The Bashful Billionaire

by Elana Johnson

  He woke a few days before Christmas to Lazy Bones barking—something he never did. Dawn hadn’t quite arrived yet, so Tyler sat up in bed and listened. He didn’t have to strain that hard to hear the reverberation of something hitting his front door.

  He launched himself out of bed and headed for the door, not caring that he only wore a pair of gym shorts. “Hey!” he yelled, glad when Lazy Bones came with him, still barking his fool head off.

  Another bang and then the very distinct sound of a car roaring to life met his ears. Tyler pulled open the door expecting dripping eggs, though it wasn’t Halloween nor a full moon. Nor did he live in an area with a lot of teenagers.

  But it wasn’t egg yolks stuck to his wood. At least it didn’t look like it. No, this was greenish. He left the mess for now and leapt down the steps, hoping to catch a glimpse of the car.

  It rounded a corner, and since it was still fairly dark, he couldn’t tell what color it was. Could’ve been black, or blue, or maroon. Probably wasn’t white.

  His adrenaline spiking and his heart hammering, he turned back to the house. Lazy Bones sat on the front porch, licking the slop off the steps.

  “Bones,” he called. “No.” He wanted to see what it was first, before the gluttonous dog ate it all.

  He slicked some off the front door, the texture very eggy and somewhat creamier. And that green…. He sniffed it, and exclaimed, “Avocados.”

  Turning back to the street, his adrenaline turned the corner toward fear. Omar had thrown eggs at his house? Were they fourteen? It didn’t seem like something the man would do, and his confusion doubled.

  “What is that?” He pulled something from Lazy Bones’s lips to find an avocado rind. The eggs had been cracked inside it, and that had been thrown at his house.

  And his parents were coming today. He clenched his teeth and got to work cleaning up the mess. The last thing he needed was an avocado/drug lord terrorizing him while his family was here visiting.

  He’d just gotten all the evidence of the attack erased when Tawny showed up with a big pack on her back. She’d pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and she wore a smile that made his whole world light up.

  “Morning, you,” she said. “I thought you’d be surfing.”

  “Yeah, I—yeah, I didn’t go this morning.”

  She gave him a look like Hmm, that’s odd, but didn’t say anything. “I’m here to make the sticky rice for lunch.”

  “I got all the stuff you said you needed.”

  She trailed her fingertips up his arm, making him shiver like he had chosen Alaska as the place where he wanted to escape. “Thanks.”

  He turned to watch her walk by, the cute little running shorts revealing a lot of leg. With his blood pumping harder through his body, he waited until she went up the freshly swept and hosed off steps and into his house.

  She had a schedule for the day, and he’d promised not to interrupt her. She was here early to make the sticky rice so she could get back in time for her class. She’d race home to shower, and then they’d go to the airport to pick up his parents.

  He’d bought fifteen pounds of pulled pork and lots of buns, but she’d insisted on making the sticky rice. Called it her specialty. He liked that he was still learning things about Tawny that he didn’t know after two full months of spending time together almost every day.

  He kept his promise and took Lazy Bones to the beach instead of loitering in his own kitchen just to be near Tawny. He did eventually return, and her voice carried on the quietness through the open windows at the back of his house.

  “…I don’t know. We’ll see….”

  He tried to make as much noise as possible as he threw the Frisbee he and Bones had been playing with. But she continued with, “We’re just friends.”

  Just friends.

  The words tasted like poison. They sounded like bombs exploding. They stabbed like freshly sharpened knives.

  Friends? he thought as she said, “Yeah, he’s cute…fine, gorgeous…yes, I know.”

  He couldn’t stand to hear anything else. He didn’t want to be her gorgeous friend. He wanted so much more than that, and he was going to tell her right after his family left. He made sure to push the door closed with extra force, which brought her around from where she worked at the counter.

  “Yeah, I gotta go.” She hung up and set her phone on the island. “Hey, everything’s looking good.” She had a towel slung over her shoulder and with that cocked hip, he wanted to rush her and profess how he really felt about her.

  Something invisible held him back. “Great,” he said, his voice dead even to his own ears.

  Tawny blinked, her brows furrowing slightly. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes,” he said, but he shook his head no.

  “Yes? Or no?”

  “I’m gonna go shower.” He had to get away from her. He’d never explained why his money didn’t matter to him, but it was because women expected a man with a lot of money to be the ultimate alpha. Always in control. The one barking orders and getting things done.

  Tyler had been that man for a while, and he’d hated himself. He didn’t want to be the top dog, the one who always had to know what to do.

  And now he was the complete opposite of that. Now, he couldn’t even tell her that he’d overheard her, and it upset him, and he wanted way more than friends.

  He turned around to go lay everything on the line and almost knocked her to the ground. He grabbed onto her arms to keep her from falling. “Whoa. Whoa.”

  “Sorry.” She exhaled and found her feet beneath her. He let go of her quickly, probably faster than he ever had.

  “I was just going to confirm that you’re picking me up at eleven.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “My class goes until ten-thirty, but I’ll be ready.”

  He nodded, his throat aching from how hard he was working to keep his words dormant.

  She backed up a step, and his hands fell from her arms. He escaped into his bedroom, where he knew she wouldn’t follow, and locked the door. He pressed his back into it, sucking at the air like it wasn’t the right thing to breathe. Why did he feel like this? He’d literally never felt like this before.

  Because he’d never been in love before.

  Eleven o’clock came and Tyler parked in front of Tawny’s place. She came bounding down the steps five minutes later, her hair curled and her makeup flawless. She wore a pair of strappy, white sandals with a sundress with big sunflowers on it.

  His fingers flexed around the steering wheel, and his chest felt hollowed out. He was sure he wouldn’t be able to speak at all, but when she got in and asked, “Did you get the leis?” he managed to squeeze out “Yeah. In the back.”

  She twisted to find the box of colorful flower leis he’d bought for every member of his family. Since they hadn’t been to Hawaii when he lived there, he wanted to give them all the traditional and touristy things in this one trip.

  He got to the airport without having to say much, thanks to a beautiful day and all the windows down.

  Once they’d parked and gone into the airport, Tawny slipped her hand into his. Even with electric current rippling through him, he cocked one eyebrow at her.

  “What?” she asked. “We’re engaged. We should be holding hands.”

  “They’re flight doesn’t land for another fifteen minutes.”

  She started to pull her fingers away, but Tyler held onto them. Tight, tighter. “Or maybe you hold hands with all of your friends.” He wasn’t sure where the venom in his voice had come from, only that it was there.

  She blinked at him, confusion evident on her face. “What?”

  “We’re just friends, right? Isn’t that what you said on the phone this morning?”

  Her face paled even beneath all the makeup. “You heard that?”

  “I threw the Frisbee really hard,” he said. “You just kept on talking.” He felt like he was getting stung over and over again by a killer wasp. On
his skin. Inside his mouth. His lungs. He wanted to say it was fine, that he liked her as a friend too, but his tongue had somehow swollen in his mouth. That, or he couldn’t keep lying to himself—or to her.

  Tawny stepped in front of him, the baggage claim and waiting area just a dozen feet away. “What’s going on here?”

  “Nothing.” He looked over her shoulder and put on his poker face.

  “Don’t do that.” She lifted onto her toes and moved into his line of sight. “Don’t put on that blank mask. I hate that thing.”

  He met her eyes, and she looked as stormy as he felt. “I don’t want to be called your friend. I hated that.”

  Something akin to hope entered her expression. Could she really want to be with him? The man behind the blank mask? The man who would’ve married someone he barely knew just because she’d gotten pregnant? The man who her ex-boyfriend was harassing with avocados and eggs?

  “Oh, and your friend Omar egged my house this morning. He was good enough to throw in a few avocados so I would know it was him.” Tyler searched the arrivals board and discovered that his family’s plane was early. “They’re here already.” He wished he’d chosen a better time to hint at his true feelings for Tawny, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tawny couldn’t quite get a grip on reality. I don’t want to be called your friend.

  What did he want to be called then?

  Tyler turned to scan the people coming through the security exit, but she couldn’t see anyone like the pictures he’d shown her.

  Besides, there was so many things more important than his parents in this moment. “Omar egged your house?”

  “This morning.”

  Tawny once again stepped in front of him, a tidal wave of concern flooding her. “Tyler, that’s not good.”

  “Tell me about it. Shorted out some of my lights washing off the porch.”

  “No, it means he’s marked you.”

  That got him to stop scanning the crowd coming out and look at her. Finally. “What does that mean?”

  “It means he knows you’ve been digging up dirt on him, and he’s not happy about it.”

  “What’s he going to do?”

  Before she could answer, a woman squealed and he jumped in front of Tawny so she wouldn’t get trampled by his mother.

  “Tyler!” She laughed and laughed as she hugged him, jumping up and down.

  “All right, Mom. All right.” He chuckled too while Tawny stood out of the way, watching this private family reunion. She almost felt like she shouldn’t be there, and her first instinct was to leave.

  Of course you shouldn’t be here, she told herself. This is all wrong.

  It was one thing to dupe Omar, an all-around devil of a person. But his family? His family whom he hadn’t seen in six years?

  He smiled as big as she’d ever seen him as his dad joined them, along with Wayne and Gina and the boys. Tyler hugged everyone and swooped the nephews into his arms at the same time.

  “How was the plane? Did you guys fall asleep?”

  Hudson and Darius talked for only a moment and then Tyler set them down. He let his eyes skate past Tawny’s when he reached for her, and my, if that didn’t dig right into her bone marrow. But she put her hand in his, right where he needed her, right when he needed her, because he’d done the same for her.

  “This is Tawny Loveless, my fiancée.” He indicated the six people in front of him. “Tawny, my mom, Shirley. Dad Rich. My brother Wayne and his wife, Gina. And their two boys, Darius and Hudson.”

  “So nice to finally meet you,” she gushed as if she’d been waiting years. “I’m so glad you could come for the holidays.” She shook hands and didn’t squirm under the scathing scrutiny of his family. She hated that they were on shaky ground during this crucial time, but she reminded herself that she’d put him in this position. He’d done a lot for her all these weeks leading up to this. She could perform for ten more days.

  “Oh, leis.” She passed them out, babbling about the tradition of the flowers, the shells, the nuts. “The lei is a symbol of love, friendship—” She cut a quick glance at Tyler, who wore that blasted poker face again “—celebration, honor, or greeting.” She finished putting the last one on Wayne and stepped back. “In this case, it’s all of those for you.” She beamed at them, hoping they’d feel right at home on the island, in Getaway Bay.

  “Well.” His mom smoothed down her silk blouse, careful not to disturb her lei. “Let’s go to lunch. I’m starving.”

  “Oh, we made lunch at the house,” Tyler said. “Remember?”

  His mother made a sour face and then brightened. “Oh, yes, that’s right. I think Tawny was going to make sticky rice.”

  “That’s right.” She smiled at the woman, sure they’d get along just fine. But she immediately glommed onto Tyler and started whispering in his ear, leaving Tawny to walk with Gina.

  “Don’t let her get to you,” Gina said almost under her breath.

  “She’s not.”

  “Oh, but she will.” Gina gave her a knowing smile. “Just remember that you live here, and she lives in Queens. Biiig buffer zone.”

  Wayne sidled up beside Tawny and asked, “What are you two whispering about?”

  “Not whispering,” Gina said, an innocent smile on her face.

  “Right.” Wayne put the eye-rolling in his tone. “So, Tawny what do you do?”

  “I’m a beach yoga instructor right now.”

  “Right now? You used to do something else?”

  “Yeah, I’ve worked on cruise ships, resorts, that kind of thing.” She forced a laugh out of her mouth, still watching as Tyler’s mom fingered his hair, a look of displeasure on her face. If he cut it because of her…. Tawny shook the thoughts away.

  “I even did life coaching for a year or so.” She added a smile to her sentence, hoping Wayne and Gina didn’t ask her any questions. She hadn’t been particularly good at life coaching, as hers at the time had been a complete mess.

  Tyler’s mother turned around, her face the perfect example of someone smelling manure. She painted a smile over it, but Tawny’s self-confidence took a dive. Maybe this was going to be a very long ten days after all, especially with Tyler being all mysterious and cryptic with his words.

  Since he drove a tiny little sports car, his family had rented a minivan for their stay on the island. They really looked like tourists loading their luggage in the back of the van and bickering about where each of them would sit.

  They finally all loaded up, and with Wayne behind the wheel, Tawny felt sure they’d make it to Tyler’s house just fine.

  “Should we go?” he asked, startling her out of the trance she’d fallen into.

  “Yes. Yes, let’s go.” She set her feet to walking, because it was almost as easy as breathing. “They’re great,” she said before he could ask. “What was your mom saying about your hair?”

  “Oh, she’s never liked my hair.”

  “She seemed excited to see you.”

  “She did, didn’t she?” He smiled, and Tawny got the impression, as she had for months now, that he loved his family. They loved him. They might not be perfect, but they were family.

  She had the urge to return to their conversation, the one they’d been having before his parents had arrived. But her nerves failed her, and she let him turn the radio up loud and put the windows down low, both of which made talking quite difficult.

  They arrived at Tyler’s house just ahead of his family, which left them no time for talking anyway.

  “Look,” he said just as she reached for the handle. With doubt popping through her, she turned back.

  “Let’s just get through this, okay?” He reached over and cupped her cheek in his palm. The touch was so intimate and sweet, Tawny closed her eyes and breathed in, hoping to hold onto the moment forever.

  But it ended, as time marched on no matter what, and she caught him looking in the rear-view mirror
when she opened her eyes.

  “A quick kiss,” he murmured.

  Tawny barely had time to comprehend his words before his mouth touched hers. The heat between them still existed, even if there were unsaid things between them. She savored the taste of him, the way his mouth seemed made to mold to hers.

  Someone rapped on his window, and he drew back a sigh leaking from his lips. “All right. Let’s go eat lunch.”

  Tawny fluttered around Tyler’s kitchen, picking up lunch dishes and serving coffee. He’d set up a picnic table in the back big enough for everyone, and with the sound of the bay waves in the background, lunch had gone well.

  Well, as well as Tawny could’ve hoped after meeting a man’s parents and trying to pass herself off as their son’s fiancée.

  She brought out the chocolate cake he’d bought that morning while she’d been teaching, and the last two coffee cups. With everything on the table, she said, “Who wants cake?”

  “Oh, not me,” Shirley said. “Too much sugar, and after that long flight and that heavy food.” She waved her hand like chocolate cake was made of mud.

  Everyone else seemed just fine after the flight and the “heavy food.” So Tawny served up the cake and then settled with her coffee, no cake in front of her either.

  “So,” Shirley said. “You two still don’t have a date set?”

  “Mom,” Tyler said. “I told you we didn’t.”

  “I know, but that was two months ago.” She pinned him with a look before switching it to Tawny. “Things change, right?”

  Tawny gave her a closed-mouth smile and lifted her coffee mug again. Things certainly did change, and in the two months since he’d “announced” his engagement to his parents, she’d fallen in love with him.

  Stupid, stupid thing to do.

  “No date,” Tyler said. “We’re just playing it by ear.”

  Shirley scoffed, as if no one played anything by ear these days. “Well, we’ll need time to plan.”