Her Billionaire Heartthrob: Billionaire Bachelor Mountain Cove Read online

  Her grandma had more of a social life than Viola did, always out with her friends at one activity or the next.

  Well, she’d tell her grandma later. Excitement buzzing through her, she pulled up Callie’s number.

  The phone rang and rang, and it took Viola a few minutes to remember that Callie had gone with Xander to California for some big Pets and More board meeting.

  Viola sat back in her chair and let out a long breath. She swiped through her phone, trying to find someone else she could call and tell the news.

  But there was no one.

  Which wasn’t a surprise, but a disappointment, nonetheless.

  Mayor Tweed thought she’d blossomed from only having one friend in junior high? In a lot of ways, he was wrong. Because Viola, the woman with a million acquaintances, the woman everyone in town knew … was also the woman who only had one real friend. Both of them losing their dads—Callie’s to prison, Viola’s to running off—had a way of bonding the two emotionally damaged girls.

  Well, her news could hold.

  She flipped over to the news app on her phone and scrolled through a few articles, pausing when she spotted a familiar face, her heart skipping a beat.

  Liam Nichols. She hadn’t seen him in almost a year. Not since Xander and Callie’s wedding. Liam had managed to get past her defenses, but he’d left her in the end, just like everyone else.

  But he had been a good kisser. She sighed.

  The video played without sound just beneath the headline of the article. It showed Liam bending over, his hands gripping the table before he fell to the ground. She turned the sound on and replayed it, listening to him gasp for air before falling to the ground with a thud that twisted her stomach.

  The article said that he’d had an anxiety attack and had needed to go to the hospital. No one knew where he was now.

  Welcome to the club. Liam had a way of being in one place one moment, then being gone the next. Still. She watched the looping video as he fell again, and winced. She hoped he was okay. If it was an anxiety attack, she wouldn’t wish those on anyone. Perhaps he’d skipped a meal or two and passed out from that. When they were in Hawaii, she was the one always insisting they go get something to eat. The man thought he could run off of hard work and nothing else.

  She set her phone face down on her desk, the raw excitement of her day ebbing away. So what if she didn’t have any close friends? If she didn’t have people who really knew her? She knew a lot about everyone in town—made sure to remember small details about them and bring them up in conversation; people loved that—and that was the way she liked it.

  She straightened out her new contract before slipping it into a folder and dropping it into her file cabinet. From there, she grabbed her tablet and a small tool for extracting paint samples. She headed out into the cool air of a November Eureka Springs afternoon, ready to do what she did best—jump straight back into work.

  Chapter 3

  Liam had lasted until nearly eight o’clock on his first morning in Eureka Springs before suiting up, getting into his car, and heading to Bentonville. Liam, Xander, and Callie had flown to Arkansas on his personal airplane late the night before, and he hadn’t gotten a good look at the view on the way to his mountain cove home then in the dark. Despite the thick fog that morning, he saw a breathtaking kaleidoscope of colorful leaves, with the gorgeous, still lake peeking through the trees.

  He remembered now why, after visiting his brother when the Pets and More Bentonville location was just opening, he’d splurged on his own retreat home. He’d given the contractor free-reign, only asking that he make everything feel open and airy, and he’d also wanted an indoor lap pool and hot tub.

  He had been too exhausted to go through his house the night before and had dropped into bed with the scent of chlorine somewhere in the house tickling his nose. Sometime in the night, he’d awoken with what felt like a beast sitting on his chest, making it impossible to breathe. Knowing he wasn’t dying helped a little. But he’d been too nervous to let himself fall asleep again and had lain awake until five in the morning, when he’d sought out the pool and swam laps for an hour.

  The drive to Bentonville was restorative, and he walked inside the store, breathing in the familiar scent of animal food and plastic toys. The case in front with Callie’s homemade dog biscuits was filled to capacity with fall-themed treats: pumpkins, leaves, even a turkey-shaped one.

  His stomach grumbled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten breakfast. But he’d made the mistake of eating one of Callie’s dog treats before; a mistake he had no intention of repeating today, no matter how good they looked.

  He went straight to the executive office in the back of the store and let himself in with his key. Thank goodness for a standard master key. He logged into his work account on the laptop and fell into answering emails.

  “What are you doing here?”

  The voice startled him, his fingers mashing down on several keys at once, and he looked up to see Xander standing in the doorway, wearing a Zombie 5K race t-shirt and jeans. His hair looked as though he’d maybe brushed it back with some water, but it still flew out in tufts around his head.

  “Did you just roll out of bed?” Liam asked.

  “We didn’t get home until almost one last night,” he said, yawning widely. “Callie’s still sleeping, but I got woken up by a phone call from Fiona.”

  Liam frowned. “Why would Fiona call you?” Usually all business calls came through Liam, and he flowed everything downward.

  “Because,” Xander walked forward and shut the laptop in front of Liam, “you are supposed to be resting. On a recuperative break. Getting help for your anxiety. Pick one of those things, and that’s what you’re supposed to be doing. Not working.”

  “I’m going to rest. There were a few loose ends I needed to tie up.” He shouldn’t have copied Fiona on his last three emails, but that’s what he’d always done. He hadn’t expected her to call Xander to come out and stop him.

  “Fiona and I are going to take care of everything, okay?” Xander yawned again. A trickle of guilt went through Liam knowing that his brother lost sleep for him.

  “You could have called instead of driving in.”

  “And you would have immediately closed the laptop and walked away?” Xander rolled his eyes. “Come on. You’re banned from Pets and More.”

  “Xander, this is ridiculous.”

  Xander’s eyes turned serious. “It’s not forever. But you need to take care of you, okay? I don’t want you dying young of a heart attack. Please, just trust us to handle things for a little while.”

  Liam couldn’t fight against the pleading in his little brother’s tone. He followed Xander from the store and to their cars parked side by side.

  “I literally don’t know what to do with myself,” Liam said before he got into his car. He couldn’t face the thought of going back to his huge house alone, and he could only swim so many laps.

  “Spend some of that money you’ve been stockpiling forever. Go to Eureka Springs and explore. It’s a fun time of year where some of the Halloween decorations are still up, and some of the winter and Christmas decorations are starting to come out, and it’s a perfect snapshot of the eclectic city. Get some lunch. Buy the latest Grantham Robbins book.”

  Liam couldn’t remember the last time he’d read a novel. That idea appealed to him, but he wasn’t too sure about walking around Eureka Springs. Callie had mentioned before how many people could be in downtown Eureka Springs on any given day, and he had no desire to step into a crowd of people.

  “I’ve got my staff on alert,” Xander warned Liam before getting in his truck. “If you step foot in this parking lot, they’ve got me on speed dial. Don’t ruin more of my sleep.”

  Liam reluctantly got into his car and found himself driving toward Eureka Springs. He pulled into an open parking spot on Main Street in front of a soap boutique and wandered until he found a little bookstore. They had a display of Grantham�
�s new book by the register, and he bought it, along with a bookmark with a picture of the massive, awe-inspiring memorial, Christ in the Ozarks, which he’d have to make time to see.

  “Is there a good lunch spot close?” he asked the cashier. Recognition flickered in the cashier’s eyes, but he didn’t say anything to Liam to indicate that he knew who he was.

  “Two stores down. Best sandwiches in the south. And if you’re still hungry, you’ve got to get some fudge at The Sweet Shoppe.”

  At the recommendation of the woman at the cafe counter, he ordered a French dip and hand cut chips, then fell into the first three chapters of his thriller. It wasn’t until the bell on the door rang and he looked up that he realized he’d been sitting there for at least an hour. He got directions to the fudge shop before he left and there bought a couple of pounds of fudge; rocky road for him, orange cream for Xander, and turtle for Callie. He checked his watch. Only two in the afternoon. He still had most of a day to kill.

  The Sweet Shoppe had a table outside of it with two chairs, and a couple vacated it just as he stepped outside. He sat down and people-watched while he nibbled on his fudge. It was absolutely delicious and he knew he’d be back to this place again soon.

  He’d been surprised at the store owners he’d met that morning as well. Although they all seemed to at least recognize him, none had made him feel uncomfortable or watched. Perhaps having a billionaire mountain retreat location so close had made them used to seeing famous faces around town. Relieved, he let a little of his guard down.

  There was an eccentric mix of people in Eureka Springs, he observed. Some were clearly tourists with their maps and fanny packs, matching t-shirts and tired, hungry children. Others were wearing dark clothes and even darker make-up, and some even wore costumes as if it were still Halloween. College-age adults made up a huge number of people walking by, and he continually caught snippets of conversations about ghosts. He’d never had much interest in ghost stories, but apparently people who did were drawn to this place.

  Across the street, he spotted a woman walking fast, her long, wavy auburn hair streaming behind her. She waved and said hello to people as she passed, and Liam sat there as if glued to his seat.

  How had he forgotten how beautiful she was?

  No, not forgotten. More like he’d filed it away and hadn’t pulled that file out in months. Almost a year. Not since Hawaii.

  Viola Nightingdale.

  She turned a corner and he jumped up from his chair to go after her. He pushed through the thickening crowd, and up ahead, he saw her go into Callie’s pet store, From Wags to Wishes.

  Chapter 4

  Viola walked into From Wags to Wishes, the bell jingling to announce her arrival. Allison stood at the register, restocking the custom dog treats in the case. The store was packed, even for a Saturday afternoon, but no customers stood at the counter yet.

  Viola walked up and knew to steer clear of the frosted treats on a plate near the register with the sign, Take one for your pup! “Is Callie here?”

  Allison looked up, smiling. “No. She won’t be in again until tomorrow.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Viola knew she could have just called, but she had a few minutes to kill between clients and wanted to walk through town and to feel the energy of Eureka Springs.

  She turned toward the door, then stopped, her heart in her throat, when she saw Liam Nichols standing there. She blinked, feeling jarred. Like one moment she’d been living one life, and in the next she was on a completely different trajectory. One year ago, at Callie and Xander’s wedding, she had spent the most amazing four days of her life with Liam—never having fallen so hard for someone so quickly—and then he’d left her standing by the resort pool, waiting for him. She’d worried as time ticked by, as the sun went down, as her text went unanswered, when she found his room empty.

  Xander informed her the next morning that Liam had had to rush back California for work.

  Without so much as even a call or a reply to her text. It wouldn’t have been hard to come to their meeting spot and let her know he was leaving. Instead, he just left her waiting for him for hours, completely forgotten.

  Pretty much the story of her life, so she didn’t know why she’d been so taken aback. She’d fooled herself into thinking Liam was different. Why? Because he was rich and handsome? Because he was Xander’s brother, and she’d spent all week seeing how happy Xander made Callie? Turned out he was just like the rest of them after all.

  “Viola,” he said, pulling her back into the present. He’d moved through the people in the store to stand closer to her, his gaze open and intense.

  He looked thinner than he had last year, like he hadn’t been taking care of himself the way he should.

  Like he should’ve spent the entire week in the Hawaiian sun instead of just four days. Even so, he could have just stepped off the cover of a magazine, wearing his slacks and button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, the top button on his shirt undone.

  He cleared his throat. “How are you?”

  “I’m good.” She shifted back on her heels. How did one speak to the person who probably didn’t even know they’d broken your heart? For all she knew, having a fling on an island was a weekly event for him. Perhaps that was why he could leave so easily, while it felt like her heart had been torn out.

  Viola skirted around him to head to the door, calling over her shoulder, “Well, it was nice to see you.”

  “Wait!” He followed her out onto the bustling sidewalk. “How have you been? Since Hawaii?”

  “Good,” she told him shortly. “Living my best life.”

  She walked purposefully in the direction of her office, but he easily followed. He was at least six inches taller than her, making it effortless for him to keep up with her fast pace. He held a couple of bags that swung at his side. One from the bookstore on Spring Street and one from The Sweet Shoppe. He caught her eying the bag. “Would you like some fudge? I have a little rocky road left over.”

  Rocky road was her absolute favorite. She could eat the stuff by the pound, but she didn’t want to encourage him, so she kept silent and increased her pace.

  “I can’t believe I’ve never been to downtown Eureka Springs before,” he said. “I guess I’ve been too busy in Bentonville with the store to take time to explore. It’s fun.”

  “Liam, what is this?” Viola rounded on him, surprised to find him so close. “We’re not friends.”

  She hated the wounded flash in his eyes, before he gave her a short nod. “I’m sorry to bother you.”

  “No. You don’t get to act like I’m the one who hurt your feelings. You stood me up, Liam. And maybe it was no big deal to you, but I was hurt and humiliated. So don’t come into my town and pretend like nothing happened. Maybe you don’t even remember it, I don’t know, but—”

  “I remember it,” he said, his voice quiet, intense. “Of course I remember it.”

  Her breath caught. She was unsure of how to respond, only that she needed to get out of there, and quickly. Liam had a way of twisting up her thoughts and making her feel like she could be a different person with him. The kind of person people stayed for.

  But he’d already proved that wasn’t true, and she wasn’t going to fall for his spell once again. This man was her kryptonite and she needed to stay far away.

  “Enjoy your stay in Eureka Springs,” she said, turning.

  “Viola,” he called after her, but she pretended she didn’t hear.

  Viola deftly wound her way through a group of tourists. One of the college-aged tourists’ eyes went wide. She whispered something to a friend who whipped around and stared behind Viola. Something about the looks in their eyes filled her with trepidation.

  Suddenly one of the women had her phone out and snapped a picture.

  “Liam Nichols?” a braver one called out.

  Liam turned, his face seeming a little paler than before, but he smiled.

  “Are you on drugs?” t
he bold girl asked.

  His smile tightened. “No.”

  A larger group was starting to form as more people recognized Liam. They surrounded him and took pictures of him, some trying to get his autograph. Liam Nichols wasn’t a movie star, but he’d been on his fair share of magazine covers—labeled America’s Billionaire Heartthrob by one of them—and the moniker had stuck. People who lived in town had gotten used to seeing famous faces, but the tourists still got excited when someone from the Cove ventured downtown. And Liam was easily recognizable. Tall, chiseled, and he had the perfect face to be voted as Most Gorgeous Man Alive by multiple outlets.

  Plus, it didn’t hurt that the video of his panic attack had gone viral and been in rotation on the major networks, along with stories about managing mental health, or framed as a tragedy about how it wasn’t possible to have it all.

  Viola watched as Liam’s eyes widened, and he glanced around like a rabbit caught in a trap. She should leave him there. Leave him to fend for himself.

  But his eyes caught hers, and she saw the glint of panic in them. She closed her own eyes, knowing she could never leave him like that. She pushed through the crowd, saying firmly but sweetly, “Coming through. Mr. Nichols’s security, please move aside.”

  To her surprise, they did. She grabbed him by the hand, her skin igniting with a heat from his touch that she attempted to ignore. His hand shifted so that his fingers laced between hers.

  She pulled him through the crowd, again surprised that people moved for her and didn’t follow them as they walked to her office, still holding hands and not pausing for a moment, even as more people started to recognize him. She pushed him into her office and shut the door behind him, locking it and closing the curtains.

  “Does that always happen to you?” she asked, turning toward him.

  His face was white; his expression strained. “Do you have any water?” he breathed out through tight, straight lips.