Billionaire's Island Bride (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (7 page)

After a night of
packing and contemplation Erin left the Island of Santa Marta early the next
morning relieved that she would never lay eyes on this confounded place again.

***

From her seat in
the crowd of black-gowned students Erin looked over at the sea of faces -
friends, family and well-wishers who had come from far and near to celebrate
the special occasion.  Within less than an hour the ceremony would be over and
each graduate would leave, ready to move on to the next stage in life.

Erin was smiling
as she watched the happy faces but even as she celebrated with her batch mates
she couldn’t help feeling a twinge of sadness.  How she wished she had someone,
anyone, to celebrate with her.

There’d been a day
when she’d had a mother and a father who loved her dearly.  They would have
been here today to share in this rite of passage but it had been nine years
since they’d been torn from her life, the victims of a motor vehicle accident
caused by a drunk driver.

With her only
living relative being an aunt who lived and worked in South America as a
missionary Erin had ended up in foster care, moving from family to family from
the age of twelve until she was eighteen.

She’d won her
freedom then.  By working hard throughout high school she’d won a tuition
scholarship to a college of her choice and now, four years later and with
thousands of hours of part-time work under her belt, she’d made it.  Now to
face the real world.  She was eager to step over that threshold and start
making some real money.

Armed with her
degree in liberal arts Erin sent out resume after resume to museums, government
agencies, schools and non-profit organizations, hopeful that she would land a
job within a few weeks.  She had enough money to last her about a month and a
half.  So this was what it felt like to be just one paycheck away from the
homeless shelter.  She had to find a job and fast.

But things did not
go as Erin planned.  Three weeks into her job search she still had not been
called for a single interview.  It was all due to the recession, the career
office told her, coupled with the fact that the market had just been flooded
with thousands of new graduates competing for the few limited job openings.  Erin
acknowledged that might all be true but that knowledge didn’t help her
situation, now only about three weeks away from starvation.  And how was she going
to pay next month's rent?

And if that
weren’t bad enough she’d suddenly been attacked by a stomach virus.  Two days
in a row she'd woken up to a bout of nausea and had had to rush to the bathroom
where she’d emptied the contents of her stomach.  When the third day turned out
to be more of the same Erin knew she had to make the sacrifice and dip into her
meager savings to get the money to visit a doctor.  Her college health
insurance coverage had expired so all medical costs were now her
responsibility.  

At the medical
clinic she grudgingly handed over the eighty-dollar fee then went to sit in the
waiting lounge.  She picked up the latest copy of Cosmopolitan then put it down
again, unable to concentrate.  There was just too much on her mind.  There were
so many things she needed to do.  She needed to start pounding the pavement,
she had to find a job.  Dear God, how was she going to survive?

She glanced at her
watch for the fifth time.  Why hadn’t the doctor called her yet?  She couldn’t
afford to waste all this time just sitting around.  She had to get back to her
job hunting.  Unable to sit still any longer she got up and went over to stare
at the goldfish swimming serenely in their colorfully decorated house of
glass.  She envied them.

“Ms. Samuels?”

At the sound of
her name Erin turned to see the medical assistant standing in the doorway,
smiling at her.  She gave a sigh of relief.  Finally.

Dr. Saunders
greeted Erin warmly and listened attentively as she described her ailment. 
After a quick check of her blood pressure, heart and lungs he gave a nod. 
“Everything seems to be in order.  Will you have a seat, please?”

She slid off the
examination table and went back to sit in the chair across from the doctor’s
desk.

“Ms. Samuels,” he
said with a gentle smile, “is there any possibility that you are pregnant?”

“Preg…pregnant?” 
The words came out in a shocked whisper.

“Yes, pregnant,”
the doctor said patiently.  “Are you sexually active?”

“N…no.  I mean,
yes.  I…” she could not go on.  Pregnant?  The thought hadn’t even crossed her
mind.

“So which is it?”
the doctor chuckled but there was no sign of judgment on his face.  “I need you
to do a pregnancy test today.  If it’s negative we’ll run some other tests but
let's start there.”

In a daze Erin
took the lab requisition from the doctor then with a nod of thanks she turned
toward the door.  Could she really be pregnant?

As she sat in the
waiting room she relived the night she’d spent in Dare’s arms.  Three times
they’d made love and all three times he’d used a condom.  They’d been careful. 
Pregnancy could not be the cause of her problems.  She began to breathe a
little easier at the thought.  Then she thought back to the last few months
since she’d left the island.  She hadn’t had a period since her return but that
was normal for her.  She was one of the lucky souls who only had a period three
or four times a year.  Her gynecologist had told her it would in no way affect her
ability to have children so she hadn’t been concerned.  Until now.

The gravity of the
situation was like a slap to the face.  If she were really pregnant how in
heaven’s name was she going to manage?  She could barely feed herself let alone
a baby.  And where would they live?

She covered her
face with her hands, trying to control her emotions.  It would not do to burst
into tears right there in the middle of the waiting room.  But, dear God, what
was she going to do?

It took only
thirty minutes for Erin to receive the verdict.  She was indeed pregnant.  And
she was expected to give birth in twenty-four weeks.  With that news her world
crumbled around her.

Erin spent the
rest of the afternoon feeling sorry for herself.  Then, as she always did when
facing a crisis, she began to plan her course of action.

First, she had to
find a way to start earning money immediately.  Looking for jobs in her field
of study was not working and it didn’t make sense to continue down that path. 
She would set her sights lower, take anything she could get, just as long as it
was available now and provided a steady income.  Next, she would move to a
smaller place, probably somewhere farther away from the college since
apartments in that area tended to be more expensive due to the high demand. 
She would probably even have to seek a roommate.  She wasn’t thrilled at the
idea but under the circumstances she had no choice.

Then she would
start checking out the thrift stores.  As much as she hated the idea of
dressing her baby in recycled clothing it was better than no clothes at all. 
She sighed and sat down to write her list.  A crib, bedding, clothes and a
stroller.  At minimum she would have to have those.  Oh, and a baby car seat.  She’d
need that the day she took him…or her…from the hospital.  Even if she told them
she’d be taking a taxi home the hospital staff would never let her leave
without a car seat for the baby.

Her plan in place,
Erin began to pound the pavement.  Literally.  Next day she was up with the
sun.  She’d dressed carefully, applied a little make-up, and with her resume
adjusted to suit the marketplace she took the bus to the heart of the city and
began to walk.  She’d printed one hundred copies of her resume and before the
week was out she planned to have dropped off every one of them.

By the end of the
first day Erin had submitted applications at twenty-one establishments including
Subway, Mc Donald's, Whole Foods and Tim Horton’s, the most popular coffee shop
chain in the country.  She knew that if she was lucky enough to get a call from
one of them the pay would be small, probably little more than minimum wage, but
at least most of the restaurants offered employees free meals.  Food was one
thing she wouldn’t have to worry about.

Next day Erin was
out again by seven in the morning.  She didn’t get back home until the sun had
already set.  Still, she was satisfied she’d beat the previous day’s record,
submitting twenty-five applications that day.  By the end of the third day
she’d reached sixty-six in total.  Completely exhausted, she only had the
energy to shower and climb into bed with a prayer that her hard work would soon
bear fruit.

The fourth day
dawned and despite the feeling of nausea that attacked her Erin pulled on her
walking shoes and headed out to begin her daily trek.  She didn’t feel as
energetic and her spirit had begun to flag.  Still, she pressed on, knocking on
every door where she felt there was any possibility of her finding work.

She was speaking
with a receptionist at a small family restaurant when her phone rang.

“Excuse me.”  She
gave the woman an apologetic smile and turned away to take the call.  “Ms.
Samuels?”  It was a male voice, deep and gravelly and very formal.

“Yes, this is Erin
Samuels.”  Her heart leaped in anticipation.  Was this the good news she’d been
praying for before?

“This is Mike
Mason from Benny’s Restaurant.  You dropped off an application on Monday.” 
There was the sound of papers shuffling in the background.  Then he continued. 
“I was wondering if you could come in to meet with me tomorrow?”

“Yes, of course,”
she said, breathless.  “What time would you like me to come in?”

They made the
arrangements then Erin slid the phone shut.  Her first interview.  At the
thought her face broke into a wide smile.  She couldn’t help it.  Thank you,
God.

Then, remembering
where she was, she quickly composed herself and walked back to the reception
desk where she proceeded to enquire about job openings.  She had to keep
searching.  Who knew what tomorrow would bring?  She was keeping her fingers
crossed that she’d nail it.  But until then she would keep on looking.

Next day Erin arrived
ten minutes early for her first interview.  She’d worn her navy blue power suit
and her curly hair was pulled back into a neat bun.  She announced herself to
the greeter who invited her to a small office where she could wait for Mr.
Mason.

Perched on the
edge of her chair with her purse clutched tightly on her lap Erin surveyed the
room.  It was a small, neat office with very little furniture except for a huge
antique desk that dominated the room.  The restaurant, too, had been neat and
clean.  She'd observed that as she was following the girl to the office.  She
liked that.  The place had a homely atmosphere that made her feel almost
comfortable, as if she worked there already and had been doing so for years.

  “Ms. Samuels.” 

Erin turned toward
the voice and her eyes widened in surprise.  The man was huge, big and brawny
but with a friendly face and a wide smile.  He reminded her of Yogi Bear.

“Mr. Mason?” she
asked as she rose and extended her hand.

“The same,” he
said with a nod.  His hand was like a bear’s paw, swallowing hers whole.  Then
he released her and waved his hand.  “Sit, sit.  Make yourself comfortable.” 

Erin sank back
into the chair and watched as he ambled around the desk and dropped into the
leather chair.  Now she understood why the desk was so massive.  Mr. Mason
would never have been able to fit behind anything smaller.

With his beefy
hands he shuffled through the papers on his desk then he grabbed a sheet and
held it up.  “Here we are.  Quite an impressive resume,” he said and gave her a
smile and a look that made him seem genuinely impressed.  “ Summa cum laude. 
Wow.  You must be genius material.”

Erin blushed,
grateful for the compliment but a bit uncomfortable with his praise.  “I study
hard, that’s all.”

“And you know what
that tells me about you?” Mike said, slamming the paper on the table.  “You’re
a hard worker.  You’re the kind of person we want here.  Now when can you
start?”

“Wh…what?  That’s
it?  Aren’t you going to ask me any questions?”  Erin stared at the man, wondering
if he’d gone mad.  What kind of interview was this?

“Nope.  I read
your resume, now I’ve seen you, and I like you.  That’s it.”  He shrugged then
leaned back in the chair and locked his fingers across his paunch.  “So do you
want the job or not?”

Erin knitted her
brows in confusion.  “I…do want the job."  She gave him a bright smile. 
“I can start right away, Mr. Mason.”

“Good.  We have a
party of twenty-two coming in this afternoon and that’s in addition to our
regular customers so it’s going to be busy.  Sally will get you a uniform and
you’ll be good to go.”  He pulled out a sheet of paper from a folder and slid
it across the desk toward her.  “Now let's talk money.”

Erin didn’t bother
to hide her smile.  She liked the sound of that.  A lot.

Her luck had
finally turned and now she could breathe again.  She’d work hard and tuck away
as much money as she could.  She guessed she could hide her pregnancy for
another three months, tops, and then, God help her, she’d be on her own.  Mr.
Mason seemed like a nice man but how would he react when he learned of her
condition?  She could only pray he’d be sympathetic.