Her Billionaire Heartthrob: Billionaire Bachelor Mountain Cove Page 3

  “Yes.” She rushed to her mini-fridge where she kept water and snacks for clients. She pulled out a water bottle and then an apple, and brought both to him. He drank the water in sips, his breathing still coming out in short gasps.

  “Is it happening again?” she ventured to ask.

  He gave a short nod.

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Distract me.” His voice sounded raspy, barely there.

  “Um, okay.” She wasn’t sure what she could say that would be a distraction to him. “So my grandma has this giant spider that she made—I’m talking ten-feet tall, and counting the legs, at least fifteen-feet wide. She made it out of wire and papier-mâché, and it takes up our entire garage when we pull it down. Anyway, the trolley drivers have added our house to their tours of the neighborhood, which made Grandma’s friend, Fern, jealous, so she made her own spider, only bigger and taller, and I’m not afraid to admit that I’m legit scared about where this spider war is going, because Grandma has a glint in her eye. A glint, Liam. That means a harebrained idea, and we don’t have room in our garage for anymore yard-sized arthropods.”

  That got a little smile out of him, and he sipped some of his water. She felt encouraged with some of the pink back in his cheeks.

  “I’ve got more of those,” she said, “but I can’t give up all my Grandma stories at once.”

  He swallowed and finally sat in the client chair, leaning his head against the back of it and closing his eyes.

  “How long has this been happening for?” It took everything in Viola to not sit in the chair beside him and stroke his forehead until the lines relaxed. Instead, she grabbed a paper towel, ran it under the sink, and wrung it out before bringing it to him. He wiped his face with it, then went back to his closed-eye, head-back position.

  “The first time was at that board meeting,” he said. “My chest has been a little tight here and there, but I thought I was just fighting a cold or allergies or something.”

  He sat up straight and drank the rest of the water, looking a lot better, although his cheeks were pink now as he looked at her. “Thanks for your help.”

  “Anytime,” she said and then wished she could bite the words back. Although she’d helped him, they weren’t friends.

  He looked around the room as if noticing it for the first time. “Is this your office?”

  “It is.”

  He stood and wandered over to the framed pictures along the wall. She’d had a professional photographer capture some of her best work as well as a few buildings she loved around Eureka Springs, buildings she’d love to work on.

  “This is incredible.” He nodded to indicate the before and after of the Coke 5¢ sign that she’d restored just that summer. It was one of the first signs that people saw when they came into Eureka Springs, and she’d been dying to get her hands on it since she’d come back home after college. “In Hawaii, you mentioned that you did historical restorations, but I don’t think I understood what that meant.”

  A zing ran through her at the realization that he’d remembered something she said, along with a buzzing that continued as he stared carefully at her pictures.

  “What is this?” He’d paused at her picture of The Old Grand Theater. No one even knew who owned it at this point, probably some investor in New York, but she’d always been drawn to that building. Partly because of the faded hand lettering on the old, worn brick that she wished she could get her hands on. Partly because of the lone Victorian doll you could spot through the huge display window out front, propped in a seat as if awaiting the next movie showing. And partly because her one good memory of her father was in that theater, back when it was still open.

  “One of my dream projects,” she said. She pointed out another one next to it, this one less personal. “The old toy store, too. The colors on both of these buildings are phenomenal, and they’re the reason I got into this line of work in the first place.” Janson Styles had hired her to restore the toy store last year, just before Viola gone to Hawaii, and it had been one of the most rewarding jobs so far.

  He turned from her wall of pictures, a gleam of appreciation in his eye. “You are very talented.”

  “I’m a hard worker,” she volleyed back.

  “I have a feeling it’s both things, equally.” They stared at each other for a beat, the room charged with energy.

  “Well, I probably need to get back to work.” Viola stepped back even though they weren’t actually that close, but the emotion flowing between them made it feel like they were. “Is the coast clear?”

  He peeked out the window between the blinds. “Appears to be so. Though, I’m not sure how I’ll make it to my car without my new security detail.”

  Her cheeks turned hot. “It worked.”

  “It sure did.” His gaze lingered on her a moment, making Viola feel as if she were short of breath, for a different reason, of course.

  “Well, have a good trip,” she said dismissively, looking down at her tablet without seeing a thing.

  He cleared his throat and opened the door. “Would you like to get together some time while I’m here?”

  She looked up, incredulous. “So you can ditch me again? No thank you. I’ve learned my lesson.” She sat back in her chair and folded her arms, an eyebrow raised.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “About leaving you like that. I wasn’t thinking.”

  “Enjoy your stay, Liam.”

  He took it as the dismissal it was and left the office, the door shutting firmly behind him. In his absence, the room felt bigger than it had before.

  Chapter 5

  Liam left Viola’s office, realizing something he should have realized a long time ago: he’d really messed up.

  Before he’d even met her in Hawaii, before they’d sat beside one another in the SUV taking them to the wedding party dinner on the first night they’d arrived, he’d noticed her in the lobby of their hotel. She’d thrown her head back, laughing at something, and it had caught his attention. Straight from the text he’d been sending to someone—he couldn’t even remember who now—he looked up and was arrested by her. He’d seen beautiful women before, sure, but something about her had struck him as real, unfettered in a way he wasn’t used to in his circle of acquaintances.

  But in reality, he’d fallen for her before then, even. Because they’d been emailing each other back and forth for a few weeks, discussing wedding plans—things like toasts and night-before parties. She was witty and charming, and it didn’t take long for him to look forward to her emails. He hadn’t known anything about her then, for all he knew she was married or as old as his mother, but he’d been excited to meet her.

  But when he climbed into the SUV beside her and he realized that this same woman from the lobby was the enchanting woman he’d been messaging? He was already so far gone for her that it wasn’t even worth trying to dissect when it had started.

  They’d talked into the night, long after everyone else broke up after dinner to explore or go to bed. They’d walked the beach, holding hands and later kissing. Liam couldn’t remember ever feeling so alive.

  And then the Albuquerque store, a constant pain in his side, proceeded to implode. An embezzling manager who was also having an affair with the assistant manager, it was the kind of thing that made the news and turned their store into the butt of a joke.

  Not unlike he was today, unfortunately.

  So he’d gotten ahold of his pilot and headed straight for the airport. It wasn’t until he was somewhere well over the Pacific that he remembered Viola waiting for him, but by then, the stress of his real life intruded, making Hawaii and his time with Viola feel like more of a dream.

  He was an idiot.

  Liam avoided the crowds of people on Main Street and slipped over Spring Street to a packed souvenir shop he recalled seeing. There, he bought sunglasses, a hat, and a navy Eureka Springs! hoodie. His disguise complete, he headed out to find all the buildings that Viola had pictured in her
office. First one on his list: The Old Grand Theater. That was something he had to see.

  Chapter 6

  “If you can’t find someone to go with you, I’ll give my ticket to Fern,” Viola’s grandma called from the living room. She sat in her favorite chair, pulling together some concept drawings for the spider that Viola didn’t even want to know about, while watching one of her grisly crime shows. Viola hated those things and couldn’t imagine why her grandma loved them so much.

  “I’ll find someone,” Viola insisted. “You’ve been looking forward to meeting Dane Lowbridge for months.”

  “I have, but I’m sure he’ll come to Arkansas again … someday.”

  Her grandma was in love with nighttime’s greatest—and most neurotic—detective, Mason Horwitz, played by the actor Dane Lowbridge. He was coming to Eureka Springs to shoot some scenes for his latest movie, based on the mystery and mass murders in the Crescent Hotel, and was holding an exclusive meet and greet the same night as the Winter Festival and gala.

  Her seventy-three-year-old grandma had set up a tent outside the ticket office and slept on the ground to purchase an all-inclusive pass, which included an outdoor showing of one of his movies, a signed t-shirt and poster, and a brief face-to-face and picture opportunity with Dane. It didn’t matter that Dane was thirty years younger than Grandma—Grandma was in love, and Viola was not going to take this away from her.

  “It’s fine,” Viola insisted. The gala was still another week and a half away. “I haven’t even gotten to the Bs in my phone yet.” She pulled up her contacts and found Billy George’s name. They’d gone to junior prom together. Billy was in the middle of an ugly, too open about their business on social media, disaster kind of divorce. He could probably use a stress-free night on the town.

  She almost pressed call, and then last moment, sent him a text. She wasn’t in the mood to get into a long complaint session about whatever Kendra was doing now. Busy next Friday? I need a plus-one for the Winter Festival Gala.

  Billy responded only a few minutes later. Sure. I’ve always wanted to check the gala out.

  Thanks, Viola replied.

  “Got a date,” she told her grandma.

  “Do I even want to know who it is?”

  “No, you don’t.” Grandma’s nose always scrunched whenever one of Billy’s posts came through on her Facebook. “Drama,” she often said under her breath, and Viola didn’t disagree, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, and all that. Besides, Billy always told the best stories, so at least Viola wouldn’t have to be bored the whole night.

  “I saw Liam Nichols today,” Viola said casually. She wiped at at spot on the kitchen table to avoid having to look at her grandma. Grandma knew all about her heartbreak in Hawaii.

  She felt her grandma’s stare. “And how did that go?”

  “Fine,” she tried to say casually. “No big deal.”

  “Hmmm.” Grandma definitely wasn’t buying that. “Are you going to see him again?”

  Viola snorted. “I’m sure he’s half-way back to L.A. or one of his stores by now.”

  “Well, don’t write him off too quickly.” Grandma went back to drawing on her paper. “I’ve never seen you fall for someone like you did for him.”

  “It was the magic of the wedding and being in Hawaii,” Viola said. “I’m going to read in bed for a bit.” She kissed her grandma on the cheek, disconcerted to see what appeared to be a top hat drawn on the spider’s head as she did.

  ✽✽✽

  Nearly a week later, Viola went into work, surprised to find someone already standing in front of her office door. His back was to her, and he had on a hat, a dark green, waterproof jacket, and jeans, and he was looking down at his phone.

  “Can I help you?” she asked as she got closer. He whipped around, and she was more surprised than she should have been to see Liam there. It had been over a week since she’d seen him last, and she expected that he’d be long gone by now. He hadn’t stayed more than a few days for his only brother’s wedding; it was hard to believe he was still out in Eureka Springs.

  He flashed a smile, way too charming for her own good. “Yes, you can. I’ve made a purchase that I need your expertise with.”

  She pulled her keys out of her pocket and unlocked her office door. “What kind of purchase?”

  He followed her inside as she turned on the lights and opened the blinds to let the sunlight in.

  “An really big one. But I don’t know if I’ve ever been so excited about a purchase.”

  Despite herself, she was intrigued. Still, she replied, “And you’re telling me because …”

  “Because I need to hire you to restore it.”

  “You bought a building?” She had to sit. He sat across from her, leaning forward, his forearms on his knees, his expression way too excited.

  “I did.”

  “Here in Eureka Springs?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

  He pointed at her wall. “The Old Grand Theater.”

  She let out a long breath. Of course he’d bought that one.

  “I need you to restore it.”

  “Why are you doing this?” she asked him. What kind of person bought someone’s favorite building? Who did that?

  He looked down at his hands and then up again. “Because I regret how things went down in Hawaii. Not you—” he said before she could get angry. “I loved every minute with you. But how I left like that, without saying anything.”

  “You’ve had a year to say something. You had my email and phone number; you could have sent me a message at any point to tell me where you were.”

  “You’re right,” he said. “I hurt you, so I want to do something to make it right.”

  “By buying the theater and hiring me to restore it.”

  “Pretty much.”

  She leaned back in her chair, thoughts whirling too fast through her head to grab a hold of any single one. Had he really thought this was a good idea? Did he think he could throw a little money at her feelings, and she’d forgive him like it was nothing? That he would be absolved for not only standing her up, but completely ghosting her afterward. For months, she’d wondered if the entire thing had just been in her imagination.

  But could she really say no to this, just on principle?

  “I’m expensive,” she said.

  “Money is not an issue.”

  “And if I agreed to do this, it wouldn’t mean that I forgive you.”

  “I wouldn’t expect it to,” he replied. “Seriously, no strings attached, other than, you know, the ones in your client contracts.”

  “So I do this, and you have no expectations whatsoever.”

  “Other than making you happy.”

  “Nope, that’s an expectation, and I’ll say no.”

  “Fine,” he replied. She could tell he was fighting a smile, and it only made her more resolved to set firm boundaries with him. “You may be happy or miserable while restoring the theater, but I do expect that you’ll do an amazing job, and that’s one expectation I’m not changing.”

  They stared at each other, each one daring the other to look away first. Attraction buzzed through her, and her memory flashed back to the first night they’d met, how his lips had brushed against hers oh-so-gently just outside her room at the resort, the moonlight only giving her the barest glimpse of the outline of his face.

  She tore her eyes away from his first. “Fine.”

  “You’ll do it?”

  “I’ll do it. But it’s not going to be cheap. And you’re lucky I’m even available at such short notice.” It wouldn’t hurt to take this job, and she couldn’t help the frisson of excitement that went through her. She’d been dying to get her hands on the theater her entire adult life. She wished it had come through anyone but Liam, but he would be so busy anyway, it wasn’t like she was going to have to see him very often at all. If ever again.

  “I am lucky,” he replied with a large grin
, but she shook her head sharply.

  “We’re not friends,” she reminded him. “Business associates.”

  “Business associates,” he repeated. “Now where do I sign?”

  Chapter 7

  Liam awoke in the middle of the night, gasping for breath. It didn’t happen every night but often enough that Liam did everything he could to work himself into complete exhaustion before going to bed.

  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

  He still hadn’t looked at a single work-related document since getting kicked out of Bentonville’s Pets and More, and he was growing antsier by the minute. The only thing that had helped keep his mind off of it was arranging to buy the theater, and swimming.

  He sat up, his mind spinning in a million different directions.

  You’re okay. You can breathe. It’s just a panic attack.

  He stood and paced the room, feeling like if he didn’t get one good breath, he was going to die in that moment. He got onto his hands and knees and closed his eyes, willing his body to work like it should.

  Sometimes it took thirty minutes for his breathing to return to normal, sometimes it was only a few seconds. Tonight was of the longer variety. When the band around his chest finally loosened and he collapsed to the floor, gulping in precious air, his entire body clammy, he knew he couldn’t keep going on like this.

  He headed outside to his patio. It was cold but invigorating, and he leaned against the railing, inhaling the fresh night air. The stars overhead were visible between the trees, bright dots of light that reminded him he was a part of something bigger than himself.

  Was the rest of his life going to be like this? Not sleeping enough? Waking from a dead sleep in a panic? Disconnected from his company and everything he’d worked so hard for?

  He slammed his fist on the railing, liking the smarting pain on the side of his hand. The reminder that he was alive.