by Ashe, Karina
It was time to fight back. I curl my hands into fists and face Mr. Keller. “Are you a Bond villain?”
He blanches. “What?”
“Do you secretly want to take over the world?”
“What on earth are you talking about? Have you not heard a word I said?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Oh, I’ve heard more from you than I want to.”
Mr. Keller grits his teeth. “Five million. It’s my final offer.”
“Look, no amount of money is going to make me agree to this, alright? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“Fine. Six million.”
“Oh my God, are you listening to me? I could not live with myself. I don’t know how you can live with yourself. Why are you doing this to your son?”
He shudders, looking down at his hands. “You don’t know anything.”
I sigh. This so isn’t going well. “Alright, explain it to me. Why do you hate me so much, huh? You don’t even know me.”
“But I know your kind.”
My kind? What the hell did that mean?!? And why was he making it sound like “my kind” was an antibiotic resistant strain of toenail fungus?
He takes a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t want him to make the same mistakes I made.”
Finally we were getting somewhere. “Well, what mistake did you make?”
He shifts in his seat. “I left him alone when he needed me most. And then, I did it again. I did it so many times that when I tried to reach out he wouldn’t—he couldn’t—”
“It’s fine, dad.”
Mr. Keller’s eyes fly open. I start spinning in my chair but Ian’s already moving past me. He kneels on the Hello Kitty rug, putting his hands over his father’s.
Mr. Keller frowns. “Ian? What are you doing here?”
Ian smiles. Dimples are back, and suddenly the weight in my chest lifts. “I think I should be the one asking you that question.”
His father gulps. “I-I’m just…”
“You’re just trying to bribe the woman I love,” Ian finishes.
What? Did I hear that correctly? Did he just say love?
DID HE JUST SAY LOVE?!?!?!?
I blink only to find Ian gazing back at me. I feel like I’m floating. My heart is singing. Unicorns dance beneath rainbows.
And then, my happy, perfect dream is sharply interrupted by a loud, “WHAT???”
“Don’t act so surprised.” Ian tells his father, standing. “You did offer six million. You had to know.”
Mr. Keller stands, too. “That was only because negotiations had stalled. She was being so ridiculously stubborn—”
Avery clears her throat. We all turn to find her standing in the corner, glaring at the Mr. Keller.
“Uh oh, you pissed her off,” Ian whispers.
Avery’s scowl deepens.
“I think you did too,” Mr. Keller whispers.
“It’s alright,” Ian replies. “I bought her a cactus.”
Avery’s eyebrows perk up as Mr. Keller frowns.
I’m still sitting. I can’t move yet. I don’t know if I can ever move again. I think I just heard…I think it was just suggested…
Ian steps forward, taking my hand in his. “Dad, I want you to meet Lily. For the past two years, I’ve been sending her letters and she’s been returning them. And somewhere in the middle of all that, I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.”
Even Avery is wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
Neither can Mr. Keller. “No! You’re too young, Ian. You don’t know what you want yet. Don’t throw your life away. Don’t do this to get back at me.”
Ian sighs, letting go of my hand. “This isn’t about you or mom. I get it. You weren’t a saint and neither was she. It was a political marriage, not a love match. I blamed you for being with your mistress the night she died instead of with us because I wanted someone to blame.”
I feel my eyes bug out. What?
“Mom didn’t care. Hell, she was happy she got to spend that time alone with me without having to pretend with you.”
Oh my god, what?!?!?
“I just…couldn’t accept she was dying. I wanted you to hurt like I did. I wanted you to hurt too…” Ian’s voice cracks.
Mr. Keller hesitantly places his hand on his son’s shoulder, as if he’s certain Ian will pull away. Ian doesn’t. “I picked your office because I knew you’d find us there. Even while I fucked your mistress, I knew you didn’t love her. Hell, the two of you weren’t even exclusive. I just knew the only way to hurt you was to show you how much I was hurting.”
I don’t think I’m breathing anymore. Avery looks like she can’t decide whether she wants to start crying or throw up. I am tempted to tell everyone to take a thirty minute break so we can all take showers. Separate showers. There’d been enough…sharing…oh my GOD!!!
“I’m so sorry,” Mr. Keller whispers. “I should have been there for you.”
“Maybe, maybe not. I probably shouldn’t have done all the dumb shit I did, either. That’s all in the past, and now, I’m ready to talk about my future.” Ian gets down on one knee. “You still with me, Lily?”
“Um…I don’t know,” I answer honestly.
“She just wants you for your money,” Mr. Keller warns.
Ian sighs. “You know, she actually had no idea I was even a billionaire until you showed up.”
I’m glad I’m sitting down. I’m really, really, really glad. Because my mind just exploded. “WHAT?!?!?!”
Ian shuts his eyes. “Guess she still didn’t know.”
“WHAT?!?!?” I yell.
Ian looks at the ground sheepishly. “I’m a billionaire.”
“A billionaire? As in, you have a billion dollars?”
“Billions, actually.”
Okay. He might well just have said he was a fairy prince from Mars. “Billions?”
He grins. “Yeah. And if I can still convince you to marry me, I’ll give you half so you can be a billionaire too.”
“Marry you?”
“I was gonna wait to ask until next week. Take you home. Introduce you to my dad…well, I guess that already happened unfortunately. Get you the family ring.”
Family ring? Oh my god. Family ring.
He actually wanted to marry me.
Marry. Me.
“Now, all I’ve got is this,” he whispers, lifting something off the floor.
I look into his sincere, brilliant blue eyes—the most beautiful, vibrant blue I have ever seen—and then I glance down at the misshapen, hairy, fugly plant he’s holding that’s sprouting teeth instead of petals. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s a Venus Flytrap.”
Okay. I think one of the epic orgasms he gave me last night might have killed me. Either that, or it knocked a few things lose upstairs. “What?”
“A Venus Flytrap.”
“Alright, I heard you the first time, but…why?”
“I wanted to get you something that symbolized our love.”
“A Venus Flytrap symbolizes our love?”
He nods, grinning like what he just said is not only totally sane but completely adorable.
I shut my eyes. Deep breaths, Lily. Nice, deep, even breaths. “Okay, we don’t need a wedding. We need therapy.”
Epilogue
Lily
We went to three couple’s sessions before the therapist suggested we start seeing another therapist.
Ian and his dad made up. Sort of. I mean, they get along about as well as any other adult man and his overprotective and overly-loving father.
Once Avery realized that Ian was a billionaire, it took a few more cacti to buy her off.
Kate suggested a theme for my wedding. She promised me it didn’t have anything to do with mermaids. Instead, inspired by Ian’s makeshift proposal, she wanted to dress me up like a Venus Flytrap. I said no. She talked about how we could atta
ch a toothy apparatus to my head. I still said no. She finally acquiesced to helping me pick out the kind of white dress I thought only existed in fairy tales.
Happy years passed. As our children got older, they started asking about how we met and, when they heard about the letters, they wanted to read them. And me, in my infinite foolishness, said yes. Which is why I’m spending my Fourth of July going through boxes of old letters with scissors and white out.
“It’s almost time for the party,” he tells me.
I grunt.
“I brought you tea.”
That earns him another grunt.
He sighs, coming over to rub my shoulder. “You don’t have to do this now, you know.”
I set down the scissors. “Actually, I do.”
“No. You can show them in a few years.”
“But what if they find them?” I ask.
He shrugs. “So what?”
“So what? So what?!?!?” I pick up the letter I was just reading and clear my throat. “P. S. If you still feel uncomfortable sending me your picture, maybe you could send me one of your tits?”
Ian drops the tea. “I did not say that.”
“Yes you did.”
He groans. “Wow. I’m amazed we even got together.”
“Me too. There’s one in there where you asked about my webcam and actually used the words ‘drive by boob.’”
Ian cringes, holding his head. “Oh God.”
“Yeah. Oh god is right. That’s the kind of shit that will scar our children for life. No, they can’t find these. Ever.”
It takes him a few minutes to recover. I think he kind of wishes I hadn’t found them either. “You know, our story is weird.”
“You can say that again.”
“But…” he continues. “It’s still a good story.
I tap my forefinger on my bottom lip. “Really? It seems a little…simple to me.”
“Simple? Why?”
“Well, nothing really happens in it.”
“What do you mean, nothing happens?” he scoffs.
“It’s just two people who like each other getting together!”
He wiggles his eyebrows. “Yeah. Now that’s my kind of story.”
I swat him. “Shut up! You don’t understand! There’s no conflict. There’s not even a plot.”
“No, I don’t think you understand. This story has everything. A sexy hero.”
I roll my eyes.
“A woman who speaks her mind.”
“Yeah, everyone loves that.”
“Some seriously fucked-up cosplay.”
I raise my hand to swat him again. “You are not to bring that up ever!”
He blocks me. “And a happy ending.”
I purse my lips. “I guess it does have one of those.”
“Look, sometimes great love stories aren’t full of crazy shit. Sometimes they’re just about two normal people falling in love and getting together.”
“Normal? You were a secret billionaire! And you and your dad…!” I shudder. Even after all these years, I’m still traumatized by that story.
Ian sighs. “Alright, semi-normal. Look, the point is, our kids are just going to want to see how we fell in love, and so we’ll show them. After we, ahem, make generous use of the white-out.”
She frowns at one of the letters in distaste. “You know, if we white out some of these, there’s not gonna be much else left.”
“Doesn’t matter as long as it’s us.”
I frown at him, smiling despite myself. “What do you mean by that?”
“It’s our story, Lily. And that means it’s the best goddamn story there is.”
“Wow. Cocky much?”
He grins, pulling me in close. “Yeah, and you fuckin’ love it.”
***
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More Contemporary BBW Books from Karina Ashe
Reluctant Billionaires
Curvy billionaire heiress Lauren Daniels has broken free and purchased a small home away from her protective father and interfering mother. Added benefit to the new digs: No one in the modest neighborhood knows about her connection to the family fortune, so she can finally trust that the people she meets like her for something other than her money or her father’s influence.
Derek Holmes has a landscaping business and is halfway to earning his first billion after leaving his father’s company and designating his own billion dollar trust fund inheritance for charity. Tired of dating spoiled rich brats and gold diggers, he keeps his success under wraps in a low-key trailer office.
When Lauren calls Derek for a landscaping estimate, they both think they’ve finally found someone who may be truly interested in the person, not the dollar signs. She’s drawn to his muscular laborer’s body, and he’s knocked out with her curves. Under the covers, the two secret billionaires are generating lots of heat, but will the truth about their pasts pour an icy water bucket on their budding romance?
Excerpt
Derek walked around the side of the house and unlatched the gate in the wooden fence to get a view of the rear. A few long steps and he turned the corner to land on the back patio where he got a sizeable rear view that he wasn’t expecting.
Bent over and completely unaware of his presence was a robust woman clad only in a two-piece bathing suit with a hose in one hand and a scrub brush in the other. Derek watched while she alternated bending over to scrub the patio surface with brush and standing to rinse the washed area with the hose.
He shook his head. The woman was barely making a dent in the job. She did mention that she had just bought the place, and he guessed it might be her first home. Although he couldn’t see her face, she seemed young. He noticed her full bottom had a nice round curve, as did her hips. Her pale skin was smooth and firm, and if he had to guess from his current view, he’d estimate her age at somewhere in her late twenties.
He cleared his throat and started to say something to indicate his presence, but she jumped sky high before he got any words out. She spun around, hose going full blast, and showered him with a spray of water.
“Whoa!” Derek jumped back, out of her range, but not fast enough. The front of his shirt took a direct hit.
“Oh! Oh!” The woman dropped the hose in surprise. The nozzle hit the ground with the spout turned upward, and the stream shot back her way, soaking her.
“Aaach!” Flustered, she attempted to grab the head and turn off the flow. But instead of moving out of the steady stream and picking up the nozzle, she leaned in to reach for it. The water hit her in the face, but she persevered and finally was able to grab the hose bib and turn it off.
She stood, soaked from head to toe, and glared at Derek. “Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here?”
Derek was mesmerized. It wasn’t often that a woman left him speechless, but he couldn’t focus on what she was saying. He noticed the outline of her massive breasts and her nipples popping out through the thin fabric of her bathing suit top, like she was a contestant in a wet tee shirt contest.
Derek almost responded to the voice of his little head, which was begging him to untie the bathing suit top for an unobscured look at her heaving chest. He felt the little head poking up for a better view, urging him to bury his face between those beauties.
“Answer me!” she demanded, drawing his attention back to the situation.
Derek forced the big head to take control. “Derek Holmes, Ma’am. I’m here for our appointment about your landscaping work.”
Reluctant Billionaires is available now from Amazon.com!
***
Dressed in Yellow
“When the time comes, Aiva, you’ll make me an offer I can’t refuse.”
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Any publicity is good publicity, right? But when curvy Aiva, owner of Blooms In Yello
w, starts a media ruckus outside her flower shop to increase business, the attention brings all the rats out of hiding.
Namely Daniel, her cousin and the loan shark who funded her startup. A load shark tied to organized crime who is a bit miffed when Aiva starts attracting attention. Like any good rat, he prefers to stay in the dark. The attention also attracts Leon Sudano, billionaire mogul and reformed crime lord. Of course the Sudano's, under his rule, are completely legitimate. And his interested in Aiviana is perfectly innocent...
...only it isn't. He's been watching Aiva for years, waiting patiently to make his first, and last, move. Because when Sudano plays, he plays for keeps. Aiva must balance her pride in being an independent women business owner with her growing attraction for the sexy, powerful Leon who showers her with gifts and attention... and steals her heart. Available now from LINKS!
Excerpt
“You don’t have to buy me all these presents, you know. Not that I’m complaining.”
“No, I haven’t noticed you complaining.” He smiled at her, taking her hands to draw her to her feet. Wrapping an arm around her waist, his other hand cupped the back of her neck. Her heart began to beat, the way it always did when he fit his body to hers. “I like buying you things. What’s the point of being rich if I can’t spoil my woman?”
“Am I?” she asked softly, hands resting on his shoulders.
His dark brow rose. “Are you what?”
“Your woman.”
Green eyes narrowed. “What kind of question is that?”
“A simple question. You say I’m your woman, but…” Aiva hesitated, her normal bluntness deserting her. And she could feel the heat coloring her cheeks. “We haven’t- I mean-”
His expression cleared. “Ah. Aiva, don’t ever doubt me.”
He pulled her closer, guiding her palm down his body until she was touching him, cupping his hardening length. She inhaled. The heat of him, the pulse of life in his organ awoke an answering yearning. Licking her lips, Aiva stroked gently, feeling something dark and primal rise in her.
Leon swore, hand tightening in her hair. “Damnit, Aiva. That was a bad idea.”
“Why? Why is it a bad idea? Why can’t we just fuck, Leon?”