Passion Overseas: A Billionaire BWWM Holiday Romance (6 page)

She looked at him and
shook her head.

“
What
do you mean?” she asked looking at him sadly.

“
I
just can’t do this goodbye thing. I hate it and seeing the
sadness in your eyes is going to be too much for me,” he said
touching her chin.

“
I
don’t care what you say. I am taking you to the airport no
matter what you say,” she said with a smile.

He leaned in and
brushed her lips with his.

“
This
is too much to ask,” he said softly.

“
Really?
What am I supposed to do while you are away doing God knows what? I
mean, you are going to be away for a whole week. Are you going to
deny me the last forty minutes in heaven?” she asked as she
looked at me.

“
I
guess you will always be the one to win arguments in this
relationship,” he said as he looked at her.

“
Aww,
you just said that we are in a relationship,” she said.

He moved closer to
her and smiled.

“
Well,
that’s what is going on right? We are in a relationship, aren’t
we?” he asked. She shrugged and leaned in to kiss him.

“
So,
what time is your flight?” she asked.

He looked at his
watch and shrugged.

“
In
around three hours,” he said looking at her seated in nothing
but her underwear. “You should probably get dressed.”

“
Well,
we have to head out then,” she said climbing off the bed. She
pulled on a pair of blue jeggings and a white flowered halter top.
She held her hair in a high bun and retouched her lip gloss before
she grabbed her sunglasses from the table.

“
Ready?”
Daniel asked as Erica put on a pair of black peep toe heels. She
figured that she was not going to go anywhere so she thought that
putting on a pair of fancy shoes was the best her day was going to
get. She walked into the bedroom and nodded.

“
Ready,”
she said in a low voice as she looked around. “Where are the
keys to the car?” “They are right…” Daniel
started as he turned around. The way she looked blew him away.
“Whoa,” he said in a soft voice.

“
What?”
she asked.

“
You
look amazing.”

“
Really?
I haven’t done anything different.”

“
Most
people just say thanks,” he said with a smile.

She looked at him and
nodded.

“
Well,
thanks babe. But if you keep looking at me like that you are going to
strip me naked and be late. So, hand them over,” she said
holding her hand out. Daniel walked towards her pulling his suitcase
behind him. He handed her the car keys and looked into her eyes.

“
You
know, you really don’t have to come,” he said.

She shrugged and
rolled her eyes.

“
We
are most definitely going to the airport babe. So you can stop trying
to change my mind,” she said.

“
So,
you promise not to cry? Because if I see a single tear, I will change
my mind,” he said as he looked at her.

“
Babe,
this is the future of your company and you did not drag me as eye
candy to some meeting in Caracas for nothing. So shut up already,”
she said with a smile. “Plus, what do you think the sunglasses
are for anyway?” she asked.

Daniel frowned and
then raised an eyebrow.

“
Um…sun?”
he asked. She shrugged and began walking out with him following her.
“So, you’re driving? I’m not entirely sure how I
feel about that,” he started as they walked into the elevator.

“
Why?”

“
My
sister made me fear all women drivers. I mean, the girl is ruthless
on the road. She could be the very thing that sparked road rage in
America,” he added shaking his head.

“
Really,
that bad?” she asked as she looked at him.

“
I
am very surprised that I never ended up in some kind of driver’s
therapy. Or is it road victims’ therapy,” he said, a
faraway look in his eyes. She looked at him as the elevator doors
opened and shook her head.

“
Well,
I am not Melanie. So you can relax,” she said as they walked
out.

“
You
remembered her name,” Daniel said with a smile as he looked at
her.

She smiled and
shrugged.

“
Was
I supposed to ignore the fact that I have a great memory?” she
asked.

He looked at her as
they climbed into the car.

“
You
could be the most awesome girl I have ever known,” he said.

She looked at him and
flashed him a smile as she buckled herself in. “Could be?”

“
You
are definitely the best,” he said.

She put on her
sunglasses and revved the engine to life.

“
Good
choice,” she said as she pulled out of the hotel parking lot.
She was relatively quiet during the short drive to the airport. She
had no idea what she was supposed to say. Every thought in her head
was the fact that he was going and she was going to be alone. She
would steal glances at him every so often and he was noticing it. He
took her free hand in his and pressed his lips into her small hand.

“
This
is going to be the hardest week of my life,” he said in a soft
voice.

“
It’s
going to be the hardest one for me too,” she said as she looked
at him. He looked at her but she was already concentrating on the
road. She was trying hard not to cry. She had her eyes fixated on the
road. Like she had predicted, she was already getting emotional.

By the time she
pulled in to the airport parking lot, she already felt like she was
saying goodbye to her world. And it was going to be hard for her too,
harder than she ever thought possible. She took a long deep breath
and turned to look at him. “You know this is going to be the
first time in two months that we are going to be apart?” she
asked.

“
I
know,” he said in a low voice.

“
So,
one whole week, huh?” she said in a whisper.

“
Hey,
no crying. You are going to make me sad,” he said as he held
her face in his hands. She looked at him and shrugged. “This is
why I hate goodbyes,” he said as he pressed his forehead to
hers. She moaned sadly and shook her head.

“
So,
let’s just get this over with,” she said as she climbed
out of the car. Daniel felt bad seeing her this said. He climbed out
of the car and walked over to where she was. He took her hand in his
and together, they walked to the departures terminal. “So, let
me guess. You are taking some Arabian flight?” she asked as she
looked at him.

“
You
know it,” he smiled and nodded. “Apparently I cannot take
the company jet on personal business.”

“
Maybe
it’s time you got your own personal jet,” she teased.

“
Actually,
I did and then somehow my sister got it for quote unquote an errand.
Let’s just say that any time I need it, it is always
unavailable. Some kind of joint venture with my mom who if I must
add, is always on a trip,” he said.

“
I
guess it’s just the thing with family,” she said with a
smile.

“
Now,
listen. I knew that everything was going to be hard on you and I
wanted to make things easier on you. So I already got us tickets to
Belize on Qatar Airways. Business class,” he said.

“
Daniel
Reese, are you trying to bribe me?” she laughed as she looked
at him.

“
Maybe.
But it all depends,” he said looking at her.

“
On
what?” she asked as she looked at him. He stepped closer and
slipped an arm around her waist.

“
Is
it working?” he asked in a soft voice.

“
Pretty
much,” she said in a low voice. He smiled and brought his head
down to meet her lips in a long luxurious kiss. She looked at him
when he pulled away. Her heart was beating hard and fast. “So,
this is it then, huh?” she asked as she looked into his eyes.

“
One
week, baby. Just seven days,” he said in a soft voice.

“
See
you in seven days then,” she said as she wrapped her arms
around his shoulders. Daniel held her tightly inhaling the sweet
lavender scent that was her shampoo. What he didn’t know, was
that she was also doing the same, inhaling his familiar manly scent.
She pulled away and kissed him again. “If I don’t go now,
I swear the water works are going to come on,” she said.

He smiled and nodded.
“I love you.”

“
I
love you more. Call me as soon as you land.”

“
You
know I will,” he said before he walked into the terminal. She
looked at him as he went through security. He looked at her and gave
her a small wave before he went on to get checked in. He could not
help but feel sad as he walked to the bench. He sat down and wondered
if this was what he wanted to do. He had to go, otherwise everything
would fall apart. He shrugged and pulled out his phone. As he
scrolled his contact list, he wondered if he was on the right track.
On the one hand, he had to go back and sort this out. After all, a
coffee maker that would retail for seventeen grand was definitely
worth fighting for but at the same time, he was a CEO. And that meant
that he was supposed to sit back while his minions did everything.

He
had been sitting there for two hours when it finally hit him. “I
think I just figured this out,” he thought as he called his
assistant. Well, it’s ten o’clock right now which means
it’s around half past four back at home,” he thought as
he listened to the phone ring. “Lena, hi. Get the accounts
team, R&D and the CFO in the board room in five. I’ll call
you back. And you better all be there,” he said before he hung
up. He pulled his iPad out of his bag. “Damn this connection,”
he thought as he looked at the connection status on his tablet.
“Finally,” he thought when the connection finally went
through. He made a call to the office and waited for the connection
to go through.

“
Hello,
Mr. Reese. We are all here as requested,” Lena said.

“
Good.
I wanted to let you all know that I will not be coming back,”
he started. He noticed everyone grumbling and he raised his finger.
“Well, you better listen to me because I have made up my mind.
I pay you to take care of things so that tweak that needs to be done,
R&D, get on it or you can kiss your jobs goodbye. And the money
that we don’t have for the tweaks, accounts better take care of
that or it’s your jobs,” he said. “And the new
domestic coffee maker better be unique by the time you call me or
again, it will be your jobs,” he added matter of factly.
“Capiche?” he asked looking at his screen. He saw
everyone looking around the board room.

“
Yes
sir, Mr. Reese,” Lena said on behalf of everyone.

“
Good.
Now get to work,” he said before he hung up. He noticed the
people seated around giving him a weird look. “I’m just
on my…uh…honeymoon and they…you know,” he
said uncomfortably.

“
Qatar
Airways, flight 220 to St. Louis via London now boarding,”
Daniel heard a voice over the PA doing the familiar boarding call. A
smile played on his lips as he began walking to the other direction.

“
Sir,
the boarding gate is on the other side,” an airport worker said
to him.

“
I’m
not leaving,” he said smiling as he walked. He could not wait
to see the look on Erica’s face when she saw him. It was going
to be the surprise of a lifetime. What he didn’t know was what
had happened to Erica when he walked away…

Erica was looking at
the back of Daniel’s body as he walked away. She was fighting
to keep from running after him. It might have been romantic in the
movies but in real life it was downright awkward and sad. And stupid.
She gave him a little wave with her fingers when she saw him waving
at her. She waited until he was through security before she looked
around and wondered if she could get something to eat. She noticed a
coffee shop on one corner and walked towards it. She had already made
up her mind about what she wanted to do. She walked up to the counter
and looked at the array of decadent cakes on display. She wanted
everything.

“
Can
I help you miss?” a young lady behind the counter asked in a
heavy Greek accent.

“
Yeah.
I want something frosty, sweet and fattening,” she said. The
woman looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “My boyfriend just
left,” she said.

“
Oh
so you ended relationship?” the woman asked.

Erica smiled and
shook her head.

“
No,
it’s nothing like that. He had to go and take care of some
business and I have to stay here and wait. So I want to eat my
feelings,” she said as she looked at the cakes on display.

“
Ah,
you’re American,” the woman smiled.

Erica looked up and
shrugged.

“
Yeah.
I guess we are pretty well known when it comes to confectioneries and
deep fried food,” she said. The woman smiled and pointed to
some cupcakes. “Oh my God, are those red velvet?” she
asked.

The woman smiled at
her and nodded.

“
You
want those?” she asked.

“
Yes
please. I’ll have two and oh…that blueberry forest looks
perfect. So I’ll have a slice of that too,” Erica said
with a smile. She was salivating as she watched the attendant pack
her order. She could not wait to get back to the hotel and just dive
in. “Or I could just get started in the car. Hell, it’s a
rental,” she thought as she pulled out a bill from her pocket.
“Will this cover it?” she asked as she handed the woman
the bill.