In their room just before dinner, Amber is sitting in front of the window, pissed off that she couldn’t enjoy her relaxing once-in-a-lifetime private spa day because the people who came on this retreat are petty assholes. She’s nibbling around her cuticle, even though she just got a manicure. The manicurist used the most high-end polish Amber’s ever seen in a salon, and she wants to enjoy it while she can because she’s certain it’ll chip once she gets back to work on Monday and starts typing.
Then Chase walks in, looking handsome in his polo shirt and khakis.
“Hey,” he says, shutting the door behind him. “How was your spa day?”
Amber sighs, considering just how honest she wants to be. “It would’ve been nice if it weren’t for the absolute bitches around here.”
“Oh no,” he says with a breathy laugh. He walks over and takes a seat on the coffee table across from where she sits on the loveseat. “What happened?”
“Just people bringing up your history to get to me. Not that it bothered me, because we’re not actually together, so I have no reason to be upset about any of it. But they don’t know that, so they were being terrible on purpose, which I expected, but it’s almost breathtaking to see it in action. I don’t understand what the big deal is and why these people are being so nasty about you in particular.”
“These people care a lot about propriety, Amber. It doesn’t matter so much that I had a manwhore phase, what bothers them is that I had one in public. I was messy, and they hate messes. If someone is having an affair or a drug addiction or whatever, they don’t care if people in the circle know, they care if people outside the circle know. It’s all about optics.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Amber argues.
“I agree with you, but that’s the way this world works. If it makes you feel any better, they’re not just taking swipes at me. These people make petty little digs at each other all the time; you just have to know their history in order to catch it. Like at breakfast, when Lucas Robinson suggested going to Aspen for a ski holiday, and Janice said that she knows he loves fresh powder?”
Chase looks at her like he’s waiting for her to catch on. It takes Amber a few seconds, then—
“Oh my god, he’s a cokehead?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought he just liked skiing!”
Chase laughs, looking at her with tender affection that strikes her right in the chest.
“How did you and Jason manage to come out of a life like this actually being decent people? I didn’t hear you take a dig at anyone…did you?”
He shakes his head. “No. I know what it’s like to regret something and have people constantly bring it up. I wouldn’t do that to anyone else.”
Amber reaches over and places her hand on his. “You’re a good person.”
“I have a lot of people around me who are stellar humans,” he says, winking at her. “I’m going to go take a quick shower.”
“Oh,” she says as he makes his way toward the bathroom. “There’s one thing you should know about this afternoon, just in case.”
Chase raises his brow. “What’s that?”
“Elaine Van Buren made a few comments about how secure I must be in our relationship given your…romantic past.”
Chase presses his lips together.
“I might’ve made up a little story about your…devotion to me.”
He smiles. “Okay.”
“What I mean is…devoted, devoted. Focused on me in particular. Enthusiastically. Like…three times last night and twice this morning kind of devoted.”
She bites her lip as she watches the comprehension dawn on him.
“Oh. Well, in that case, thank you for the excellent fake reviews.”
“You’re welcome.” She manages to not express how much she’d like to be able to give him a real one.
Dinner is an interesting affair. Everyone is seated at the longest table Amber’s ever seen. It’s casually elegant, roasted potatoes and chicken served out of silver chafing dishes. They’re drinking a good wine, and if anyone is being shitty to anyone else using veiled references, Amber isn’t catching on. It’s a pretty good time so far.
For all her complaints about the company of the people around her, she has zero complaints about the food. There’s something to be said for having a household staff and a live-in cook, and as much as she loves Chinese take out, it’s going to be difficult to go back to after this.
She sent Sasha a text earlier to check up on her and Sasha just asked about the food and replied with a picture of her soapy feet in the bathtub along with a tray suspended over the bubbles holding a few chocolate-covered strawberries and a glass of champagne. She—thankfully—did not ask if Amber had slept with Chase yet, although she did tell her not to hurry home.
Amber makes a mental note to tell her about this delicious meal.
The conversation around the table is flowing nicely. Amber and Chase are seated next to Michael and Janice. Michael is conversing with everyone within earshot except for Chase. Amber’s seen enough of this kind of behavior through the years to recognize it as the power play that it is. Even though Michael’s always been nice to her (apart from the shit thing last night), the fact that he’s sitting next to Chase and so obviously giving him the cold shoulder makes Amber hate him.
Chase takes it all in stride; he’s cool as a cucumber in pretty much every situation that would rattle a lesser man, and if any of this bothers him, he doesn’t let on.
For dessert, the staff brings around a rolling cart with different cakes and pastries. Amber’s eyes are definitely bigger than her stomach, and when it gets to Chase, he makes an off-handed comment about finding it difficult to choose just one.
Michael sees that as an opportunity and replies, “That seems to be an issue with you.”
Maybe Amber’s had too much wine with dinner. Maybe between Michael’s comment about their relationship yesterday and listening to these miserable people trying to make her doubt herself and Chase this afternoon, she’s had enough.
Just yesterday, Janice told her that the married men at this table had flings and they weren’t that big of a deal. Chase wasn’t even married! He just had some publicly messy relationships and hookups, and these hypocrites are judging him.
Amber’s never made a scene in her life, but that streak ends tonight.
She slams her hand on the table, making the silverware and the glasses rattle. “That’s enough,” she says, startling the hell out of the people at the table. Her cheeks grow hot, partly from anger, and partly because everyone’s attention is on her now and she knows she probably shouldn’t have done what she just did, or what she’s about to do.
It’s out there…no turning back now.
She clears her throat and directs her comments at Michael, even though everyone is watching.
“So, Chase has had some messy relationships. You’re treating him like he’s been involved with criminals or part of some kind of conspiracy instead of a guy who made some bad personal decisions that aren’t anyone else’s business anyway. If you’re concerned about partnering with Jentech because of Chase’s reputation, maybe you could judge him on the person that he actually is when nobody’s watching.”
“Amber,” Chase says. His voice is soft. She knows that he doesn’t care about what these people think of him. She’s not necessarily trying to change their minds, but she refuses to sit here and let the man she loves be judged in this way.
“No,” she replies, taking his hand. They twine their fingers together and rest their hands on her lap. Amber draws strength from his touch.
“Chase is the guy who has his nieces and nephews crawling all over him at Christmas because they love him so much. He’s the guy who dresses up like Santa for them when the actor his family hired can’t make it because of a snowstorm.
“Chase is the guy that employees at our company go to if they need help. If they’re down on their luck or have an emergency situation, he reaches
out and he helps them personally. He’s helped people avoid foreclosure, got another employee the help she needed when her sister died unexpectedly and she got custody of her niece overnight. He personally writes letters of recommendation for colleges for the kids who have interned in the headquarters office. He fights to help them get a good education because he knows he hit a home run after being born on third base.
“He has his hands in so many charitable organizations I can’t even count them on ten people’s hands.
“Yes, he’s made some questionable personal choices, but he has a good heart. He shows that every single day in a thousand different ways that you’ll never even see. His friends love him, his employees are fiercely loyal to him because he leads them by example. His company is rated one of the top places to work in Forbes, which is more than I can say for anyone else at this table.
“So…if you don’t like him and you want to use his past as an excuse, then that’s one thing. I don’t agree with it, but…that’s your right, but it’s also your loss. Partnering with Jentech is one of the best decisions you’ll ever make. This man puts everything he has into his work—no matter what it is—and that’s the kind of partner anyone at this table would be dying to have.”
In the stunned silence that follows, Amber doesn’t know what to do with herself. She can’t bear the stares of the people around her, so she takes a bite of the cherry cheesecake that’s sitting on her plate. It’s about as scrumptious as she expected it to be, and she’s upset that such deliciousness is being wasted on the people at this table.
“This is a wonderful dessert, Mariah,” she says to the woman who served them. She gives Amber a wide smile. “Thank you. I’ll pass your compliments to the chef.”
It’s then that she catches the look on Janice’s face, and sees that she’s smiling, too. Maybe she didn’t just fuck everything up.
She knows that after a performance like that, the dramatic thing to do would be to storm off. Instead, she stays at the table, with Chase’s hand still wrapped around hers. She’s not going to run away as if she said anything embarrassing.
“Tell me about this Santa costume, Chase. My wife thinks our grandkids would enjoy it if I dressed up this year.” The tension-breaking question comes from Walter Rodriguez, a man who Amber has the strongest desire to go kiss on the cheek right now.
Chase smiles and squeezes Amber’s hand. “The best tip I can give you is order a belly that you can strap to your back. The first year I did it with a down pillow stuffed under my coat, which was too tight. The whole time I was worried I would breathe too deeply and a giant puff of feathers would explode out from between the buttons.”
Everyone laughs, even Michael. Like that, the tension dissipates.
Chase kisses Amber’s hand when she mouths a “sorry,” and the tension drains from her shoulders.
Chapter Ten
Chase leads Amber out onto the patio and toward the boathouse. The post-dinner mood was tense, and everyone scattered off into different groups afterwards to do their own thing.
Amber’s been mostly quiet after dressing down Pearson during the dessert course. She’s fidgety and quiet, and tried to apologize to Chase multiple times. His general approach to people insulting him is to ignore it, because getting a rise out of him is the goal. If he doesn’t get angry, they lose.
He’s never had someone else stand up for him like Amber did, to get everyone’s attention just to tell them all what kind of person he is. She told him yesterday that she only cared about what he thought of her, not anyone else. He has to admit that he feels the same way. Pearson and the other people in that room? Their opinions of him don’t matter, but Amber’s does.
Tonight she made it pretty clear where she stands. There’s something primal in him that likes the fact that people taking jabs at him about his past bothered her enough to speak up about it. He admires everything about the kind of woman Amber is, and tonight’s only strengthened his feelings for her in ways he didn’t know were possible.
Pearson had gone off on his own after they were finished eating. Chase has no intention of ever addressing the issue with him and letting Amber’s words speak for themselves. Talk of a partnership—if that’s even possible at this point—seems less urgent now. Chase just wants to enjoy the evening.
He managed to catch Janice before she went off to start her evening plans. He asked if he could borrow a couple of wine glasses for the evening, and if it would be possible to get one of the bottles of Amber’s favorite rosé sent down to the boathouse along with them. She seemed happy to oblige, and told Chase that her husband needed to stew for a bit, but would be over it by morning.
Even if he isn’t, Chase doesn’t regret a thing. The sun is close to setting, and all he wants is to be out on the water with Amber. Alone.
“Are we going out on the water?” she asks.
He looks back at her with a grin. “That’s the plan.”
“Are you going to row me around or is this trip for body dumping purposes after what I did during dinner?”
He laughs, unable to pass up the opportunity to tease her. “Can’t I do both?”
“I’d like one last piece of that cherry cheesecake before I go.”
“I think you have a bright future full of cherry cheesecake ahead of you. This trip strictly involves rowing only. No dumping.”
“I do need to apologize though,” she says. “You were handling things your own way and not letting them get to you, but they were getting to me. I couldn’t sit by and let anyone take another swipe at you; I had to say something. It just…hurt, y’know?” she says, pressing her hand against her chest, right above her heart.
Yeah, he knows. It’s the same feeling that left him threatening to ruin Pearson’s life last night.
“I understand,” he tells her, not elaborating. “You don’t have to apologize to me. It was one of the most thoughtful, brave things anyone’s ever done for me. I don’t have anything but thanks for you, Amber. I think you’re remarkable. And I’m going to row you to the middle of that lake so we can watch the sunset to show you how remarkable I think you are.”
“I might’ve blown the deal,” she says sheepishly.
“The man already didn’t want anything to do with me, and only invited me to this retreat because of my name. It was already a no. If it’s still a no, then that’s because of me, not you.”
“But you brought me here to convince him otherwise.”
Despite his better judgment, Chase wraps his arm around her and pulls her against his side. “I brought you here to be yourself, and you were.”
She looks at up at him with so much love in her eyes that his willpower nearly shatters.
Maybe she feels the same way, because she breaks the silence. “Did you bring some additional people to feed me grapes while you row me around the lake?”
“Does it count if the grapes are in wine form?”
“Hmmm,” she hums, tapping her chin. “Now that I think about it, I feel like they only count in wine form.”
The boathouse attendant has a canoe waiting for them when they arrive. The wine is chilling in a bucket tucked behind one of the seats, and the glasses are in a small basket beside it.
Chase helps Amber into the boat, and once the attendant makes sure everything is okay, Chase grabs the oars and starts moving. Despite not having done this in years, he moves them along at a pleasant clip. A couple of minutes after they set sail, he notices that Amber’s filming it.
“You better not put that on Instagram,” he warns playfully.
“This is for my own private collection, a nice reminder of the day when you did physical labor.”
It takes a little effort, but they manage to stop in a good spot to watch the sun go down just in time. He’s a little sweaty, but the cool evening breeze helps with that. He pours Amber a glass of wine, then one for himself.
“I thought you said you were going to bring this in order to celebrate the deal. Seems a little premature
to me.”
“I don’t do anything prematurely,” he teases. “Besides, who says I only brought one bottle?”
She sighs dreamily. “I love it when you plan ahead.”
He smiles at her. “Tonight, let’s celebrate the fact that we’re a team, you and me.”
They clink glasses and take a drink.
“I think it’s safe to say I’m your biggest fan,” Amber admits.
“I think it’s safe to say likewise. Listen, I know I strong-armed you into coming here—”
Amber shakes her head, rocking the boat ever so slightly. “You didn’t strong-arm me into anything. You know by now that I don’t do anything I don’t want to do, Chase. I would’ve come anyway, but once you sweetened the pot by letting me pick a prize, I couldn’t resist.”
He laughs. “Glad to hear it.”
“Do I still get to go if we leave this place without a deal?”
“Of course,” he agrees. “You never did say who you were taking on that trip.”
“No.” She takes a long sip of her wine. “I didn’t.”
Chase shakes his head and smiles affectionately, unable to be irritated, despite being desperate to know.
Maybe she can read it on him.
“I’m taking Sasha.”
Now that she’s said it out loud, that makes complete sense. He feels silly for ever being jealous of the imaginary other person he’d imagined her taking, despite still wanting to be her companion on such a trip.
“She had a trip to Rome planned with Trey. She’s wanted to go to Paris for years, but he talked her into Italy because he told her that he found a great deal on an Airbnb. Turns out the apartment he said they were renting actually belonged to his other girlfriend. To top it all off, Sasha gave him the money for her half of the non-existent Airbnb cost. And he kept it!”
Chase cringes. For all his indiscretions, he’s glad he’s never been a cheater. He couldn’t live with himself, and doesn’t know how Trey doesn’t want to completely disappear. He supposes it takes a level of shamelessness that he’s glad he doesn’t have.
One Night With The Billionaire Too Page 7