Billionaires and Bodybags

by Keira Blackwood

  “So we set a trap,” Kelly said.

  “We are not using dead people as bait,” I said.

  Kelly put out her pouty lip.

  “It’s gross and disrespectful,” I told her. “Hard line.”

  “Boo,” she said. “What’s your plan, then?

  I bit my lip. I did not have a plan.

  “Would it be possible to trick him?” Grayson asked.

  Kelly raised a brow, interested, and finally not insulting him. “Trick him how?”

  “Could we make him believe there’s a body when there’s not?”

  “Hmm,” she said. “Maybe I can work with that. I hate to say it, but you’re not completely useless, fur boy.” She patted the top of his head like he was a dog.

  He glowered at her. “Happy to help.”

  “Like a good boy,” she said. “Like the bestest good boy ever.”

  “We’re all friends here,” I said, and elbowed her in the arm. “And we’ll be nice and act like it.”

  She feigned innocence and shrugged.

  “I should let the two of you catch up,” Grayson said.

  Kelly sucked in her lips, clearly holding back something.

  “Sunset?” I asked him.

  “See you at sunset.” He brushed my elbow with his fingers, and my temple with his lips.

  I watched him go, staring at his butt, and the way it looked in those pants.

  After the door clicked shut, Kelly bent over to put her face in front of mine. “Okay, new plan. We use all the shifters as bait. Throw fresh guts on them, and see if that does the trick.”

  “No.”

  “Why no?”

  “Because eww. And because they’re people. We’re not going to put the shifters in danger. Some of them are my friends.”

  Kelly snorted. “It’s because you’re in luuuuurve with Grayson.”

  I felt my cheeks go hot. “I wouldn’t say that—”

  “I would.”

  Kelly had an uncanny ability to see through to the truth of a matter. She often forgot to be tactful, but there was no denying she was perceptive. Thinking to how warm and happy I felt in Grayson’s presence, I couldn’t help the goofy grin forming on my face. Maybe she was right.

  She locked her arm in mine. “Now show me around Forbidden. I’m dying to learn everything there is to know about this little town and why you chose it.”

  10

  Grayson

  Kelly’s appearance in Forbidden wasn’t ideal. The woman obviously hated me, and I still couldn’t figure out exactly how we’d gotten off on the wrong foot. I’d always prided myself on my charm and charisma; they helped with business and developing relationships. I could usually figure out what made a person happy, what ticked them off, and operate accordingly.

  Well, I’d have to figure out how to be friends with her, if she could stop pissing me off for two minutes straight. Because whether Kelly liked it or not, I’d be around forever. Marla and I were mates, and a hostile bestie wasn’t about to change that.

  A part of me wondered what they might be scheming right now, but I also had schemes of my own to concoct.

  Namely: making the Forbidden B&B into a cash cow for both me and Daphne.

  Wintry sunshine filtered through the window, making my little room downright cheerful. The only sound was the clack of my laptop keys as I typed up my proposal, which was looking better and better. I wrote a section on adding a spa. Another section was on building a boat ramp, purchasing a couple of boats, and offering tours of the lake. The top floor of the B&B could be transformed into larger suites to accommodate luxury guests who wanted more space, in addition to the more couple-appropriate rooms that filled the rest of the building. All of my suggestions were just that, leaving creative control in Daphne’s very capable hands. Damn, if I were a B&B owner, I would definitely want to work with an investor like me.

  Once the proposal was finished, I saved it to a flash drive and hurried down the stairs. I passed Daphne in the hallway and beamed.

  “You seem happy,” she said. “Are things working out with Marla?”

  I hadn’t explicitly discussed the Marla situation with Daphne, but I wasn’t hiding my feelings, either. Declan had clearly noticed my intentions when I’d vouched for Marla. Maybe Declan and his mate had discussed it, or maybe I was just that obvious.

  “Everything’s great,” I said. “I’ll be back in a bit, just running a quick errand.”

  “Okay,” she said slowly, obviously weirded out by my cheer.

  She’d understand soon enough. I was about to make us both extremely happy.

  “Will you be around here today?” I asked.

  “Mostly. I have a few errands to run this afternoon.”

  “Okay. I’ll be back before you go.” I couldn’t wait to show her my proposal. This was going to be fucking awesome.

  Downtown Forbidden was quaint as always, but it took on an extra shine this morning. I had Marla in my life, and a fucktastic business proposal. I stepped into Contraband Copies and did a double-take—the kid working the counter was the barista from the cafe.

  “Hey,” he said, brightening when he recognized me. “The shit gifter!”

  “Okay, that’s not cool,” I said.

  “Sorry,” he said, not sounding all that sorry. “What can I do for you?”

  “I need a document printed and bound. Rush job.”

  He rubbed his hands together. “You have a flash drive?” When I nodded, he said, “Hand it over.”

  I passed it to him.

  “How many pages?” he asked.

  “Thirty or so.” I hadn’t really looked at the number of pages; I was more concerned with the awesome content.

  “Rush job?” he repeated to himself. “It’ll take about twenty minutes. Feel free to browse our incredible greeting card selection.”

  “Yeah, thanks.” I wasn’t exactly a greeting card kind of guy, and when I saw a card with a black cat on it, I doubled down on that sentiment. I scowled at the stupid furry face with enlarged eyes. Granted, this greeting card cat was much cuter than the demonic parasite living with Marla, but the resemblance was close enough.

  I wandered around for a few minutes while the guy started working. He began humming some pop tune I half-recognized. It was completely off-key. I had to get out of here.

  “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes,” I called, stepping outside.

  He barely acknowledged me, still shaking his ass while he hummed and waited for the printer to spit out my magnificent work of business genius.

  Once outside, I nearly got run over by three women pushing jogging strollers. Each of their babies looked eerily similar to each other. It was the same three who’d walked into the coffee shop my first day here. Small towns, I thought, shaking my head and smiling. If I were to live here with Marla, I’d have to get used to seeing the same faces everywhere.

  As they speed-walked away, one of them said in a hushed voice, “Hey, Jill, isn’t that the bag-of-shit guy?”

  I paused. Bag-of-shit-guy? She hadn’t intended for me to hear her, so she wasn’t purposefully calling me names. This was because of the plush coffee bean. Dammit.

  “Is it?” one of the other women said. “From the coffee shop? He’s hot. He could carry a flaming bag of shit and make it look good.”

  I felt a little better, although I wasn’t sure whether to be offended that I was known as being the bag-of-shit guy, or if I should be amused.

  The women continued down the sidewalk, and I waited, people watching, until it was time to go back in for my proposal. As soon as I did, the kid at the counter clapped his hands and pointed to something on the table in front of him. To extend my suspense, probably, he’d covered the proposal in a sheet of blank paper.

  “You didn’t say what color you wanted the folder or binding,” he said, “so I made an artistic call.”

  “Neutral,” I said, practically growling. “Tell me it’s neutral tones.”

  His face went a littl
e pale. “Um.”

  Leaning forward, I ripped the paper from the booklet.

  Poop emoji. The proposal had been bound in a plastic covering patterned in poop emoji.

  “Ta da!” he said, waving jazz hands.

  I didn’t have time for this shit. Literally.

  “You bound my business proposal in shit?” I said.

  The kid’s face fell. “Well, it’s sort of a theme for you.”

  “Not for my business!” I checked my Rolex. Daphne had said she had errands to run, and I didn’t want to miss her.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” he said, and he genuinely looked upset and a little afraid. “I’ll redo it right away.”

  “No, it’s all right.” I hadn’t meant to scare the little punk. “I’ll take it as it is.”

  And hopefully Daphne would have a sense of humor about the whole thing.

  Shit.

  I put it from my mind as I drove back to the B&B. Daphne’s car was still in the drive. I grabbed the booklet and got out of the car, a spring in my step as I approached the building. I had faith Daphne would see past the terrible cover on my proposal to the magic within.

  She was on the phone as I came inside, and another woman sat nearby, staring at the screen of her own phone. She wore her brown hair in little buns below her ears, and her bangs swept down to her big dark eyes. She looked familiar, and it hit me suddenly—she was the vlog host who had done the show highlighting Daphne’s B&B.

  I caught the end of Daphne’s conversation. “Oh. I see. We do not have a hot tub, although the lake is close by! Right. Not a great place to soak in February, good point. There are hot springs—no, not accessible by wheelchair. Okay, well, I wish you luck finding the perfect destination for your requirements. Thank you.”

  She hung up the phone and gave a great sigh.

  The other woman stood up and said, “Bummer. But don’t worry, there are more guests to be had.”

  “Grayson,” Daphne said, waving at me, “this is Sophie. She’s Finn’s mate.”

  Finn was one of Declan’s brothers. I didn’t know him personally, but back in Declan’s and my camp days, Declan would talk about his younger siblings. With the bond the five of them shared, I’d been jealous that I’d only had one sister.

  “Happy to meet you,” I said, shaking the woman’s hand. “I’ve seen your show—loved it.”

  “Woot! I’m internet famous, do you hear that?” Sophie nudged Daphne’s side.

  I looked from the phone and back to Daphne, then said, “Lost a potential guest?”

  “Yeah, but it’s no biggie,” she said, forcing her shoulders up and back as if gearing up for the next stage of a battle. “We have the things we have, so we’ll attract the people who want those things.”

  “True,” I said. “But what if you could offer more things?” With a flourish, I handed her the proposal and I tried not to wince at the grinning piles of poop covering it.

  “I’m confused,” she said with a brittle smile.

  Sophie said, “You think she should offer people...shit? I don’t think flies make good B&B guests.”

  “Yeah, hard pass on the flies,” I said. “They throw up every time they land, they’re noisy, they hover. It’s hard to get rid of them without giving them a good smack. Terrible guests.”

  Sophie laughed. Daphne just eyed the proposal booklet.

  “Let’s sit down and talk, if you have a few minutes?” I asked. “I wasn't lying when I said I was here on business. But that business concerns your business.”

  She looked less than excited. Sophie looked intrigued. “Mind if I join you?”

  “Not at all.” So far, Sophie seemed like the one who’d give the proposal a decent chance. Daphne’s side-eye said don’t-quit-your-day-job, loser.

  Daphne led the way into the living room, where we all sat around the big coffee table—the two women sharing the sofa, and me sitting in an armchair on the other side.

  “So, what is this?” Daphne asked, opening the booklet.

  “I want to invest in what you have going here,” I said. “I think a partnership would benefit us both.”

  It would benefit her more than me, but that was my MO.

  “You’ve given this some very specific thought,” she said.

  “Ooh, he wants to fund a hot tub!” Sophie pointed at one of the pages.

  “I’m happy to negotiate if something doesn’t work for you,” I said, although the proposal was overly generous. It wasn’t about making the most money possible, but about helping people achieve success. I would profit from it, sure, but my take would be nothing compared to hers.

  Daphne closed the booklet and set it down on the table, scowling. Sophie immediately picked it up and began flipping through the pages.

  “I don’t like it,” Daphne said. “What makes you think you can come in here and try to insert yourself into my bed and breakfast and into my business?”

  “Daphne,” Sophie said in a scolding tone.

  I held up my hands. “It’s a fair question. On page one, I outline my company’s mission. Our goal is to help small, local businesses.”

  “So you build them up in order to take them over?”

  “No, not at all.”

  She gave me a suspicious look. “Sorry. I know you’re friends with Declan and all, but I don’t know you.”

  Sophie cleared her throat. “Last month, some asshole came by and offered to buy this place for a song. He pointed out every single flaw. Mansplainer in the first degree.”

  “Let’s just say I was less than impressed,” Daphne said.

  Daphne’s skepticism made sense, so I said, “I would really appreciate it if you could look through my proposal. I think you’ll be happy with my ideas. I’m coming from a place of already believing this is an excellent business you’re running, and I only want to help. I’m not going to mansplain or pressure you at all. In fact, at the back of the booklet, you’ll see some contact info for other businesses I’ve worked with. Feel free to give any of them a call. And if your answer is no, there are no hard feelings. My door’s always open.”

  I wasn’t going to be leaving town right away, anyhow, because I wanted to stay for Marla.

  “Thank you,” Daphne said. She still looked skeptical, but her eyes had returned to the proposal, so I had hope.

  Sophie was by far more interested in the proposal, and I watched from the corner of my eye as she pointed out different ideas I’d shared in the booklet.

  Wanting to give the two women some space to discuss the profits I would hopefully be bringing Daphne’s way, I headed outside and found a path to the woods—the same path Marla and I had taken before. It was truly beautiful out here, even in the middle of winter, and I knew this B&B could be extremely prosperous. I had a sense about these things.

  I undressed and shifted into my wolf form, eager to experience everything the woods had to offer without any human hindrances. For several hours I wandered, running when I felt like running, walking when I felt like walking. The entire time, I appreciated the beauty around me.

  I came to a clearing some distance away, and the late afternoon sun shone down. With Marla’s love of sunshine and my love of the forest, this would be a perfect place for a picnic. Or, if she didn’t need to eat, a place to walk to and simply enjoy each other’s company.

  When the sun began dipping below the distant mountains, I found my clothes, shifted back to my human form, and dressed.

  I might not be eager to see Kelly, but I couldn’t wait to see Marla again. I had a good feeling about my future in Forbidden.

  Maybe fate was like business, and I had a sense about these things.

  11

  Marla

  Kelly and I had spent the day walking around Forbidden, me showing her all the quaint little shops with themed names like Eden Groceries and Forbidden Hardware. The quirk made the town feel like the residents were all in on a fun sex joke, which just added to its appeal.

  “Best place to grab a bite
?” Kelly nodded toward Hellfire Bar and Grill with a wicked grin.

  “Not now,” I told her.

  “Pity.” She rubbed her belly. “I’m famished.”

  I shook my head and suppressed a grin. I’d missed her, so freaking hard. I felt lighter just having her here with me, like Forbidden was a little more of my home with my sister here. If I had my way, I’d have Kelly, Aubrey, and Grayson staying in Forbidden. Grayson and I hadn’t gotten that far yet in our talks about the future. I didn’t even know where he lived, or what his plans were for after his bodyguard duties ended. I refused to consider there not being an after. He would survive. He had to.

  “Have you heard from Aubrey?” I asked. “Heard” could mean on the phone or in dreams, when it came to Kelly. Because I hadn’t talked to our sister since we escaped the dungeon, I was eager for any kind of update.

  “Yeah, of course,” Kelly said. “She’s hunkering down, staying safe and hidden and whatnot.”

  I was glad to hear that Aubrey was safe, and selfishly hoped she wasn’t settling in and building roots.

  “So if you’re not exclusively gnawing on your shifter boy toy, you’re taking advantage of the piercing part of your tattoo and piercing business, right?” Kelly scowled at me. “Tell me you’re not playing the moral high ground card with your business.”

  “Well…”

  “You are in desperate need of me in your life,” she said with a disapproving shake of her head.

  “Yes I am.” I grabbed her and gave her a squeeze. When I let her go, we kept walking. “I have a no drinking at work policy to keep things simple, safe, and make sure I don’t screw up.”

  “You? Screw up?” Her brows shot up. “Marla, I don’t think you could screw up if you tried.”

  “I tried to manipulate Grayson when we first met,” I admitted.

  She bit her lip, hiding the burst of laughter I knew she was suppressing. “Uh huh,” she said. “And how did that go?”