Forever Branded (Billionaire Love Series #1) (20 page)

He chuckled softly. “I don’t know if he would like you calling his yacht a boat.”

“Why not?”

“He’s kind of particular about that kind of stuff.”

“See, I knew Beau when he was just a cool kid on his way to having a hockey career.”

“What was he like then?”

“Obviously, he was a little more laid back. The Beau I knew would never care about what things were called or worry about having a playboy image. He had a great sense of humor, laughed easily, and looked out for others. He was a great guy.”

“I guess everybody was young once.”

I laughed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Out of nowhere, Beau stepped out of the shadows, surprising both of us.

“Hey, Beau,” Dane greeted as his back went ramrod straight.

Beau coldly glanced at his intern. “Dane, why don’t you see to my other guests?” he asked, his voice all command.

The intern’s eyes got wide. “Sure, boss,” he said and scurried off.

Such audacity, after making me watch him grind up on half the women in Baltimore. “Really, Beau? You don’t have anything better to do than terrorize your interns?”

“You’re still looking out for the underdog, I see.”

“Yeah, I do look out for others. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“But Dane was interested in a little more than being nice to you.”

“He’s a kid, Beau. He’s my so—” I stopped myself before mentioning my son, Charlie. “I mean, he’s just young, okay? Too young. I’m almost forty-one.”

“That’s right. You have a birthday in a couple of months.”

“You remember that?”

“What can I say? I remember useless dates and facts all the time.”

Ouch, that one hurt.

“Good to know you still have a memory like a steel trap. But it wouldn’t kill you to be a little nicer to the people who work for you.”

His jaw stuck out stubbornly...his beautiful jaw. I wanted to run my hand along its rough edge and see if the texture had changed since he’d grown into a man. But the scowl on his face told me he wasn’t about to let me find out.

“If Dane can’t take me being mean to him, he’s in the wrong business,” Beau clarified, as if it justified whatever he wanted to say.

“Since when did you become so cynical?” I asked.

He scoffed. “Do you really have to ask that?”

“I haven’t seen you in a long time. I know there are things—“

“Did you mean what you said?” he asked, cutting me off.

“What did I say, Beau?”

“That I was a great guy in high school.”

“What does it matter?”

“It matters to me.” His face was shadowed by the overhang of the deck above us, making it hard to read his facial expression.

I was done playing games as I sighed heavily. “Yeah, Beau. I meant it.”

Our eyes met as he came toward me, a glimpse of the old Beau shining through as our gazes held. He even leaned against the rail like he was interested in continuing our conversation.

Maybe we could move on from the past. Maybe he was ready.

That hope compelled me to apologize. “Beau, I just wanted to say I’m—”

His relaxed face suddenly grew stone cold. “I don’t want to hear it.” Without another word, he shoved off the lip of the deck and walked off.

“I’m sorry for breaking your heart,” I whispered to the sea air. “I didn’t mean it. I’m so sorry,” I said softly, the wind carrying the words out to the ocean, keeping it a secret for another day.

Pop! Pop!

Fireworks lit up the night sky, so I went back to where I’d left my sister and Grace to enjoy the show. I tried to concentrate on the rainbow of colors in the sky, but I still saw Beau had his arm draped around yet another woman. This one had legs that went on for days.

Sadness poured over me as if a pitcher of cold water had been tipped over my head. The stark reality I had been facing all night hit me squarely in the face. Beau and I were never going to get back together. He was throwing all these women in my face to show how much he had moved on.

“Earth to Marla,” Grace said as I stared into space, wishing I wasn’t on this damn boat.

“What?”

“Where are you, girl?” she asked.

I sighed. “I’m struggling. It was a bad idea to come aboard tonight.”

“So why does seeing Beau bother you so much?” Emma asked, curiosity bright in her gaze.

“It’s a long story.  But basically Beau and I fell in love when I was his tutor.  I thought we would be together always, but it didn’t turn out that way,” I said flatly.

“Well, that explains a lot,” Emma said.

“Your sister really loves him,” Grace chimed in.

“Is that true, Marla?” Emma’s glance searched mine.

“Yeah, I still love him,” I admitted.

“Does he still have feelings for you?” my sister asked gently.

“Just look at all this.” Grace swept her hand from side to side, pointing to the massive party of mostly women.

“That’s true.  Beau does seem to have gone to a lot of trouble to bring all these ladies aboard,” Emma agreed. “I think he still has feeling for you.”

“Yeah, like hate and disgust,” I offered dryly.

“No. There’s more to it than that.  You just need to hang in there. Pretend you’re having a good time. Laugh, Marla. Act like I just said something funny,” Grace implored me.

I tried to shake off my sadness. “Okay,” I said, letting out a fake burst of laughter.

“Good. Don’t let him see how upset you are. We’re almost home,” she encouraged.

I nodded, the pressure in my chest growing, almost crushing me.

Hold it together, Marla. You’re almost there.

I made it until I saw the harbor, the bright lights of the city welcoming us back. I could barely breathe by the time we docked. I wanted out of there.

“Emma, I’ll wait for you by the car. I can’t stand this any longer,” I told her as I hightailed it to the exit.

She nodded understandingly as I made a beeline for the dock. I marched down the gangplank, determined to get onto dry land.

I just wanted to get away, but Beau was hot on my heels, not content to let me go in peace. I’d had it. He was going to get what he wanted from me—an epic reaction.

“You made your point, Beau,” I yelled wildly, running down the gangplank before he grabbed my arm.

I turned, ready to do battle.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Beau:

I studied Marla closely as I fondled and flirted with the women I’d hired to play the part. My plan was working; she was crumbling. I could see it in her eyes, every time she glanced my way.

Why didn’t I feel good about it?

Why did I still care about her feelings?

It hadn’t helped I’d heard her voice as I was passing by the little alcove on the stern railing, her words catching me off guard.

“The Beau I knew...was a great guy,” she offered wistfully, as if she meant it.

I stepped out then, compelled to reveal myself as I’d chased off that little pip-squeak of an intern when I saw the way he looked at Marla.

She’d immediately challenged me about the way I was treating Dane, but her concern was just an act she had perfected over the years. Still, it was stupid and foolish of me to ask her if she meant what she said about me.

But she didn’t lie or back down.

She just told me the truth and, for a brief moment, I remembered how good I felt when I was with her.

I didn’t know what to do with that.

Then she fucked up and tried to apologize about the way she broke up with me, and that would have ruined everything. I wasn’t about to let her off the hook.

I walked away, her doe eyes full of remorse as I left her standing on the back of the ship. For the rest of the evening, I watched her as she stayed tight with Emma and Grace.

I left her alone until the yacht docked, when I caught a blur of movement out of the corner of my eye as someone shot by me.

I could tell it was her. I still hadn’t lost my ability to recognize the way she moved, full of purpose, but light on her feet. I bolted after her before I even realized what I was doing. I followed her down the gangplank as I grabbed her bare arm, her skin just as soft as I remembered.

She looked back at me. “Leave me alone!” Her eyes were full of tears. “I don’t know why I even came tonight. It was so stupid!”

“Poor, pitiful Marla. Always the martyr,” I seethed, trying not to be sucked in by her act. “Don’t come on my yacht, pretending you’re above it all.”

Her glance glittered with challenge. “Above it all? Who’s the one parading out his big, fancy yacht with all the slutty girls at his disposal?”

“I don’t have to apologize to you. I owe you nothing, Marla Matthews. Nothing!”

She wiped at her eyes. “You’re right. You don’t owe me anything. I just always thought if we saw each other again, we could just be nice to one another. Wish each other well. That sort of thing.”

“That’s a fuckin’ lie. How can you ever expect us to be friends and forget the past?”

“Because it’s been twenty years.”

I scoffed. “Not happening.”

“Why? We’re adults. I can handle it. Can’t you?”

“I wish I’d never met you, Marla Matthews,” I admitted.

Visibly shaken, she took my words hard. “If only you knew the truth, Beau. You would find it in your heart to forgive me,” she let out brokenly.

“A heart? I don’t have one of those anymore. You made sure of that.”

Her doe eyes filled with compassion. “Oh, Beau.”

A cold sneer crept across my face. “Don’t look at me like that. Don’t pretend to know the hell I’ve been through.”

She crumbled more under my spiteful words. “I won’t pretend. I know it’s been hard for you. But why don’t you tell me?” she pleaded.

“Tell you what?” I asked.

“Why does it have to be this way? Can’t we just let bygones be bygones?”

“Is that what you want? For everything that’s happened between us to be a goddamn bygone?”

She nodded, hope in her eyes.

I leaned in close as fierceness blazed from my gaze. “We will never be a bygone. Never.”

*****

Yeah, that didn’t go down exactly as I had planned.

Marla was
a lot
more emotional than I anticipated.

So was I, for that matter.

She just brought it out of me. I’d been almost numb for twenty years; but put me in the same room as Marla Matthews, and I was a floodgate of feelings.

Damn it.

She ran off, leaving me standing there, wondering what the hell had just happened. I shook my head and cursed myself for letting her get the best of me.

I tried to let it go over the next few days, burying myself in a pile of work so deep I didn’t have time to think about anything else. That’s what I did when I didn’t want to deal with my shit.

Anyway, that Thursday, around seven, I hustled over to the Baltimore Arena to watch the Gators take on Texas. As I arrived, my luxury box hummed with the noise of the boisterous crowd.

This was my second home during hockey season. Sleek and modern, I’d had it decked out with a full kitchen, bar, a full wall of TV’s and a pool table. The ultimate man cave. It was a great place to do business while being entertained by the game. But every once in a while, I scheduled it for myself.

I sat in one of the plush chairs, going over some paperwork as I watched the game. It was a never-ending cycle which required my constant attention. When I was starting out in real estate, I’d hired a reading specialist who helped me overcome my Dyslexic issues. I was able to read much better these days.

“Would you like another scotch, sir?” Joaquin, the waiter asked as I looked over a contract. 

I handed him my glass. “Yeah, bring me another...no, wait.” I needed to loosen up a little bit. Nothin’ like a cold beer to relax me. “Why don’t you bring me a beer? A Fat Tire.”

“Sir?” Joaquin questioned as his young face melted into confusion.

I didn’t drink much beer.

“Yeah, I know. But I want a Fat Tire.”

He smiled. “One Fat Tire coming up.”

I returned my attention to the game as he left. We were down 2-1, but I was confident we could turn it around.

Joaquin brought me a glass of foamy beer and placed it in the cup holder next to me as I gave him strict instructions to be left alone. People bothered me with the dumbest shit and I just wanted a break from everything.

A few minutes later, I heard the door open. “I said no visitors, Joaquin.”

“Oh, am I a visitor now?” Micah Turner’s deep voice rumbled from behind me.

I turned around in my seat to look at the giant hockey player. He even had me by a couple of inches. “Oh you are definitely not a visitor, man. Come on in and have a seat.”