Mountain Billionaire

by Eva Luxe

  “No, of course not,” I said, laughing. “We’re going to have a lot of fun! Come on, show me around, and maybe instead of regular lunch we’ll order a huge cheesy pizza.”

  Ariel jumped up and down. “Yay! Pizza!”

  Chapter 7 – Willow

  This house was amazing.

  Ariel and I ran down the halls, peeking into all the rooms, but the best part was the back yard. The pool was covered, but there were fruit trees and a garden back here with all my favorite flowers.

  “I love the purple flowers!” Ariel said as she picked one and gave it to me.

  I knelt down and slid it over her ear into her hair.

  “This is called a lilac,” I told her. “It’s pretty and smells really good. It even matches those cute light brown eyes.”

  “You’re nice!” Ariel giggled.

  “How old are you, Ariel?”

  I stood back up and walked back toward the house.

  “I’m seven years old. Daddy says I’m mature for my age!”

  I held her hand. “That you are.”

  “Hey, wait.”

  She slipped out of my hand and ran into some bushes. I looked, but the bushes covered her up and I didn’t see where she was going.

  “Ariel?”

  She didn’t respond. I gave the kid a few seconds.

  “Ariel?”

  Now I started to worry─ anything could’ve happened. A bee could’ve stung her, a kidnapper may’ve grabbed her. I had a flash of that night, when I first heard that Sam was in an accident. If anything happened to Ariel…

  “Ariel!” I yelled. “This isn’t—”

  She tackled my waist from behind and held out her hands, with three huge strawberries inside of them.

  I sighed and wrapped my arms around her. “You worried me! No running off like that unless I know where you’re going.”

  “Sorry,” she said, pouting.

  She sure knew how to put that pout on.

  “Well, come on, it’s time for lunch!” I said, taking Ariel’s hand and popping a strawberry in my mouth.

  “Let’s not disappear like that again, okay?” I reminded her.

  “Okay, Miss Willow!”

  She skipped alongside me as we made our way back into the house.

  Ariel ran to her mini-playground and sat on some swings.

  “Push me, please, Miss Willow!” she requested.

  I sighed and went over to push her. Looking after Ariel was like a dream. She brought me peace during this time.

  Maybe when Sam wakes up, I can push him on the swings too. Yeah, he’d think I was corny, but I’ll sit his ass right down here and push him.

  Ariel’s bright blond hair swayed in the wind as she went up and dipped back down.

  Her airy chuckles and laughs made my day. Darien had such a nice kid.

  It made me wonder if I would ever be a mother. I couldn’t even believe I had thought that. I had never wanted to be a mother.

  Of course, with that thought in my head, I wasn’t paying attention, and when Ariel came back toward me, I was knocked back.

  “Agh!” I cried out.

  Oops, that was my bad. There I was, being a clutz again.

  “Miss Willow!” Ariel jumped off her swing and knelt down next to me. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” I said, pulling myself up.

  Ariel pulled on my arm.

  “Come on,” she said. “After a fall like that, you need to eat. Daddy always said that if you ever get hurt, make sure you eat to regain your strength!”

  She set her hands on her hips, clearly confident in her father’s wisdom.

  I laughed.

  “Well then, I guess we’d better eat!”

  Ariel brought me into the dining room. It looked like something out of a magazine that showcased expensive furniture for homes just like these.

  It was insane. He had so many bedrooms, but it was only him and his daughter. Unless some of his workers lived here?

  I sat down next to Ariel, and she pointed at the seat at the end of the table.

  “That’s where Daddy sits!” she said. “He’s like the king, and I’m the princess.”

  “Definitely seems like something fit for royalty.”

  The chefs came out with their plates of food and sat it down on the table in front of us. I thanked them, but they barely nodded as they scurried back to the kitchen.

  I’d forgotten real food smelled like this. With my life being so crazy recently, all I’d eaten were cheap hamburgers and French fries.

  I took up my fork and was ready to chow down until my phone rang and vibrated against my hip.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “Hi, is this Ms. Reign?”

  “Yes, who’s calling?” I asked.

  “Hello, Ms. Reign, this is the Adventist Hospital, we’re calling to notify you that the expenses quoted to you were wrong. That amount was only applicable to insurance coverage.”

  I straightened in my seat and moved the salad around on my plate while Ariel chowed down. I hadn’t actually heard any real numbers, but they probably thought I was my mom. I didn’t correct them; I might actually get some information this way.

  “So does that mean it’s actually cheaper?”

  “Well, actually it will come out to be about twenty percent higher.”

  I dropped my fork. “What?”

  This was insane. She rolled off a list of numbers on the phone by way of explanation, but they were too much. I’d have to strip twenty four hours a day, seven days a week in order to bring that in. That still probably wouldn’t be enough.

  And then she told me that if they didn’t get the first payment of thirteen thousand dollars in two weeks, then they would no longer be able to treat Sam.

  They’d just let my brother die? Over money?

  “I’ll… have to think about this and call you back later,” I told the woman on the phone.

  “Okay,” she said, saying it more like a question than a sentence.

  I was sure she was thinking, What is there for her to call me back about?

  And there really wasn’t anything. I just hated feeling so powerless, and kept hoping that some new answer I hadn’t thought of would come to me.

  “Are you okay, Miss Willow?” Ariel asked, looking up at me with big eyes, her fork frozen in the air where she was holding it in front of her mouth after just having taken a bite.

  “I hope so,” I told her, and willed myself to try to be strong for her sake.

  Chapter 8 – Darien

  I spent a good few minutes in my car, staring at my own front door as if I was afraid to go inside.

  She was in there. Willow.

  I wanted her, and I couldn’t have her, which was not a feeling I was used to. I usually got what I wanted, by whatever means necessary.

  But my little girl was in there too, and I knew she missed me. So I got out of the car and grabbed my metal briefcase. Before I could even get to the door, Ariel came springing out of the house and smothered me in a hug. She was dressed in her nightgown, and still slightly damp from a recent bath.

  “Daddy, you’re home! Welcome home!” she said, excitedly. “Will Miss Willow be staying? She’s so nice. We had so much fun together.”

  “We’ll see. Miss Willow is a wonderful person, isn’t she?”

  Willow was still standing in the doorway with her hands together, waiting patiently.

  I went up the stairs and smiled. “I hope things went as well as Ariel says.”

  “Yes, Ariel is the most well-mannered kid I’ve ever seen. How did you do it?”

  He didn’t answer me, probably thinking it was a rhetorical question in the form of a compliment. But I was seriously wondering. Wasn’t there a mom in the picture?

  We walked inside the entrance corridor, and Ariel ran ahead and made a beeline for the stairs.

  “I’ll be in my play room, you two!”

  “Wait a minute, little miss!” Willow got down on one knee. “Rememb
er what we said about waiting up for your Daddy?”

  Ariel skipped back to her. “That I could only stay up waiting until nine o’clock?”

  “Right.” Willow nodded solemnly. “And what time is it now?”

  “Um…eight forty?”

  “Right. So, how much time will you have to play?”

  Ariel scrunched up her face, thinking about it. “Twenty minutes?”

  I folded my arms and glanced at Willow, who looked at Ariel with as much care as I did.

  “That’s right. Good answer. Twenty minutes until lights out,” Willow agreed. “But do you want your Daddy to read you a story?”

  “Yes, yes, yes!” Ariel beamed up at me.

  “So, what if we say ten minutes to play, and ten minutes for a story and bedtime snuggles?”

  “Okay, Miss Willow.” She kissed Willow on the cheek, then called over her shoulder, “See you in ten minutes, Daddy!”

  I raised an eyebrow as Willow straightened from her crouched position. “Bedtime snuggles?”

  Willow laughed. “Hugs, kisses, that sort of thing.”

  “Of course. Bedtime snuggles are─” Keep your cool, Thrilling. “─great.”

  “I…um, you didn’t tell me when her bedtime was, or how late you’d be, and since tomorrow’s a school day, I didn’t think she should stay up any later than nine.” She glanced up at me hesitantly, through those thick lashes. “She tried to get me to promise to let her stay up until you got home, but I wasn’t about to walk into that trap!”

  I smiled wryly. “Yes, she can be too clever for her own good sometimes!”

  “I didn’t blame her for trying,” Willow said, laughing. “But I figured I’d better make the deal closed-ended!”

  I could see it now, my little lawyer-in-training trying to negotiate a non-specific bedtime, and the image made me laugh too. And then it made me catch my breath, because when had I ever had such a simple pleasure, enjoying my child with someone who loved her also?

  I didn’t want Willow to leave.

  My eyes scanned the silhouette of her body. I couldn’t help but remember what she had looked like while standing on stage or sitting in my lap, wearing only her red panties.

  It had been so long since I’d made love with anyone. And even when I’d had a partner, it was more of a power struggle than an act of love. But here, in front of me, was a spring of youth, a woman with no hidden motivations, no game she was intent on winning.

  The image of her nearly naked body, pale skin set off by red lingerie, cautiously dancing in front of all those men, flashed back into my brain and wouldn’t leave. I wanted to claim her, hard, here. I wanted to be the only man to take her, have her, keep her.

  Chapter 9 – Darien

  “Willow,” I said. My voice was harsh and scratchy. I had to clear my throat. “I don’t want you dancing at that place again.”

  A look of sadness crossed her face, but all she did was lift an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

  “I— ah.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. I probably shouldn’t have given her an order like that. “I just mean, I really don’t think you should. You’re way too innocent and wholesome to be there. A place like that can ruin you.”

  “I wish I didn’t have to.” She shrugged and turned toward the family room. “But I need the money.”

  No, I wanted details. I moved to catch up with her.

  “Why? How can you need the money that badly?”

  “I already told you.” She moved through the room, picking up the few toys that were still out. “My brother is in the hospital and has a lot of medical bills. And you know hospitals, they’ll just let him die if we don’t pay them.”

  “Willow, stay…” Damn it, I was going too far now.

  “What?” she said, stepping back. “Stay? Here?”

  “Let me pay you just as well. I love my little girl and spare no expense when she’s concerned. Tell me what you need.”

  She gaped at me for a moment, then shook her head.

  “I can’t let you do that, it’s entirely too much. I can do it by my— woah! What’re you doing?”

  I scooped her up into my arms and marched upstairs fast enough so that Ariel wouldn’t see. Once I got to a spare room, the closest one to my bedroom, I sat her down in front of the door and opened it.

  “This will be yours. I’ll pay you four thousand dollars a week. Is that enough? You can stay here—”

  “No, I can’t!”

  I pulled her in by her waist and she gasped. Her slender back against my hands… she fit me so perfectly.

  “Willow. Stay.”

  I was on the verge of begging. I never begged. But Willow wasn’t leaving here. I had my mind made up.

  She belonged here. Staring me in the eyes, she sighed and relaxed her shoulders.

  “Why don’t you go put Ariel to bed, and we can discuss it?” She pushed me away, gently but firmly. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

  I blinked. “The kitchen?”

  “Well, what were you thinking? The conference room?” She snorted out a laugh. I couldn’t help but appreciate her sense of humor, even at a crazy time such as this.

  “Well… that is why I have it. To have conferences.”

  “Um, no. Kitchen. Take your time. Have you eaten?”

  “Yeah.”

  I shook my head at the memory of my new clients ordering drink after drink at our so-called business dinner. I’d gotten the contracts, but I’d also had to call a cab to get them back to their hotel.

  “Fine. Go to Ariel. I’ll be waiting in the kitchen.”

  She turned her back to me to pick up some crayons Ariel had left out, so I exited the room to get my daughter. A drink, a story, and several “bedtime snuggles” later, Ariel was asleep in her bed and I was on my way to the kitchen.

  “Four thousand dollars…” she began. She blew out a breath. “That’s a lot. I have some questions.”

  “Of course.”

  I didn’t know the details about this brother of hers, but I already knew she was loyal. She wouldn’t do anything that would mess up her chance at helping her brother.

  “What are the hours?” She held up her hand. “I’m actually pretty flexible, but will I have time to go check on my brother every day?”

  “Of course. Ariel will be in school most of the day, so your time is your own until then. For the most part, you’ll have weekends off, unless I have to go on a business trip. If I’m home, you’re free to have your privacy.”

  “And you’d want me to…what? Pick her up from school, supervise her after school, see that she eats dinner, and direct any evening activities until you get home?”

  “Pretty much.” I got up and went to the cabinet where a decanter of whisky was on display. Now that I was home, I could indulge in a drink. Maybe it would take the edge off the burn I felt every time I thought about having Willow in my home.

  “I don’t have a car.”

  Oh, yes. I’d forgotten. She’d been content to take the bus, even in the dark hours of the morning when anything could happen to her.

  “I have a few extras. You can pick one of those and I’ll have you added to the insurance. I’ll want you to buy a new booster seat for Ariel, so there’s one in each car she spends time in.”

  “Oh sure.” She nodded sarcastically. “I’ll just pick one of your extra cars.”

  I stared at her, my brow furrowed. “Is there a problem? Do you want me to buy you a new one?”

  I would, of course. I wanted to help her, to give her everything she wanted.

  She laughed. “Of course not! It’s just…most people don’t live like that!”

  “Like what?”

  “Like being able to say you have a few extra cars just lying around, and then handing them out to people like candy!”

  I smiled wryly. “No, I guess not. Any more questions?”

  “Just one. Okay, well, maybe two.”

  “Go for it. What are they?”

  “Do you rea
lly expect me to live here?”

  I hesitated. I wasn’t stupid, I couldn’t have a relationship with Willow without risking my daughter, so having her around would be torture. Sweet, exciting torture…

  “Yes,” I said anyway, trying to sound more like a successful alpha male and less like a teenager with a crush. “My schedule can be irregular, and if I’m called out late, or even early, I don’t want to leave Ariel alone, and I might not have time to wait for you to get here. I want her to know that one of us will always be here with her.”

  “That’s fair,” she said, her mouth twisting a little. I wondered what else was going on in her head. “One more question?”

  “Okay.”

  “How does Ariel’s mother fit into the picture?”

  I exhaled into my highball glass. “That’s…complicated.”

  She held up her hands. “I’m not trying to be nosy. I mean, your private business is your private business. That’s cool. But I probably need to know a little bit in order to take care of Ariel, and answer questions if she asks them.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” I contemplated pouring another whisky, but instead put the crystal glass carefully in the sink and returned to the stool next to Willow.

  “So…”

  “Her mother and I are in the final stages of our divorce. We’re both suing for full custody, but she—” God, how did I tell her any of this without dragging her into all of it? I shoved my hands through my hair. “Anyway, Ariel goes to her house every Friday night and comes home on Sunday morning. I’ll try to be the one who takes her or picks her up so you don’t have to deal with that.”

  She looked at me for a long minute. When she started fiddling with her hands, I knew it. She was going to agree.

  “Sure, okay. Let’s see how this goes.”

  “Good.” I blew out a big breath. At least this part of my life was coming together. “Great, Ariel will be pleasantly surprised to know you’re going to be staying for a while. Why don’t we go to my extended garage and pick out a car so you can get around tomorrow?”

  Chapter 10 – Darien

  I was quietly impressed that Willow picked out the Audi— one of the safest cars on the market— and not the coupe or the Jeep even though most girls would probably think they were cuter. After getting Willow situated, I locked myself in my office and forced myself to do some work. Knowing that Willow was down the hall, practically within arm’s reach, was too much. The night had settled in and that was when times like these became trying.