by Eliza Boyd
Persuading the Billionaire
Eliza Boyd
Persuading the Billionaire
Copyright © 2019 by Eliza Boyd
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information and retrieval system without express written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Also by Eliza Boyd
Persuading the Billionaire
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
Epilogue
Sneak Peek of Book 4
To The Reader
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Eliza Boyd
Investigating the Billionaire
Healing the Billionaire
Persuading the Billionaire
Engaging the Billionaire
Persuading the Billionaire
A jilted bride alone on her honeymoon.
A stubborn billionaire in need of an assistant.
And a resort in paradise for a week.
Will Alexis and Maxwell keep it strictly business … or will they find true love?
1
“Yeah, I’m here,” Alexis grumbled into the phone as she stepped out of the cab. The sun was too bright, and the sky was too clear. The only thing she could relate to was the ocean for how blue it was.
“You’re literally in paradise,” her best friend, Heather, reminded her down the line. “At least try to enjoy it while you’re there. Some of us would kill to be there right now.”
Alexis shook her head, shading her eyes from the sunshine. She’d have to get a new pair of sunglasses at this rate. Apparently, the ones sold in Montana wouldn’t do the trick on this island. “Then maybe you should have come with me. I only asked you a thousand times.”
“And I only told you a thousand times that I have work up to my eyeballs,” she said. “Believe me. I’d much rather be there to keep you company. But it’s not my fault you picked the peak of tax season for your honeymoon.”
On her way to the trunk, Alexis faltered on her high heels. That one word was enough to make her stumble on the smooth pavement. She almost dropped her phone, but she managed to catch it before it fell too far.
The driver of the cab, a nice older man named Jeff, reached out to steady her. “You okay there, missy?”
Righting herself, she lifted her chin. “I’m fine. Thank you.” Then she returned the phone to her ear as Jeff dropped his arms and went to the trunk for her bags. “You still there, Heather?”
“I’m here. And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said—”
“It’s fine. I have to get over it sometime.” Alexis peered around the Hawaiian resort she’d call home for the next week. Then she sighed. “I might as well do it in paradise.”
Heather used too much enthusiasm to say, “That’s the spirit! Slip on your bathing suit, sip on a margarita, and enjoy the week, okay? I want pictures and a really good, juicy story when you get back because other people’s taxes won’t do that for me.”
Alexis chuckled, finally cracking her first smile since she’d found out Gabe had cheated on her days before their wedding. “Thanks, Heather. I’ll keep you posted, but don’t expect too much.”
“Whatever, girl. I see big things for your trip, so go get them!”
Feeling lighter than she had in weeks—maybe even months—she ended the call and put her phone in her small purse. Then she rounded the car to the trunk and met Jeff back there to get her bags.
“Here you go, missy,” he said, setting the biggest of her three bags down on the pavement.
“Thanks, Jeff. I appreciate your help.” She dipped a hand into her purse again to retrieve her wallet. “What do I owe you?”
He went to the driver’s side to check the meter. As he disappeared, a black SUV pulled up behind the cab. It seemed like an important vehicle, the kind Gabe drove, and Alexis wasn’t paying close enough attention as she pulled her wallet from her purse. Her favorite lipstick tumbled out, falling to the pavement with a clatter. She bent to pick it up, and just before she stood back up, the passenger’s door of the SUV swung open.
Right into Alexis’s side.
It knocked her to the ground, the rest of her purse’s contents flying all over the circular drive of the resort.
“Oof,” Alexis moaned as she tried to sit up. She wanted to melt into the ground or be swallowed whole by the Earth. Clearly, her life wasn’t getting any better by going on this trip alone. If this was how things were going to be, she should have stayed in her apartment. It was warm under her covers, and Heather would have made margaritas for both of them. She didn’t need sun, sand, or the water—just comfort.
The hard pavement was not comforting. At all.
The warm hand circling her upper arm was though. And when she’d been pulled to her feet, the dark eyes staring down at her were too.
“Are you okay?” the man in front of her asked in a comforting—though urgent—tone. “I didn’t see you there.” He wiped a hand down his face, which made Alexis wonder what all of that stubble on his cheeks felt like on her own fingers.
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook that thought right out of her head. She didn’t even know this man, and he’d almost killed her. Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic, but still. An attraction to anyone was the last thing she needed. Her picker was broken if the last man she’d picked was any indication.
“Miss? Are you all right?” he asked again. Then he reached into his back pocket. “Here,” he said, slipping his fingers into the fold of his wallet. “I have…” He counted up the bills, which looked like hundreds to Alexis. “This is twelve hundred dollars. If that’s not enough, I can have Phillip or Ana get more, but that’s all I have on me right now.” He thrust the money in her direction, waiting for her to take it.
But she didn’t move an inch. She didn’t know who Phillip or Ana were, but they somehow had access to more than twelve hundred dollars of this man’s money. And this man casually had twelve hundred dollars on his person in that given moment.
What in the world had just happened?
Alexis feared she was actually in a coma and dreaming. Or maybe the car door had caused her to have some kind of hallucinations. Because this handsome, well-dressed man was handing her more money than her plane ticket from Montana to Hawaii had cost just for accidentally knocking her to the ground.
Typical. Men and their money. That’d fix everything.
Not.
Squinting at him, she said, “You can’t just throw money at things. I don’t want it.” Then she brushed her loos
e-fitting off-the-shoulder tee off, smoothed her flowy pants down, and captured the handle of one of her bags. “I just want to get up to my room.”
Jeff came over to the passenger’s side of the car. “Are you sure you’re okay, missy? I can take you to the hospital if you want to get checked out. No charge.”
“No, no. I don’t need to go to the hospital,” Alexis replied, waving his concern off. But the mention of no charge reminded her that she still needed to pay him. She patted her side for her purse, but it wasn’t there.
Then another man, who she assumed had come from the SUV, handed it to her. “Here, miss. I gathered everything I could find.”
“Thank you, Phillip,” the man with the nice, dark eyes said. Then he turned his attention to her. “If you realize you’re missing anything, don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll replace it quickly.” With his wallet still in his hand, he slipped a card from it and passed it to her.
Alexis hesitated before taking it. “Thanks,” she said, a tight smile on her lips. Glancing at it, she saw bold letters proclaiming Maxwell King – Entrepreneur and Investor. She put it inside her purse and then removed her own wallet—again. “Sorry, Jeff. Did you say how much I owe you?”
“Oh, here.” Maxwell took one of the bills from his wallet and handed it to Jeff. “Will this cover it? Plus a tip?”
Jeff nodded slowly, his eyes wide. “Yeah. That’s plenty.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Alexis insisted, taking two twenties from her own stash.
“It’s okay. It’s the least I can do,” Maxwell replied, placing his wallet back into the pocket of his dress slacks. Then he nodded to Phillip and they entered the resort, a young woman trailing behind them.
Alexis assumed that was the Ana he’d spoken of. She hadn’t heard the woman make a peep. In fact, she hadn’t even noticed her before. But it made her wonder why this Maxwell guy needed all of these people around him to get money so quickly.
What a strange encounter.
Part of her thought she could have done without it. There wasn’t anything like starting off a solo honeymoon with an embarrassing injury. But another part of her thought it was a good story she could already tell Heather about. It wasn’t what Heather had in mind, she was sure, but it’d do.
“Want me to help you bring your bags in, missy?” Jeff asked her, pulling her back to the moment at hand.
Her bags. They needed to go up to her room. She could handle that though. She’d manage on her own. That was the theme of her life at the moment. She figured she might as well start.
“No, I got it. But thank you,” she told him, thankful Maxwell had paid him. The driver had practically been her therapist the entire drive from the airport to the resort. The man deserved more than her measly forty bucks.
“If you’re sure,” he replied with a nod. Then he pulled a card from his shirt pocket. “Call me if you need a ride while you’re here.”
“Oh, I’m sure I’m going to stay at the resort. The last thing I want is more opportunity for disaster.” She swept a hand out toward the ground, reminding them of what had already happened to her.
Jeff chuckled. “You never know.” With a wink, he got back into his cab and drove off.
Something about the way he’d said that left Alexis with a curious feeling. She guessed he was right. She didn’t know what the week would bring. All she wanted was seven days of mindlessness. But she feared she’d only be reminded of why she was there in the first place.
She should have been enjoying margaritas on the beach with her husband. She should have been scuba diving and parasailing with her husband. She should have been having dinner by candlelight and breakfast in bed with her husband.
Yet she had no husband to speak of. All she had was a whole lot of regret.
She’d wasted three years of her life—both personally and professionally—on man who’d thrown those years right down the drain in one single night. Though she could have forgiven him, she’d refused to live the rest of her life wondering if he’d do it again. There was a saying about people like him, so she chose to take the route of not having to wonder—no matter how much money Gabe had promised her if she’d stayed.
Now, all she had to do was move on.
Paradise was the perfect place for that, she hoped.
2
In the grand lobby of the Maui Royal Resort, Maxwell stood in the middle and took in the sight of it. The open, airy space had touches of green in the form of native plants. And the waves rolled in toward the beach in the ocean backdrop behind the front desk. The scent of the salty air curled around him. The whole scene screamed paradise, and he appreciated that.
He tried to, anyway. He needed to focus. His sole purpose for being there was to decide whether or not to buy it. This place would make a great addition to his portfolio of investments, but he had to be sure by visiting and taking it all in.
If only he could get that woman out of his mind.
He hadn’t even gotten her name, but her face was unforgettable. So was what he’d done to her, unfortunately.
He’d tried to repay her, but to his surprise, she hadn’t accepted. She had, in the end, let him pay her driver. Though that hadn’t felt like enough, it’d have to do. For now, he’d focus on deciding on whether or not this place was worth purchasing. So far, it had a black mark, but that was his fault. He’d find out the good and the bad without hurting anyone else, he hoped.
Maxwell took a step forward, planning on going to the front desk to go through the check-in process. It wasn’t something he normally did, but he had to see firsthand how they did things there. Phillip stopped him before he could take a second step though.
“Sir, I think Ana is having a problem,” he said in his no-nonsense, always-professional tone.
Maxwell appreciated that about Phillip. It was always straight to the point with him. No fussing, no unnecessary details.
This sounded like bad news though.
“Is everything okay?” Maxwell asked him, peeking over at Ana, who was on her cell phone. “The Hartford deal isn’t falling through, is it?”
“I don’t think it’s business-related, sir.” Phillip buttoned his suit jacket, which he must have unbuttoned to pick up the mystery woman’s things when they’d spilled. “I think it’s personal.”
Maxwell shouldn’t have felt relief, but he did. The Hartford account needed to be airtight. And if it was still going through, he was happy. But Ana’s personal troubles wouldn’t affect him on a business level.
Until they did affect him on a personal level.
“Mr. King, I’m so sorry, but I can’t stay. I have to go home,” Ana told him, regret shining in her eyes. She tucked her cell phone back into her pants pocket, cradling the binder and the clipboard in her other arm.
Ana had been working as his business assistant for the last year and a half. She’d done an amazing job balancing everything for him, and he needed her to continue to do that during the week he’d be at this resort. He relied on her to handle all of the smaller details he couldn’t focus on while he worked on the big picture. She couldn’t leave.
“I need you here though. We could possibly have a huge merger on our hands if I decide to buy this place,” he said.
“And I completely understand that, sir. I wouldn’t do this if it weren’t necessary.”
He huffed out a breath through his nose, thinking this over. “What if I pay you double your normal salary for the week?”
“Sir, no, I—”
“Triple?” he offered, knowing he could easily afford it.
Ana shook her head. “My mom is in the hospital, Mr. King. I have to go home.”
“Then I’ll pay you triple and pay for her care. I need you here,” he insisted.
“My mom needs me more,” she said sadly. Then she squared her shoulders. “I’m sorry, sir. I understand if you have to fire me, but I’m going home on the next plane. I’ve already booked it. It doesn’t leave until midnight tonight, but
I’m afraid I’ll just worry until then and…” She sucked in a shuddering breath as tears built in her eyes.
Maxwell held in a sigh. He wanted to understand the connection to family, but his had been gone for so long that he simply didn’t. Not on a fundamental level. But he could see it in her eyes. He knew how much she cared about her family. They were all very close. And he wasn’t a tyrant boss. Or a monster. He’d hate to see her go, and he wasn’t sure how he’d manage, but he’d make sure she got home to her mom.
“Phillip,” he called, not taking his gaze off Ana.
“Yes, sir,” he said when he arrived at Maxwell’s side.
“Get the plane ready to take Ana home right now. And then make sure she has a ride to the hospital her mother’s at once she gets back.”
“Yes, sir.” Phillip had his phone at the ready, already making Maxwell’s requests happen.
Ana’s eyes softened as a tear fell down her cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered, the words barely audible.
Before he could respond, Phillip said, “They’ll be ready when we get there. They haven’t left yet, so if we leave now, we’ll make it.”
Maxwell raked a hand through his hair. “You take her. I’ll…” He wasn’t sure what he was going to do now, but a ride back to the airport wasn’t going to help. Waving a hand, he finished with, “Just come straight back so we can figure out a new game plan.”
“Yes, sir.” Phillip marched back to the car, Ana quickly trailing behind him.