The Belated Billionaire

by Elana Johnson

  “No,” he whispered, gathering her fully into his arms now. And it was the only place she wanted to be. The comfort and relief she felt made tears come to her eyes, and she wrapped her arms around his back to hold him tight.

  He stepped back only a moment later, his eyes once again cutting to the back of the yard where Heather fed the cats. “So I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  Katie pressed her lips together and nodded. Theo nodded too, called, “’Bye, Heather,” and reached for the doorknob.

  He stepped through before Katie realized he was going to leave without kissing her. And that simply wouldn’t do. So she followed him into the house, cast a quick look at Heather, still busy with the cats, and went with him all the way to the front porch.

  “Theo,” she said, and he turned back to her. She wasn’t sure what to say. She’d said she loved him. He’d said it too, but it wasn’t in the same conversation. So she just reached up and cradled his face in her hands and tipped up on her toes, bringing her mouth to his.

  She kept contact for only a moment, then she said, “I love you. You can’t leave without a kiss,” and she met his mouth again. This time, she kissed him like she loved him, and he kissed her back the same way.

  Twenty

  Theo couldn’t believe Katie was kissing him. If he’d known all he needed to do was show up at her house and tell her he was dying without her, he’d have done it weeks ago. Instead, he’d been sleeping poorly and making plans since the Nine-0 Club holiday party for the most romantic dinner he could put together on short notice, on Christmas Eve.

  And he was still going to do that. Oh, yes, he was. He didn’t think all could be resolved in a few minutes of conversation, but he wanted to keep kissing Katie, and keep coming to spend time with her in her back yard and keep her in his life permanently this time.

  “I love you too,” he whispered, kissing her one final time. “I’m so sorry.”

  She leaned her forehead against his, her breathing quite uneven. “I know, Theo. You can tell me all about it tomorrow at dinner.” She stepped back, removing her touch from his face, opened the door, and went inside before he could say or do anything else.

  He stood on her steps, stunned and still a bit drunk from her kiss. “Tomorrow at dinner,” he said to her front door. When he arrived back at the office, voices came from the other room, where he and Ben and hired two more people to work out of the Getaway Bay branch, and he’d authorized the hiring of twenty-five more developers and coders in the Dallas office. Half of them were set to start the second day after Christmas, and Theo paused in the doorway of the second office, nothing stealing his attention or time at the moment.

  “Getting settled in?” he asked.

  Tyson Longmore turned and grinned. “Almost ready. Ben’s getting us hooked up to the WiFi.”

  “Theo,” Ben said without looking up from the screen. This room now had three desks, with twice that many monitors. Ben had moved into Theo’s office, which was where he worked ninety percent of the time anyway. “How’d it go this morning?”

  “Good,” he said. “All set for tomorrow.”

  That got Ben to stand up. His eyes met Theo’s, and a slow smile spread his lips. “Really? All set?”

  “All set,” he said. “So your guy better have the beach set up.”

  Ben grabbed his phone off the desk and started texting. Several seconds later, he said, “He’s ready.” He grinned fully now. “You guys back together?”

  Theo thought of the kiss on Katie’s front porch. “Sort of,” he said, his stomach turning warm. “I’m still going to need to pull out all the stops though.”

  So he’d take Heather shopping and they’d find something wonderful for her mother. And then he’d see if he and Katie could take “I love you” all the way down the aisle to another “I do.”

  The following morning, he waited in front of Katie’s house a few minutes before eight, glad he was early and not rushing. It was a nice feeling. A good feeling.

  Heather opened the door a minute later and came bounding down the steps, her dark hair curled and bouncing with the movement. “Heya,” she said as she opened the door and got in the car beside him.

  “Hi, Heather. You hungry?” He caught sight of Katie leaning in the doorway, and his heart skipped several times. He wanted to jump out of the car, dash up the steps, and kiss her until he couldn’t see straight.

  Instead, he waved at her and backed out of the driveway, saying, “Where’s the best place on the island for breakfast?”

  “I don’t know. We never go out to eat.” Heather looked at him. “I was thinking my mom would like one of those necklaces from Lightning Point. You know, the ones you were telling us about with the pieces of petrified lightning on them?”

  “You think so?” Theo asked, trying to chat and think and navigate all at the same time. But it wasn’t like he got out to breakfast a lot either. In fact, Ben usually brought back doughnuts.

  Doughnuts.

  He picked up his phone and put in Nuts About Dough so his app would take him there. Once it started talking to him, he asked, “What other ideas do you have? We could go to the mall.”

  “Claire usually takes me to the drug store and I get my mom candy or something.”

  “Well, we can do that, too,” Theo said. “But I think we can get more than candy.”

  Heather let a few seconds go by. “Because you’re rich, right?”

  Theo chuckled and turned out of the neighborhood where Katie lived. “Yeah, I have a little bit of money.”

  Heather started talking about the painting and the festival, as well as another project she’d started to work on. Theo bought her as many doughnuts as she wanted, and they ate them in the shop, at a tiny table that he could barely fit his legs underneath. A steady stream of people went in and out of the shop, and only a few of them stayed.

  After that, Theo took Heather to the drug store for the candy she wanted, and then they started the journey around the island to Lightning Point. Theo thought they might not be open, and he made a quick phone call to the visitor’s center to find out.

  “They’re open,” he said to Heather. “So we’re in luck.” They arrived several minutes later, and Heather went straight to the jewelry cases and started looking. Someone came to help them, and Heather had the woman get out several pieces, finally deciding on one that looked like a warped tree root and had a faint blue tint.

  “She’ll like this one,” Heather said, obvious pride in her voice. Theo grinned at her, paid for the necklace, and said he’d wrap it and have it ready when he came to pick up Katie that night.

  They walked back to the car, and Heather had her seatbelt buckled before she asked, “So are you going to marry my mom?”

  “Oh, um.” Theo buckled his own belt. “I don’t know, sweetheart.”

  “But you love her, right?”

  “I do,” Theo said.

  “But you work too much,” she said.

  “I’m working less now,” he said. “At least that’s the goal.”

  “I never see my dad,” she said. “And I don’t want another dad I never see.”

  Theo’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel, but he had no idea what to say. None at all.

  “He hasn’t even sent a card this year,” she said, her voice squeaking. “And he always sends a card.” She swiped at her eyes, and Theo wanted to fix everything in her life for her so she never had to watch the mail and hope it had a card in it.

  “Maybe it’s just late,” he said, his own voice a little froggy.

  Heather didn’t say anything, and they pulled into her driveway a few minutes later.

  “I’ll see you tonight,” Theo said. “I’ll slip you the necklace and you can put it under the tree, okay?”

  “Okay.” Heather turned and looked at him. “Thanks, Theo.”

  “Yeah.” He got out of the car and walked with her up the steps. He gave her a big hug and said, “I’m sure you’ll get a card from your dad,
okay?”

  “You think so?”

  “I hope so.” Theo beamed down at her. “And hey, I’ll bring you a card if it’ll make you feel better.” He knew it wouldn’t, but she nodded and went inside the house.

  He stayed on the porch for a moment, almost desperate to make a Christmas card show up at this house from a penitentiary in Kansas and utterly powerless to make that happen.

  Hours later, he stood on the same porch, this time dressed in his finest suit, his shiniest shoes, and having just gotten a haircut from the woman in his building who had five kids in a two-bedroom condo. He’d given her a large tip and wished her a Merry Christmas before putting every piece of himself in place, checking with Ben to make sure dinner would go without a hitch, and driving over here.

  He knocked and waited, his nerves almost shot and the date hadn’t even started yet.

  Katie opened the door, and she wore a pink dress that was a couple of shades above white. Her hair was all piled up on top of her head, and she wore just the right amount of makeup to enhance her natural beauty.

  Theo’s cells vibrated and he whistled at her. “Wow, you’ve always taken my breath away.” He swept his arm around her waist slowly, giving her the opportunity to step back, stay out of reach, if she wanted.

  “I love you,” he whispered. He wasn’t going to say it again so soon, but he simply couldn’t restrain himself. Before she could respond, he drew in a sharp breath and said, “Let’s go to dinner.”

  He stepped back, taking her hand in his, and leading her down the steps. He played every move perfectly, paying attention to her and opening the door for her, asking her if she was comfortable, and then setting the sports car toward the beach.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “I’ve arranged something,” he said evasively, easing into a parking lot and searching for the building he wanted. He finally spotted it and parked as close as he could.

  “There aren’t any restaurants down here,” she said as he unbuckled his seatbelt. She didn’t move a muscle, and Theo had seen that stubborn look on her face before.

  “We’re eating on the beach,” he said. “A private affair, catered by this social hall.” He nodded toward it. “Now come on. Your chicken is probably getting cold as we speak.” He chuckled, and he was glad when she joined him at the front of the car.

  They walked up the sidewalk and into the hall, where a man in a tuxedo met them with a smile and kind words. He led them to the table-for-two on the beach, which had candles and roses and billowy streamers on the back of the chairs.

  “Theo,” Katie said as they approached. “This is beautiful.” The sun was almost down, but the remaining light set the perfect scene for romance.

  He waited until the other man left, and then he said, “I really do want to make things work between us.”

  “Theo, I know you do.”

  “And?” he asked, meeting her eye. “Do I have a chance?”

  She titled her head and looked at him, and then a team of people descended on them, bringing bread and butter, crab bisque, and a green salad. A flurry of activity happened as plates and bowls got set and adjusted, and then everyone melted away as quickly as they had come.

  “So I know I said we wouldn’t talk business,” Theo said as he spread his napkin across his lap. “I came to my money late in life. More belatedly than I would’ve wanted or that I’d planned for. But I don’t care about any of it. Not without you. My bank account doesn’t make me smile. Doesn’t keep me warm at night.” He took a deep breath. “That’s what I want from you. I want to smile when I wake up next to you, and I want to make you laugh, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, whether I have a job or money, or whether I don’t.”

  He looked at her, raw and vulnerable, wishing she’d say something. When she didn’t, he said, “So maybe we simply got together too early in life. Maybe it’s our time to be together, even if it is a little belatedly.”

  She lifted a spoonful of bisque to her lips and sipped. “Mm.” She nodded and swallowed. “Maybe you’re right.” She ducked her head, and when she looked up at him through her eyelashes. “I think you definitely have a chance.”

  Theo grinned and picked up his glass of water. “Great. To us.” He clinked his glass against hers, more love flowing through him than he knew how to feel.

  The conversation turned light after that, and they talked about everything and nothing. They ate through the main course and the cheesecake dessert before another lull fell over them.

  “So,” Theo said, reaching into his pocket and feeling the ring there. He picked up a long-stemmed rose with his free hand and stood. He went around the table and knelt down in the sand. “I love you, and I know I’ve heard you say you love me as recently as yesterday.” He produced the ring and held it next to the rose. “I want you in my life forever, even if we’re getting started a little later than most people. I want to be a family with you and Heather. Will you marry me?”

  Katie stared at the rose, then the diamond, at least thirty seconds passing. Each one felt like torture to Theo, but he knew Katie. She needed time to process, and he was determined to give her that time.

  “I do love you,” she said, finally lifting her eyes to his. Theo saw hope and desire swimming there, along with the softer emotions of love and adoration. “And of course I’ll marry you.”

  A smile burst onto Theo’s face, and he slipped the ring onto Katie’s finger before kissing her. “Best Christmas ever,” he whispered against her lips and both of them chuckled. Then he kissed his fiancée again, pure joy radiating through him that he could have the happy ending with her that he’d always imagined.

  “Okay,” she said, still holding his face close to hers. “But this time, I want an amazing honeymoon to anywhere in the world I want. And then we can take one with Heather.” She giggled, and Theo touched his nose to hers. “Okay?”

  “Whatever you want, love,” he said. “Whatever you want.”

  Ohh, I’m so happy Theo and Katie got their second chance! If you are too, please leave a review for them now.

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  Read on for a sneak peek of the first chapter of THE HELICOPTER PILOT’S BRIDE, Book 1 in the Brides & Beaches Romance series, right here in Getaway Bay!

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  Sneak Peek! The Helicopter Pilot’s Bride Chapter One

  Charlotte Madsen disembarked from the plane, taking a deep breath of the Hawaii air. Though she’d come from an island, this one felt completely different—exactly what she needed. She went down the skybridge, glad she didn’t have to walk straight into the airport. She wanted a view of this new place she was determined to make her new home.

  An image of the beach house she’d bought, with its crumbling walls and broken windows, crept into her mind. The jungle had also tried to reclaim the house, one vine and one brick at a time.

  She’d gotten the house for dirt cheap, which suited her needs as she started this new chapter of her life.

  Not a new chapter, she told herself. A completely new volume needed to begin now that her husband—oops, ex-husband—had married his girlfriend only ten days after the divorce was final.

  And Charlotte?

  On the eleventh day after the divorce from her husband of eleven years, she’d bought a practically demolished beach house over five thousands miles from where she lived.

  And now she was here, in Getaway Bay, to well, get away from everything and everyone she’d known in the last thirty-seven years.

  She took a deep breath, her to-do list growing exponentially in her mind. First
, luggage. She’d brought as much as she thought she’d need to get through the first two weeks. After that, she hoped to have a job and a way to buy whatever she hadn’t brought with her.

  Thankfully, the beach house came “furnished,” which the seller had confirmed included a bed, a dining set, all appliances, and a sectional couch. So she’d at least have somewhere to sleep, eat, and watch TV on her first night on the island.

  Not that Charlotte watched a lot of TV. In fact, she couldn’t stand sitting still, and the last seven hours she’d spent on the plane was enough to drive her to madness.

  She tipped a man with a huge luggage cart, and he helped her heave her standard, black suitcases off the belt. She stood with them in the taxi line, the heat and humidity still pretty high though it was officially fall on the island. Perhaps Hawaii didn’t care what the calendar said.

  When it was finally her turn, the cab driver helped her get all her bags in the trunk, and she sank into the back seat with a sigh. The corners of her lips pulled up, and she barely remembered what it felt like to smile.

  But she’d done it. Despite what her mother had said. In spite of what her friends had counseled her to do. Charlotte had indeed sold the house she’d lived in for over a decade, nearly everything else she owned, and moved almost five thousand miles, literally from one side of the country to the other.

  So while her heart had been through a shredder and then grilled into a lump of coal, she’d survived. The last four months had been one upheaval after another, starting with the words, “I want a divorce. I’ve met someone else.”

  She wasn’t quite sure where the journey would end, but she rather liked the way she’d been welcomed to the island with “Aloha,” a smile, and a flower lei. She breathed in the heady perfume from the flowers and watched the brilliant blue water go by as the driver took her to her new home.