by Claire Adams
BILLIONAIRE’S BEST WOMAN
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams
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Chapter One
Parker
My eyes sprung open, and my bedroom was still dark. The habit of waking up at the crack of dawn for so many years was hard to shake. I rolled over and checked the clock. Yup, just as I suspected. Five in the morning. My stomach growled. Rachel and I’M had an early dinner last night before watching a movie. Whenever she slept over, she insisted on getting close to ten hours of sleep. I averaged five to six per night on a regular basis. When she went to bed, I always worked for several hours afterward since it wasn’t in my blood to lie down before ten o’clock.
The sound of Rachel’s steady breathing filled the space between us. I spooned her and inhaled her scent. Her perfume lingered in her hair, and I took another breath of her. I slipped my hand under the covers. Maybe I could convince her to wake up for a few minutes so we could get tired out again before sleeping in another hour or so.
My hand trailed up her smooth leg. I didn’t want to startle her, but I wanted her to be awake before I did anything else. She stirred and I moved my hand around the front of her before four sharp claws dug into my hand.
“Ow!” I said and pulled away from her manicured nails.
She rolled over and pushed me away from her. I backed up a few inches before she spoke.
“Parker, just because I stayed here last night does not mean I’m going to change my mind.”
I groaned and leaned closer to her for a kiss.
She pressed her soft hand against my mouth. “Don’t think kissing me will change my mind, either. And besides, you have morning breath. Gross.”
I rolled over onto my stomach and dug my head into the pillow. “Will anything change your mind?”
“You know what will make me sleep with you?” she purred. “A ring.” Her voice was close to my ear. I could easily turn and kiss her, but I didn’t want to piss her off that early in the morning. I’d already woken her up.
When we had first started dating, and she’d told me she was a virgin, I hadn’t believed her. It was almost impossible to imagine my twenty-five-year-old blonde bombshell of a girlfriend had never been with anyone that way. She was the image of most men’s fantasy, but she insisted that we wait until we were engaged before we even attempted sex. And as much as it frustrated me to sleep next to her when she stayed over—especially when she wore skimpy lingerie showing off her rockin’ body—I admired her for her persistence in keeping her values when society pressured women to do otherwise at every turn.
I rolled over and sat up. “I’m starving; let’s get something to eat.”
Rachel sighed heavily. “I don’t want to go anywhere today.” She rolled over and wrapped my blankets around her body. “I just want to lie in bed.”
“Well, I’m going,” I said, hoping she would change her mind.
She didn’t move from under the covers.
I flipped the dimmer switch to the lowest setting so I could see what I was doing.
Rachel groaned from her cocoon.
“I’ll be done in a minute,” I said and headed into my closet.
In the year that Rachel and I had been together, her side of the closet had overflowed to partially envelop mine. She wasn’t a permanent fixture in my house, which was probably a good thing. I was not sure how long I’d be able to hold out if she warmed my bed every night. But I did allow her to move whatever she wanted into my place. I hoped in the near future she’d call it her home, too.
I grabbed my phone from the charging station I kept in the closet. I hated having my phone near me when I slept. The constant influx of emails I received interrupted my precious sleep. I checked the weather app and typed in my zip code. I smiled. It was going to be a comfortable seventy degrees today.
I grabbed a pair of shorts and a polo and threw those on before digging my feet into a pair of flip-flops and heading back into the bedroom.
“I’m going now,” I said to Rachel.
Her hand poked out from the under the blanket and she waved me away. “Thanks for letting me know, but I’m trying to sleep here.”
“Do you want me to bring back anything from the diner?”
“Sienna’s place?” Rachel muffled from the bed. “No thanks. I don’t need to clog my arteries.”
I ignored the dig at my best friend’s diner. The food was delicious, but not very healthy. And Rachel watched her weight like a hawk. In fact, I was sure their meal sizes were the same.
I went to the bed and bent over for a kiss. She quickly moved the covers over her face so I got a mouthful of fabric.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Turn off the light!” she said as I started for the door.
I flicked the lights off, and the room was shrouded in darkness once more. I loved those black-out curtains. It could be noon and you’d think it was the middle of the night when they were down. Rachel said it was one of the reason’s she liked staying the night with me. She was able to rest without hearing the other people in her neighborhood and be able to sleep all night—and most of the morning—without being disturbed by the intrusion of the rising sun.
Even though it was still early, I knew Sienna and Tony would be at the diner. I drove through the empty streets in my Porsche 911 and gunned it down the roads with a lot of space between traffic lights. I never got to ride like that during the day. It was freeing and allowed me to let off a little steam. I always felt this way after Rachel turned me down. I couldn’t help myself. She was the perfect woman for me and I couldn’t touch her. Any guy would have gone crazy.
At least going to Sunny Daes, Sienna’s diner, would be a distraction. I’d teased her about the name for years, but she thought it was a funny pun about sunny side up eggs and sundaes. She made the best sundaes in Key Largo, so I couldn’t argue with her too much. Besides, once she got her mind set on something, it was hard to change.
The thought of having some coffee made me press the gas a little harder. I had been wide awake when I was with Rachel, but with her turning me down yet again, my alertness had started to wear off.
Sunny Daes was in a prime spot right off the highway. The exterior didn’t look like much, but it had withstood many hurricanes over the years. Sienna, Tony, and I painted outside every year before winter. She insisted that it remained clean-looking and white for as many months as possible. And she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.
I pulled off the street and into the dirt lot of the diner. There weren’t any cars out front, but I knew Sienna and Tony were there. Tony usually came in on his motorcycle, and Sienna’s small beater car fit perfectly behind the building.
I didn’t bother using the front entrance as I knew it would be locked until six-thirty. I rounded the building and smiled. Both Sienna’s car and Tony’s Harley were there
. I walked up the two cement steps leading to the kitchen and opened the screen door.
“It’s me!” I called. I didn’t want to startle either of them. Being six-two had its advantages, but Tony was much burlier than me, and Sienna was quick with a knife.
“In here!” Sienna called back.
The screen door bounced a few times on the door frame before closing. I tried to fix it for her in the past, but Sienna insisted we left it.
“It has character,” she’d always said.
Sienna’s back was to me when I entered the kitchen. Her hair was pulled up high on her head. She reminded me of a Teletubbie when she wore her hair like that. I’d only teased her about it once before she asked if she wanted long strands of brown hair in my food.
“Hey,” she said and glanced over her shoulder. She had a pile of egg shells next to her and she was whisking the eggs in a big metal bowl.
“Morning,” I said and came up next to her.
Her hazel eyes met mine. “Couldn’t sleep?”
I rubbed my hand over my face. “Not today.”
She wiped at her chin with the back of her hand. “Tony made some coffee. You want some eggs?”
“If it’s not too much trouble.”
She shot me a look. “It’s what I do, Parker. Sit your ass down and I’ll make you something.”
I grinned. “Whatever you say.”
Out front in the dining area, Tony was setting up the tables.
“Hey, man,” I said.
Tony looked over and smirked. “What’s going on?”
I sat down at my usual table closest to the kitchen. “Not much; just can’t sleep.”
“Sleep is overrated,” he said. He pulled up the shades of the front windows and peered out at the empty streets. Then he unlocked the front door. “Can I get you some coffee? I just finished brewing.”
“That’d be great.”
Tony nodded and went behind the small bar area and poured me a mug of coffee. He dropped that and a few creamers on my table. “Enjoy, man.”
Sienna burst through the kitchen doors holding two plates of food. “Tony, can you finish prep?”
“Sure thing, boss.” He winked at her and headed into the kitchen.
Sienna slid the plates of food onto the table. Steam rose from my scrambled eggs and the bacon was nearly black: the perfect texture. I started in on the eggs before she even sat down.
“Did you eat dinner last night?” she asked.
“Yeah, early. Rachel stayed over. God, what did you add to these eggs? They’re fucking delicious.”
She smiled proudly. “A cook never reveals her secrets.”
We both knew that even if I had a step-by-step recipe, I’d never be able to recreate any of her dishes.
She pierced a clump of eggs with her fork. “How’s work?”
I shrugged. “Steady.”
“I wish I could say the same,” she looked wistfully around the place.
“Tourist season is around the corner,” I said.
“Yeah, but I barely made enough last season to cover this year.”
“Do you need money?”
She pulled a face. “No.”
She hated when I told her I’d loan her money. She saw it as an insult when I wanted to do the right thing and help out my oldest friend.
I held my hands up in surrender. “Okay, fine. What are your ideas?”
Sienna constantly tried to reinvent her business, from the food to the atmosphere, but she always fell back to her roots. She didn’t want to be a flashy themed restaurant; that wasn’t her.
“I was thinking of doing more advertising.”
“Well, I happen to know a guy who owns a social media empire who could help.”
She smirked. “That’s not what I was asking.”
“Sienna,” I said, finishing up my toast. “I know you hate when other people want to help you, but setting up a website and social media accounts is easy for me. And it will take no time at all.”
She shook her head. “What would I post on there?”
“Your food, your face. Both equally captivating.”
She flung a forkful of eggs at me.
“Well, not now with that Teletubbie bun on your head,” I said, flicking the eggs back at her.
She opened her mouth in mock surprise. “Do you want hair in your food?” She pulled her elastic out and her hair tumbled over her shoulders. “I can make that happen.”
“Is that your secret ingredient? Because if it is, I definitely want more.”
She laughed, and I couldn’t contain myself either.
“All right, all right, you can help me,” she said, blotting her eyes with a napkin. “But I want you to show me how you do everything, so I won’t need to rely on you.”
“That’s fine with me.”
We both ate in silence for a few moments.
“How’s Rachel?” Her lip curled slightly.
I laughed. “Was that hard for you to ask?”
Sienna rolled her eyes. “I’m being polite.”
Sienna didn’t like Rachel for some reason, but she never pressed the issue, and neither did I. Sienna was my best friend, and Rachel was my girlfriend. I could keep my favorite two ladies separated, just as long as they were both in my life.
“Actually, I want to talk to you about her,” I said.
“Okay.”
“But not here,” I said. “Tomorrow night. I’ll take you to dinner.”
“Okay?” she drew out the word. “Can you give me a hint?”
I smiled. She hated surprises. “Nope.”
Chapter Two
Sienna
It was just past six when Tony and I started to pack up the diner for the night. We hadn’t had a customer in an hour, and I doubted anyone else was coming that night. Friday and Saturday nights tended to be the slowest since most of the tourists flocked to the clubs while the residents went to their local watering holes. I hoped Parker’s ideas for social media marketing would help bring in the customers for the busy season, or else I’d be stuck living on Ramen noodles for some time to come.
Tony and I took separate ends of the dining room and started wiping tables.
“What do you think he’s going to talk to you about?” Tony asked.
“I have no idea,” I said, scrubbing at a particularly stubborn syrup spill.
“I bet he’s going to ask Rachel to marry him.”
My hand stopped scrubbing for a moment. “There’s no way Parker would ask her that. They’ve only been together for a year.” Parker wouldn’t think of marrying that gold-digger. It was one thing to date that skank, but another thing completely to sign his billions away to her.
“A lot of people get married in less time,” Tony said.
“Yeah, but not Parker.”
“He seems to really like her.”
“That’s fine, but he won’t be stupid enough to marry her. He’s just having fun.” I could think of a dozen girls Parker would have more fun with than stuck-up Rachel, but that was his decision.
“Is that jealousy I hear?”
I turned to face him and crossed my arms over my chest. “Definitely not. I’m just a concerned friend, that’s all.”
Tony grinned that stupid grin of his, and I huffed then turned away from him, starting in on the next table.
“Well, if you were jealous, I wouldn’t hold that against you. Rachel seems very materialistic.”
Glad I wasn’t the only one who saw that. But I was done talking about Rachel.
“He probably wants to ask my opinion on a present for her or something.”
“Is that why he’s taking you out to a fancy place? To talk about gifts?”
I whirled around. “What do you mean a ‘fancy place?’”
Tony pressed his lips together. “Aw, man, I wasn’t supposed to tell you.”
“What did he tell you?”
“I’m not getting in the middle of this; call him yourself.”
And t
hat’s exactly what I did. I grabbed my phone from my back pocket and pressed the screen for his number.
Tony grinned again, and I threw my dirty rag at him before Parker picked up the phone.
“Yes, Sienna?”
“Where are we going tonight?”
“Somewhere you can’t wear jeans.”
I hated dressing up, and he knew that. “No jeans? Where are you taking me, Parker Liston?”
“If you ask again, we’re not going,” he teased. “I never ask you to dress up, but it's a nicer place. I don’t want you to feel out of place.”
“I feel out of place anywhere that’s not a diner or a bar.”
“I know you have one or two dresses. Pick one, and I’ll see you tonight.”
I groaned into the phone. “Fine. See you then.”
“Did he tell you?” Tony asked from the kitchen.
“No,” I said. “Next time, give me a heads-up.”
He poked his head out so I could see him through the pass-through from the kitchen. “That’s what I was doing.”
He disappeared again, and I smiled. But it quickly fell away when I thought of Parker proposing to Rachel.
Almost an hour later, I stood in front of my closet wearing a thong and a black bra. They were the only matching pair of underwear I owned. I supposed if Parker was going to make me dress up, I’d go all out. And he was wrong. I had more than two dress options. But none of them had seen any action in some time. I put five dresses on my bed and stared at them. I picked up a black three-quarter sleeved one and regarded it. I’d worn it to a memorial service for my uncle about a year ago.
I tossed that to the side. As much as it would kill me to hear Parker tell me about his proposal to Rachel, I wasn’t giving up yet.
There was a lace-covered cherry-red dress, but that was my date dress. The one that said, “Let’s skip this meal and fuck.” Not that I’d been on a date in a while, and I definitely hadn’t met any guys I wanted to skip right to the bedroom with. And this wasn’t a date—Parker had made it clear this was about him and Rachel.