The Angler, the Baker, and the Billionaire
Amberlee Day
Contents
Copyright
Introduction
Foreword
Your Free Book Awaits
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
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Also by Amberlee Day
About the Author
Copyright © 2016 by Amberlee Day
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Introduction
I was one of those kids that always wanted to eat dessert first, but it was never allowed. Now that I’m an adult, I often do! The Destination Billionaire Romance Series reminds me of dessert because it allows you to get right to the good stuff—exotic locations, billionaires, and plenty of passionate kisses that take your breath away. I love the freshness of this series and how the characters are as unique as their locations. Like a smooth, creamy, delectable dessert, I savor each tender love story and eagerly await the next one. So, sit back and relax. Fall in love again and again. Because, let’s face it, everyone needs a little dessert. And this time, you can eat it first!
Jennifer Youngblood, author of Love on the Rocks (Hawaii Billionaire Romance Series)
Foreword
Dear Readers,
From the first day I met her, Amberlee Day has impressed me with her writing talent, knowledge of the romance genre, and ability to bring characters to life.
I met Amberlee over six years ago at a writing conference. Back then, we were both newbies on the scene and eager to learn. Like little guppies, we swam through the conference with our jaws hanging open, hoping to catch the tidbits swirling around us. We hit it off immediately, bonding over our naturally curly hair dilemmas, the effort it takes to raise children into decent human beings, working, and writing. My admiration for her has only grown with time.
The Angler, the Baker, and the Billionaire is a sweet romance set in the small town of Sitka, Alaska. The amazing sites and wonders that can be found in America’s last frontier are captured within the pages of this book. Sailing on a private fishing boat, exploring abandoned islands, and visiting the private home of a billionaire are just a few of the adventures you’ll experience, all while falling in love with a kind-hearted man.
Navigating the dating world is never an easy task. There are sharks to contend with; those who would take a bite out of you and leave you scarred. You have to watch out for shallow waters; relationships where you feel deeper than the other person. Then there are the bears; women and men who would try to swipe your fair catch right out of your hands. The Angler, the Baker, and the Billionaire follows Sophie Molina as she navigates the choppy waters of dating in a new town while mourning the loss of her mother and their family business. It is said that the truth can set you free, but facing the truth of her past may cause Sophie to lose hope in a future with the man she loves.
I always enjoy a book from Amberlee Day. She has a way of weaving together a story that carries me along into the wee hours of the morning. It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Amberlee Day, an author you are sure to love, and her latest book, The Baker, the Angler, and the Billionaire.
Happy reading,
Lucy McConnell, author of the Billionaire Marriage Brokers series
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1
The Angler
Sophie Molina tucked a dark curl behind her ear and looked out the plane window for the tenth time since boarding. Nothing had changed. There wasn’t even moonlight to accentuate the clouds. No matter how many times she looked, the dark night only stared back, empty and cold.
All day long Sophie had tried to shake the feeling that she was leaving light and heading into darkness. San Francisco was sunny and warm that morning when her plane took off, even if her spirits weren’t. Her layover in Seattle was partly cloudy, and the farther north she traveled on her way to Alaska, the more clouds blanketed her view. Even the sunset was a nonevent.
She’d never felt depressed from lack of sunshine before, but then she’d lived her whole life in California. Maybe six months in rainy Sitka, Alaska, wouldn’t be the pick-me-up she was hoping for.
Or maybe it was just the heaviness in her heart that made the long day feel so dark.
Once she’d arrived in Juneau, the short connecting flight to Sitka was a puzzle. Sophie knew there were major airlines that flew directly into the isolated town of Sitka—she and her mom had taken direct flights from Seattle many times when they visited during her summer vacations—but her cousin Roger had insisted on arranging this last leg of the trip. She didn’t know Roger well. He was more than ten years her senior, so he was not one of the many cousins she played with as a child. As she took in her surroundings, she wondered if this flight was Roger’s way of showing off and that he had connections to make a private plane possible.
The jet was tastefully decorated and luxuriously comfortable. It smelled like new carpet and freshly treated leather. The only other passenger, a pretty woman with short dark hair and an expensive-looking business suit, was busy on her phone and laptop. She sat at the opposite end of the cabin, so Sophie didn’t hear her conversation, but she’d smiled and waved when Sophie first boarded the plane.
A few minutes after takeoff, the flight attendant asked Sophie if she cared for a beverage or possibly a chicken Caesar salad.
“A salad?” Sophie asked.
“Yes. Or I could make you a sandwich, if you’d like.”
Sophie ran her fingers through her hair. Whatever this gig was that Roger had arranged, she didn’t want him to receive a bill for extra service. Even though she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, she folded her arms over her stomach. “No, I’m fine, thank you.”
“Please do have something.” The stylish passenger had abandoned her phone and computer and switched to the seat opposite Sophie. “I’m starving, and I hate to eat alone. Hi, I’m Marisa.”
Sophie shook her extended hand. She felt underdressed in her sweater and jeans. “Sophie. Nice to meet you. I’m not sure … How much is the salad?”
One of Marisa’s perfectly shaped eyebrows went up a fraction. She exchanged a glance with the flight attendant. “Two salads, thank you, Carol.”
The attendant nodded and disappeared through a doorway.
“No charge,” Marisa said. “If you’re on the plane, food and drinks are included.”
>
“Wonderful. Thank you.” Sophie looked around, again wondering how she’d managed to be here. She took a closer look at Marisa. Expensive clothing, sleek haircut, and very comfortable in this setting. “Is this … your plane?”
Marisa laughed. She relaxed back into her seat. It was near midnight. Sophie was tired, but thought Marisa looked even more so.
“No, not mine. My … employer. Don’t you know whose plane you’re on?” When Sophie shook her head, Marisa continued, “I was told you’d be here, but nothing about who you are.”
Sophie squirmed. “I’m not really sure why I’m here. My cousin Roger—“
“You’re Roger’s cousin?”
“Yes. Do you know him?”
“Of course, I know Roger and his wife, Cathy. They’re lovely people. I’ve met many of the Platskys.”
“I’ve barely met them myself, just summer visits when I was younger. I grew up in the Bay Area.”
“I love San Francisco. We have an office there.”
“Oh? What’s the name of your company?”
Marisa hesitated. “It’s mostly an investment firm. Probably nothing you’d recognize. What brings you from California to Sitka, Sophie? Taking a vacation?”
The salads arrived just then, and Sophie took the distraction to contemplate how to answer Marisa’s question. It wasn’t a simple answer, and she really wasn’t sure why she’d been invited or why she’d agreed to come. She suspected the invitation had been something in the way of a pity invite, but she found she’d wanted to accept it. She finished her first bite of tender chicken and said, “I’m coming to help Cathy open a business.”
“Is she expanding her catering? She’s a wonderful baker.”
Marisa really had met her family. “I don’t know if she’s still planning on catering, but she’s opening a storefront somewhere along the water.”
“That’s wonderful! Have you ever had Cathy’s cinnamon rolls? To die for.”
“No, I haven’t,” Sophie said. “I’ve heard a lot about her baking, though, and seen a lot of beautiful pictures.”
“Well, you’re in for a treat. If you’re coming to help her, are you a baker also?”
Sophie took a drink of water to help with the sudden lump in her throat that had nothing to do with her food. “Yes, I am,” she said. “Tell me more what it is you do that has you flying on a corporate jet.”
Marisa speared a piece of lettuce with her fork. Sophie looked down and was surprised to see that her own salad was already half finished. She hadn’t realized how hungry she’d been. “I’m an executive assistant,” Marisa said.
“Secretary?”
“A bit more than that. I mostly make it possible for my boss to be wherever he wants to be and still run a large corporation.”
“So you do all the legwork, and he gets all the glory?”
“Sometimes it feels like that. He’s a genius in his way—don’t tell him I said that, I wouldn’t want it to go to his head—but he can be demanding, too.”
“I bet.”
“Take tonight,” Marisa said. “I really could have waited and come up Monday morning, because there’s nothing that can’t wait until then. But what does he say? ‘I want you here tonight so I can have you working tomorrow by five.’”
“Five in the morning? On a Saturday?” Sophie said. “That’s almost as bad as a bakery.”
“Yes, it is, isn’t it? Sometimes that’s the price of international business. Or in this case, doing business with New York from Sitka. Anyway, I shouldn’t complain. I do love the travel and the pace. I would occasionally like a vacation, though.”
“From the sounds of it, I should think you’ve earned one.”
“Many times over. And to be honest,” Marisa said, a warm glow lighting her eyes, “the first chance I get for a vacation, it will be my honeymoon.”
“Congratulations!” Sophie said. “How long have you been married?”
Marisa slumped. “That’s the thing. I’ve been too busy for us to set a wedding date, much less plan a honeymoon.”
Sophie frowned, righteously indignant for this stranger. “That’s terrible. You need to tell that boss of yours to cut you some slack. He can’t be paying you enough to make it worth putting off your wedding.”
“That’s the thing.” Marisa’s beautiful smile was tired. “He does make it worth my while. Or at least it’s been worth it, up till now. I think my fiancé is getting tired of waiting. I know I am.”
While the conversation turned to the sights to see in Sitka, Sophie still found herself disliking this mystery boss who took the obviously devoted Marisa for granted.
When the plane landed, Sophie walked down the stairway to the dark airport tarmac. Even at the airport, the cool, fresh air—so different from San Francisco—brought back memories of her childhood and her mother. She breathed in deeply. Maybe it had been a good idea to come north, she thought. She looked once again for a view, but found that the Sitka, Alaska, night was a dark grey mass of clouds.
Sophie waved a quick goodbye to Marisa and went to meet up with Roger. Marisa had said she had a floatplane to catch. Sophie wished she’d had more time to get to know this friendly and articulate woman, but the mysterious Marisa had already stepped into a waiting car and driven off into the Alaskan night.
2
Sophie awoke to sounds of men working, the dim glow of first light coming through thin curtains, and the heavenly aroma of freshly baked cinnamon rolls.
As she’d slept in yoga pants and a sweatshirt, Sophie pushed her mess of dark hair out of her eyes, rolled out of bed—the clock said 4:45 a.m.—and opened her cabin door to the deck overlooking Sitka Sound. Shuffling sleepily across the wood planks, she investigated the noise.
“I think I slept in,” she croaked.
The three men standing in the parking lot below stopped and looked up at Sophie. It took a moment for them to answer, and for her eyes to focus. Roger was the only one of the three she recognized. The other two scraggly fishermen were helping load equipment into a truck.
“Cathy’s already baked the rolls,” Roger called up to her. “That’s all she’s doing today. She figured you’d want to sleep in with your late night.”
“I never sleep in,” Sophie said, her words blurring in a yawn. “I’m usually up by three when I’m working.”
“No need in the kitchen this morning. If you’re getting up, why don’t you get dressed and come out on one of the boats.” Roger said. “We can always use another set of hands. Or, just come for the experience. Get a real welcome from Sitka. You might not get another chance once you’re working.”
Sophie nodded and yawned again. She wasn’t one to turn down adventure, and she was still too sleepy to think what a morning on the water would be like. “Give me five minutes.”
She’d just pulled on jeans and an old wool shirt of her mom’s when Cathy Platsky knocked on her door. It had been late when Roger picked Sophie up from the airport. He’d driven her to Angler’s Cove Lodge, owned by the charter fishing company he managed, and she’d gone to bed without seeing the rest of the family.
“My, look at you!” Cathy, pregnant and obviously close to her due date, enfolded Sophie in the biggest hug she could manage. “You’ve grown to be a lovely woman, Sophie.”
“Thank you. That’s sweet.”
“No, I mean it. Last time you were in Sitka, you were what? Twelve?”
“Fifteen, actually. When Grandma Platsky died. I was just short and really skinny.”
“You were very active, if I remember right,” Cathy said.
“I was. Not as much now as I used to be. Your twins must be teenagers now?”
“They’re fifteen, if you can imagine. They’ve been helping on one of the boats this year.”
“They must be excited about the new baby.”
Cathy sighed. It occurred to Sophie that her cousin-in-law had probably been up for hours. What would it be like to be pregnant at forty and working baker’s h
ours? She felt bad she hadn’t woken up earlier to help.
“Excited, yes,” Cathy said. “This little one has definitely been a surprise to all of us, and we haven’t even met her yet.”
“Is it a girl, then? And …” Sophie glanced at Cathy’s enormous belly. “Just one?”
“Yes.” Cathy grimaced. “Just one. Sophie, thank you so much for coming. Your help’s already appreciated more than you can imagine.”
“I’m the one who needs to say thank you. I really … I didn’t know what I was going to do. Still don’t, but being here gives me some time to think about it.”
“I hope you don’t mind us putting you up here in the lodge. We’ve thought about getting a bigger house, but with starting the new business … and it won’t be too many more years before the boys are off to college, anyway.”
“No, I love it here. I hope I’m not taking a customer’s spot, though.”
“Not at all,” Cathy said. “This place is big enough. Angler’s Cove Lodge always has extra rooms. I hear you’re going fishing with Roger this morning?”
“I guess so. I’m not sure what I’ve gotten myself into, though. I went out on boats when I was here before, but this charter thing’s new to me. How long do they go out for?”
“All day. They don’t head back until afternoon. Are you up for it?”
Sophie took a deep breath. She’d been babying herself for a while, not pushing. It felt time for something new. “What about bakery plans?”
“Plenty of time for us to talk about that later. A day on the water will be a good thing.” She smiled, a wide, knowing smile. “Besides, once we get going on the bakery, you might not have time for fishing. Before you leave, swing by the kitchen. I have some things you’re definitely going to need.”
The Angler, the Baker, and the Billionaire (Destination Billionaire Romance) Page 1