Waking Up with a Billionaire (The Overnight Billionaires Book 3) (5 page)

“I want you to call Nash and make sure he doesn’t let Eden talk him into cutting their honeymoon short.”

“But why would they cut their honeymoon short?”

Madison gave a guilty shrug. “Because I made the mistake of calling Eden and telling her that Chloe is skipping town.”

M
ondays were a slow night at The Lemon Drop, and since the tips were dismal, Chloe probably should’ve called in sick. She was a nervous wreck all night waiting for some private detective to walk in the door looking for her.

“Got a late date?”

She turned to the man who sat at the table in the corner. Jeff was a regular at the bar and had been since his wife left him. He wasn’t the type of guy who was looking for solace in a bottle. He just wanted someone to talk to about his wife’s desertion, and for some reason he’d chosen Chloe. Which made her very uncomfortable, especially since she’d found out he was an FBI agent. All she needed was someone from the federal government getting suspicious about her identity. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to ignore the poor guy.

“Excuse me?” she said.

Jeff took a sip of his beer. “You keep looking at the door. I just thought you were expecting someone.”

Obviously she needed to do a better job of hiding her anxiety. “No,” she said. “No date, hot or otherwise.” She finished wiping off the table next to his before she picked up her tray and walked over. “And what about you? Don’t you think that it’s time to start dating again?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think I’m ready. I let one of my friends at the Bureau fix me up with his sister, and it was a disaster. I talked about Shelly all through dinner.”

“Well, that explains why it was a disaster. Women don’t want to hear about past loves.”

“I gathered that after she went to the bathroom and never came back.”

His dejected look had Chloe trying to make him feel better. “Well, it’s her loss. If she had given you a chance, she would’ve realized what a great guy you are. Although I do think that it’s time to forget Shelly and move on, Jeff.”

After only a moment, he nodded. “You’re right. I need to move on. Shelly certainly has. She hasn’t even texted me since she left.”

Chloe wiped the table around his beer. “Which only proves that she’s not a good person and you’re better off without her. I’m sure there are tons of nice women who would love to date a handsome FBI agent.”

He lowered his eyes and fiddled with the damp napkin under his beer bottle. “So what about you? Would you like to go out some time?” He looked up and grinned. “I’ve already told you everything that happened between me and Shelly, so I’ll have to talk about something else.”

Jeff was exactly the kind of guy she should date. He was nice and clean-cut and didn’t look like he had an abusive bone in his body. Unfortunately, she was leaving. And even if she weren’t, her life was too screwed up to add an FBI agent to the mix.

“I’m sorry, Jeff. I can’t.”

“It doesn’t have to be serious,” he rushed on. “We could just go get coffee. Or a drive to Napa Valley.”

Just the mention of the Wine Country made panic well up inside, but before she could decline the offer, a voice spoke from behind her.

“I think the lady said no.”

The smooth Southern drawl had Chloe whirling to find Grayson standing there. He looked very different from the bum she had talked with earlier in the day. He’d shaved his beard to a light dusting of scruff, and his long hair was combed back from his forehead and smoothed behind his ears. He wore a suit, but without a tie, his light lavender dress shirt unbuttoned at the throat. Unlike this afternoon, he looked every bit the billionaire.

“When do you get off?” he asked. Or more like demanded. And the demanding tone had her bristling.

“That’s none of your business.” She hugged the tray to her chest and headed to the three businessmen a couple of tables away. But as she took their empty glasses and asked if they wanted another round, she could feel Grayson’s penetrating eyes on her. And sure enough, when she headed to the bar to drop off the glasses and place her order, he was sitting on a barstool watching her.

She tried to ignore him, but it proved to be impossible. The intensity of those eyes made her make one blunder after another. She screwed up orders. Brought back the wrong change. And slipped in a puddle of beer that someone had spilled on the floor and landed hard on her butt, breaking three empty margarita glasses when she dropped her tray.

Both Grayson and Jeff got up to help her but, unfortunately, Grayson got to her first. “Are you okay?” He held out a hand.

“Just dandy.” She ignored the hand and glared at him. “What do you want?”

“Rum and coke.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not talking about a drink. Why are you here screwing up my night?”

“We need to talk.” He glanced at Jeff, who hovered over them. “In private.”

She couldn’t help it. She was curious. “Fine.” She got to her feet, careful to avoid the broken glass. “I get off at midnight.”

He nodded. “I’ll be waiting outside.” He pulled out his wallet and tossed a twenty on the bar.

“You didn’t have a drink, so you don’t owe anything.”

A smirky smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Just call it a tip for entertainment.” As he turned to leave, Jeff snapped his fingers.

“That’s it! I’ve been sitting there racking my brain trying to place you, and it finally hit me. You’re one of those panty billionaires. The one who paints pictures of naked women.”

Grayson looked at him, his eyes devoid of any emotion. “You’re wrong. I don’t paint.” He turned and walked out.

Why that statement should bother Chloe, she didn’t know. It shouldn’t make any difference to her if Grayson could paint. And yet she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Not as she continued to serve drinks and fend off Jeff’s attempts to get her to go out with him, and not while she helped close up the bar. She finally stopped thinking about it when the owner informed her that she owed him twenty dollars of her tips for the broken margarita glasses. Which had her a wee bit snappy when she stepped outside and found Grayson leaning against the hood of a gray Bugatti sports car.

“What?” she said as she strolled over. “Are all you Beaumonts color challenged? Gray and purple. Purple and gray.”

“My SUV is black.” He opened the door of the car and waited for her to get in.

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”

“Get in, Chloe.” He paused. “Although I’ll make a bet that isn’t the name that goes with your Social Security number, is it?”

It wasn’t that hard to mask her fear. She’d spent most of her life masking her fear. With a mere shrug, she got into the car. The inside was like a cockpit upholstered in purple leather. There were cutting-edge dials and gadgets galore. But she paid little attention to them as she shoved her duffel bag in the small space behind the seats. She expected Grayson to start interrogating her as soon as he slipped into the driver’s seat. Instead he buckled his seat belt and pushed a button on the dash. The engine growled, then quickly settled into a low purr.

“Where are you taking me?”

He pulled away from the curb. “Put on your seat belt.”

It was good advice. Grayson drove faster than her cousin Gavin when he’d first gotten his license. His hands and feet worked in perfect harmony on the gearshift and pedals as they flew through the streets. On one steep hill, the car seemed to take flight, but the landing was so smooth that she might’ve imagined it.

“You drive like a maniac.” Chloe reached for her seat belt and buckled it. “What happened to the cautious guy who drove me to Grover Beach and never once went over the speed limit?”

He downshifted around a corner. “Maybe he got bored with going slow.”

“Well, it’s better to be boring than dead,” she said, even though she couldn’t deny that there was something exhilarating about speeding through the city in the sleek sports car while most people slept safely in their beds. As the speedometer inched higher, so did the beat of her heart, and when they finally hit the Bay Bridge and he opened the car up full throttle, she couldn’t help her quick intake of breath. She glanced over to see if Grayson had noticed and found those piercing eyes on her.

“Admit it,” he said, “you like going fast.”

She rolled down the window and let the cool air whip over her flushed face. “Maybe,” she said above the wind and the pounding of her heart. “But I liked Zac too and look where that got me.”

There was a long pause before he spoke. “Is that why you’re leaving? Are you afraid of Zac getting out of jail?”

Her gaze collided with his. “Who told you I’m leaving?” Only a second later, she answered the question herself. “Madison.”

He passed a huge semitruck, the red lights on the side of the trailer reflecting in his eyes. “You should know that Maddie has never been able to keep a secret. Not only has she told me, but she also told Eden. Now Eden wants to come home from her honeymoon to talk you out of it. And I’m not going to let you ruin my brother’s honeymoon because you’re running scared.”

“I’m not running scared,” she lied. “I’m just done with San Francisco. That’s all.”

“Right. Which is why you hid from all those people taking pictures.” He glanced over at her. “So who are you?”

It wasn’t an easy question to answer, so she didn’t. And much to her relief Grayson didn’t push it.

His shoulder lifted in a slight shrug. “It doesn’t matter to me. In fact, I don’t even care if you leave. You’ve been a pain in my ass ever since I’ve met you. But I refuse to let you throw a wrench in Eden’s honeymoon like you did her wedding.”

She turned to him. “How did I throw a wrench in her wedding?”

“You refused to be her bridesmaid and didn’t even have the common courtesy to show up.”

It was hard not to be flooded with guilt, but she refused to give in to it. “Eden is better off without me as a friend.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second. Unfortunately, for some reason, Eden doesn’t feel the same way. She’s convinced that you need her help, and she’s not going to let you leave town without a fight.”

It sounded like Eden. She was a goal-setting overachiever who refused to give up on people. Even a grumpy pain in the butt like Chloe. Unfortunately, Chloe didn’t have a choice. She had to leave.

“No one can talk me out of it,” she said.

Grayson released a tired sigh. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” He took the next exit and turned around. When he was back on the freeway heading to San Francisco, Chloe tried to alleviate his fears.

“Look, I’ll call Eden tonight and talk her out of coming home. Believe it or not, I didn’t want to ruin her wedding, and I certainly don’t want to ruin her honeymoon. I like Eden. And that’s why I tried to cut things off between us. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m bad luck.”

Grayson snorted. “Oh, I’ve noticed.”

It was one thing for her to say it and another for him to agree. “Now wait a minute. You’re not trying to blame your inability to paint on me, are you? Because I had nothing to do with that. Whatever happened to your creative mojo must’ve happened in Paris because it was only after you came back that you started acting so weird.” She glanced over at him. “So was it a girl? Come on. You can tell me. Unlike Maddie, I know how to keep a secret. Did you fall in love with a sweet little mademoiselle and she didn’t return your love?”

He continued to stare at the road, although, even in the shadows, she could see his jaw tighten. “There’s no sweet little mademoiselle.”

“Don’t tell me it’s a monsieur,” she teased.

He shot her a mean look. “Don’t push it, Chloe—or whatever your name is.”

“It’s Chloe,” she said. “At least, it is now. And if it’s not a woman that screwed up your mojo, then what do you think caused it?” When he didn’t answer, she crossed her arms and slumped down in the seat. “Fine, but if you want to paint again, you need to figure out what the problem is and face it.”

He glanced at her. “Sort of like you face your problems?”

She looked away. “Point taken.”

After that they didn’t talk. Grayson drove like a bat out of hell, and Chloe just sat there and stared out the windshield. When they got back to San Francisco, she asked him to drop her off at Madison’s. But instead of heading for Madison’s high-rise, he took her in the opposite direction.

“Hey, where are you going?” she asked. “I thought you knew where Madison lives.”

“I know where she lives,” he said. “But I need to stop by my house for a second and check on Jonathan.”

“What or who is Jonathan? Is that another Beaumont or a dog?”

“It’s a bird.”

She looked at him. “I didn’t picture you as a bird kind of guy. Rottweiler, yes. Bird, no.”

Five minutes later he turned into the driveway of a pretty three-story row house. He pressed the remote clipped to his visor, and the garage door opened before he pulled in right next to the black Range Rover he’d used to drive her to Eden’s parents’ house. Eden’s parents had offered her their home as a safe house until Zac was arrested, and the reminder made Chloe feel even more guilty about skipping Eden’s wedding.

“Look,” she said. “I promise I’ll talk Eden out of coming back.” She swallowed her pride. “And I want to thank you for driving me to Grover Beach after Zac…” She let the sentence drift off. “Anyway, I appreciated it.”

Grayson turned to her. She’d thought that all Beaumonts were flawless, but being this close, she realized her mistake. Grayson wasn’t perfect. His nose had a bump on the bridge, the curves of his top lip were slightly uneven, and his chin had an indention in the center. Although most women probably wouldn’t call that a flaw. There was something sexy about it. Something that made her want to slide her tongue along the whiskery cleft. Her gaze traveled to his uneven top lip. It really wasn’t a flaw either. She lifted her eyes to the bump on his nose.

But before she could assess the imperfection, she got lost in his eyes. Captivating eyes that seemed to pull all the stress and worry from her and replace it with a feeling of…desire. Desire to lose herself in the lavender fields of his eyes and never return to her harsh reality. Without even realizing what she was doing, she tipped her head and moved closer. Her mouth was a breath away from those imperfect lips when the garage light clicked off. Once hidden in darkness, Grayson’s eyes no longer held her spellbound, and she pulled away.