The Stubborn Suitor, Book Three (An Alpha Billionaire In Love BBW Romance)

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C
ami Hendricks has
a lot on her plate. She's a single mom, works full-time, and her ex is a nightmare. Plus, every time she sees her mother, Cami has to tolerate her jabs about her weight. As if all that wasn't enough, the first guy Cami thinks she might really like seems to be playing games with her. His hot and cold attitude is not what she needs, especially with her ex playing hardball for full custody of her daughter. 

D
rew Sloane is torn
- he can't get Cami out of his mind. Ever since he met her at a party, all he can think of is her beautiful face and her luscious body. But the timing couldn't be worse. Before he can dedicate himself to winning Cami, Drew has a delicate personal situation he has to clear up. Now that Cami has lost all trust in him, can he convince her that she's all he wants?

A
s he watched
Sylvester Kenton sign his name on the contract, making the sale final, Drew Sloane felt his entire body relax. Stress and tension he’d been carrying for months slowly began to seep from his body, making him feel lighter and younger all at once.

It was over. It was all over. The sale of Drew’s company had been finalized—for two and a half billion dollars, at that—and he was finally free to do what he wanted with his life. He never had to work another day.

Of course, he
would
work. Drew had no delusions about that. A life of leisure just wasn’t for him. But now he didn’t have to slave away in the corporate world, working twelve to fifteen-hour days and falling all over himself to impress people he couldn’t stand. Instead, he could focus on developing his philanthropic foundation. There was so much he wanted to do with his wealth—so many people he could help.

Drew shook Kenton’s hand, then the hand of James Cook, Kenton’s chief investor and the man Drew had been falling all over himself to impress over the last few months. Although Drew had wanted to sell his company, he had refused to do so until he could ensure that all of his employees’ jobs would be secure. Kenton was not willing to sign the deal until Cook approved of it. And so, Drew had spent the last few months convincing Cook that keeping on every single one of the over five-hundred people employed by his company, as well as ensuring that they retained their healthcare and other benefits, was a good investment for the corporation.

Drew had succeeded eventually, though it had been a difficult process. Cook only really cared about profits and looked down his nose at those he perceived to be below his social sphere. Drew had to convince him that happy, grateful employees provided much better return for their investment than those who resented the company they worked for.

After looking at the numbers—how Drew had been able to build the company from nothing into a multi-billion dollar corporation—the man was finally convinced. Though it had involved months of misery on Drew’s part, all of that hard work had paid off.

“It’s been a pleasure getting to know you, son,” Cook said warmly as he grasped Drew’s hand. Drew couldn’t help but chuckle slightly, because the man really didn’t know him at all. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon. Analise speaks very highly of you and I know she’ll want to have you over to the house again soon.”

Drew just nodded in reply, though he recoiled inwardly at the thought. He knew that Cook and his wife Nancy had been pushing their daughter, Analise, at him in the attempt at creating a more permanent type of business venture. Drew loathed that Cook was willing to sacrifice his daughter’s happiness in order to ensure the sale of the company. His wife Nancy had also encouraged the match, though Drew thought it was only because she wanted her daughter to marry someone as wealthy as they were.

Drew had played along as he’d worked to get Cook’s approval of the employee retention and benefits clause in the contract of the sale. The truth was, he was in no way interested in Analise Cook. She was beautiful, yes, in a generic way—tall and thin and cold. But she had nothing that interested Drew. The truth was, Drew already had someone of interest—someone he couldn’t get off his mind, even now. Especially now.

After the meeting was adjourned, Drew hurried to the car that was waiting outside to take him to the airport. He’d been in New York City for the last week, finalizing the sale of the company. But it was over now and he could finally go home to Cami.

Cami Hendricks was his ideal woman, fiery and passionate, and beautiful beyond compare. Unfortunately, up to this point, he’d been unable to treat her the way that she deserved. He’d met her at the most inopportune period in his life, during the last few weeks of the sale of his company. He simply did not have the time to properly devote to her.

But now, he did. And Drew was going home to do just that—woo Cami, and sweep her off her feet. He just hoped it wasn’t too late.

He looked down at his phone with a frown as the thought stuck in his head. He really did hope it wasn’t too late. In fact, he hadn’t heard from Cami in almost two weeks. The last time he’d seen her, they’d spent an incredible night together—which had included some of the hottest sex Drew had ever experienced.

Unfortunately, he’d been called away in the early hours of the morning by an emergency. His sister, Elsie, who was currently in the middle of a nasty divorce, had called because her soon-to-be-ex-husband had shown up outside of their house and had refused to leave. Drew had to go home and physically throw him off the property so that their son wouldn’t have to see his father taken away in handcuffs.

It just so happened that it had been the third time in a row that Drew had to dash early after spending the night with Cami. And it may have proved to be once too many. Since then, Cami had refused to answer his calls or return any of his messages. He’d even shown up at her house once and, though her car was in the driveway, no one had answered her door.

Now, though, Drew was free. His sister was safe from her ex-husband, protected by a restraining order, and his company was now in the very capable hands of Sylvester Kenton. He had all of the time in the world to give Cami exactly what she deserved. And he vowed to make it up to her. He was going to go home and make her fall in love with him. He didn’t care what it took. He was prepared to do anything.

He
would
win the heart of Cami Hendricks.

I
t had been
a rough weekend for Cami. In truth, it had been a rough few months for Cami, but this particular weekend had been particularly hard. Since her ex-husband had petitioned for primary and then full custody of their three-year-old-daughter Madison, Cami’s life had been in upheaval.

The fact was, Ken wasn’t even capable of taking care of Madison for two weekends a month, but now that he was engaged again, he seemed to have it in his head that he needed a trophy child to go with his new trophy wife. And, although Ken was a completely unfit parent, he had the money and resources to get what he wanted, which is why Cami was worried.

To make matters worse, last time Cami had shown up to pick her daughter up from Ken’s house, she had been clinging to Ken’s fiancée Natalie, not wanting to go home with Cami. It had been the first time Madison had ever behaved in such a manner and it broke Cami’s heart.

When Natalie had invited Cami in under the pretense of needing to finish packing Madison’s bag, Cami had realized exactly why her daughter wanted to stay with her father. Natalie and Ken had spent top dollar to build Madison a nursery that looked like something out of a Disney movie.

Of course, at that moment, it hurt to see Ken and Natalie giving Madison all of the things that Cami herself would never be able to afford. But Cami had quickly reminded herself that Ken and Natalie would never be able to give Madison the things she really needed—the things Cami was able to provide. Cami was able to give her daughter the love, support, and stability that Madison couldn’t get from them, no matter how many toys they could buy her. Ken was immature and irresponsible and—Cami didn’t care how much Ken’ lawyer argued the opposite—her ex-husband was a roaring alcoholic.

That didn’t mean that Cami was happy with letting her daughter go over there and get spoiled. She knew Madison wasn’t old enough to think about what was really important in parents. And so Cami had spent the weekend worrying.

Her best friend Maggie was busy with a mysterious new relationship, and Cami didn’t want to burden her mom any more by unloading on her. Her mother had already sold some of Cami’s grandmother’s precious jewelry to help pay for a lawyer. Cami spent the weekend lounging around and feeling sorry for herself, burying her sorrows in long bubble baths, counting down the hours until she could finally pick up her daughter.

Before dropping Madison off at Ken’s house, Cami had promised her daughter that, after picking her up on Sunday, they would go do something fun together. Cami had to admit that she was probably looking forward to spending a fun night with her daughter as much as Madison was.

When it was finally time to head across town, Cami was so excited that she practically skipped to her car with a big smile on her face. The smile quickly fell, however, when she went to start her car, and it would barely turn over. She spent a few minutes trying again and again, each time praying frantically for it to work, before finally dropping her head to the steering wheel.

“Dammit!” she said, trying not to cry. “Could things get any worse?”

Because, of course, this would happen right at the moment when she was supposed to go pick up her daughter. Now, no matter what she did, she would be late. Not only would that disappoint Madison, it would also be giving Ken and Natalie even more “proof” that she was unfit to care for Madison. God knows how they would twist it to their advantage in court. They could say she was flakey and unreliable, or they could claim that she was so poor that she couldn’t even afford a working car.

She could call her mom, who would come pick her up and take her to Ken’s place, but it would take her mom twenty minutes to get here at least, so she’d still be late in picking up her daughter.

Cami was debating her options and trying not to panic when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw another car pull up in her driveway next to hers. She turned to that side and immediately recognized the sleek, black BMW.

“Why did I have to question whether or not things could get worse?” she said out loud, cursing herself, because things definitely had just gotten out of control.

With one last surge of hope, Cami tried to start her car again, praying that it would work and she could drive away before Drew had a chance to get out and try to talk to her.

But, as her luck would have it, her car just made a pathetic puttering sound and shut down again. Cami closed her eyes and once more tried to bury her head in her steering wheel.

She hadn’t talked to Drew since the last time they’d slept together, nearly two weeks prior. Before she awoke he’d already gone, leaving her with a vague, ambiguous note. They’d slept together three times now, and each time he’d fled before the crack of dawn. The third strike was it for Cami. She realized that she wasn’t a priority for him and, with everything else going on, didn’t really want to deal with his games.

He’d called several times the first week, but she hadn’t answered or called him back. He’d even shown up at the house once, and she’d refused to open the door. She’d told herself it was because Madison was home and awake and she never let the men she dated around her daughter. But the truth was, if she faced him, it would be near impossible to keep her resolve. And so she’d ignored him. He’d obviously gotten the message as, after the first week, he’d left her alone.

And yet, here he was. In her drive way. In fact, she didn’t even have to look up in order to know that he was tapping on her window. As much as Cami wanted to remain there, like an ostrich with its head buried in the sand, she still needed to call her mother and go collect her daughter. And so she raised her head and looked at Drew.

Over the last two weeks, she’d been able to convince herself that he wasn’t nearly as good looking as she’d remembered. She’d told herself she was exaggerating his sex appeal out of desire to be with someone. But now, staring into his large, whiskey colored eyes, she knew how wrong she’d been.

Drew was easily the most handsome man she’d ever seen, with dark, disheveled hair and deep sparkling eyes. He smiled at her, revealing the dimples she’d been trying to make herself forget. He was bending down in front of the driver’s side window, waiting for her to open the door. Not ready to relinquish the bit of steel between them, she rolled down the window instead.

“Hi,” he said, crouching down so that his face was the same height as hers.

Cami tried not to shudder at the sound of his voice—so deep and rich that it sent a tingle of longing through her. She’d remembered thinking, when they’d first met, that the voice reminded her of butter. Now it just reminded her of sex.

“Hi,” she replied, trying to steer her mind away from that direction.

“Car trouble?” he asked, still smiling.

It was making her frustrated, that confident, joyous smirk. Cami was feeling anything but joyous at the moment.

“What do you think?” she snapped. To her frustration, it did nothing to erase the smile on Drew’s face. In fact, he only grinned wider. “I’m glad you find this funny. I, on the other hand, am screwed. I’m supposed to pick up Madison in fifteen minutes. I’m going to have to call my mom and by the time she shows up, we’ll be late to Ken’s house. God knows he won’t let us forget it… He’ll probably use it to his advantage. And…oh God, I have no clue how I’m going to pay for this.”

It wasn’t until a sob escaped that Cami realized she was crying. She looked up, expecting to see the smile still spread across Drew’s lips. Instead, there was a look of distress on his face and compassion in his amber eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m just really happy to see you. I’ve missed you a lot. I’m not trying to make light of the situation.”

The confession made Cami hitch her breath. She felt like a bushel of butterflies had been released in her stomach. Drew hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her! She focused on the problem at hand to keep a stupid grin of her own from spreading across her face. She still needed to figure out the Madison situation, after all. Plus, she’d already decided that she and Drew were over.

“It’s fine. But, as you can see, I’m busy. So, if you’d please excuse me, I need to go inside—because I forgot my phone—and call my mom to come and get me.”

Without waiting for Drew to move out of the way, she unlatched her door, purposefully opening it into him and striking his leg.

“Cami,” Drew called, finally stepping away from the car but quickly following her towards the house. “Cami, wait.”

She tried to shut the house door in his face, but Drew put his arm out, easily preventing it from closing. Cami couldn’t help but notice the ripple of muscle revealed beneath his short-sleeved t-shirt. She hadn’t even noticed what he was wearing—she’d been too distracted by the car and surprised to see him.

But now that she noticed, she couldn’t look away. He was wearing well-fitting jeans and a shirt that hugged his chest in just the right way—especially as he flexed to hold the door open. She’d never seen him so dressed down and she had to admit that he looked damn good.

“I don’t have time for this,” she said, purposefully making herself look away.

“You’re right,” Drew agreed, smiling down at her again. “You don’t have time to argue with me right now. You need to go pick up your daughter, and you need to do it now. So, put Madison’s car seat in the back of my car, and let’s go.”

“What?” Cami asked, shocked. It took her a moment to realize what he was implying. “No! That is a horrible idea!”

“Why? Do you have a better one? Wait for your mom and be late?”

“Yes…it’s my only option,” Cami replied stubbornly.

“Why?”

“You know I don’t let Madison fraternize with the men I’m dating. Or
have
dated.” Cami emphasized the past tense to remind Drew—and herself—exactly where they stood as a couple.

“Fraternize?” Drew asked. “She’s a three-year-old. She doesn’t even know what that word means, much less how to do it.” The smile once again slipped from his face as his voice grew serious. “Listen, I know we have a lot to talk about. I know that there are things we need to work through. But right now, you need to pick up your daughter—and not be late doing it—and I am your only option. We don’t have to tell Madison who I am. She most likely won’t even remember me tomorrow. And if she does, we can worry about it then. Right now, we need to go.”

Cami stood in the doorway for a moment, biting her lip and debating her options. Drew had taken his hand off the door, giving her the ability to slam it in his face. But then she’d have to call her mom and wait for her to get here. If she left with Drew within the next five minutes, she wouldn’t be too late. Plus, she couldn’t help but think about the way Drew had talked about their relationship in the present tense. To him, at least, things weren’t over. Cami didn’t know why that made her feel so giddy inside.

Eventually, Cami nodded in consent and followed Drew back towards the cars, locking the door behind her. She knew that this was probably a bad idea, but, at the moment, Cami couldn’t bring herself to care.