Beauty and the Billionaire (A Once Upon a Billionaire Novel)

by Cidney West

  Hunter exhaled as her arm moved away, which let him relax but also annoyed him. “Yeah…of course…” He scooched forward too, poised to stand up.

  But Mira hesitated, and Hunter’s body tensed again. Why wasn’t she just getting up to leave? Was she waiting for him to go first? Not sure what to do, Hunter jerked out of his seat and Mira stood up as well.

  “Thanks,” Mira said. She tugged on her sleeves, lingering. “I had a good time.”

  Hunter nodded, realizing if he didn’t go now, he might not. “I’m glad to hear it. I’ll…I’ll let you get to back to your room now. Goodnight.” He didn’t wait this time, but shot out in the opposite direction, taking a different door so she wouldn’t bump into him. His heart raced and he felt out of breath as he raced back to his room. It was a good thing he left. A very good thing.

  CHAPTER 11

  Mira walked back to her room alone that night, politely refusing Jimmy’s offer to go with her. She knew the house better now and had lost some of her apprehension about being alone on her side of it. She’d had trouble sleeping, trying to figure out why Hunter was relaxed one minute and so jumpy the next. And she wanted to know why he was inviting her to do all this stuff.

  She hated the way her heart fluttered when she thought about it. Especially how it thudded in the dark of the theater sitting so close to him. It was pointless to get excited about it. Hunter was a recluse, and probably somewhat lonely despite his choice. She was here and convenient, and he could control their interaction to some extent. So, she was probably some company and nothing more.

  Despite all that rational thinking, she was still disappointed when he didn’t offer to walk her back to her room. She felt ridiculous for even thinking it in the light of the next day, but there it was. It still bugged her, and she couldn’t seem to shake it.

  As she worked, coming closer to the forbidden wing, she stopped, and her eyes locked on it. She’d stared at the entrance before, but now, it pulled her in. She couldn’t stop thinking about it and wondered if it had something to do with Hunter’s odd behavior.

  As the sun disappeared for the day, leaving them in darkness by the late afternoon, Mira finished up her tasks, thinking she’d go back to her room and call her dad. But as she meandered into the grand foyer, instead of returning to her room, she returned to the entrance of the forbidden wing. Taking a breath, she glanced around, and before she had time to talk herself out of it, Mira was up the stairs and down the corridor.

  The first part, the area she could see from the grand entryway, looked like the rest of the house–until she made it near the end. Scorch marks ate through the damask wallpaper and the wood floors. She slowed down, her heart racing as she followed the black charring toward where it appeared to have started.

  She pushed open the blackened door, her hand trembling. She found a light switch and an overhead light revealed a large rectangular room. Every inch was burned as she stepped in, treading around debris and holes in the floor. Curtains hung in tattered and burned rags, the rods hanging limp. Mira’s breath grew heavy, her mouth ajar as she took it in.

  A seating area with low-lying couches and chairs sat in front of a fireplace, a piano in another corner, and more seating near the windows. It was probably beautiful once, but now…

  “What happened here?” she whispered.

  A crack behind her made her swing around. Hunter stood in another doorway off to the side, his eyes wide. Mira froze, taking in the whole of his face as he stood under the light. Deep scarring ran in a swath on the left side of his face from around the edge of his scalp and ear down to his mouth and neck.

  As she stared, her mouth hanging open unintentionally, Hunter’s brown eyes flashed, his jaw twitching. “They told you not to come here,” he spat, his voice raspy and acidic.

  “I know…I’m sorry…” Mira tried desperately to focus on his eyes and not his scars, but her eyes kept flicking to them against her will.

  His face settled on some emotion Mira couldn’t pinpoint and he glared across the room at her. “Sorry?” he said mockingly, pointing to his scars. “Sorry?! Get out!” Pain and fear and shame twisted his face up in rage as his voice thundered around the room.

  Mira’s body thawed and she ran, bolting down the corridor to the hallway faster than she thought her legs could take her. She didn’t pause in the entry hall but sped toward her room, passing someone who was just a blur.

  “Mira!” they shouted, but she ignored it and kept running. She grabbed her handbag with her keys, deliberating a moment about packing her clothes.

  The heck with them. She could buy new clothes.

  She raced back the way she came, taking a less traveled path to a back door, never so happy to see her car before in her life. Before anyone could catch her, Mira revved the engine, her tires squealing as she flew down a service entrance she’d learned about. As soon as the gate opened enough, she buzzed through, hearing it scrape one side of her car in the process.

  It didn’t matter. All she wanted was to go home.

  CHAPTER 12

  “Hunter!” Jimmy panted, running into his room, stopping to lean over and breathe. “Mira’s taken off. I tried to catch her, but she just ran like she’d…like she’d seen–”

  “This?!” Hunter jabbed a finger at his scarred face, anger and frustration twisting him around inside.

  Penny and Courtland appeared through the other door, Courtland stopping to lean on Penny’s wheelchair for support.

  “I knew this would happen.” Hunter’s chest heaved as he fought to breathe steadily. “I knew as soon as Mira saw me, she would be out of here.”

  Penny’s eyes flashed and she rolled right up to him, practically knocking him over with her wheelchair. “It wasn’t your face that made her run, Hunter. And if you would stop acting like such a ding-dong, you would realize it.”

  Hunter snarled. “What do you know?” He pushed away from her. “What do you any of you know?”

  “More than you, apparently.” Jimmy folded his arms, tilting his head.

  Hunter huffed, balling his fist and slamming it into the wall. Why did she have to go into that wing? Why hadn’t he noticed she was there before it was too late, and she saw him? All of him? And why did he feel the need to go to that room at all? But especially at that moment?

  He breathed heavily, his vision blurry. “Just let her go,” he rasped.

  Jimmy sighed. “She took off down the service road and it’s dark. She doesn’t know where she’s going.”

  “She has a phone. She can figure it out.”

  No one replied. Hunter turned around slowly, and Jimmy scratched the back of his head. “Actually, she doesn’t have it,” he said.

  “We think she must’ve taken it out when she was working.” Courtland held up a device that Hunter assumed belonged to Mira.

  “Then one of you hunt her down and deliver it.”

  Jimmy and Courtland exchanged glances, their faces set. After a nod from Jimmy, Courtland tossed the phone to Hunter, who caught it automatically. “This is your mess,” Jimmy said firmly, “you clean it up.”

  Hunter stared at them in disbelief.

  “And you should hurry,” Jimmy added. “She was driving at unprecedented speeds in that rattling death trap.”

  Hunter blinked, realizing they weren’t going to change their minds.

  Penny let out a breath, her face still serious but less angry. “She doesn’t want Jimmy or Courtland to come after her.” The tone of her voice still said he was a complete dunce, but she seemed to be softening. “So stop being such a mule and go fix this.”

  Glowering at no one in particular, Hunter swept out of the room to find Mira.

  If it hadn’t been for that stupid deer, Mira might have been to the main road by now. But no. She was stuck on the service road with a blown tire because she was driving at warp speed and couldn’t see in the pitch black and swerved and hit the lord of all potholes. Did they fix anything at Rosefield? And then, she discovered,
along with her clothes and other belongings, she’d also left her phone in the mansion.

  That’s when the waterworks started. She couldn’t help it no matter what, but at least no one was around to see her sob pathetically in her junk car with a destroyed tire and no way to call for help. Not that she knew whom to call, though Victor admittedly flashed in her mind for a split second. But she refused to feel desperate enough to do that.

  Headlights lit up her car from behind, a truck barreling toward her. Her eyes widened, sure it was about to crash right into her, when the truck veered hard to the right, off the road, and into a tree. After staring wide-eyed in her rearview mirror a moment, Mira woke up out of her stupor and fumbled out of the car, jogging over.

  The door to the Range Rover flew open, and Hunter extricated himself, cursing as he slammed the door. His robe flew out behind him as he examined the front of his truck, throwing his arms in the air. “What are you doing in the middle of the road?”

  Mira’s surprise was instantly replaced with annoyance. “I’m in the middle of the road because one of your potholes destroyed my tire!” She pointed toward her car.

  Hunter’s jaw locked, poised to fire back at her when he noticed the pit in the road that had caused the damage. He pressed his lips tight and Mira stared back smugly. Yep. Not her fault.

  Sucking in a breath, Hunter stomped over to her car, glaring at each tire until he found the right one. Muttering under his breath, he stormed back to his truck, coming back over with a large yellow flashlight. “Hold this.”

  Mira glowered at him until he finally let out an exasperated huff. “Please. Hold. The. Flashlight.”

  She took the flashlight from his hand and Hunter ferreted out some tools from his trunk and set them down near the flat tire, then dug out her spare. Mira held the light for him as he changed her tire, staying on his right side, to avoid making things worse right that minute.

  “You shouldn’t be driving around with bald tires,” he barked. “Especially with winter coming.”

  Mira sniffed, trying to discreetly wipe under her eyes, sure she had mascara all over her face. “Yeah, well, we’re not all billionaires.”

  He glanced up at her, then turned back to his work. He finished putting on her spare tire, then put everything away, shutting the back of his truck. “We’ll take your car back to the house.”

  “What about yours?” Now that she was exhausted, hungry, and had a donut on the front of her car, she didn’t feel so excited about taking off into the night.

  He shrugged. “I’ll worry about it tomorrow. No one uses this road, anyway.” He met her eyes like he was going to say something else–probably something snarky–but bit it back.

  Mira got in the driver’s seat, and Hunter lingered around the other side, finally getting into the back. Her fingers hovered around the keys as she debated about whether to ignore it. His left side–the scarred side–would face her in the passenger’s seat. She finally dropped her hand, taking a breath for courage. “You don’t have to sit in the backseat, Hunter.”

  “I’m fine.” His voice was sharp, but this time he also sounded hurt.

  Mira’s annoyance melted, and she turned herself around to face him, leaning over the seat. Hunter shifted, rubbing his hands over his legs, and refused to meet her gaze. “I didn’t run because of your scars,” Mira said softly. “I ran because you screamed at me and I wasn’t supposed to be there, and I freaked out.” In hindsight, she might have overreacted. But that was another matter.

  Hunter gulped, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Mira scanned over him, not sure how to convince him he didn’t need to be embarrassed when she noticed blood dribbling down his forehead. She drew his face to the side, spotting a gash along his scalp. “You’re hurt.” She turned back around and revved the engine, zipping back to the house.

  “It’s nothing,” Hunter protested as she made him sit down in the kitchen, turning on all the lights. He winced under them and Mira grabbed the First Aid kit she’d seen earlier. She cleaned up the gash with a damp paper towel, Hunter freezing under her touch.

  “So I guess I’m fired.” Mira dabbed at the wound, reality starting to sink in. She’d have a tough time getting a job that paid as well as this one.

  “I didn’t think you wanted the job since you took off.”

  Mira threw the towel away, then dug out the antiseptic. “Yeah, well, now I’m rational and remembering all the bills I have to pay.”

  “Rational is clearly a relative word,” he muttered. Mira slapped the antiseptic on the cut and Hunter hissed, then let out a low growl. After uttering a string of words she couldn’t make out, he finally really looked at her since showing up on the road. His face softened. “You’ve been crying.”

  Mira shrugged, trying not to think of what she looked like at that moment.

  “I suppose that’s my fault too,” he said.

  “Yep.” She took a bandage, gently pressing it against his skin, letting her thumbs slip off the edges onto his forehead. She tried not to imagine sliding her fingers down the edges to his jaw.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Mira stood back, examining her handiwork. “Me too. I shouldn’t have invaded your privacy like that.”

  Hunter licked his lips. “I shouldn’t have yelled. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Mira folded her arms, suppressing a smile. Studying him in the light, she wasn’t sure why he scared her at all with his wild man hair, scraggly beard, and Hugh Hefner robe. “I can’t believe you left the house in that thing.” She took the edge of the robe around his chest and shook it, realizing the crimson silk had partially ripped away from the velvet edge.

  Hunter glanced down and lifted a shoulder indifferently.

  She sighed, letting the fabric slip from her hands. “And you could seriously use a shave and a haircut.”

  Hunter lifted his dark brown eyes to hers, his brow furrowing. “Anything else?”

  Mira gazed up at the ceiling, catching sight of a dead lightbulb. “Actually, yes. It wouldn’t kill you to fix a lightbulb once in a while. There are a thousand of them in this house and Penny, Jimmy, and Courtland can’t do everything. And neither can I. Despite the architecture of the house, this is not medieval Europe and you are not a prince. You can help out a little.” She snapped the lid of the First Aid kit shut, putting it back in the cupboard.

  She expected a snippy comeback or outright anger, but after watching her in surprise for several seconds, he lowered his eyes.

  Penny and company burst in on them before Hunter could say anything in reply, Penny fawning over her and forcing her to go rest while they made dinner. Mira glanced back at Hunter before leaving, wondering where things would go from there.

  CHAPTER 13

  Hunter hadn’t slept that well in a long time, and despite all the things swirling through his head after everything with Mira. Especially some of the things she’d said. He’d spent the rest of the night thinking about it, taking dinner in his room.

  By the next morning, he had a plan of action. Or, at least, some initial steps to take. But he’d need assistance for part of it. He employed Penny to contact her granddaughter in town, who knew him and was a hair stylist, and Jimmy to deal with the car situation. Most of it was just up to him, but he knew what he needed to do.

  Mira was right in her assessment of him. It stung, but he felt embarrassed by how he’d reacted and wanted to do something to show Mira he wasn’t a complete loss. In the end, she didn’t shrink away from him–scars and all. And he felt stupid assuming she’d be that shallow.

  He smiled to himself about how she’d stood up to him last night. And even, frankly, how Jimmy, Penny, and Courtland had forced him to take responsibility for his own mistake. They’d put up with him all these years. He really wasn’t sure how, or even why they did it. But he felt grateful, more than ever, and he knew it was long overdue.

  He dragged a hand through his hair, recalling Mira’s pointed comments about his appearance. Well, that w
as an easy enough fix. And when he took a hard, objective look in the mirror, he knew his old self wouldn’t believe this is what he’d turned into. Not that he could go back, but he could go forward.

  As much as he’d feared Mira seeing him completely, he had to admit it might not be a bad thing in the long run. On some level, he felt like a weight had been lifted off him. He didn’t have to worry about what she would think or how she would react now. He didn’t have to stay in the shadows and hide during the day. He could just be himself. And that was a relief.

  He’d show Mira he’d taken her words to heart. He didn’t want her to leave, and he was grateful he’d gone after her. (And maybe even grateful to the pothole that wrecked her car.) He didn’t want to ruin this opportunity, and he was determined to make the most of it.

  Mira bent over the portrait frame, rolling her Q-tip over the nooks and crannies in desperate need of cleaning. They’d turned the dining hall and table into a sort of lab, laying out old sheets and setting the first oil painting on top of them. Mira donned latex gloves, her hair pulled into a taut bun, and wore an apron courtesy of Penny.

  “It’s like watching CSI,” Courtland said as her three coworkers huddled nearby to watch.

  Mira laughed, supposing they were starved for entertainment. “This isn’t quite that exciting. I doubt I’ll find any blood or bodily fluids.” At least, she seriously hoped not.

  “You never know. This house holds a lot of secrets.”

  Mira straightened up, turning to find Hunter standing in one of the doorways. She hadn’t seen him or heard from him in a few days, since that fateful night when she ran away. No one offered an explanation and she’d concluded he didn’t want to deal with her anymore, which had stung worse than she thought it would.

  She almost dropped her Q-tip, recognition setting in after she blinked a few times. Hunter’s dark brown hair was short and styled, his face clean shaven. Mira forced her mouth to close as his chocolate eyes danced, which she could see clearly for the first time. In fact, she felt like she was seeing him for the first time.