Wrecked (Crystal Book Billionaires) (7 page)

Think,
a small part of my brain commanded the rest of my mind.
Come up with a good excuse for crashing.

I couldn’t, though. All I could focus on was the face in front of me. The light stubble dotting the square jaw. The hint of a dimple in the chin. The way the most perfect lips ever stretched into a slow smile.

“You sure?” he asked.

I nodded heartily. “Yeah, totally. I was just… looking at this bird in the tree up there.” I nodded over my shoulder and forced a laugh. “It’s so silly.”

He bent down and started pushing the spilled recycling into the bin. “I’m glad you’re all right. And I’m sure Mrs. Henderson appreciates you trying to take care of her recycling for her, but the truck will be here in an hour or so.”

I laughed at his joke. “Oh, darn. I was hoping to get my good deed for the day out of the way,” I cracked.

He righted the recycling bin and looked at me. From the way his eyes were trained on my face, I could tell he was already interested in me. Casually, I flipped my hair over my right shoulder.

“Thank you for coming to my rescue,” I murmured in a soft voice.

He smiled. “I’ve never seen you around.”

“I’m visiting my aunt and uncle.”

“Ah. For how long?”

I quickly ran over possible answers in my head, finally deciding that the truth would actually benefit me in this case. “It’s undetermined. I’m just taking a little break from city life.”

His face lit up even more. “Which city?”

“L.A.” I cocked my hip and leaned the bike against it. My knee still ached, but I was determined to not let a trace of pain show on my face.

“I’m sorry,” he said, extending his hand. “I didn’t introduce myself. Luke Anderson.”

“Grace Wells.” I took his palm and instantly gave his handshake a rating of a ten. Warm and strong. Hopefully, he was like that in every regard.

“I can show you around some time, if you like.”

I tried not to reveal just how excited the prospect made me, only allowing a cool smile to surface on my face. “That would be nice, Luke Anderson.”

He grinned again. “All right, Grace Wells.” He glanced down at his wristwatch. “Unfortunately, I have to run. But let’s meet up soon?”

“Sounds great.”

“You know where I live, obviously.”

I lightly giggled. “Obviously.”

“Stop by tomorrow morning? Around ten?”

I did a mental cartwheel. “I’ll be here.”

He started walking backwards across the street, not even bothering to look for traffic this time. “See you then.”

I waved. “Bye.”

He climbed into his SUV, and I hopped back on my bike to continue down the sidewalk. My knee protested, but I pushed through the pain.

I bit my bottom lip as I pedaled, trying to keep the giant smile at bay until I was safely out of Luke’s vision. I couldn’t wait to text Rainy and let her know about my good fortune.

So I was still stuck in the middle of nowhere for an undetermined amount of time.
But
it looked like an opportunity had arisen for me to have some fun while in exile. After all, what could make any bad situation better than a hot guy to hook up with?

First official summer fling of my life, here I come.

Grace

I
didn’t go downtown. Instead, I circled around the block and headed right back for the house. I had less than a day to get ready for my small-town rendezvous with Luke, and that meant that it had immediately become the number one priority in my life.

I unpacked the entire contents of my suitcases, laying them out on the bed to inspect each dress, top, and a pair of pants or shorts.

The number one rule of dressing for a first date was trying your best while making sure you looked like you were doing anything but that.

I had narrowed it down to four outfits when my cell phone rang. My heart did a flip at the sight of my dad’s picture. Could it be that he was already calling to tell me he’d worked things out, and I could return to L.A?

Immediately, I began concocting excuses as to why I decided not to return to NYU after all.
Too straight laced,
I’d tell Madi and anyone else who wanted to know.
My old Ethics teacher begged me to return, but I’m just so tired of the whole academic snootiness, you know? Informal education is the way to go these days. Everyone is skipping it and touring Europe instead.

“Hi, Dad,” I chirped into the phone.

“You sound happy,” came his surprised voice.

I sat down on the edge of the bed. “Do I?”

“So you’re liking Crystal Brook?”

“No,” I immediately said. “I hate it here.”

He sighed. I waited a long moment for him to say something. When he didn’t, fear crept into my chest, constricting my heart and then my throat.

“It’s over, Grace,” he finally said.

The words tumbled out. “What do you mean?”

“I kept holding onto the hope that there was some way to save the company, but there’s just not.”

I grasped for the words that seemed to evade me. “B-but you said… you said that maybe…”

“I know, but it didn’t work out that way.”

I stared at the wall, watching in amazement as it seemed to simultaneously shrink and grow. Was I about to have a panic attack?

“I’m going to rent an apartment here in New York,” he continued. “And figure out what’s next.”

“The houses,” I feebly said.

“They’re gone. Someone is already interested in the Sierra Mar one. It’s as good as sold.”

A choking sound escaped my throat. Yes, I knew selling the Hollywood Hills house had been the plan, but I’d also known there was a tiny chance it might not happen after all. That chance was what I had written my whole last minute cover story around. The way I’d seen it, I was going to return to L.A. whenever things with
Pet Hop
got back to normal, and use whatever excuse I needed to about changing my mind about school.

But now there truly was no home to return to.

“What am I going to do?” I whispered, more to the whole world than just my father.

“I talked to your uncle this morning,” he said. “School sounds like a good idea. You should get a job too, though, you know. Your aunt and uncle really want you there, but the right thing to do is contribute to the household.”

Contribute to the household?
So now I was a burden — someone who needed to prove their worth?

“My account,” I argued.

“I can’t keep depositing money in it. You know that, Grace. It’s time to stand on your own two feet… this will be good for you.”

I bit my tongue. He’d already said that, and so far he was wrong. I wanted to lash out at him. Cry and shout. Demand to know how he had allowed us to get to such a desolate and shameful place in life. I knew it wouldn’t do any good, though, and I was afraid if I tried to say more than a few words I would end up sobbing and unable to clearly articulate.

“I’ll call you soon,” he said. “It’s going to be all right.”

“Okay,” I said, emotion cracking the word.

The tears hit my cheeks before I even set the phone down. The destitute feeling from the day before was now quadrupled. What I’d tried to convince myself was temporary was anything but.

Stuck. I was stuck in Crystal Brook, North Carolina.

Maybe forever.

*

I slept for hours on top of the laid out clothes. Each time I would start to wake up, the cruel reality of life came rushing back at me, pummeling me in the face, so I forced myself back to sleep.

When someone knocked on my door, I pushed my aching body up. “Yeah?”

“It’s Aunt Ginger,” came her sunny voice. “Just wanted to let you know I’m home.”

I mumbled something even I didn’t understand and stretched my legs out. The one I’d banged up from the bike crash still ached, along with my upper back and neck.

“Would you like to help me with dinner? It could be fun.”

“Okay,” I muttered. “Be out in a minute.”

I checked my phone before I went out. Nothing.

So everyone in L.A. had already forgotten about me. I hadn’t so much as heard a peep from Eli, which was pretty disappointing. I know I’d decided to give him some space, but that space was intended to make him miss me. Wasn’t he at least slightly concerned about how I was doing in New York?

Luke Anderson floated into my thoughts. He was hot, sure, but probably nothing more than another country bumpkin. My chest ached unbearably for the kind of men back in California — guys like Eli, who went exciting places with exciting people every weekend.

Luke’s idea of thrilling probably started and ended with taking a trip down to the local hardware store.

Come to think of it…
why
did he live in such a large house? Certainly he wasn’t staying in that place all by himself.

Ugh. He lives with his parents.

That was going to make hooking up much trickier than I had envisioned. It was best to just forget about him anyway. I needed to focus all my energy on finding some way out of Crystal Brook and back into the high ranks of Hollywood Hills royalty.

Aunt Ginger stood in the kitchen adjusting a wide brimmed sun hat. Looped over her arm was a straw basket with scissors in it.

“I thought we were making dinner,” I said, looking from the basket to the stove.

“We are,” she smiled. “Come on. Let’s go out to the garden. We need to get some basil and dill.”

Basil and dill. Cool. I’d heard of that.

I followed her into the living room and through the back door. The day’s shadows were long, slanting halfway across the little backyard. Overgrown bushes trimmed the yard’s perimeter, but in the middle sat an overflowing vegetable garden. Thick, red tomatoes filled one row and bushy herbs another. I took a few steps forward and saw a few small melons, their vines snaking across the dirt.

“Wow, are those watermelons?” I asked.

Aunt Ginger leaned over and started cutting something from a plant. “They are. Do you like them?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. Who doesn’t?”

“So what did you do today?”

“Oh,” I mumbled, lost for words. “I, uh…” Somehow, I didn’t think she’d be too pleased to hear I’d spent the afternoon comatose from depression.

I sucked in a shaky breath and looked down at the grass. “Not much.”

“You don’t sound very happy,” she murmured.

I swallowed hard, doing my best to keep the tears at bay. “I’m not,” I whispered, and suddenly, it was all spilling out. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t belong here. Nothing makes sense in my life anymore. All my friends are back in L.A. Everything I know is back there!” The volume rose as I went on, and my eyes stung with the tears I refused to let fall.

“Oh, Grace,” she said.

I peeked up at her. She was on her knees now but had stopped messing in the garden to look over at me. “I understand this must all be terrifying.”

I sniffled. “You do?”

She nodded. “Yes. Your life was turned upside down overnight.” She looked thoughtful. “I’d like to help you if you want.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“I brought the course schedule home from Crystal Brook Community College. The fall term starts in August.”

I flinched. Not community college again.

“I know it’s not NYU,” she went on, practically reading my thoughts, “but it’s better than doing nothing all day.”

I let the words sink in… and still I didn’t feel any different.

“Anyway, we can talk more about that later.” She stood up and picked a few cherry tomatoes from a vine. “You must have done
something
today.”

I breathed a slight sight of relief, grateful for the subject change. “I went for a bike ride. I met a guy.”

She glanced over her shoulder at me. “A
guy?
Was he cute?”

I laughed. “Yeah, he really was. Maybe you know him. Luke Anderson.”

“Ah,” she nodded. “I know
of
him.”

“What do you know?”

Aunt Ginger stepped carefully over the garden rows and made her way back to the grass. “I don’t think I’ve ever talked to him myself, but there’s been a good amount of talk about him. He moved here two years ago. Apparently, he grew up in New York and is from this big banking family. I’ve heard he’s real nice. He started a food pantry here in Crystal Brook, so that alone probably says a lot about him.”

She headed for the house, and I fell into step next to her. “Why did he move here?”

Aunt Ginger shrugged. “My guess would be he just needed some peace and quiet.”

A banking family…

“He’s in an awfully big house for just one person,” I suggested, trying to sound innocent.

Aunt Ginger opened the back door, and the rush of cool air wafted over my skin. I stayed a few steps behind her as we went into the kitchen.

“It’s likely nothing to him,” she answered, setting the basket on the counter. “From what I’ve heard, the Andersons are worth billions.”

I stared at her. “
Billions?
Seriously?”

“Mm hmm.”

She wasn’t looking at me anymore. Instead, she got busy pulling a colander from the cabinet and rinsing the tomatoes and herbs. I stood in the doorway, my head reeling.

Luke Anderson, single billionaire…

A door had just opened up where previously there had been none. I didn’t need L.A. I didn’t need my father. I didn’t need school or a job.

All I needed was to snag a husband.

Scratch that.

All I needed was to snag a
billionaire husband.

Luke

I
checked the door twice to make sure I’d locked it properly. Not that a food pantry would likely be a burglar’s first pick. There was no cash in the establishment, after all, so if anyone were to break in, the most they would get would be some bags of pasta and maybe a box or two of jumbo diapers.

And if someone needed the things that badly, then they should take them. Help was what Community First was there for.

But I knew the likelihood of someone breaking in to steal the goods was low. If a crime occurred, it would either be because someone
thought
there was money inside the pantry or because some kids figured it would be fun to vandalize a place.