bottom pool that glistened like a light blue diamond.
I spotted a helipad ahead. The trees blew and bent as if bowing before royalty as we landed. Gary gently brought us down in front of the largest, most beautiful mountain lodge I had ever seen. I was experiencing a lot of firsts today. And all of them seemed larger than life. Like something out of a fairy tale.
"Lazer's lodge." Jus shook his head as if he were amused. "I should have known."
A tall, dark-haired man waited for us in the front of the house. After the helicopter landed, the man jogged toward us with athletic grace. He was young, no more than thirty. Gary jumped out and Jus handed me down to the newcomer.
As he took my hand, our eyes met. His were deep brown and sincere. Beautifully shaped, just like his full mouth and generous lips. His jaw was square. He was delightfully clean-shaved. His face so baby smooth I had to resist the urge to stroke it. He must have owned the world's best razor. Crap, I was a sucker for a smooth face.
He looked as if he should have been on a billboard in the window of a men's store, clad in only his briefs so the ladies could drool over him. I knew exactly which briefs I would put him in. And which ones I could easily imagine taking him out of.
He was immaculately dressed in a tailored suit I would bet my soul was custom made for him. Nothing short of custom would fit like that. A man who could dress himself. Be still my heart. I was ready to swoon.
It was probably unseemly, almost cheating, for a bride on what was really her wedding night, for all intents and purposes, to be inwardly drooling over another man. But ours was a marriage of convenience. We weren't in love. I was nothing more than a decoy bride. And when staring into the eyes of Lazer Grayson, what was a girl to do? Especially considering the spark between us.
I was a major fan girl of his. He'd been a designer on my all-time favorite game before selling it and forming a gaming networking company that I didn't understand the technical details of. Just that it had been a major innovation. He'd sold that and was now mostly an investor in other companies. He'd given me many happy hours of bashing bad guys and blowing things up. Playing kickass and beating the crap out of the guys. Lazer Grayson not only designed my favorite game, he owned major stock in all the companies that had designed my other all-time favorite video games.
Being near him brought out my inner geek girl, my inner warrior, and my not-so-inner princess. I realized with a start that one of the main male characters, my main crush in my favorite game, was clearly patterned off Grayson. Being handed out of a helicopter to him was like being handed out of a dreamy cartoon into heady real life. Right into the arms of my waiting prince.
I silently cursed my cousin Dex for getting me hooked on that damn game to begin with. And always beating me. Being this close to the game's creator made me wonder if I could get some top-secret tips out of him. Beating Dex at his own game would make my summer. And so would spending time with this man.
Lazer pulled me away from the whirr of the copter, with Jus following behind. The three of us paused at the edge of the circular drive in front of the lodge and watched the copter pull away. He smiled into my eyes. "Damn, Jus, where have you been hiding this gorgeous woman?"
His voice was as smooth and sweet as fondant on a cake. He was obviously a shameless flatterer. And I thought, Where have you been all my life? Why didn't I meet you four days ago?
Oh. Yeah. I wouldn't have met him now if not for Jus.
Jus removed my hand from Lazer's, where it had lingered too long, and put his arm possessively around my waist. "Lazer, meet my wife, Kayla. Kayla, Lazer Grayson."
I stopped myself just in time from saying, I know who he is. Man, do I know.
"Wife! That's just so bizarre." Lazer held my gaze, seemingly as mesmerized by me as I was by him.
Which made no sense. I was just an ordinary girl. And he was Lazer Grayson, the boy billionaire.
Justin cleared his throat.
Lazer snapped out of the trance. He slapped Jus on the back. "You tight-lipped bastard. You snowed everyone. None of us knew you even had a girlfriend." His smile sent my heart racing as he turned to me. "What do you see in this guy?"
"Jus has always been completely adorable." I leaned into my husband for emphasis. My words sounded innocuous and playful enough. But in truth, I flashed Lazer a flirty smile.
Lazer shook his head, like he didn't see the adorable in Jus. "Must be the new haircut and suit." He focused his attention on Justin. "Jus, did you finally break down and hire a stylist? God knows Ophie couldn't pick out something that nice."
"I have a wife now to do my styling. A wife with incredibly good taste. Which is why she married me." Justin sounded put out. And jealous.
Fair enough. Jealousy didn't have to mean anything other than pride was at stake. I knew the feeling, and told myself to behave and tone it down.
Lazer looked at me. "You're responsible for this?"
I smiled and nodded.
"Genius. Jus, you married a fashion genius. I can't believe you got him to get rid of that baggy sports coat and T-shirt shit he usually wears."
"Who says they're actually gone?" I said with a laugh.
Lazer arched an eyebrow comically, indicating, at least to me, that Jus was already henpecked. That I had completely pecked him into that new haircut. And how could I argue? But it was for his own good. And my pride.
Jus squeezed me tighter.
Suddenly Lazer laughed. "We'd better head in. Everyone's waiting." Lazer waved us toward the house. "Welcome to Lazer Lodge."
Lazer Lodge was the size of a respectable resort lodge. At first glance, I estimated it had to be fifteen to twenty thousand square feet. It was fashioned like a hunting lodge of the 1930s or 1940s, out of logs and river rock, with a contemporary twist. And built from the finest materials.
Lazer ushered us in.
I held back a gasp. People actually lived in this kind of magnificence?
We stepped into a large, open great room with windows along the back so large and clear it looked as if it was open air. Almost a tree house nestled in the evergreens. A row of sliding doors opened to the patio, making the place truly feel like a nest.
There was a Washington State Lottery commercial on TV where a guy lives on top of a mountain and parasails down into town for a coffee. Then zip-lines back up. I wondered whether they'd patterned it as a modest version of Lazer's Lodge. Or if Lazer had been the one to take that fantasy one step farther.
He had a breathtaking mountaintop view of the rest of the Cascade Mountains beyond. The ceilings had to be twelve feet tall at least. And something smelled delicious. A buffet was being set up on the patio.
A small crowd of fifteen to twenty people milled around on the patio.
"Come meet the members, Kayla." Lazer led the way to the patio.
The moment I stepped out, the introductions, congratulations, and ribbing flowed nonstop as Jus and Lazer introduced me to their crowd. I
felt like I was drifting through a receiving line at a wedding, meeting only the groom's side. It was a blur of faces and names that danced in the air. The introductions flew too fast for me to keep track of people. Or would have, if most of the people hadn't been widely known public figures and frequently featured in magazines like Forbes. The terrace pulsed with the sense of power, influence, and money colliding.
Meet billionaire so and so. He made it big in the cellular technology field.
Oh, and this guy, software.
Another one, a forest industry magnate.
The congratulations to Jus on his recent IPO flowed as easily as the cocktails the waiters were passing around. Welcome to the club was as ubiquitous as a fight song during homecoming.
And finally, the winks, the sly looks, the congrats and backslapping over his marriage. This was a boys' club. Only one woman, the Canadian, was a billionaire in her own right. I looked around for more wives and girlfriends. They were suspiciously missing.
"There aren't many women here. Where are all the rest of the wives and girlfriends?" I whispered to Jus.
Lazer heard me and answered for him, "Girlfriends aren't allowed. Spouses rarely choose to come."
I better absorb everything, then, I thought.
I was under the microscope's eye. Sideways glances took my measure. Was I worthy of being the wife of one of their gang? Trophy-like enough? I certainly wasn't successful enough on my own to be anywhere near making this club. What other reason was there for Justin to choose me? Or was I a blatant gold digger? A mistake? Would this last the month?
Funny how I could go from feeling like I'd been raised in a respectable, middle-class family to feeling like trailer trash in an instant. Not that any of them made any accusations. They were all perfectly pleasant. So maybe it was only my insecurities sitting on my shoulder and whispering.
Beside me, Jus beamed with pride and soaked in the compliments and congrats. The men were naturally curious about my sudden appearance in Justin's life. He deflected the subtle inquiries and digs with good humor. I felt almost guilty, suddenly, for intruding on Jus' big night. For our surprise "marriage" shadowing, though not necessarily overshadowing, this night of supreme accomplishment for him.
I was awestruck by the attendees. How had he come to act so naturally and seemingly feel at home among this crowd? Little, shy Justin who everyone picked on. Seattle was home to some of the world's richest people, to the world's richest man. Many of whom were guests. Jus acted as if they were common, everyday officemates and colleagues.
Lazer was fielding questions about some work he'd had done on the lodge.
"Thank you. I've had some work done on it since last time you were here," I overheard Lazer telling the Canadian billionaire when she complimented him on it. "This is just my weekend retreat. I don't get out here as often as I should. This last winter I was here fewer than a half-dozen times. The snowmobiling and snowboarding were terrible. Not enough of the white stuff."
After ten or fifteen minutes of small talk, Lazer made an announcement. "It's time for the official induction." He herded us inside into a media room with another distracting view of the mountains and the sun that was threatening a showy sunset. He escorted Justin and me to a pair of seats in the front of the room and took the podium upfront.
"I would like to welcome all of you here tonight as we induct our newest member, our youngest member ever. The little bastard has taken the title from me. Overachiever!"
The audience laughed. Beside me, Jus smiled good-naturedly.
"I was dubbed the boy billionaire. I'd like to suggest we call the new guy the baby billionaire. If our members get any younger, they'll be in diapers."
I turned to Jus as he grabbed my hand.
"Don't worry. It's supposed to be a roast," he whispered. "It's tradition."
Lazer went on to enumerate Jus' many impressive accomplishments. Most of which I knew nothing about. A lot of the technical talk about Jus' contributions to the world of programming and software development went over my head.
"In all seriousness, he's a protégé of mine and I'm damned proud of him. Otherwise I wouldn't have nominated him for membership," Lazer said. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome our newest member, Justin Green."
The room erupted in applause.
"And welcome our esteemed president to the platform to present Jus his key to the club."
I plastered a proud, beaming wife smile on my face, all too aware of Lazer as he left the podium and took the chair next to me. I took my phone out and looked to Lazer for confirmation that it was okay to record and snap pictures. When he nodded, I pointed my phone at Jus and smiled reassuringly.
The ceremony was quick and perfectly timed to end as the sun set over the mountains in the most brilliant hues of pink and orange, just as it had been threatening to do all evening. I caught it all on my phone.
Lazer leaned into me and whispered, "Just don't post it anywhere." His smile was sweet, but dead serious. "We value our privacy. And it won't last long anyway if you do. Our security team will hunt it down and delete it."
Wow. Just wow.
The club gave Jus a certificate and a trophy, which looked like it was made of gold, like an Oscar. He gave a short acceptance speech, thanking his family, friends, and business partners. Lazer Grayson. And the club for inviting him in. Speaking to the crowd, he was confident and funny. He threw around a few stats about the odds of becoming a billionaire that made the crowd laugh. It was almost as if he was giving a TED Talk about billionaires.
I swelled with pride, proud he was my friend. Happy I'd made the decision to help him out. He truly had a brilliant career in front of him. Dex had been right—Jus was destined for greatness. No horrible identity thief should be able to derail his life and achievements.
As the ceremony ended, a waiter appeared and served everyone a glass of champagne.
When each person had a glass, Lazer made a toast. "As you all may have heard on the news, this is an auspicious time in our baby billionaire's life. The average age for an American man to marry is now twenty-seven. Our Justin jumped the gun and tied the knot at twenty-one. He likes to do everything young—youngest billionaire ever in the club. And now a young bridegroom.
"Now I'd like to raise our glasses, not just to Justin and his impressive accomplishment, but to the newlywed couple. Kayla, we still can't understand what you saw in him, but we wish you both happiness and joy and a long life together." He raised his glass and cheers went up. People clinked glasses with the people next to them.
"And now, business taken care of, let's do what we do best—eat and party!"
Servants appeared and opened the patio doors from the lodge to the terrace. Outside, the stars were beginning to twinkle. There was very little light pollution to interfere with them. When I looked up, the heavens seemed dizzying with their vastness and number of stars.
"Newlyweds and new inductees first." Lazer led us to the front of the line where servers waited with an assortment of food that made my mouth water, prepared by one of Seattle's finest chefs.
Lazer followed us through the line. The three of us settled at a table on the patio overlooking the pool, which was now lit only by starlight from above. It was a black pool, a dark, dizzying reflected sky filled with more stars than I remembered seeing since a childhood camping trip. A string quartet played softly at the edge of the terrace.
Lazer and Jus joked and ribbed each other like old friends, competitive friends, while I sat quietly listening and studying them both. Thinking traitorous thoughts about how hot Lazer was. And funny. And charming. And how Jus was…sweet.
The conversation turned to movies and pop culture.
"What do you think, Kay?" Jus said, putting me on the spot. "Does Lazer remind you of anyone?"
His tone was teasing and light, but there was an edge to it, too. It was as if he'd read my cheating mind and seen me watching Lazer too closely. I thanked my good luck that the lighting was dim and mostly filtered f
rom candles and the light streaming out the doors and windows from the lodge. It hid my guilty expression.
I played along and studied Lazer openly, enjoying the chance to memorize his face. "James Bond?"
Jus laughed and grabbed another cocktail from a tray a waiter brought around. The booze flowed like water. Everyone was drinking heavily. It was Jus' fourth one. But who was counting?
"Fictional character. Close." The edge grew sharper in Jus' voice, masked by a twinkle of a joke. "He thinks Christian Grey was based on him."
Lazer laughed. "Jealous? Can I help it if women from across the country write me and ask if I was the inspiration? I've had girls show up at the gates of my house begging to meet me. Girls who've flown in, just to get a glimpse of me, Seattle's real-life young billionaire."
"Yeah," Jus said. "He's as popular as Forks since Twilight. You should put up a booth and make an appearance at the gates once in a while to charge them for autographs."
Lazer turned to me. "See what I have to put up with?"
I didn't reply. I was too busy trying not to laugh.
"Can I help it if women make the connection? Grey and Grayson. Same age. Both Seattle's Best Man. Youngest billionaires in Seattle's history."
"Until now," Justin said.
"We're both suave and handsome." Lazer laughed again.
"And humble," Justin said.
I laughed with them. "And the red room of pain? Is that based on you, too?"
"That's where the comparison ends." His grin was infectious and seductive.
And I thought, Maybe he isn't into that, but I bet he's a good lover.
Lazer winked. "I have the red room of game."
I took another sip of my cocktail, letting the alcohol take the edge off my nerves as the boys tried to one-up each other.
"Gaming nerd," Jus said, playfully. "That doesn't count. You put that in after."
"Do you have the red room here?" I asked. "Or is at another one of your homes?"
Justin stared at me in surprise, as in why would I be interested in a gaming room?
"I have a mini one here," Lazer said. "I'll show it to you later if you'd like to see it."
The Virgin Billionaire: Switched at Marriage Part 2 Page 4