Rainwater Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (7 page)

"T
here you go, honey, all
done."

I turned my head from side to side
in the mirror, barely recognizing myself. Marissa wolf-whistled and Allie
clapped.

The hairdresser had piled my hair
up on my head in such a way that it looked as though cascades of dark curls
would fall endlessly down my back. I didn't even know how she made it look like
my hair was that full and thick, but it was beautiful. My makeup was perfect,
and it all accented the little black dress Owen had left at the spa for me to
wear. Marissa had drooled as she looked at the designer label and threatened to
steal it when I wasn't looking.

I felt like Cinderella.

"If you're Cinderella, what
does that make us? The ugly stepsisters?" Allie asked, sipping on a cup of
tea. I hadn't realized I had said anything out loud.

"Yeah, and we don't even get
to go the ball tonight!" Marissa added with a laugh. I blushed slightly,
flustered.

"Oh, hey, speaking of which,
here comes Prince Charming now," Allie announced, looking out the window
to the street.

I looked in the mirror just in time
to see Owen sauntering up to the glass door. He was wearing a casual gray suit
and looked hot enough to start a fire. He looked so hot, I was surprised that
there wasn't smoke drifting off of his footsteps.

He opened the door and glanced
around until he saw me. His jaw dropped a little, and even in the reflection of
the mirror, I could see his pupils dilate as I stood up to greet him. I hadn't
gotten a reaction quite like that in a while. It made me feel all tingly and
special.

"You look spectacular,"
he whispered, leaning forward to kiss my cheek gently, careful not to mess up
my makeup. "Not that you don't usually look amazing, but...wow."

I laughed, glad to see him a little
flustered. "Thank you."

"Well, ladies, thank you for
keeping my date company today. I think it's time I stole her away,
though," he said, managing to regain his composure as he turned toward
Allie and Marissa.

"Thank you for the invite! We
had a great time," Allie answered quickly. She grinned up at him.

"You sure you don't have a
brother? Maybe a cousin, even?" Marissa asked. Owen laughed. I was glad he
was able to take her in stride. I loved Marissa, but she could be a bit much at
first.

"You two have a great time.
And remember to tell us all the good parts at work on Sunday," Marissa
said with a wink. I could feel myself blush, but Owen just took my arm in his
and grinned at her.

"I don't know if she'll have
time to tell you all the good parts. Your shift is only twelve hours long after
all." He winked at her and she lit up in a smile.

"I think you've got a keeper,
Kaylee. Though, Owen, if it doesn't work out..." Marissa gave him a
naughty smirk.

"Then I'll give Allie a
call," he replied with a straight face. Allie snorted. He turned to me,
his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. "You ready?"

I nodded, and my friends waved
goodbye as we stepped out the door. A limo pulled up to the curb as we stepped
onto the sidewalk, and the driver hopped out to open the door. Owen let me
slide in first, following closely behind me. The interior was warm and had
romantic lighting.

"So where are we going?"
I asked, excitement thrumming in my voice. This close to him, I could smell the
soft scent of his cologne and his leg was warm against mine.

"You'll see. I want it to be a
surprise. It's not far," he murmured as he leaned forward and kissed my
cheek again.

The limo began to move. It went
about three blocks before it stopped again and the driver appeared at the door.
I wondered just how many miles I was going to end up going in fancy cars today.
I was guessing around three.

I stepped into the darkening
evening, the cold air rushing up against my bare shoulders. We were in front of
the Des Moines Botanical Gardens, the big glass dome glowing slightly from an
inner light. Owen stepped out of the car and immediately shrugged out of his
jacket and draped it across my shoulders without even waiting for me to get
cold. It was warm and smelled like his cologne. I took a deep breath, my
insides going tingly at being wrapped in his scent. He grabbed my hand, his
body heat seeping into my palm, and pulled me toward the entrance.

He led me into the big dome housing
all the tropical plants. I loved to come here during the winter to take a break
from the gray Iowa cold and to be surrounded by heat and tropical flowers. It
was usually busy as everyone else in Iowa typically had the same idea, but
tonight, we had the place to ourselves.

By the waterfall in the center of
the garden, a thick blanket was spread out along the floor with a full picnic
dinner. Soft lighting gave the entire area a moonlit glow, the gurgling sounds
of the waterfall filling the humid air. A small arrangement of plumeria flowers
sat in the center of the blanket.

"This is amazing... how did
you do this?" I asked. I had never heard of anyone renting the space for a
private picnic.

He shrugged and smiled. "It
wasn't hard. Here, come and have some dinner."

The blanket felt soft as I knelt
down on the ground, settling my skirt modestly. Owen sat down smoothly next to
me, our hands close enough to touch if we wanted them to.

Owen pulled four large mugs from
the basket, followed by a big red thermos and then handed me a plate wrapped in
tinfoil to open. He unscrewed the thermos and poured a steaming delicious red
tomato soup into two of the cups, while I unwrapped the tinfoil. Inside were
perfect grilled cheese triangles. As I looked at them, I realized that they
weren't just plain grilled cheese, but stuffed with bacon, avocado, and at
least two different kinds of cheese.

"Emma told you grilled cheese
and tomato soup is my favorite, didn't she?" I asked with a grin. He stole
a sheepish grin in my direction, as if he had been caught with his hand in the
cookie jar.

"I really wanted you to like
it. What do you think?"

"I love it." I loved that
he was trying so hard to make me happy. It was incredibly endearing.

Owen grinned and pulled out a
second thermos, this one in blue. He opened it and carefully poured a dark
liquid into the remaining empty cups. The smell of rich hot chocolate made me
smile, especially when he pulled out a can of Pringles potato chips.

"This I remembered on my
own," he said with a small smile as he handed me the can. I smiled widely
and popped the top, dunking a chip into my hot chocolate. Owen laughed at my
enthusiasm and grabbed a chip for himself. He dipped it carefully, and stuck it
in his mouth. A strange look came over his face. "This is seriously your
favorite food?" he said around pieces of the chip still in his mouth.

I nodded and dipped another. He
swallowed and looked at me as though I might be a little crazy. "You don't
like it, do you?" I asked. He shook his head from side to side.

"It's, well," he paused.
"It's disgusting."

"You just have no taste in
good food," I teased him. He relaxed as he realized I wasn't going to hold
his dislike against him. I knew that not everyone liked the sweet and salty
combo.

"Right. I'll go tell that to
the French chef that cooks for me," he teased back.

"You have a French chef?"

He nodded like it was the most
common thing in the world. He reached for a sandwich and bit into it carefully.
When I was just talking with him, it was easy to forget that he was worth
almost a billion dollars. "You'd like him. I don't know if he would
appreciate the fine dining of potato chips and chocolate though."

"I saw chocolate covered
Pringles in a store once. They were sold as a delicacy, so I'm pretty sure you
just have wacky taste buds." I reached for a sandwich and dipped it in the
tomato soup. It was a little slice of heaven, the cheese blending perfectly
with the soup and accented by bacon. "I think I will never eat a plain
grilled cheese again. This is amazing."

Owen grinned and reached for a
second sandwich. "I thought you might like it. I had it this way in
college, and I never looked back."

"I definitely like this
version. Thank you. This whole day has been fantastic."

"You are most welcome. You
look amazing, by the way." He set his hand on mine, sending a thrill
through me. I blushed, but I didn't pull my hand away. In fact, I tipped my
chin up and leaned forward, pressing my lips against his.

He tasted like grilled cheese, but
I didn't care. He was delicious. Owen's hand went to the back of my head, his
fingers tangling in my perfect curls as he pulled me closer. His tongue
searched for mine, our mouths opening to find one another. He lowered his lips,
his teeth grazing the tender skin of my jaw, sending heat surging through my
belly.

"Do you have to catch a flight
tonight?" I whispered, remembering the limo. I was giving serious
contemplation to just taking him there on the blanket in the middle of the lush
tropical garden, but having a bed would be better. He chuckled, the sound
throaty and deep.

"No, no flight this
time."

I looked up at him, biting my
bottom lip with desire and just a touch of nerves. "You want to come back
to my place?"

He kissed me again, taking my
breath away. It was okay though, because when I was with him, I didn't need to
breathe.

"We could do that. Or, I got
us a hotel room."

"So you thought you were going
to get lucky tonight, huh?" I asked with a giggle, giving him a playful
punch on the arm. He traced a finger down the curve of my cheek, the touch
light but seductive.

"I suppose I should say I got
myself a hotel room, but I made sure it would be big enough for two if you
wanted to come visit." His eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Well, a hotel room would be
nicer than my apartment. I didn't really clean this morning, so there would be
dirty laundry all over the floor."

"Then perhaps we should put
laundry all over the floor of the hotel room to make you feel more more at
home," he whispered, leaning forward and kissing the curve where my jaw
met my neck. I shivered with anticipation.

Owen stood up in one fluid motion,
holding out his hand to help me up. Once I was on my feet, he pulled me into
him, stealing a kiss. It was full of want, need, and pure desire. I couldn't
have said no if I wanted to, though I really just wanted to scream yes.

We were back out to the limo in
less than a minute, the driver waiting patiently at the door with the car. It
was only a three minute drive to the downtown hotel, but I found myself unable
to keep my fingers from unbuttoning his shirt. As he pushed my hands away, I
looked up at him. "Sorry, they have a mind of their own, tonight."

When finally my fingers came to
rest, they were on his tie. I contented myself with using it to pull him into
me, kissing him with all my might until we got to the hotel room.

We bounded through the ornate lobby
to a series of bronzed elevators that sent us whirring to the top floor. Owen
was, of course, staying in the penthouse suite, but I barely looked at it as we
stumbled into the bedroom.

Owen growled something, but I was
too busy stripping to understand his words. I understood his meaning though. He
was already hard, the bulge in his pants displaying exactly how much he wanted
me. He kissed me, pushing me onto the bed.

"I want you so bad, Kaylee.
You're the only thing I could think about all week." His voice was low and
full of power. He was a man who could have anything he wanted, and he wanted
me.

I shivered with anticipation,
biting his lower lip as he tasted me. I felt my eyes roll to the back of my
head as he began our night of pleasure, the bedsheets tangling around us as we
writhed in ecstasy.

T
hree weeks later, after three more
amazing dates, I was pretty sure I was in love. Owen Parker had successfully
stolen my heart. We hadn't said anything yet, but I couldn't stop thinking
about him. I looked forward to his phone calls, texts, and emails more than I
looked forward to my days off.

We both wished we could have more
time together, but with our crazy schedules and workloads, we were lucky to
manage that many. I knew he had worked magic in order to make it out to Iowa as
many times as he had. He took me to the symphony with a stop to a seafood
restaurant for our first date, and the second was for ice cream and a movie, in
which he rented the entire theater. The third date had been my favorite so far
after the botanical gardens; he arranged a special backstage tour of the Des
Moines Zoo. Watching him feed the penguins had kept me laughing for hours.
Every one of the dates ended back in the penthouse suite, the two of us tangled
up in the sheets.

It wasn't all happy though. While
just thinking about him put a happy smile on my face and quickened my pulse, I
wasn't sure what was going to happen next. We got along famously, but that was
easy since we only saw each other once a week. The sex was fantastic, and I was
falling hard for him, loving our dates and phone calls, but I was beginning to
wonder if it would be enough. As much fun as we were both having, I couldn't
see us continuing on like this for much longer. I didn't want this to end, but
I didn't know how we could possibly keep our schedules and the distance from
breaking us apart.

I glanced around my bedroom,
mentally making sure I had everything. Owen was coming to visit, and I had
packed a small bag of clothes and a toothbrush, actually planning ahead for
once. I was tired of using my finger and his toothpaste to brush my teeth and
having nothing clean to wear home. This time, I was going to be prepared for a
stay at a hotel. I wasn't sure what adventure we were going to have on this
trip, but I was prepared for anything.

My door buzzed, and I hurried
downstairs, bag in hand. Owen was waiting patiently by the front door, leaning
against the wall with his eyes closed. He smiled as soon as he heard the door
open, and I hurried out to give him a kiss.

He looked exhausted. His normally
crisp dress shirt was wrinkled under his jacket, and he needed to shave. I
looked closer and could see that his eyes were bloodshot, his lips and skin
pale. I hoped he wasn't getting sick.

"Are you feeling okay?" I
asked as he took my hand and we walked to his car. He no longer had us
chauffeured around, instead preferring to drive us himself in a fancy sports
car. Today's version was an Aston Martin.

"I'm just tired," he said
with a sigh. "The flights were miserable getting out here and we kept
getting delayed by weather. I know it's almost dinner time here, but my
internal clock thinks it's closer to seven in the morning, and I've been up all
night. I'm afraid I'm not going to be the best date tonight."

"Then how about we just have a
quiet night in? We can lay in bed, eat pizza, maybe rent a movie? You can fall
asleep, and we can just relax," I offered. He opened the car door for me
to slide in, and he kissed me softly once I was seated.

"You're the best. That sounds
fantastic."

It was a short drive to the hotel,
and the staff recognized us as we made our way up the shiny elevators to his
suite. I had offered to put him up at my place, but we both enjoyed room
service too much to actually leave.

I set my toothbrush up in the
bathroom, liking the way it looked next to Owen's. I sighed, though, seeing his
travel kit sitting on the counter. Was it always going to be this way? Just
one-night stays in hotels with days or even weeks in between visits? Owen had a
long trip coming up, and I had barely managed to trade my shift to get the time
off to see him this time. Working in a hospital meant that I had to work
weekends and holidays, and Owen's travel schedule mandated that he leave for
weeks at a time. His next trip was expected to take him out of the country to
Dubai for at least three full weeks.

I came out of the bathroom to find
Owen spread-eagle on the bed and snoring. He hadn't even managed to take off
his shoes, their laces undone but still on his feet. I quietly tiptoed over and
took his shoes off the rest of the way, then slid his pants off and unbuttoned
his dress shirt. I pulled the sheets up to his chin, and he smiled in his sleep
and snuggled into the soft material, drifting further into dreamland.

I slipped out of my clothes and
into the silky nightgown I had brought, sliding under the sheets next to Owen.
He mumbled something as he curled up on his side, his breathing deepening. I
glanced at my watch—six-thirty. My stomach grumbled and I glanced over at
Owen. It was looking like this was going to be a very quiet date night indeed.
I pulled out my phone and dialed for pizza, ordering a large Hawaiian style and
a large pepperoni, then turning on the TV with subtitles and the volume all the
way down. At least I could catch up on my TV.

Thirty minutes later, just as a new
episode of some dancing show was starting, the pizza arrived. The scrawny pizza
delivery boy eyed me in my sexy nighty, and I tried not to blush as I handed
him the twenty dollar bill, then ducked back into the room. Just as I sat down
to eat my pineapple and bacon deliciousness, my phone started to ring. I
glanced at the caller ID and inwardly groaned. Work.

"This is Kaylee," I said
softly, walking quickly to the bathroom so I wouldn't wake Owen. The door
clicked gently behind me as my boss started begging.

"Kaylee, we are short-staffed,
and I need you to come in. That stomach bug is going around, and I've had four
people call in sick for tonight's shift. When can you get here?"

"I'm not coming in tonight.
I'm sorry, but I have plans tonight," I told her. I knew she wasn't going
to let me out of it that easily, though.

"Please, Kaylee, we're
swamped. It'll be time and a half, and you only have to stay as long as we're
busy," she pleaded into the phone. I knew that while I would get the extra
pay, we would stay busy all night, especially if as many people had called in
sick as she said. I could feel a guilt trip starting.

"No, I'm not coming in. Find
someone else tonight. Liz is always looking to pick up shifts, try her," I
told her getting ready to hang up.

"I did, and she's sick too.
Please, Kaylee, I'm desperate."

I wavered for a moment. Owen was
fast asleep and not likely to wake up at all this evening. I was just watching
bad TV and eating pizza; maybe I could help them out, at least for a couple
hours. I bit my tongue as the habit to take as many shifts as possible tried to
make me say yes. I was supposed to be with Owen tonight. I heard the bed creak
in the other room, and I forced the "yes" creeping up my throat back
down. He had flown out to see me, not to have me run off to work while he
slept.

"I can't." I tried my
best to make it sound final.

"Kaylee, please. At least just
see if you can come in for a couple hours," my boss implored into the
phone. I felt bad, especially since all I was doing was watching him sleep. I
knew my coworkers would be struggling with the short staff, and I hated to
leave them in the lurch. I could feel my loyalties straddling a fence, and I
hated it. I was going to feel guilty no matter what decision I made.

"I can't. I'm sorry," I
said quickly and hung up the phone. I knew she was going to call me back
eventually, but for the moment I was safe. I set the phone down and turned on
the sink, splashing some cold water on my face. I hated feeling like I was
letting someone down.

I dried my face and stepped out to
the main room to find Owen sitting up in the bed. He had dark circles under his
eyes, but he was awake and looking at me.

"I flew out here to be with
you," he said softly. I frowned, confused. I seemed to remember telling my
boss no.

"That's why I told them
no."

"You took an awful long time
to do it."

"What's that supposed to
mean?" I asked, surprised at his tone. He must still be half-asleep and
cranky, but I didn't like where he was heading.

"I flew over twelve hours to
get here, but you gave serious thought to going to work." A touch of anger
entered his voice. I took a deep breath, reminding myself that he had been up
all night.

"I did think about it. I
thought about going in and helping my coworkers, people who I consider my
friends, while you were busy sleeping. I didn't though. I'm staying here."
I moved to the foot of the bed in order to see him better. The TV cast a
strange bluish glow on his skin, his hair poking up in an unruly pattern. He
looked like he could fall over and go straight back asleep at any moment,
except for the frown on his face keeping him awake.

"I don't appreciate that you
even considered it," he said quietly.

"You mean you're mad that I
considered doing something while you were sleeping?" I crossed my arms and
frowned at him. He ran a hand through his hair, the TV light casting a strange
assortment of shadows.

"I don't get to see you very
often, and I'm leaving on a long trip. I didn't think you would run off in the
middle of the night." His voice was quiet, like the calm before a
thunderstorm.

"So I can't leave to go to my
job for three hours, but you can leave for three weeks for yours." The
words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. Owen's eyes went wide and
then narrowed.

"That's not fair. My job is
about the travel. I don't have a choice. I flew three extra hours just to get
here, to see you. But you go do your oh-so-important extra shift, and I'll just
sit here by myself. If I had known that you didn't want to stay with me
tonight, I would have just stayed in New York."

"Hey, I'm not going in to
work! How many times do I have to tell you that I told them no?" I could
hear my voice rising with every word, a hot anger beginning to boil in my
stomach.

Owen's shoulders sagged and
weariness weighed on his body. "I'm sorry, Kaylee. I'm just exhausted, and
I hate that I'm sleeping through our date night. This isn't what I had
planned."

I sat gingerly on the edge of the
bed, a hollow dread replacing the anger I felt. "Is it always going to be
like this? Just random meetings in hotel rooms where we both are fighting with
our schedules?"

Owen stared at the sheets in his
lap, his brow furrowed. "I don't know, but I don't like how hard it is
right now. I hate that I'm not going to see you for three weeks, and then who
knows when we'll have more than a day together again."

I bit my lip and tried not to focus
on the thick feeling growing in the back of my throat. I played with the
cuticle on my thumb, the words coming out slow. "This isn't going to work
between us, is it?"

Owen didn't answer. His hair was
across his eyes, obscuring his face, but his silence was all I needed to know
the answer. Our worlds had collided, but they weren't meant to stay that way.
Despite the feelings I had for him, our lives were just too different and too
far apart for us to be together. Sure, we could keep trying, but at what cost?
Eventually his traveling and my hospital schedule would just be too much to
fight against and it would blow up in our faces. Better to end it now, when it wouldn't
hurt quite so much. I knew the lie as soon as I thought it. It would hurt more
than anything.

"I'll get my things," I
said quietly, standing from the bed. His hand shot out and grabbed mine,
keeping me near him.

"No, Kaylee. Don't go. Don't
ever go." His voice was soft in the darkness. I realized I was trembling.

"Owen..."

"I love you, Kaylee." He
said it simply, his voice soft. I felt my heart forget to beat. It no longer
needed to. It didn't beat for me anymore anyway; it beat for Owen.

"I love you too, Owen."
The words flowed out easily, my heart overjoyed. They were truer than anything
I had ever said in my life. I really did love him.

"Come with me."

"What? What do you mean?"
I sat back down. Owen's eyes were bright, a smile beginning to form around the
edges of his mouth.

"Come with me on this business
trip."

"I can't. You know I
can't," I said, shaking my head.

"Why?" His eyes searched
mine. "Money? Not a problem. Work? You can get the time off. Come travel
with me. I'll even talk to your boss. I'm sure you can get the time off if I
made a sizable donation to the hospital."

Fear lurched in my stomach. "I
can't."

He peered at me, his eyes hopeful.
"Why, Kaylee?"

I picked furiously at the cuticle
on my thumb. If I kept this up it would bleed, but I didn't care. I took a
shaky breath, embarrassed and afraid to tell him. "I hate flying. And I'm
not good in strange places."

"You flew to Emma's
wedding," he said encouragingly.

"Because it was her
wedding
.
You don't even want to know what it took to get me through the flight."
That hot sticky feeling was growing in the back of my throat and I swallowed
hard. I didn’t want to cry.

"We can work around that. At
least think about it. We could be together this way." I could hear the
excitement in his voice, and I wanted to feel it too. I wanted to be with him.
I just didn't want to leave Iowa to do it. I nodded, though.

"I'll think about it."

Thunder rumbled, and I heard a
splash of rain hit the window as a storm rolled in. Owen grinned at me, hope
and excitement radiating from him. I knew I wasn't going to really have to
think about it. For the chance to be with Owen, for the chance to make this
relationship work, I would get on a plane. I'd become a flipping flight
attendant if it meant I could be with Owen.