Melody Anne's Billionaire Universe: Her Billionaire's Bargain (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Yvette Hines

  The few bites of lamb in his stomach soured some as he thought about her leaving him that night and curling up in the arms of another man. He refused to peel apart those feelings. It was easier just to keep this meeting on a superficial level.

  Swallowing the bite of the lamb chop in his mouth, he refocused on her comment. “Is this where you’re going to make your pitch about your own store?”

  Feigning shock, she stretched her sultry shadowed lids and said, “Not at all. I mean my little bitty cupcake stand could never be compared to the conglomerate you’ve grown your own company to.”

  “Touché. However, just for the record, I don’t consider small business owners insignificant. The reason I pay more than top dollar for their establishments and what they own.”

  They ate in silence for a moment then she said, “Your offer was generous.”

  “Are you going to take it?”

  “No.” She smiled and humor danced in her gaze.

  If he wanted to he could pull a million and one things out of his pocket to convince her to take his offer, including adding just the right pressure and coercion to get her to bend to his will. Hell, those tricks weren’t foreign to him. However, as he studied her smile, the beauty of her features and the confidence she exuded, none of those things were paramount in his mind. All he could think about were ways to spend more time with her—being alone with her.

  “I’ve not even attempted to persuade you yet.”

  She set her fork on the side of her plate, tines down. “What do you call all of this?”

  Seduction. Instead of answering her, he said, “Come with me somewhere, Kourtney.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Seeing their waiter hovering at the door, Zac signaled him over.

  “Yes, Mr. Powers.”

  “Timothy, we’re finished. Can I please have the check and a bottle of The Prisoner and two slices of the chocolate sin cake to go?”

  “Excellent selection, Mr. Powers. The Napa Valley Red Blend is a perfect pairing for that dessert.” With a smooth bow, Timothy collected their plates and moved from the room.

  “I don’t recall agreeing to go anywhere else with you.” There was a saucy jut to her chin.

  With a simple tilt of one side of his mouth, he stared boldly at the beautiful black woman sitting across from him. He could name on one hand the times in his life he felt the tingling of reckless anticipation crawling along his spine. However, for some reason Kourtney inspired that level of excitement in his blood and he was going to journey along with it for as long as he could.

  “Tell me you don’t want to go,” he challenged. “That I haven’t piqued your curiosity.”

  Sighing, she glanced away. He could see the multiple thoughts and concerns playing across her features. Just because the connection between them was as evident as the table sitting in the restaurant, he was not going to push her. This was Kourtney’s choice. If she rose and said she was headed home, he would respect that. However, every ounce of his soul hoped she would give in.

  Her gaze slipped back to his. “I’ll grant a few more moments. However, my time is not unlimited.”

  “Then let’s not waste any of it.” Rising from the table, he walked around to her and assisted her up.

  “What about the check?” She collected her purse and moved beside him.

  Their waiter entered the room with a restaurant bag. Zac paused briefly and collected the items as he pulled his wallet out of the inside of his jacket then handed the man his platinum card. “My driver, Steven, will be in to collect this from you.”

  “Very good, sir.” Timothy stepped to the side and allowed them to pass.

  Zac escorted Kourtney around the other guests and beyond the front door where another restaurant staff member held it open.

  When his driver pulled up to the curb in the champagne Rolls Royce, Zac instructed him, “Steven, collect my card and I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Without question, Steven nodded. “I’ll be there an hour before the Tomlin meeting.”

  “Have a good night.” Zac went to the front passenger door and held it open for Kourtney.

  Appearing a little in shock, Kourtney moved toward him.

  “Your car valet ticket, please.” Zac held his palm out to her.

  “You can just bring me back here and I’ll drive myself home.”

  “No need, Steven will take care of it.”

  She tilted her head and stared from him to his driver. “He doesn’t even know where I live.”

  He smiled at her naiveté. “The packet on you not only contained your business address but your home address and phone number.”

  Her brows knit in the center above the bridge of her nose, as her free hand not clutching her purse pressed into her stomach. “That’s a big invasion of my privacy.”

  Shoving his hands deep in his pants pocket, he held her gaze. He had to remind himself, Kourtney would not be familiar with big corporate America and what all went into acquiring a company. It was invasive, to a degree. “We’re not stalking you. It’s a lot about your company, but it does get all contact information. If we needed to send you a subpoena we could have sent it to your home.

  She gasped. “A subpoena?”

  He held a hand up hoping to calm her. “It shouldn’t get that far. Hopefully.” He winked, trying to put her at ease.

  Finally, she gave in. Taking the ticket he handed it to Steven then moved to the driver side of the car and slipped in behind the wheel.

  ~YH~

  Thirty minutes later, Zac pulled into the vacant parking lot of Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens.

  “What are we doing here? The gardens are closed.” Kourtney was gazing out the window at the night lights glowing from the entrance.

  “What can I say, there are perks to having a company that is a corporate partner. It gets you access to places at odd hours.” He exited the car and went to open her door.

  “I’m sure it does.” She stood from the vehicle and slipped her hand around his elbow.

  The clicking of her heels along the stone walk, was just as musical to him as the sound of the birds and the night insects that made noise around them. This wasn’t his first time at the gardens after hours. It was when he always came and visited the place. He enjoyed the solitude, it was the place he came to when he needed to think and be alone. However, this was the first time he’d brought someone else with him.

  “Have you ever been here?”

  “Not since I was smaller. I’ve been planning a trip back, however, life happens.”

  “The more successful one becomes it means the less amount of time they have to do enjoyable things like a walk in the gardens.” Guiding her away from the main visitor’s pavilion he headed in the direction of the employee entrance and used his access code.

  “Wow, Zac Acquisition & Development must be very good corporate members.”

  He chuckled. “You can say that.”

  They walked in silence and moved through the different gardens and around various fountain displays. As they journeyed along the paths he was thoroughly enjoying his decision to bring her to his sanctuary. Kourtney didn’t feel the need for senseless chatter, the quiet didn’t appear to bother her and he appreciated that about her.

  Once they reached one of his favorite spots in the place, the pond by the Woodland Trails, he was impressed when she slipped her heels off, stepped off the designated path and walked onto the lush grass.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to have some chocolate cake, I think this would be a perfect spot.”

  The area was not well lit and if it wasn’t for the springtime moon in the sky that illuminated it, it would be too dark to see the edge of the water.

  “A perfect choice.” Moving beside her, but keeping his shoes on, he was happy that it hadn’t rained in weeks so the grassy area was dry. “Here.” Removing his suit jacket he laid it on the ground for her to sit upon.

  “Such a gentleman.” She smiled, with
his assistance she settled on the inside of the coat.

  He took up a spot beside her. “My mother would hate to discover that all her hard work on my brother and I had not been heeded.”

  “Well, she should be proud.”

  “I’ll remember to tell her that.” Removing the two small containers and plastic forks from the bag, he handed one to Kourtney. “Your dessert.”

  “Oh, I have such a passion for chocolate, this may not be pretty.”

  “Please enjoy. I’d hate to be the man that stands in the way of a woman and her passion.”

  He watched her take a bite of the cake and heard her moan at the decadent flavor and close her eyes. The sound coming from her had an instantaneous reaction in his body. His mind had no problem conjuring up other ways to get her to make such a sound.

  Attempting to keep his mind from journeying any further along that path, he pulled the wine out to the bag. “I’m afraid I don’t have cups so we’ll have to do this the college way.”

  She opened her eyes and smiled. “I’m game.”

  “I’m driving so I’ll only have a sip or two.” Wiggling out the loosened cork, he lifted the bottle and sipped then passed it to her.

  “You’re not trying to get me intoxicated are you, Mr. Powers, then present me with a contract to sign?” She held the bottle and eyed him suspiciously.

  Raising his hands, he shook his head. “I promise I have no contract on me.”

  Smiling, she tipped the bottle back and took a small drink. “Wow, the combination of these two is amazing.”

  He took a bite of his own cake and winked at her. “You think you could add a cupcake like this in your line up?”

  Setting the bottle down between them, she bit into her dessert again and sat there for a moment not swallowing. He imagined she was taking apart the ingredients to determine what she would need.

  “Hmm, maybe. It is very likely. I think a moist cake with a silky cocoa wine infused filling would create the same amazement for my customers.”

  “Really…?”

  She laughed. “You look shocked. Like you believe we are making cupcakes from box recipes or something.”

  Shrugging his shoulder, he answered honestly. “I didn’t give it much thought truthfully.”

  “I’m not surprised to hear you say that. You’re a business tycoon, when you want a treat I’m sure you have multiple people on your staff who go out searching for just what you want.”

  He stayed silent and stared out over the pond. There wasn’t much he could say to that. It wasn’t that he preferred not to do things himself, for himself. However, he knew that as soon as he uttered a word of something before it was fully out of his mouth someone was taking care of it.

  She rocked her shoulder into his. “Don’t get all morose on me. I’m sure having others around to do your bidding has its perks.”

  “And drawbacks.” He didn’t regret his life, but there were times that he missed simple things like going to get his own dessert. Or spending that moment with a beautiful woman undisturbed. His cell phone was off, but he was sure that when he turned it back on there would be several messages on it. Things he needed to take care of, reassurance messages that things had been taken care of and such. Dillon was efficient if nothing else.

  “Since we know how staid my life is. Tell me. When you’re not baking creative cupcakes what are you doing?” He wanted to steer away from business talk.

  It was her turn to become silent. Setting her tray on the grass on her other side she stared down at her hands playing with the sequin pattern along her dress. “I spend a lot of my free time at parks, zoos and reading children’s books out loud.”

  “Ah, I should have figured you would be one of those big sister volunteer types.”

  The gaze in her eyes was shadowed and distant when she glanced at him. He wondered at the reason behind the look. Most people enjoyed volunteer work, it was the reason they did it. He wondered if there was something else that drove her to reach out to those children, but he allowed her to keep her secret.

  “You’re from a large family, do you want kids of your own?”

  Her line of questioning shocked him for a moment. He couldn’t recall the last time someone asked him about his desire to have a family. Most of the women in his life enjoyed the lavish lifestyle they were a part of on his arm and were too into themselves and the glitz and glamour to think about children and settling down.

  “I don’t put much thought into it. But, I guess I do. Maybe two or three like my parents raised. Are you from a large family?”

  “No.” she picked up the wine bottle and took another drink. “It was just my mother and I from the time I was around one year old when my father died in a train derailment accident, until she remarried several years later.”

  “You two are probably very close.”

  A dry laugh came out. “You would think. However, when I was fifteen she married a man that had two small children and she liked the complete family package a little better. I was closer to my aunt, my father’s older sister, Joy. She was the one that owned the shop I now have. I spent every summer with her.”

  He was beginning to understand this woman a lot better the more time he spent with her. Kourtney’s decision not to sign the contract was very personal to her. Not that the homes and other business owners had given up wasn’t just as important, but to Kourtney he could see that her taking care of this business had a deep significance for her. “It’s a legacy.”

  Glancing at him, as if she forgot for a moment he was there, she frowned. “What is?”

  “The cupcake store. Your aunt provided some kind of solace for you there and apparently willed it to you when she passed and now you want to keep it just how she left it to you.”

  “Still standing with all four walls would be great.” She joked. “Something I can pass on.”

  He smiled. “Maybe we can figure something out.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Do you mean that?”

  Chapter Three

  Drawn in by the brilliance of joy in her gaze, he swallowed, attempting to moisten his mouth. There was something about this woman. She was infectious to his soul in a way that kept him feeling off kilter. Something that made him feel as if the ground under his feet wasn’t completely steady.

  It was easy for him to chalk it up to her beauty. She was gorgeous, lithe and had large eyes and lips that begged to be kissed. However, it was more than that and even more than her intelligence. That mystery was the single thing that had him inviting her to dinner, taking her for a quiet dessert in the gardens and leaning toward those luscious lips of hers.

  Even as a bullhorn went off in his head, warning him not to give into his baser desires he didn’t listen. As a businessman, he learned to go by his gut when an opportunity presented itself. He was doing just that.

  When his lips met hers a part of him expected her to pull away. Slap him for being forward. He rejoiced as her lips softened and yielded under his. Deepening the kiss he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and drew her closer. When he glided his tongue into her mouth and got his first taste of her, sweet and warm, his body went up in flames. A sense of deja vu rocked his core. As if he’d held her before, tasted her before responded to her with the same level of madness. That’s exactly what it was.

  If he’d met Kourtney before now, he’d have remembered. In his past he didn’t have long term girlfriends, but he’d had too many short term ones to count. However, it was something he had always been strategic about. Men that hopped into bed with strange women on a constant bases could find themselves in trouble in multiple ways. Zachary Powers was more meticulous than that. He handled his bedroom liaisons the way he dealt in the boardroom, designed tactics. Since he was twenty in college, every one he slept with provided an advantage to him in some way.

  However, he’d been the same for them.

  Then Kourtney’s tongue swept the top of his and groaned. Leaning her back, he continued to kiss her. H
e cradled her head with one hand and her hip with the other. His mouth feasted on hers, drawing more of her passion into the gall storm that was swirling around him.

  He heard her moan and felt one of her hands fist in his hair while the other gripped his back. Knowing that she was as carried away into the blazing inferno as he was just ignited his lust greater.

  This is insane. The small corner of his brain still trying to function argued. This is no way to make a deal, negotiate a contract.

  Dragging a hand up passed her narrow waist, he rested it a moment beneath the lush curve of her breast. Her heart thump, thumped hard under his hand. Its frantic beat matched the pace of his own.

  Drawing back, he whispered her name over her lips and felt their moist fullness below his. He stared at her, seeing her lids lowered and her mouth swollen from his kisses. Enticing. Cupping her breast, he massaged it and discovered the stiff peak.

  He cursed the dress that didn’t allow him to feel the softness of her skin compared to the contrast of the puckered edge of her nipple.

  She sighed and arched into his palm.

  Dipping lower, he kissed her neck and licked along the curve that led to her shoulder. The taste of her skin had him wanting more. He returned to her mouth as he slipped a knee between her thighs. He pressed higher until the fierce heat of her sex was spreading over the top of his thigh. Flexing and shifting, he increased the pressure on that molten spot.

  A shiver raced through her body and she quaked beneath him, grinding into him.

  Shit, she was so responsive it elevated his desire for her, turning it into a need he was finding hard to refuse.

  The elegant material of her dress was a flimsy barrier to what he wanted at the moment. To feel the warm silk of her skin. He dragged the layers up by fistfuls toward her hips until his fingers could graze the top of her knee.

  Breaking the kiss, she gulped in a loud breath. “Zac…wait.”

  Staring down at her, he didn’t move his hand any higher, but continued the circles along the center thigh. “Kourtney.” Her name sounded like music to his own ears. “Tell me you don’t want this.”