Melody Anne's Billionaire Universe: Her Billionaire's Bargain (Kindle Worlds Novella) (6 page)

Zac got up and stood by the window. He stared out over the city it was dark, but the lights were bright like welcoming beacons. His hometown. It was growing fast, booming in commerce and the population. Charlotte was the place to be. Until a few weeks ago.

Overlin had to work.
Zac knew that and he’d been avoiding the issue for a week. He didn’t purposely set it aside, but with all the other projects going up in smoke, he’d thankfully gotten a reprieve. If he didn’t think about Overlin, he didn’t think about Kourtney Deen.

That wasn’t true. To his body and soul, those two things were not mutually connected. Even if his mind could block it out for the most part, as soon as he was laying down at night emotions took over and his last thought as well as his first thought in the morning was of Kourtney. It took every amount of effort for him not to analyze the feelings that were going deep for the beautiful, sexy, smart, stubborn woman. The admiration and feelings he was starting to have for Kourtney weren’t new to him. He’d been ‘in love’ before in high school then again in college. It was the college break-up that had almost taken him off his firm business plan. His discovering she had been using him to get his father to invest in her father’s company proved to him that everyone was an opportunist.

Relationships with women after that became just as much a mutual business negotiation as everything else in his life.

The impression that he was missing something big with her had not gone away and was consuming his gut more. Over his lifetime, he’d learned to trust his gut. It had not steered him wrong in business or his personal life, ever.
But what was it?

“The bottom line I saw is that the Overlin contract has to come through.” Rebecca’s voice broke into his thoughts.

He glanced to his left. In the corner was the miniature of Overlin, a one yard by one yard table top design of the luxury, hotel, hot springs mineral spa facility, and more important the spa. The PGA was in talks with the city and him about adding at least three annual tournaments there, two celebrity tournaments. Where celebrities went, fans followed and paid out big. The structure drew him. He crossed the space toward it and stared down at the small tiny house on the east side of the place.

Like all the other businesses and houses that had been around the property previously, it was a removable piece. It had to go.

Turning, he faced the other two in the room who had continued the conversation between each other. They both stopped talking and glanced at him, waiting.

“Move the financial meeting to tomorrow sometime if Jim can do it.” His financial guy Jim Landor was a grandfather of six and a family man. Even though he generally worked on the weekend, he never made that a mandatory thing for his staff. Even Dillion got time off, but with a phone attached to his hip. “If not, Monday first thing.”

“Will do, boss.” Dillion keyed in notes on his tablet.

He looked to Rebecca. “Get me a copy of the contract for the last business and meet me at the elevator. It’s getting signed tonight.” Adding one more instruction to Dillion, he headed toward the door. “Call Steve and tell him to bring the car around in ten.”

“Mr. Powers. It is seven at night. That bakery closed at two.” Rebecca called from behind him as he strutted out of the conference room.

The corridors were now silent and bare. Ninety-eight percent of his staff had already gone home and started their weekends. To him the weekends were just quiet business days for him to plan, prep, strategize in making his company bigger, better.

“Then I’ll go to her house.” Zac never broke stride. “Dillion inform Steve.”

“On it, boss.” Dillion was now in step with him pressing a speed dial button on his phone.

“See you at the elevator.” Rebecca peeled off and went in the reverse direction toward her office.

He passed Dillion’s office with its glass walls and walked into his. The only glass in the room was a wall of windows that matched the ones in his bedroom. He could see out, but no one saw in. Not even at night with all the lights on as it was lit up now.

His assistant had gone to his own office, and Zac was grateful. He needed a few moments to compose himself, get his thoughts together. There was no doubt in his mind a battle awaited him with Kourtney. It was the discussion there were supposed to have eight days ago over dinner. Or any subsequent day since then.

They’d have it now. She’d see the power and unmovable fortress that made and ran Zac Acquisition & Development and brought them to the success they’d achieved over the years. Good sex and feelings be damned, this was business.

~YH~

“Alex.” Zac called out after pushing the button on his steering column to activate his cars Bluetooth as he negotiated the uptown traffic. “How are things in Seattle?”

Normally Steven would have driven him, but he’d sent his driver home, because the mission before him he preferred to do alone. Mostly, because he had learned from other times that being around Kourtney Deen was always unpredictable. Convincing her to sign the contract and sell the property her store sat on to Zac Acquisition & Development was not going to be a cut and dry task. However, he had no plans to leave until she did. He had racked his brain and couldn’t see any other way around it.

“Ah, great, Zac. Anytime you want to bring your side of the family back here, we will take it.” His cousin teased.

“See I was thinking you all were getting tired of the rainy weather and wanted more sunshine.” Hearing from his cousin was just what he needed right now. He was so mentally stressed speaking with Alex provided him a reprieve.

“Doubtful. The Anderson corporate roots run too deep here, just like you all have done there in North Carolina, Zac.”

“True.”

“So, what do I owe this call to? Did the Powers side forget to get our family reunion deposit in?”

“If you did, I’d leave that call to my mother to handle with yours. I try not to get very involved in all that.”

They both chuckled in agreement.

“So, you’re not calling about business or the reunion so what’s going on.” He took the interstate ramp that would lead him in the direction of Harrisburg.

“I got married.” Alex declared.

Shocked, Zac wasn’t sure how to respond to the three word announcement. Even though his older cousin Lucas had fallen, Alex was more like his self—business minded. Alex was driven, and ate and breathed corporate success above all. Just like him. Pulling himself out of his reverie he asked, “What prompted your walk down the aisle? I didn’t even realize from our last talk months ago that you were leaning in that direction.”

“I wasn’t.” Alex exhaled hard into the phone. “She got pregnant.” He paused. “I couldn’t walk away from this my son. Instant love when I saw Jacob’s little face.” The tone of his cousin’s voice revealed the awe Alex was feeling.

“Well, if you’re happy…”

“With my son yes. Jessica, my wife, and I are working through it all.”

“Well, I guess that just leaves Mark and me. You know my brother was the first to fall.”

“It changes everything.”

There was a weight and knowledge to Alex’s words, Zac had to be honest with himself that he just didn’t understand. “I’m sure. Well, I’ll get my assistant to send you all both a wedding and baby gift. Can’t wait to meet your Jessica and Jacob next year.”

“Maybe you’ll have some lady as your plus one at the family reunion.”

“Doubtful.” Zac laughed hard. “We’re both too busy to talk anymore nonsense.”

“Then explain to me what the hell your Governor was thinking in signing that law.”

“Fuck if I know.” Now this was the exact discussion Zac expected from his tycoon cousin as he took the exit off the interstate.

~YH~

“Can I
haf
cheese on my popcorn, Mommy?” Zendaya kneeled on a stool at the bar and watched the popcorn bounce up and around in the maker.

“Yes, button, you sure can.” Kourtney set a large bowl on the small kitchen island.

“Cheese doesn’t like Ms. Margo.”

Kourtney laughed. “You mean Ms. Margo’s body doesn’t like cheese. She’s lactose intolerant, remember? In milk, cheese, ice cream or things made from a cow.” She turned to cross the few steps to the refrigerator.

“Lactose. Laaaactose. Lactooooose.” Her daughter continued to repeat.

She couldn’t help but smile at her daughter playing around with the word. It was game night for her and her daughter. Instead of going to the movie as they had done last Friday, they were staying in and playing Shuts and Ladders, Uno and Sorry as they gorged on popcorn. It was the nanny’s night off. Tomorrow Ms. Margo would take Zendaya to her best friend’s party and sleepover while Kourtney went to work.

At the open refrigerator, she asked, “Do you want apple juice or sweet tea?” Normally, she limited the sugary drinks her daughter consumed, but on Friday and Saturday she was more lenient.

Zendaya’s lips twisted from left to right as she contemplated her choices. “Sweet tea.”

“Ah, spoken like a true southern girl.” She smiled back at her daughter as she grabbed the glass pitcher from the top shelf.

Her daughter beamed. “It’s done! It’s done.”

“Okay. Wait, I will help you get it out. Otherwise I fear I’ll be picking up popcorn from the floor all night.” She poured their two drinks first, then placed them on the round kitchen table where the first board game was already set up. When she returned to the island her daughter was already holding the scooper and the bowl.

She was glad she’d purchased the popcorn maker. It was a smaller version of the maker at a theater. The popcorn was better than microwave or pot cooked and it highly entertained her daughter, in turn made it a pleasure for her to watch.

“Now, button, remember to be careful. Some of the kernels can be hot if they touch your skin.” She undid the latch that held the glass door closed during popping.

“I’ll be careful, Mommy.” Zendaya dug into the hill of popcorn and dumped the first scoop into the bowl. Then she used her other hand to pull one out and pop it into her mouth. “Yum.”

“An official taster’s job is never done. It is how I make sure my cupcakes are delicious each and every time.”

“Oh, yeah.” Her daughter was rocking back and forth as she started scooping again.

Kourtney was sure her daughter was remembering the chocolate cupcake a blood orange cream filling and a chocolate ganache topping. There was still two more on the counter.

“That’s good.” She took the scooper and closed the glass door. “What kind of cheese do you want? Cheddar or parmesan?”

Zendaya left the bowl on the counter as she jumped down from the stool and rushed to the refrigerator.  Kourtney went to get the microplane grater from the drawer.

“Can we have both?”

Her mouth went dry at the thought of the two different cheeses. “Um…they normally don’t go together, but sure. It’s your popcorn.” She went to the cabinet and grabbed a smaller bowl to fill with her own popcorn. Her palate and a seven year old’s tastes buds were not the same.

“Who’s
phat
?” Her daughter was eating a pinch of cheese as she turned toward the front of the townhouse the direction of the knocking sound.

“I don’t know who that is.” She said, just as they finished preparing one bowl with dual cheeses and another with cayenne, garlic powder and kosher salt. Grabbing the two bowls, Kourtney placed them on the table. “I’ll see. Be back.”

“Okie dokie.” Her daughter was barely paying attention to her as Zendaya was busy shoving handfuls of over cheesed popcorn into her mouth.

Shaking her head and laughing at her daughter antics, she went to the door and pulled it open.

“Good evening, Ms. Deen.”

Oh, God, please let the floor open up and swallow me.

Her heart stopped. She was sure her heart stopped beating for seconds, maybe even a full minute as she stared into the face of the man she expected never to see again.

Heat infused her body from the inside out as Zachary’s gaze made a slow caress of her form like molasses running down a tree. She now knew how a cherry felt under the fire of a
flambé
. She regretted her casual at home attire.

This man was invading her personal space, her life in more ways than one. Her heart was pounding and all she thought about was that she needed to get rid of him. “What are you doing here?”

His clear gray eyes met hers, the warmth still present. “I’m glad you made it home safe.”

“Yes, it took me a week to get here.” She wished she could retract the bite in her tone. He would think that she cared that he didn’t call after their night together. Don’t you?

“When a woman creeps out in the middle of the night it doesn’t give me a sign they are interested in my continued attention.”

Zing
. He got her. There was a shadow in his eyes and a tightness to his brow. Regardless of her reasons for leaving his arms, it had been wrong of her not to at least leave a note of some kind. Refusing to relent, she folded her arms and gave him a hard look.

His gaze dropped to her breasts and she realized her mistake. The crossing of her arms lifted her unrestrained breasts high beneath her tank top.