The Sweetest Kiss: A Billionaire Love Story (4 page)

“How’s seven thirty sound?”

“Perfect.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then. Um, just trot on over to Mrs. Arnet’s, I mean my place.”

“I’ll trot on over,” I echoed, finding his choice of words amusing. I watched him walk back to one of the two cottages. I dusted off the flecks of sand that had stuck to my feet and went back inside. I needed to rest badly. The world around me was spinning. I just wanted a few hours’ sleep, then I would be ready for the evening. Who knew what would happen?

I
had set
the alarm to go off at six. It would give me an hour and thirty minutes to have a shower, fret over what to wear, and then eventually select the first outfit that I had second-guessed.

Now that might have made the evening flow a lot better, if it wasn’t for the fact that there must have been a power outage and the clock had reset. When I finally opened my eyes, my mouth was dry and I glanced over at the clock. It was flashing red digits that didn’t seem to make sense. What the heck? I forced myself out of bed and took a few seconds to orient myself again. It was strange not waking up in my bed back in Brooklyn. I tiptoed over to where I had left my clothes. My watch was turned upside down. I flipped it over and nearly had a coronary. It was ten past seven. Oh my god, I thought as I dashed into the washroom and turned the shower on. This was not good, I repeated over and over again. I had visions of showing up with some toilet tissue hanging out the back.

After hopping out of the shower and landing flat on my ass because the floor was so wet, I went through the arduous task of performing female plastic surgery. I tugged at my thick black hair and groaned as I looked in the mirror. I was sure I resembled Quasimodo’s cousin. After managing to rake through the rat’s nest I call my hair, I grabbed the first dress I could find. A black one, something that wouldn’t show the wrinkles, and slipped it on. I snatched up my flip-flops and again nearly face planted on the floor as I wrestled with one of them while staying in a continual state of movement towards the front door.

If it wasn’t for the smell of the salt ocean, and the glimpse of a deep orange sun coming down, I would have probably just gone back to bed and apologized the next day. It was beautiful. I wasn’t going to have my own string of bad luck screw this up. Besides Jamaal, Ethan was the only other person I had met since arriving. If we were going to form an alliance against the Waylands, I needed to put my best foot forward and at least show up on time.

Thankfully he had asked me to meet at Mrs. Arnet’s place which was a hop, skip, and a jump from my front door. When I dashed up the path towards what resembled a much more up-to-date version of my shabby cottage, I tried to smooth out my dress and catch one last glimpse of myself in the reflection of the window. My pulse was racing a million miles a minute. I breathed in deeply and knocked.

When he opened the door he smiled and glanced up and down.

“You look… wow. Um…”

Did I have toilet tissue stuck out the back? Food stuck in my teeth? Had I remembered to brush my teeth? I went through a long list of… did I screw up? I guess not. He welcomed me in.

“Beautiful.”

I ran a hand over the back of my neck, feeling myself begin to sweat. “Thank you.”

“Right, well. A change of plans. I was going to cook on the BBQ but it seems I need to get a new propane tank. So are you okay with heading up to Goalie’s Bar and Restaurant? Of course my treat.”

“Sounds lovely.”

“Okay, let me grab my keys and we’ll head out.”

I waited in the same spot, purse in hand, feet tight together. As we left that night, I didn’t know what I was expecting. Now I would like to say we walked hand in hand, or he placed a strong arm around my waist but neither of that happened. He was still a stranger. Okay, he said he knew my sister but it still felt kind of odd going out for dinner with someone I had just met. Then again I had done that numerous times back in New York. In a vast city you had to put yourself out there, otherwise it was easy to find yourself just going from work to home and never really meeting people. You snapped up invitations and just made sure to pack pepper spray.

The evening couldn’t have been more gorgeous. I was used to seeing a concrete jungle, nothing but flashing neon lights and an endless ocean of bobbing heads weaving their way through the streets and underground. The noise of the city could be overwhelming. Eventually you just tuned it out. Now all I could hear was the lapping of waves against the shore as a warm band of light began to fade between the tropical trees. The moon would soon be up and the creatures of the night would take over the forest floor. Ok, it wasn’t a forest but compared to the city, if it had more than three trees tightly squished together, it was a forest.

Maybe there were more people on the other side of the island but it was so quiet. Ethan had told me that the use of scooters was soon going to change, they were going to start using mokes. I thought he was joking but he was telling the truth. He said it would cut down on the carbon footprint and also ensure that the only sound you heard was the ocean.

Our conversation flowed freely as we walked toward the bar. I saw a few couples out in the ocean, three windsurfers, and a family making a sand castle. The beauty of this place was that it wasn’t full of tourists. The cost of vacationing here was only for those with deep pockets. Something that he said kept away those who were likely to ruin the place. It attracted celebrities, yoga instructors, and those who wanted to unplug from the world.

Everywhere I turned, I had the sense that romance was in the air. Couples walking hand in hand. I had never really slowed down enough in my life to enjoy that. Markus worked for an advertising firm and so when he wasn’t trying to come up with the next great ad, he was usually lingering around the
Enquirer.
Of course I couldn’t always be at the office. My boss, James, had wanted me to be in the field. That’s where the real work was done. Not in the office. Get out there and get me photos. Dig up some dirt on someone of importance. Give me an angle that we can twist. They were always looking to squeeze out as much as they could from someone’s trouble. Celebrities, the rich, anyone who showed up in movies, TV, or in magazines, all were fair game.

As much as I wanted to avoid conversation about my work, to leave it all behind me and forget that I worked for them, Ethan wanted to know. My former job and my reason for leaving the city intrigued him. I couldn’t help feel like a test subject being observed. When I would try to flip the questions back to him, he would say his life wasn’t as interesting as mine. I had never thought of my life as interesting. I was like any other woman. I worked long hours, had a few girlfriends, and attempted to have a relationship. I say attempt as that was all last my relationship was. A failed attempt. One where Markus was trying to change me. If he had his way I would have been chewing on carrots my entire life, watching him drink alcohol, and working out every second of the day. And for a while I bought into it. I wanted to please him. How stupid I was.

We shifted over on the beach as a couple passed us walking arm in arm. Romance dripped off the tropical trees the way hope and dreams did from neon signs back in New York. What was it about the ocean and nature that seemed to reset us? Getting away into seclusion? Everyone I knew was attracted to it. As if in some way we came from the ocean.

The warm ocean air blew across us, sweeping at my skirt. I stole a glance at Ethan, his skin looked as if it had a love affair with the sun. It was tanned and brought out the color of his blue eyes. The closer we got to the bar, the more the smell of food drifting in the air made my stomach grumble. There were about fifteen people eating, a few others on bar stools. The roof was made from palm trees. Lights wound their way up the posts and lit up the night, giving everything an amber glow. As we navigated our way into the outside restaurant, a number of people, mainly staff, waved, nodded, or greeted him warmly. It was like he knew everyone on the island. How long had he been here?

“Ah, Ethan, how lovely to see you and I see you have a guest. My, aren’t you beautiful.”

I blushed, feeling flattered. “Yes, she is,” he replied. Now I felt as if someone had just turned up the temperature.

“I have a perfect table for you over here.”

We were led to a cozy small round table that was made out of mosaic glass. It was set against a stone wall. “You get some of the best sunsets in this location.” He guided me into a chair with the back of his hand on my lower back after a waiter pulled out a soft chair made from bamboo.

“What are the flags for?” I asked.

Dotted all over the island were flag posts with yellow and red flags.

“Yellow signals for room service and red for a special request.”

“So people don’t ring down to the front desk?”

“Oh no, they can, but it’s just a little something that is done here on the island.”

The waiter poured some sparkling water and then said he would be back in a few minutes to take our order.

“Cute.”

We sat there in silence for a short while, looking over the menus.

“All the fish is fresh. It’s brought in by local fishermen on the island every day. Nothing that is served is more than a day old.”

“Not even frozen things?”

“It’s what has allowed them to have the reputation they have. An island where you only eat fresh produce, fish, and such. We even have our own distillery on the island.”

A short while later the waiter returned and brought over a piña colada for me and a Corona beer for Ethan. Mine had one of those cute red umbrellas in it. I pulled it out and twiddled it around in my hands.

“So what’s your story, Hayley Fields?”

“I don’t have one.”

“No, everyone has a story. What do you love, what do you hate? What grinds your hump?”

I nearly spat out a mouthful of my drink. “Grinds your hump,” I repeated through laughter. Ethan leaned back in his chair, looking relaxed. It made a change. All the men in the city were so uptight. They all looked as if they had somewhere to be, even if they were on a date. I had been on my own string of failed blind dates and every time the men either talked about themselves or looked as if they wanted to move on to the main course — sex. It was if they couldn’t appreciate what led up to that. I was all for getting tangled up beneath sheets, or in a shower, but first things first. It was refreshing to meet a guy who didn’t seem to be in a hurry.

“Well, other than having been in advertising, I haven’t really done much.”

“No, no…”

“What?”

“Forget work. What are your dreams, Hayley? Places you want to visit, things you want to do with your life?”

“I guess this is a dream, though after having seen the place it’s kind of a cross between a good dream and a nightmare. But a dream nonetheless.”

He chuckled. We selected what we were going to eat. I had lobster, and he had a T-bone steak that was cooked until it was burnt. At least that’s what he had asked for.

“You not into having your meat swimming in blood?” I asked

He grimaced. “Oh nah, that’s disgusting. I can never understand why people like it that way. Mine has to resemble beef jerky. Each bite has to be like chewing on my shoe.”

I laughed. “Thank you for asking me out tonight. After seeing the place this afternoon, I wasn’t sure if coming here was a good idea. But… yeah, this was really sweet.”

He took a sip of his drink and eyed me across the top. “We all need a friend.”

I caught something in the tone of the way he said it. As if he wasn’t used to spending a lot of time with others. It made me curious.

“So, your family, where is home other than here of course?”

“New York, L.A.”

“But I mean where did you grow up?”

“All over the place. We never really had one city that we stayed in. My father was always dragging us all over the map.”

“Ah, a military brat?”

He chuckled. “No, not military. Cheesh! My father couldn’t handle that.”

A candle flickered on our table, casting shadows on his face. He had just the right amount of stubble. I liked a man that way. The whole smooth face didn’t do anything for me. Give me them rugged, I would tell my friend Hanna. I began pressing the wax around the top of the candle in on itself.

“You do that too?”

I glanced up at him, catching the reflection of the flame in his blue eyes.

“I have this thing with candles.”

“Do you?” I asked, wondering if the conversation was going to veer off into something naughty.

He gave a wry smile. “No, you’ll find most of the candles in my house have lots of matches stuck into them. I don’t know, maybe it’s a thing I got from being a kid.”

“No, I’m the same. Something about all that wax melting. The way you can change it into whatever you like. Watching it drop over the side. Peeling it off my fingers…”

As I was speaking the waiter brought over our meals. The smell was intoxicating. They had laid out the lobster on a large plate with a cup full of butter, small potatoes, and fresh vegetables on the side. It was divine.

“So I had to ask. Where will you be advertising? I mean, I have three cottages that I’m going to need to get filled. I haven’t a clue about this business. In many ways this was Emily’s thing.”

“You haven’t thought of selling?”

“I did consider it but…” I trailed off. “For Emily’s sake, I think I should at least give it a go.”

“Smart. Independent. You are like her.”

“You say that as if you really knew her?”

“We had history.”

“Care to share?” I asked.

He took a bite of his food and grinned. “Maybe.”

I
knew
it was only a matter of time before she would begin asking questions. What was I going to tell her? That was I was madly in love with her sister. She was the spitting image of Emily. How could I tell her that without insinuating that I was attracted to her? But she wasn’t her. Yet I had to know her. Both of them carried the same mannerisms. The way Emily would scrunch up her nose when she laughed. It was cute. There were other things, small, barely noticeable but I could see them in her. She was gorgeous in every way.

Was it wrong to want her as badly as I loved Emily? Why had she never told Hayley about me? Was she embarrassed?

From the moment I saw her, I had shivers. The woman who I had watched, sat beside, and comforted in the final months before she passed was now before me. It was hard to comprehend, never mind try and explain. I didn’t know how to deal with my feelings. The pain had been too much.

Upon my father making the deal with the previous owners, I had been given the responsibility of heading it up with my sister, Darla. She was never around. She spent more time partying than she did helping out with the family business. Then of course there was Connor, he wanted nothing to do with it. He had his own issues to deal with, and personal ventures that he was hoping would take off. And as for Jace, well, he was a complete lost cause.

I had spent close to a year on the island. Before that Connor had stepped in and helped out in the first year but then had to return to what he said was his life. All of us as brothers had struggled living in the shadow of our father. We wanted for nothing. He gave us everything we needed or wanted. He wasn’t one of these fathers who held back money and said you didn’t get it unless you earned it. At least I didn’t think he was until we hit the age of eighteen. That’s when things changed. We had all realized that our parents were no longer going to hand out money. They wanted us to take on the responsibilities of running the family business. We got to choose what we business venture to go into. Darla’s was the club scene, of course, it matched her lifestyle. Jace, a string of bars that my father owned; Connor, a motorcycle chain, and then there was myself. I didn’t pick the island business because I wanted to, I took it because that was all that was left. Eight years had passed since then.

Despite what the tabloids said about our family, we weren’t lazy. We worked. We knew what it meant to put in an honest day’s work. At least we three brothers did. I couldn’t speak for Darla. She had our father wrapped around her little finger. It was sickening. There was no end to cash advances. She only had to pout or shed a tear and our father would pull out the checkbook. Not us. He ruled over us with an iron fist. He expected more from us. Maybe that’s why we butted heads so much. I was as headstrong as he was. I wanted to build a business by myself, not run one that my father already had. Where was the honor in that? How could I ever hope to gain respect from anyone, especially a woman, if she thought I had everything handed to me on a silver platter?

That’s why two years ago the argument I had with my father led me to a crossroads. He gave me an ultimatum. I either ran his business the way he wanted me to or I was to go it alone. I was more than happy to go it alone. Until I realized how hard it was. I blew through what money I had fast. It wasn’t long before I was back working for him.

Two years passed and I had made more money from flipping islands than I had in the previous years before.

I had eventually told my father that I no longer needed to work for him. At the time I had told him I was moving into a sure thing. Something he would be proud of. It was in the island business. What he didn’t know was the money was being used to purchase Mrs. Arnet’s two properties. Essentially I was going to do business right under my father’s nose. The same properties that he had failed to acquire, I had managed to purchase under a different company name.

I didn’t need the properties but living under his shadow for so many years, I just wanted to prove that I could do what he couldn’t do. I know, sounds childish but back then it made sense. Maybe it was my attempt at trying to get closer to my father. I’m not sure.

Anyway, if Mrs. Arnet had known that a Wayland had bought her property she would have flipped. She was just like Emily in that way.

That’s what led me to know Emily. Living and working in such close quarters to her, I admired her tenacity. Her unwillingness to give up what she had worked her ass off for. And for a time we had drawn close to each other.

The drama that ensued once she found out who I was, far exceeded the argument I had with my father once he learned I had used my money to fund the venture.

“You had no right!” my father said. “That property now belongs to the Waylands.”

“No it doesn’t.” I held up the official documents that stated my company owned it.

“Why would you do this? Are you trying to make me look bad?”

“No. I’m just showing you that I can run my own successful business without your help.”

“But you knew I wanted that place as part of the island.”

“And maybe I’ll sell it back to you.”

“What?”

“You heard.”

I couldn’t believe I was saying it. He didn’t need the properties. His bank account had no limit. What I had paid for the place was a speck, a mere drop in the ocean compared to the amount of money he brought in from all of his business ventures and the north side of the island.

It was about pride. My father wanted to control us and every inch of the islands he bought. Then if anything went wrong, he could lord it over our heads. I wasn’t going to have that happen. No, not me.

I was going to go it alone. Even if it meant being cut off.

I looked at Hayley as she ate, thinking about Emily. The night I told her that I was a Wayland. She flipped. She thought I had lied to her.

I sighed.

“You okay, Ethan?” Hayley asked.

“Yeah.” I smiled, trying to not put a damper on our evening. Did I tell her now and risk losing her? Or wait until later and risk losing her then? Why was I even thinking that way? Seeing Hayley in front of me was like staring back at Emily. I had the woman I loved back. Her radiant self. I couldn’t lose that again. Torn, I thought I would give it a few days before I told her. I would tell her, just not now. The evening was going so well.

“So are you liking it here so far?”

She dabbed the corner of her lip and I watched the way she pressed her lips together. They unfolded filling out like small pillows. What was it about them that made me want to just lean over and kiss her?

“You asked me that already.”

“You’re right.”

“You’re trying to avoid talking about you and Emily, aren’t you?”

“You got me,” I said, taking a big drink, hoping it would wash away my nerves.

“So come on. Tell me. Why didn’t she ever tell me about you?”

“I’m surprised she didn’t but from what I remember she said you were going through a hard time with some guy in New York. Is that right?”

Her eyes dropped. Oh, man. This was the reason why I didn’t want to get into it. It felt like a damp rag had dropped on us, smothering out all that was good about the evening.

“Markus. Yeah.”

“You don’t have to tell me about it.”

“Nah, it’s okay. Nothing to hide.”

Great, that made me feel even worse. Here she was about to pour out to me everything that had probably gone wrong in her relationship. And I didn’t have the nerve to tell her about myself and Emily, or what had led to our big bust-up.

“Not a lot to say really. We were together for around a year. I thought things were getting serious. He even proposed to me and gave me an engagement ring. Then…” she paused, taking a sip of her drink. “He cheated on me with one of my co-workers.”

I stopped chewing and gazed at her, feeling bad for her. How could anyone cheat on this woman? She was beautiful, and from what I had gleaned from our conversation, intelligent and witty. I could never understand that. Why another guy would try playing the field with another woman and ruin everything he had with the one he was with. Maybe women thought that all men were like that? It did give men a bad name, but not everyone was like that.

“I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but you are gorgeous. I mean…”

“Right, because I resemble my sis?”

“Yeah.”

She stopped eating and bit the side of her lip.

“She used to do that too.”

“What?”

“Nibble on her lip when she was thinking.”

“I do that.”

I nodded.

“That’s rough. Well, his loss, right?”

She tilted her head slightly then smiled. “Yeah. His loss.”

We lifted our glasses and toasted to that.

“So what about the
Enquirer
? Why them?”

“To be honest I thought I was going to land a position for the
New York Times
. Yep, I know, I was dreaming big. But it never happened. I was in New York for almost nine months working crappy jobs until that one came along. I just assumed it would be a step up to something better. You know. Gain experience and whatnot. I guess the boss liked my portfolio of photos and blog I had started.”

“Blog?”

“Yeah, it was an idea from my friend Hanna. She said it was what they were all doing now. Blogging. And newspapers and magazines were on their way out. So I did it in my downtime and managed to snag a photo of a well-known celeb. The
Enquirer
wanted to purchase it, and well, one thing led to another and I found myself hired by them.”

“But why that work?”

“I guess I’m intrigued by people’s lives. Or… let’s say I think trying to dig deep and find the truth is interesting. There are many things that are hidden from us, people lie, cover up to avoid public scrutiny.”

“But they don’t tell the truth.”

“I understand. But sometimes they did. There is always some truth in the madness.”

“So you are big on people telling the truth, and yet you worked for a company that lied? Seems a little ironic, don’t you think?”

She placed her knife and fork down on the plate and gave me a look. I couldn’t believe it. It was the same one that Emily had given me countless times. This was too weird.

I gritted my teeth together and gave the same smile I usually did when I knew I had stepped over the line. “Sorry. I was just meaning it’s kind of funny.”

She narrowed her eyes and then chuckled. “Yeah. It is. But that’s in the past. What is in the past should stay there, right? You can’t change it.”

I chewed over her reply. That was it. I couldn’t change what had happened, all I could do was move on.

“Anyway, enough about me. What about you? This company of yours, your father?”

Oh no, here it was. I felt like I had just been led into a police interrogation room and a blinding light was being directed in my face.

“Waiter?” I waved my hand until I caught his attention. “Could I get a couple more drinks?”

He nodded and I continued eating.

“Come on.”

“What would you like to know?”

“What attracted you to my sister?”

I met her gaze.

“You do know if I tell you, it’s like telling you what is attractive about you?”

She smiled knowing full well what she was doing.

“Alright. Alright. Well, do you have brothers or sisters?”

“Yeah, a couple.” I wasn’t going to be specific.

She paused for a second. I was waiting for her to ask if I was a Wayland. But she never did.

“And is this your first business or are you in the habit of taking on battered, worn-out things that are in need of care and attention?”

“I like a challenge. Let’s put it that way. Something I can sink my teeth into.”

She chuckled.

“Let’s just say my father tends to be a little overbearing and well, I saw this as a way to get out from under his shadow.”

“Under his shadow?”

I was starting to feel pressured by these questions. It’s not that I minded her asking them but I wasn’t ready to get into it yet.

“Waiter, can I get the bill?”

“But sir, you haven’t had dessert, or those extra drinks.”

“Yeah, I’m not feeling too good.”

“Okay, I’ll bring it over.”

She placed her hand across the table and touched mine. “You okay?”

The moment I felt her touch, it was like going back in time. I felt the desire, the impulse to hold her, kiss her, and spend the night with my arms around her. And… to be honest I really wasn’t sure if I was okay. My pulse was racing fast. I was overheating and the thought of lying to her wasn’t something I wanted to do. At least I could avoid it, for now.

When the waiter came back, I paid up and we left. It was abrupt, for sure. But then again so was seeing Emily’s sister arrive. I had done this all wrong. I should have never asked her out. Why did I do that? She wasn’t Emily. She was beautiful and I could have sat there all night listening to her talk. But it was wrong for me to indulge in her company under the guise that I was just being neighborly. I wasn’t. I wanted her. I wanted to be close. The attraction was magnetic.

Upon arriving back at the cottages I wished her a good night and retreated to my place. I knew she was disappointed. I could see it in her face.

“Yeah, okay. Let me know if you need anything,” she said.

God, stop it. Stop being so nice, I thought. It was just making it even harder.