The Undercover Resort Billionaire

by Chelsea Hale

  “I’ll do that,” she said.

  She was going to reach out to Mr. Summers and give him a piece of her mind.

  Chapter 23

  Liam only glanced at the conference room as he headed back down the hallway. He was having the hotel manager, Mr. John Rupert, stay in his current position during the remodel and transition. John had expected to step down once Liam took over, but Liam had assured Mr. Rupert that he wouldn’t be in town too much longer, and he really needed someone who knew the dynamics inside and out of this place during such a critical remodel. Besides, Liam was never going to be the hotel manager.

  He stood in front of the elevator, waiting for the doors to open. He’d given all of the designs over to John to get his buy in, and so far, all of the ideas Liam presented were well received. He hoped that he was making the right decision in remodeling. He was doing it for Callie, but realistically with her meeting today with John, he figured she wouldn’t be here too much longer. However, if she preferred this hotel to his Summers Resorts, then that was fine, he would at least remodel the hotel and hope it had an impact on her fledgling business.

  His heart ached as he saw her in the conference room. She made it clear that she didn’t return his feelings. It was better that he had let Mr. Rupert hold the meeting with her, instead of himself. Mr. Rupert wasn’t accustomed to that kind of thing, but it was the best option. Callie still didn’t see him as him. Had she just waited a few months after the announcement of the hotel as a new part of the second line of Summers Resorts—one that was focused on creating an experience for the whole family at affordable prices—maybe she would realize that she was getting her dream after all, even if her dream didn’t include him. He pushed the feelings down. He couldn’t allow himself to feel sorry for himself. He was Liam Summers. He’d bounce back.

  A female cleared her throat behind him. Callie. She’d come to tell him how the meeting went and thank him for the strings he pulled and realize that it was him all along helping her, and then maybe she’d realize how much she meant to him.

  “The elevator comes faster when you push the button to call it.” The voice wasn’t Callie’s. He turned. Sayler.

  He gave her a small smile as she reached past him to push the elevator button. “I can always count on your help,” he said.

  She looked behind her before they both got into the very prompt elevator. “Oh, no. What happened when you told her?”

  He only shook his head. How could he explain to Sayler that relationships were different than the rest of his professional life? He could make deals and work a room and build amazing resorts with the vision for the future that was unparalleled by anyone. But how could he explain to Callie that he was all that when she couldn’t see him? Even in the suit, he only got a passing glance. It was a hopeless situation and he wasn’t sure what to do.

  “You didn’t tell her?” She shook her head. “Liam, it’s been a couple of days. Your two weeks are almost up, and Richard gave you the go-ahead to move forward on this project. You aren’t held back by anything. Just talk to her. Tell her. Wait for her to get out of that meeting and explain your feelings to her. Be more direct.”

  “And get my heart completely broken?” he asked. No way. What was the point? He’d look like an idiot, trying to use his wealth to show he was worthy of her love. It was a ridiculous idea, and the exact reason why this whole situation had been hard.

  “Liam, talk to her or I will.” The no-nonsense look that she had in her eyes meant business.

  Fine. He’d take her threat. “Great. You talk to her.”

  “I’ll set up an appointment with her for you. Don’t be late.”

  He rolled his eyes. It wouldn’t make a difference.

  Chapter 24

  Callie’s eyes glanced to the woman at the receptionist desk. Would she know how to contact Liam, er, Mr. Summers? It was worth a try. She really had nothing else to go off of, and going back to ask Mr. Rupert after he had assumed that she knew Liam would just be awkward.

  Callie wasn’t exactly sure what to say, but the woman smiled brightly at her, encouraging her. Callie said, “Hi. I’m, uh, well Mr. Rupert said I could talk to the owner of the hotel.”

  The woman stuck out her hand to Callie. “I’m Sayler, nice to meet you. I can set you up a meeting.” She glanced at her calendar. “Okay, he has an opening at 4:30 PM. Is that convenient for you?”

  Callie nodded. She’d taken the whole day off for this presentation, she could wait a couple more hours before seeing him.

  “What name should I put on the meeting?” Sayler held a pen above the calendar, waiting for Callie’s response.

  Knots filled her stomach. Why did she want to do this? To tell him off? What was the point? It was better to not engage. To just walk away. “Actually, on second thought, don’t worry about it. I … I can talk to him another time.”

  Sayler tilted her head, studying Callie the way her supervisor might scrutinize a crookedly hung hand towel. She nodded sympathetically. “Too many meetings for one day to have them spread out with time in between. Is that it?”

  “Yeah,” Callie lied, feeling like she’d just dodged a bullet.

  “I have just the thing.” Sayler pushed back from her desk and walked around to where Callie stood. Without a word Sayler looped her arm through Callie’s and walked with her down the hallway. “It can be tough trying to stay in your frame of mind for meetings that have too big of a gap.”

  Callie liked Sayler and the way she seemed to sense things, all the while letting Callie off the hook for backing out of a meeting she suddenly realized would not be helpful. “Thanks,” Callie managed to say.

  “That’s really what I’m here for. I like helping people,” she said. “In fact, it’s my favorite part of my job.”

  “Have you worked for Mr. Rupert long?” Callie asked, wondering where they were going, but not wanting to be rude.

  Sayler laughed. “Mr. Rupert? No, I don’t work for him. Though I’ve helped him out over the last couple of weeks. I report directly to the boss.”

  She stopped in front of a plain door, tapping three times on it before turning the knob. Sayler kept hold of Callie’s arm, and before she registered it, Sayler had practically pulled Callie through the door.

  Behind the desk sat Liam. He looked up from some papers on his desk, his eyebrows raising when he saw who had entered with Sayler.

  “She couldn’t make your 4:30 PM opening. I hope now isn’t too inconvenient.” And with that Sayler patted Callie’s hand, unlooping her arm. “You’ll be fine,” she whispered.

  Chapter 25

  Liam Summers couldn’t take his eyes off Callie. She looked completely uncomposed and like she was barely holding back her emotions.

  “Thanks, Sayler,” Liam called to Sayler, as Sayler reached the door.

  Sayler nodded to him with a saucy look that made him think that she was enjoying putting him on the hot seat, and then she left.

  “You’re Summers? You’re Liam Summers?” her voice was breathy and unnaturally high. Was she happy to know that he had more ambition and determination now? And that he wasn’t as transient as she had once believed?

  He gave her a sheepish grin, raising his shoulders a little. “I wanted to tell you.”

  “You wanted to tell me? There were lots of moments when you could have said something.”

  How could he make her understand that he wasn’t trying to hurt her? “I couldn’t blow my cover.”

  “You really pulled one over on me, but of course you probably knew you could, right? After all, I’m so gullible. First, I basically hand over all of my account information for my ex to steal, and then I actually believed you. I thought we were friends. Turns out you aren’t that much different.” She mumbled to herself something about she sure knew how to pick them, but he couldn’t be sure.

  Crap. She was comparing him to her ex. He hadn’t been able to tell her because of the will’s stipulations, but of course that was going to be a so
re spot between them. She had trust issues, but he had a secret that needed to be kept. “I couldn’t tell you, but I wasn’t lying to you to get something out of you.”

  “Weren’t you? I thought your whole ideas about this hotel and making it better were for me to see something about my dreams, not for you to steal all of my ideas.” Her voice sounded level but he noticed the way she clenched and unclenched her hands at her sides.

  Liam stood, making his way around his desk to talk to her, but she backed up. Fine. He’d just lean against his desk. “I wanted to tell you what I was picking your brain for, but how could I?”

  “You say something like, ‘Hey the reason I bounce around is because I own too many resorts to stay in one place.’ Or you know, something like that.”

  “Do you know how long it’s been since I was normal? I can’t even remember. I’m sorry you were caught in the crossfire, but I signed a confidentiality document based on my uncle’s will when I came here to work undercover. I didn’t want to disrupt the flow of the employees. When I inherited this property, the stipulation was I needed to spend two weeks on the property before I decided to tear it down or sell it.”

  “You didn’t trust me,” she said.

  “I had no choice. I couldn’t let it get back to the employees and supervisors that, as the new owner, I was evaluating everything. How would that look? The chaos it would have created. I knew when I started that I would stick out my two weeks, pay everyone a generous package to leave or offer them work at my other resorts, and tear this whole thing down by the end of the month. I knew that was what I was going to do.”

  “That is your plan?” She looked completely shocked. Was he being too honest with her?

  “It was my plan. I always build from scratch. Old buildings are knocked down to make progress.”

  She nodded, looking defeated. “I suppose that makes sense.”

  “It made perfect sense to me, until I met you. And the way you talked about your dreams and this place, well, it made me want to give it a second chance. I knew I couldn’t uproot all of these employees that I’d just inherited. I had a responsibility to them. And you showed me that I could remodel this place and make it beautiful.”

  “By using my designs.” The statement felt like an accusation.

  “I was going to ask permission, but we didn’t really talk, and a decision had to be made. You were compensated as much as I could give. But yes, your preliminary plans are what I’ve started with. I’m sorry I couldn’t explain it to you in person.”

  He’d thought she’d be happy about that, even if he hadn’t asked for permission in person. He’d thought the letter with the check had been thorough. Maybe not. Hadn’t it been enough? He could give her extra, if that’s what she wanted. And she was getting a plaque with her name on it in the front lobby. All of that was explained in her letter. Talking to her in person just didn’t seem exactly right after the whole possibility of a relationship blew up in his face.

  “Not that it matters. I was just throwing out ideas. I suppose they weren’t copyrighted,” she said.

  She was making no sense. Then why make this such a big deal? He could understand her frustration and her anger, but the back and forth was hard to keep track.

  “So we’re good then?” he asked tentatively.

  “Sure, we’re good. As good as anyone who has been lied to can be.”

  Liam let out a frustrated breath. “I never actually lied to you. I just didn’t tell you all of the facts. The truth is I do go from one resort to the other, but I just left out the details of what I do there. I do enjoy the beaches while I’m there. It’s the reason why the majority of my resorts are on the ocean or a lake or some kind of water. I like that.”

  “Then why pretend at all?”

  Her emotions poured out of her, and he wanted to wrap the infuriating woman up in a hug, but he gripped the edge of his executive desk until the pads of his fingers began to throb.

  He sighed. In the spirit of honesty, he’d spill it. He’d been released from the will stipulation.

  “My uncle, the one with the quotes on plaques all around this resort, he never put The Hideaway with the Summers Line. I never even knew about this place. Because it was left to me personally, and not to the corporation, he had some very specific instructions for me. I’m sure he knew my goal would be to tear it down and start fresh. That’s why his will mandated that I work here for two weeks first before I made any decision on it. And now, thanks to you, it will stay standing, though we’re redoing the form.”

  She folded her arms across her chest and nodded. “Well, it sounds like you’ve gotten everything you want then.”

  Not everything. Not her attention. And why did he have to be the strong one here? She was practically gutting him, showing no feeling for him at all except anger, and he was just supposed to take it? The whole thing frustrated him. No way was he going to be able to repair this. So it was time to cut his losses. And the sooner the better.

  “Everything,” he muttered. “And you did too. Your purse line will be a great addition to the resort.”

  Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. “So you’d already told Mr. Rupert about me? Our whole time together was just about helping you?”

  “I had to tell Mr. Rupert or he wouldn’t have agreed to the meeting. I knew if I showed up there that you wouldn’t be happy. Tell me what you need, and we’ll make your dream happen. You should have enough to get started. You can think what you want, but I don’t know how else to … I was genuinely interested in you.”

  At least, she wouldn’t have to take out a business loan right away with the money she made from her ideas. He still wanted to help her, even if she didn’t want to give him a chance in the dating arena. He cared for her.

  She twisted her hands together, and Liam could practically hear the gears in her head spinning around. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do about it right now. I might wait a little longer,” she said quietly.

  “Please don’t let me be the reason you aren’t going to follow your dream.”

  He really wanted her to succeed. He thought keeping this property and making a space available for her would make her happy, but she hadn’t seen it that way. He was completely missing the mark on all of this. Maybe his personal feelings for her were muddling up his brain.

  “I don’t need your help on this. I can do it on my own.”

  “But—”

  “You want to know what I need? I need honesty. You were going to tear this place down. You didn’t tell me who you were.” Her voice broke on the end, and he could see the memories of her past wash over her.

  He thought he’d done a good job of explaining in his letter. Everything he’d done to save this place stemmed from her. “It was about you. This dream is here because of you. I don’t know how else to tell you.”

  “Goodbye, Liam.”

  She turned to leave the room, and he wasn’t sure what he could say to change her mind.

  The words sounded so final, and he realized that saving this place the way he had pretty much cost him everything. He’d never cared about someone else’s happiness as much as he did right now for Callie. If only she could give him a chance to explain that.

  Chapter 26

  Callie needed to focus on her dreams, she knew that. But walking out of Liam’s office was going to take all of her willpower. Was he going to let her leave? Was that what she really wanted?

  She took a steadying breath. She had to focus on her dream. Once it was realized, she could think about a relationship again. Who knew, maybe in the future, things could work. But, still he’d used her for his ideas without even letting her know. That realization sunk deep.

  She paused, her back to him as she faced the mock-ups set on easels, in a recessed part of his office. Three different designs showcased different parts of the designs for the remodel. One showed the exterior, another featured the lobby, but it was the store front mock-up that caught her eye. The marquis sign
above the otherwise white store had her name on it.

  “What’s this?” she asked, turning back to him.

  “The mock-ups of the designs for the remodel. Nothing is final yet,” Liam said. “You probably couldn’t see the pictures too well on the letter. The color printer wasn’t stellar, but we did what we could.”

  “The letter?” What was he talking about?

  Confusion knit his brows together. “It was with your check. They were supposed to be together in the same envelope. Sayler handed it to Gina herself.”

  The envelope. Callie opened her purse, rummaging through it. She opened her portfolio, finding the envelope from her supervisor on it. She slid a finger under the fold to open it. She pulled out the letter first, and quickly read the contents. Liam had explained everything—using her ideas and letting this place become new again—and she had jumped to conclusions.

  The check was for $75,000. She sucked in a breath at the amount. “I can’t accept this.”

  Liam sighed. “Yes, you can. You gave me great ideas. I’m implementing them, and because of you I decided to take a chance on this resort and remodel and renovate it instead of taking a wrecking ball to the whole thing. That has saved me time and money, and if the resort operates at half capacity while we remodel, it’ll still profitable. I wasn’t ever trying to steal them from you. I thought you’d received the letter yesterday, so that you were aware of it before your meeting today. Besides, this place wouldn’t have stayed at all if you wouldn’t have helped me see its value. I have you to thank for it. So please, this is the least I can do.”

  Callie nodded, accepting the check but still unsure if she wanted to cash it, to owe him anything. Pain seeped into her heart as she realized Liam’s confession hurt more than it helped.