The Geek Billionaire Makeover

by Theresa Meyers

  Well, two out of three wasn’t bad. Wasn’t good, but wasn’t a total loss. But twenty-one? Hell no. He wanted a woman, not a girl.

  “She’s been pursuing a career as a model and actress since she was sixteen and currently resides in Los Angeles.”

  Josh sat back in his chair and folded his hands together, looking at Caroline. “And given what you’ve found out about her, what’s your advice, Yoda?”

  Caroline reached forward and flipped the picture over, revealing a printout of a fund-raising gala announcement. “She’s got a favorite pet cause, Homes for Heroes, that helps provide housing assistance for people such as military personnel, police and peace offices, firefighters, and first responders. You make a sizable contribution to it, get her attention, and if it’s large enough could get you a seat at the head table with Aubrey and her father the senator, possibly even some media coverage.”

  The squirmy feeling eased a bit. “Her father is going to be at the gala?”

  Caroline nodded. “And I imagine since there is likely to be an awards portion of this event, he’ll be bored enough out of his mind to be happy to talk to you.”

  Josh cracked a grin for the first time all day. “Who do I make the check out to?”

  Caroline gave him a knowing smile. “I assumed you’d be interested and already talked to Carvales about taking care of it. Check’s been cut and sent to the foundation. All you have to do is show up in a tux and wow Aubrey and the senator.”

  “You’re good.”

  Her smile widened. “I know.” She paused for a moment, resting her elbows on the desk and her chin on top of her folded hands. “Now, about the football game tomorrow—”

  The chair rolled back as Josh got to his feet. He paced by the windows overlooking the Softech campus. He’d spent his life building the company. It was only now that he acknowledged he wanted to share it with someone. He wanted that person to get him, to understand him. Problem was he also wanted Caroline. And while she understood him, at least the part of himself he’d revealed to her, she didn’t want him—not yet. “Yeah, about that. I can’t go. I’ve got a meeting.”

  Caroline gave a dry little laugh. “Good try, Josh, but your meeting got rescheduled. Remember, I’m going to be picking you up at three.”

  Josh swore under his breath. She really did think of everything.

  “Caroline—”

  She put up a hand and cut him off. “We’ll be in a suite, not in general seating, so no excuses. You’re going.”

  …

  Josh hung his head and sighed. “You know I hate this, don’t you?”

  Caroline stood and walked over to him as her phone buzzed in her pocket.

  She put her hand lightly on his back. “Facing the things we hate most makes us stronger.” Another buzz. She pulled out the phone and looked at the screen. Connor. There was no missing the angry tone underlying his text or the picture of her and Josh that accompanied it.

  WTF are you doing dating him?

  Great. He must have found out about her current efforts with Josh. She should have chosen somewhere else to take Josh.

  Not dating. Work.

  Bull. He doesn’t work in a bar.

  Con, it’s work. Trust me.

  Dinner at 7 tonight. Your place.

  Caroline sighed. There was no getting out of this. She’d known sooner or later she’d have to deal with her brother when she crossed paths between him and Josh.

  Josh frowned. “Everything okay?”

  Caroline shook her head. “Just a meeting I’d rather not have.”

  “You know, if you’d work for me full-time, you wouldn’t have to have any other clients.” He lifted one dark brow, a playful smile teasing the corner of his all-too-kissable mouth.

  Yeah. That would be the day. The quicker she got good and gone from Joshua Martin and whatever chemistry was brewing between them, the better.

  Several hours later there was a knock at the door of her town house. She opened it and found her brother standing there soaked to the bone. Caroline sighed and opened the door wider. “Come on in.”

  He shook his head, the rain scattering off his hair as he strode passed her. She shut the door and returned to the kitchen. If anything would distract her brother from his anger, it would be food.

  “So, work, huh?” Connor said by way of a greeting as she entered the kitchen. He grabbed a piece of the bruschetta and took a bite.

  She kept her eyes focused on the knife and chopping board. “Nice to see you too, Con.”

  “What are you doing?”

  She glanced at him. “Fixing dinner?”

  His gaze sharpened. “No. You know what I mean. With him.”

  She sighed, letting her head tip backward as she gazed at the ceiling. As if that was going to give her any answers. She’d already lit candles and had a glass of wine to take the edge off her nerves before talking to her brother, but all that effort had been for nothing. Her stomach tied into an uncomfortable knot, just like it always did when her father questioned her. Con’s approval or disapproval had pretty much the same weight as her dad’s opinions. When had she begun to have the same kind of reaction to her little brother? And wasn’t she doing this for him?

  “He hired me to make over his image for a company launch. It’s my job.”

  “But why him?”

  She understood his bitterness. She really did. After all, Josh had screwed him out of billions. But going back on a deal with the elusive Mr. X wasn’t negotiable. Connor’s life and family were on the line and he didn’t even know it. Caroline set down the knife and turned, resting her lower back against the counter’s edge. “I need the money, and he’s paying ten times my normal fee. With this one job I can wipe out my debts, Con. That’s why.”

  It sounded logical enough to her own ears. His eyes narrowed as if he were trying to get a look inside her head. “That the only reason?”

  She couldn’t look at him so she stared at the cutting board and crossed her arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I thought you hated him.”

  “I’m working for him, not dating him. It’s not necessary for me to like my clients to earn a paycheck.”

  A grin worked the edge of Connor’s mouth before he stuffed the rest of the piece of bruschetta in his mouth. He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer as he chewed and swallowed. “So this is revenge?”

  She scowled at him, refusing to give him a straight answer. There wasn’t one. It certainly had started out that way. A great paycheck, a chance for revenge, and an opportunity to protect her brother all rolled into one.

  “You know revenge is never a pretty thing. Someone always gets hurt,” Connor said.

  “Isn’t that kind of the point?”

  “Depends. I just don’t want it to be you again.”

  “I’m not going to get hurt. Not this time. Neither are you.”

  He snatched up another piece of bruschetta and shrugged. “You know I’ve come to terms with the Softech thing, right? So if you’re doing this for me, you don’t need to bother.”

  Caroline turned back to the cutting board and picked up the knife again and pointed the tip of it at her brother. “That doesn’t make what he did right and you know it.”

  “It’s just money.”

  She took her frustration out on the carrots in front of her, chopping hard and fast. “No, it’s a fortune. He took away a lifestyle that could have changed everything. For all of us.”

  Connor stared hard at her. She could feel the weight of it on her shoulders. “We were kids, sis. He took the chance. I didn’t. That’s all there is to it.”

  She stopped chopping for a second and glanced at him. “He stole your ideas. Gave you nothing for them. You know that wouldn’t have happened if dad had been the least bit flexible.”

  Connor frowned. “We all make choices. Sometimes we don’t like the results. I just don’t think working for him is a good idea.”

  She snatched up the glass o
f wine and took a sip. “And why is that?”

  Connor’s eyes turned hard, implacable. “He’s always wanted you, you know that, right? Everyone in school and their brother knew how he felt. And everyone knew you wouldn’t give the guy the time of day. Maybe it’s revenge for him, too. Have you thought of that? What’s to say this isn’t all a game on his part? Get you to fall in love with him and his boatload of money, and then dump your ass publicly.”

  Her brother had always been insightful.

  Suddenly the flavor of the wine seemed sour on her tongue and her stomach turned. What if Connor was right? What if Josh was toying with her? God knew in comparison she didn’t have nearly as much to offer him as he did to any woman he chose. “There’s nothing between us. It’s business. And regardless, right now it’s a chance I have to take.” She picked up the chopping board and brushed the carrots into the salad bowl.

  Connor nodded and ate an entire slice of bruschetta in one bite, then dusted the crumbs from his hands. “As long as you don’t get hurt. That’s all that worries me.”

  Caroline drizzled some dressing over the salad and tossed it. All she needed to do was take Josh to that next step, make him a household name, and then let it all come falling down right in front of the paparazzi. Thank God she wasn’t interested in him. She had no doubt in his current form he could attract Aubrey. And she pitied Aubrey when it all fell apart.

  “Don’t you worry about your big sister. I’ve got this under control.”

  She hoped to hell they weren’t famous last words.

  Chapter Nine

  The incessant ringing of the telephone woke Caroline from a dead sleep. Whoever it was didn’t want to go to voicemail and just kept calling back. Her brain kicked in long enough to think one thought that catapulted her out of bed: Mr. X was calling.

  She snatched up the phone.

  “Good morning, Miss Parker.”

  She knew immediately from the voice it was him.

  “Have you gotten the plans yet?”

  “No.”

  “Time is running out on my offer, Miss Parker. Will you or will you not have those plans by the end of next week?”

  The irritation in his tone was crystal clear. “I’ve been looking everywhere for them.”

  “Perhaps you need to try harder. A young man’s life hangs in the balance as well as your brother’s freedom.”

  “I-I’ve searched his office, his home. I’ve even gone through the online files of the R&D department, but nothing seems to be on the server at Softech regarding Aeon.”

  “That is not my problem. Find the plans and deliver them by the end of next week or your brother can take his last breath as a free man.” He hung up, leaving an ugly dial tone buzzing in her ear.

  Caroline broke down and cried. How in the hell was she supposed to pull this off? She had no clue where to even look, and no one she could ask without blowing her cover. And worst of all someone she didn’t even know had his life in her hands. She shuddered and walked to the bathroom to get in the shower. Maybe if she prodded Josh a little more on Aeon, she could find it before Mr. X’s fast-approaching deadline.

  …

  There was no controlling the situation. The crowd roared as the football team entered the field. He and Caroline were shielded from the majority of the noise by the walls and plate glass of their box suite. But Seahawks fans were known throughout the NFL for the volume of their enthusiasm, and the glass wobbled slightly in front of them from the vibrations.

  A competition of a totally different kind was waging inside Josh. While he’d wanted it to be just the two of them in the suite, she’d insisted he needed to adjust to crowds by increasing his exposure in larger and larger doses. Having forty employees from Softech here in the suite, with the much bigger crowd outside, but not pressing in around them, gave them the perfect opportunity to help him adjust. At least that was Caroline’s theory. All Josh wanted to do was get out of there. Pronto.

  He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “How long do we have to stay?” Her hair smelled of flowers and sunshine, and he felt the warmth of her skin. No one smelled like Caroline. Josh wanted to nuzzle his lips into the warm, fragrant hollow of her throat. That would make him forget the goddamn crowd outside.

  She nudged him with her elbow and gave him a teasing smile. “You might want to wait until the game actually starts.” She recrossed her jean-clad legs, folding her arms, which pulled her blue T-shirt snugly over her breasts. He noticed her breasts before he got it that her body language said back off.

  Josh sank back in his seat, staring out at the constantly shifting sea of humanity in navy blue and lime green down in the stands. The low hum of voices from his staff was white noise around them. “How can they all stand to be here?” He jerked his chin beyond the window. “They’re packed in there tighter than microprocessors on a motherboard.”

  “Because they’re having fun. They’re hoping for another Super Bowl.”

  He eyed her with a full measure of skepticism. The dark, glossy chestnut fall of her hair was caught up in a ponytail, exposing the creamy skin of her neck right above the vee-like dip of the T-shirt. A few strands had escaped the tight confines of the hair band and drifted free across her cheek. It was the ultimate exercise in restraint for Josh not to brush them aside and kiss her. “That’s fun?”

  She arched a sleek, dark brow at him, the green in her eyes sparkling. “We don’t have to go back to step one and start all over, do we?”

  He grumbled a few choice curse words under his breath.

  The blare of the announcer came over the speakers in the suite, followed by the music of the national anthem. Everyone in the Softech suite rose to their feet as it played. Just having these forty people in the suite was difficult for him. He’d done well at the bar, but this was different. On the other side of the glass was a crowd of sixty-three thousand, and while he wasn’t down there with them, he was still surrounded by them, could still hear and see them.

  His heart pounded harder and he gripped the arm of his cushioned chair with his free hand. Caroline’s hand skimmed over his, instantly drawing all his attention away from what happened beyond the sheet of glass. His eyes met hers. Had the touch been automatic? Or was it calculated to get his attention?

  The last notes of the national anthem faded and everyone sat down, ready to dig in and watch the game.

  “Didn’t you ever play sports as a kid?”

  Her question momentarily distracted him from the rising panic in his system. Calculated. His heart sank a little. “No. There were usually too many people involved. I thought about joining the golf team or swim or even tennis, but I was too busy programming to really care.”

  She frowned a little. “You and Connor use to be really tight-knit. You two don’t even speak anymore. What happened?”

  For a moment his lungs refused to function, like the air had been sucked form the room. He’d been waiting for her to bring up Connor. Waiting to find out if she held a grudge against him because of how things had played out with her brother and Softech.

  “He wasn’t going to defy your dad,” Josh said carefully, not wanting to prod a sensitive subject too hard. “That’s what happened. Nothing Carvales or I did or said could convince him to drop out of MIT to join us, not to follow something your dad thought was a wacko idea in the first place.”

  “Sounds like Dad. If you can’t beat it, beat it some more until it submits.”

  He winced. “My dad wasn’t anything like that. I guess I was luckier than most.”

  “What was he like?”

  He glanced at her and grinned. “He was a simple, hardworking man who believed that if you worked hard enough things could go your way. He didn’t see the point in asking for more, but he respected working for it.”

  “He made a big impression on you, didn’t he?”

  Josh nodded. “Couldn’t have built Softech without him.”

  “How so?”

  “Dad gave up every cent of h
is retirement account to help bankroll our first year.” He scooted forward slightly in his seat, ready to get up and leave at the first sign of encouragement. “Do you want to see where Softech was born?”

  She smiled and pressed a hand to his chest, pushing him back in his seat. “Yes, but we aren’t leaving until at least halftime.”

  “Buzzkill.”

  She patted his hand, and the touch of her skin against his nearly knocked him to his knees. He looked down at her hand and Caroline quickly withdrew it. A pulse of heat shot through his system. She might think the relationship between them was all business, but he could tell under the surface it was more.

  Josh pretended he was watching an enormous big-screen television as he looked out the window. Placing the crowd in that context seemed to control his anxiety to a manageable level. Well, that and sneaking looks at Caroline every chance he got.

  The heady, floral notes of her perfume curled in the air around her, taunting him and cutting through the other scents of coffee, ham and turkey, Swiss cheese, and mustard coming from the deli platters across the room. He didn’t dare flirt with her in front of the employees from Softech. They’d smell blood in the water and be relentless about finding out what his relationship to Caroline was. He didn’t want to put her or Connor under scrutiny.

  Only Carvales and Eric in accounting knew about the special account he’d kept all this time for Connor. It had been his and Carvales’s way of making sure Connor didn’t get cut out of the equation. They’d been all in it together, making plans in his dad’s basement, designing the programs and operating systems that made Softech the juggernaut it had become.

  Problem was, Connor had been the one to cut ties—probably at his dad’s insistence. Connor had never gotten past trying to please his father, but then unlike him and Carvales, they could see there was never going to be any pleasing Colonel Parker. Connor was facing a lost cause. Someday Josh hoped it would change. When Connor was ready, he’d let him know about the account, but until then neither Connor, nor Caroline, needed to know a damned thing about it.

  Caroline got up, chatting casually with the people she passed on the way to the back of the box where an array of food was spread out on a table near the bar. She returned with a ham sandwich and a bunch of grapes. “Here, you might as well enjoy it. You’re paying for it, after all.”