King's Passion

by Adrianne Byrd

  “You must make your mother proud,” Victoria said when they finally sat down at the dinner table to eat.

  “That’s what she says every time we talk. I think that she’s just required to say that.”

  Victoria watched him while she took a few bites. Finally she just blurted out, “There’s gotta be something wrong with you.”

  Eamon choked while he was taking a sip of his beer. “Come again?”

  “You heard me. There’s gotta be something I’m missing. How is it that you’re still single? Every woman in this town should have been trying to pull every trick in the book to get you down somebody’s aisle.”

  He laughed.

  “I’m serious. You’re a successful businessman with a chain of nightclubs and a wonderful Italian restaurant. You have a beautiful home. You’re financially secure. You’re an excellent pianist. You cook, clean and sew. And…” She shrugged. “You have some pretty decent skills in the bedroom.”

  His brows jumped at that bit of news. “Does that mean that I’m finally getting rated higher than a seven?”

  Try a twenty. “Can we please stick to the subject? Why aren’t you married?”

  There was an odd look that crossed his face before he finally dropped his gaze. He tried to cover by giving her another dismissive shrug. “Maybe I’ve just been waiting for the right woman?” His gaze swung back to her.

  “Have you—”

  “You are asking a lot of questions today.”

  Even though it sounded like he was joking, there was something in his voice that suggested that he wasn’t.

  Victoria sensed that she had hit a nerve and she wondered what it was. Had he been married before? Why hadn’t she ever asked that question before now? “All right. All right. I’ll drop the subject. For all I know some male stripper ran off with your fiancée at her bachelorette party and I’m sitting here being totally insensitive.”

  Eamon laughed. “I should’ve known that you couldn’t just drop it.”

  She gave him one of her mischievous looks. But she’d learned that Eamon was a master at changing the subject and that’s exactly what he did.

  “What I want to know is, what sort of fun did you have while you were growing up? Clearly Disney World wasn’t on the list.”

  “Disney. Disney. Disney.” Victoria rolled her eyes. “Will you give it a rest, already? Not everyone thinks Mickey is adorable, you know. Some, I’m not saying who, might think that he’s a little bit…creepy.”

  Eamon almost choked again. “Mickey? Creepy? I think that’s blasphemous!”

  “He’s a big rat!”

  “Let me get this straight. You were actually scared of Mickey Mouse?”

  “What part of him being a big rat don’t you understand? And one that sings and dances and wants to play with little children.” She shivered as if the thought gave her the heebie-jeebies. “It’s weird. Strange. Creepy.”

  Eamon roared with laughter. After a full minute passed and it appeared that he wasn’t about to stop laughing anytime soon, Victoria leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms and tried to wait him out. When another minute passed and tears were streaming down his face, she decided that she’d had enough. “Ha. Ha. Chuckle it up. It’s not nice to make fun of someone’s phobia.”

  “H-how is Mickey Mouse a phobia?”

  She tossed up her hands. “Hello? Big! Creepy! Rat! That big face and…weird eyes. If you ever lived in New York, you’d understand. That’s our real immigration problem.”

  That didn’t help. Eamon laughed until his sides started hurting. At last when he caught sight of her face and realized how annoyed she was, he tried to pull it together and reached for her hand.

  Victoria snatched her hand out of reach.

  “C’mon. Don’t be like that. I’ve just never heard of anyone being afraid of Mickey Mouse. Emphasis on mouse.”

  “Rat,” she insisted.

  “We have to get you over this, Princess. Tell you what. On your next birthday, I’m taking you to Disney World. I can’t have you walking around being afraid of…”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “A cartoon character,” he substituted. “Besides, there’s more to the place than just Mickey. I think what you need is the opportunity to let your inner child out. The one you put in a cage waaaay too early in life. So, do we have a date? Your next birthday—no matter where we are in the world—I’m taking you to Disney World—or Land—whichever is closer.”

  “I think that’s almost impossible.”

  “Why?”

  “Because my birthday is tomorrow.” Victoria realized that her smugness was premature when Eamon’s eyes lit up.

  “Then tomorrow it is!”

  Chapter 17

  Quentin’s neatly groomed brows dipped in confusion. “Let me get this straight. You’re taking the week off so you can take your girl to Disneyland? Did I get that right?”

  Eamon signed the electronic clipboard and handed it back to the deliveryman before turning his attention to his cousin. He should’ve known that Q was going to have something to say. He’d been shaking his head about him and Victoria for a while now. “Do you think you can handle everything while I’m gone or not?”

  Q ignored the question and looked over at Hayley just as she squatted down on a stool next to Eamon at the bar. “Are you hearing this crap or do I need a Q-tip?”

  “What? Does he have another excuse as to why he needs to take time off again this week?”

  Eamon frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Take a guess,” Hayley volleyed.

  “Get this,” Quentin said, leaning over the bar counter. He wants to take the weekend off so he can take her to… wait for it…Disneyland.”

  Hayley’s mouth dropped open as she swiveled her head toward her boss. “You gotta be kidding me?”

  “What’s the big damn deal? She’s never been before and it’s her birthday tomorrow.”

  Hayley cocked her head. “Awww. How sweet. I wanted to go to Disneyland…when I was ten!”

  Quentin cracked up. “You guys are going to look hella crazy trying to cut in line at Small World.”

  Eamon rolled his hands. “Go ahead. Get it out of your system. But I get the sense that Victoria didn’t really get a chance to be a kid growing up. Sometimes I get the sense that she was incredibly lonely.”

  “Poor little rich girl?” Hayley asked.

  “Something like that.” Eamon looked up at Q. “You should know something about that, cuz. Did money make you happy as a kid?”

  “Extremely,” Quentin answered without missing a beat. “And it still comforts me at night, right along with a few naked ladies and a few cases of Cristal.”

  Eamon rolled his eyes. “I should’ve known.”

  “I’m a simple man, cuz. Love me or hate me. But I still find it extremely funny that your idea of a good time is to take your woman from an adult fantasy land—like this wonderful city in the desert—to a children’s fantasy land. I might not be the brightest color in the crayon box, but I know enough to know that we can never go back and get the childhood we wanted. Ask M.J. God rest his soul.”

  “We’re going to visit the theme park, not buy it.”

  Q shook his head.

  “I don’t know,” Hayley said, studying Eamon. “I’m starting to think it’s kind of sweet.”

  “Thank you, Hayley.” Eamon winked and then hopped off the stool. “At least one of you can see where I’m coming from.”

  “Oh. I see where you’re coming from just like I know where you’re heading, too,” said Q.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that you drove off that cliff and don’t even know it,” Quentin added.

  “Amen to that,” Hayley said and slapped Q’s hand for a quick high-five.

  Eamon frowned. “How fast the tide turns.”

  Hayley laughed while she shrugged. “Sorry, boss. I just call them like I see them. Your butt is lost. Soooo los
t a GPS can’t help you.”

  “Whatever. Just hold the place down while I’m gone.” He looked at Quentin. “That also means try not to get arrested.”

  “Go. Have yourself a good time. Hayley and I got this. We have for a while now.”

  “Now, what is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that you’ve gone from working ninety-plus hours a week to pulling part-time hours like a high-school teenager. Don’t get it twisted, there’s nothing I like more than a good bachelor party. But it’s been a while since you hosted one, now, hasn’t it?”

  Eamon had a hard time trying to shrug that one off. “We have plenty of people to host. That’s the point of hiring competent employees, present company excluded.”

  Q brushed off the barb, dusting his shoulders. “Sticks and stones. The point is your ass is pussy-whipped.”

  Hayley snapped an invisible whip.

  “Funny.”

  “It is,” Q agreed. “You don’t see too many brothers who fall in love with a woman who was trying to sue them into the poor house.”

  “C’mon on, man. Cut her some slack,” Eamon said. “She dropped that case a while back. She was just lashing out because she was hurt.” He shrugged. “I can’t fault her for that.”

  “Of course not. Water under the bridge.”

  “Of course, I don’t understand how her fiancé could have ever left a woman like her standing at the altar, either.”

  Q and Hayley shared an amused look before she cracked the whip again. “Funny.”

  Quentin snickered. “Well. He must’ve had some kind of swag because he married Delicious. You got to watch these geeks. They’re going to rule the world one day.”

  Hayley cut in. “Please. Delicious had that marriage annulled, like, two days after it happened. It wasn’t anything serious. She gets married all the time.”

  Eamon frowned. “What?”

  “Yeah. She doesn’t see what the big deal is. Married on Saturday—annulled by Monday. Trust me, they are real familiar with her name down at the courthouse.”

  Eamon rolled that information around in his head for a minute but dismissed the idea of Marcus Henderson popping up one day looking to win his ex-fiancée back. “How come I didn’t know about that?”

  “I don’t reckon you know much about anything. You haven’t been paying too much attention to a whole lot of stuff since your billionaire heiress had you calling her name like her own little pep squad back in your office.”

  Eamon didn’t get embarrassed too often, but this was one of those times. “I, uh, didn’t know that you heard that.”

  “Are you kidding? I think everyone in the state of Nevada heard you,” Hayley laughed. “And don’t think that you were slick when you had to purchase a new office desk and fax machine. We know you two wrecked the place. You weren’t foolin’ nobody.” Her gaze raked him up and down. “I might have to send my man to you so you can give him some tips, though.”

  Quentin puffed out his chest. “You can send him my way, too.”

  Hayley laughed. “Please. I don’t need him taking lessons in ‘ho-ism’.”

  “Ouch.” Eamon held up his hand so that this time he would get the high five.

  Q looked at his watch. “I thought you had somewhere to be, Mr. Whipped.”

  Eamon squinted and leaned in close. “You know, green really isn’t your color.”

  “Don’t play yourself. Nobody’s jealous. I leave all that relationship BS to the fools who don’t know any better. I’m riding the bachelor life until the wheels fall off this bastard.”

  “Whatever.” Eamon waved him off. “Nobody said anything about turning in their bachelor card. I’m just taking the girl to a theme park. Calm down.”

  Once again, Q and Hayley exchanged looks and then said at the same time, “Denial.”

  “Why am I wasting my time with you two?” Eamon asked himself and turned away.

  “Denial is the first step,” Quentin shouted at Eamon’s back.

  Eamon just held up his hand and flipped his cousin the bird.

  “Fine!” Q yelled as Eamon moved closer to the door. “You and Minnie skip on down the road. I’m going to go ahead and pencil in your bachelor party now!”

  Eamon left the club just as the DJ was coming in to get set up before they opened.

  Hayley looked over at Quentin. “Do you really think that he’s going to marry that woman?”

  He shrugged. “Only if she’ll have him.”

  Bright and early the next morning, Eamon crept out of bed so that he could sneak down to the kitchen to make breakfast in bed for Victoria. He’d hoped to make her special day one that she would never forget. He was particularly anxious to get her to California for her day at the theme park. Most of his excitement was because of the simplicity of it. What exactly does one get a billionaire heiress?

  Was it possible that he was looking forward to this day more than she was? After washing his hands, he quickly got started slicing and dicing, whipping and baking. Today’s breakfast was a baked omelet with a bowl of fresh fruit and a mimosa. In the center of the tray, he placed a single red rose. Smiling like a Cheshire cat, he took the elevator up to the second floor and entered the bedroom singing “Happy Birthday.”

  It proved to be perfect timing because Victoria was just stirring in the lush pile of pillows and rubbing her eyes. When she heard him singing, her hands fell way from her face, as she blinked in total surprise at the approaching silver tray.

  “Oh, my God. I don’t believe this. You didn’t have to do all this.” She sat up as Eamon settled her breakfast over her lap and then leaned over for a kiss. “I wanted to do it. Happy birthday, Princess.”

  “Thank you.” Her eyes misted with tears as she slid her arms around his thick neck so that she could deepen their kiss.

  “Make sure that you make a wish,” he told her.

  Victoria smiled at the single candle placed in the center of her baked omelet. Closing her eyes, she wasn’t sure what she was going to wish for but then it suddenly bubbled up from her heart. I wish that we could always be this happy. She leaned over and blew out the candle.

  “What did you wish for?”

  “If I tell you then it might not come true.”

  “Well, we can’t have that, now, can we?”

  Victoria shook her head and then quickly dived into her brunch. She knew before the food hit her taste buds that it was going to be good, and she wasn’t disappointed. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the pillows and emitted a long-winded moan.

  “You know, I can’t decide whether you moan louder when you’re eating or when we’re making love.”

  “It’s a tie.” She wiggled her brows at him and then finally noticed the card leaning against the rose vase. “What’s this?”

  “Why don’t you open it and find out?”

  Victoria picked up the card and tore it open. She nearly laughed out loud at the sight of a glittery Disney card with a collage of every Disney princess that had made it to film, with Princess Tiana taking center stage. “Aww. It’s so beautiful. Thank you.”

  She leaned over again and rewarded him with a kiss.

  “Wait. You didn’t read it. ‘Prepare for magic, Princess. Today a King will treat you like a Queen.’”

  She glanced up. “Aww. How sweet.”

  Eamon puffed out his chest and shoulders. “I do what I can.”

  “Cheesy…but sweet,” she amended, unable to resist the jab.

  “Uh-huh. Eat up, Princess. We have a plane to catch.”

  Victoria’s brows dipped. “Where are we going?”

  “Disneyland. It’s closer.”

  “What? You were serious? You’re taking me to a theme park?”

  “Absolutely. I’m a man of my word. And today, Princess Victoria, you are going to get your chance to be a kid.” He turned toward the door so that he could go and get his own breakfast and then remembered. “Oh. And don’t worry,” he said, spinning back around to see her
still sitting there in shock. “I will protect you from any and all unsavory-looking mice. If Mickey wants to get you, then he’s going to have to go through me first.”

  “Okay. Now you’re just being silly.”

  “Yeah. Just a little bit.” Eamon shrugged and then tossed her a wink.

  Two hours later, Eamon and Victoria boarded a private jet to Anaheim, California, bound for the Disney theme park. One look over at Victoria and he could tell that her excitement level was steadily increasing. Once she was inside the fantasy world she did indeed transform into a kid, especially when they hit the Adventure Park. Never had Eamon seen anyone so giddy to be in a bumper car—or anyone so lousy at driving them.

  He had known for some time that she was a screamer, but absolutely nothing could have prepared him for the mighty wails she released as they sailed, dipped and whipped around on roller-coaster ride after roller-coaster ride. By the time the fireworks went off behind the iconic castle, Eamon was convinced that they had to have walked at least ten miles.

  The priceless moment came when Victoria spotted the Mickey Mouse character from about twenty feet away. She froze instantly and then grabbed Eamon’s hand and led him in the opposite direction. He laughed so hard he damn near split his sides.

  It was close to midnight by the time they arrived back at his house. Victoria was so exhausted that Eamon literally had to scoop her out of the passenger seat of his Porsche and carry her into the house.

  “Thank you so much for a wonderful birthday,” she moaned, softly squeezing his neck, but lacking the energy to press a kiss against his face. “I had so much fun.”

  “Probably not as much fun as I had watching you.”

  He heard her sigh while he struggled to open the door, but once he made it inside it was smooth sailing getting her up to the bedroom.

  “You’re just too good to be true,” Victoria moaned as he settled her onto the bed and began pulling off her shoes.

  “I can’t tell you how many times I tell myself that same thing.” He tossed her a wink and then helped strip her out of her clothes before quickly joining her in the bed. The minute he was in, she curled up toward him and settled into her regular spot tucked underneath his arm.