The Billionaire's Beautiful Mistake (Bold Alaskan Men Book 1) (15 page)

Creek couldn’t believe his friends had turned on him like this.  Hadn’t they just been telling him that he’d have to fix this last night?  “Get out of my way and I’ll make things right with her.”

“Not unless she says it is okay,” Saeger explained. 

Violet laughed this time and she couldn’t stop the sound from escaping.  “I’m fine, gentlemen.  I can handle this.”

All three men turned to look down at her.  But they accepted her word and walked out.  “We’re right outside if you need help,” Knox cautioned.

She looked at him with a smile and thanked him.  “I’ll be fine.  I won’t let him hurt me again.”

Knox looked at her carefully, and nodded.  When only Violet and Creek were left in the store, Creek looked at her and started to move closer. 

“Don’t!” she said and held up her hand, stepping back from him.  “I don’t want you coming any closer.  In fact, I think you should just turn around and leave.  I think we’ve said all that we need to say to each other.”

“No.  We’re not finished.”

She shook her head.  “We’re done.”

Creek watched her for a long moment, debating.  “You’re obviously not ready to hear what I have to say, Violet, so I’m going to leave today.  But very soon, you’re going to listen.  I hurt you.  I know this.  And I was completely wrong.  But eventually, you’re going to listen to me.  I’ll explain, you’ll cry and I’ll hold you in my arms and maybe, eventually, you can understand why I believed such a thing about you.  And maybe a long time after that, you’ll forgive me and we can start over.” 

Without another word, he turned around and walked out of the shop.  He didn’t wait for his friends, but he threw his leg over his motorcycle, stomped on the ignition and sped off down the street.

Violet wrapped her arms around her waist and hugged herself, trying to stop the ache inside of her.  Forgive him?  No.  She doubted that she’d ever forgive him for what he’d believe she could do. 

The three large men stepped back into her shop.  “You okay?” Tucker asked, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

Violet looked at all of them, blinking back the tears.  “I’ll be fine,” she whispered to them. 

None of them believed her, but they couldn’t argue with her either. 

“Just call if you need anything.  Ring up The Rotten Apple and anyone who answers the phone will know how to get in touch with us.”

A moment later, they walked out of the shop and Violet hugged herself, trying to stop the aching pain inside of her. 

Another delivery! 

Violet stared at the beautiful flowers, not sure what to do or say.  Every day, sometimes twice a day, flowers or a small gift was delivered to the shop.  When she refused to accept them, she found them propped up outside of her apartment door after she’d locked up for the night. 

Every day, she received something from him and every night, he texted her, saying that he was sorry and he wanted to talk. 

At first, she’d ignored his messages.  If he’d wanted to talk, then he should have talked to her immediately after George had demanded more money.  But he’d just stopped communicating with her.  He’d cut her out of his life because he didn’t think she was worthy of his high moral standards. 

Now…she had no idea what to do.  She’d gone out to lunch with Tyla a couple of times and she’d relayed how horrible he looked.  That had hurt and Violet had been worrying about him ever since. 

She smiled as she said goodbye to another customer.  “I can’t do it,” she mumbled to herself. 

“I’ll do it for you,” a deep voice said.

Violet swung around, almost tripping herself as she looked up into the ragged eyes of Creek.  She opened her mouth to say something but the words wouldn’t come.  A part of her wanted to throw herself into his arms and beg him to believe she wouldn’t be that kind of woman, the kind that would sell her body for a price.  But another part of her wanted to hide, to protect herself from everything. 

He looked wet, she thought.  It was such an inane observation that she blinked.  “What are you doing here?”

He rubbed a hand over his scruffy jaw.  It looked like he hadn’t shaved in a week.  “I had to see you.”  His eyes roamed over her figure, then came back to her eyes.  “I told myself to stay away, but I couldn’t do it, Violet.  I just…I had to see you.  I had to be near you, if only for a moment.”

She didn’t know what to say. 

“You look tired,” he commented in the painful silence.

Violet couldn’t help the laughter that broke out of her.  “I look tired?  Have you looked in a mirror lately?” she asked.  Her voice was hoarse with the effort to speak. 

He sighed and shook his head.  “No.  I can’t look at myself.  I’m too ashamed.”

“Ashamed?”  Her heart was squeezing with his words. 

“Yes.  I should never have believed George.  I should have known that you would never…that you weren’t…”

She bowed her head, blinking rapidly because she didn’t want to think.  Thinking meant hurting, and she was so tired of hurting! 

“Why did you?” she demanded, even though she’d tried very hard not to say anything.  She’d vowed that she was through, that Creek had believed the worst of her, so she wouldn’t have anything to do with him.

But one look at his handsome face, so ravaged by the same pain she was feeling, and she couldn’t stop the words any longer.  “I am so mad at you!” she finally said, but she still threw herself into his arms, just like she’d wanted to do from the first moment he’d walked in here.  “Why?” she sobbed out, burying her face in his shirt. 

She felt his arms pull her closer, his own face burying in her hair, and she sobbed harder because she’d needed him so badly over the past few days.  “I’ve been sleeping on my couch because I couldn’t sleep in my bed without you.  And I can’t really sleep because you’re not there to hold me.  Then I wake up and I’m furious with myself, because I shouldn’t want you any longer!”

His arms tightened and he rocked her gently.  “I know, honey.  And I’m so sorry!”

“Why?” she asked, pulling out of his arms so that she could look up at him. 

He sighed and shook his head slightly.  “You don’t understand where I come from, Violet.  I'm not a bartender.  I have businesses all over the world.  I came to Alaska to feel clean again.  Everyone in my previous life, they aren’t who I wanted to be.  They are brutal, vicious, willing to stab someone in the back to make another million dollars.  They have no conscience, and I was becoming just like them.”

Her hand moved higher, her fingers touching his jaw.  “You’re nothing like them!” she said with a vehemence that was heartfelt.  “Nothing!  You’re good and kind, and so gentle.”

He shook his head again.  “No, Violet.  I’m not.  You don’t really know who I am.  And I’ve hidden that side of myself from you because I need you.  I need your goodness.  But I didn’t trust it.  I’m so used to people being…bad.  So when you came along, I wanted you so much.  Not just your body, but have no doubt!  I wanted you in my bed, Violet.”  He felt her stiffen but wouldn’t release her.  “I wanted all of you.  I wanted your goodness and purity.  I need your smiles, and I need you to look at me and see me as a good person.”  He sighed.  “I know this doesn’t make any sense, but I’m just so used to not trusting people that, when George came along, I was floored when he put you back into the category of all the women I’ve known in the past.”  His hands moved up her back.  “I guess I was willing to believe that you weren’t as perfect and beautiful so that I could protect myself.”

Violet was still confused.  “Protect yourself from what?”

“From falling in love with you.”  He closed his eyes.  “But it didn’t work.  I fell in love with you anyway.  I fell so hard that it scared me.”

Violet was stunned by his words.  Wrapping her arms around his lean waist, she rested her cheek against his chest.  “I love you too.”

She absorbed his shudder into her body, tightening her arms around him, trying to take his pain away.  “I’m still mad at you.”

“I know.  But is there any way you might eventually forgive me?”

She squeezed her eyes closed.  “Yes.”

The stillness in him made her nervous and she looked up at him.  “You can forgive me?” he repeated, looking into her eyes. 

“Yes.  I love you,” she burst out.  “I need you so much, Creek!  And I love you.  So yes, I forgive you, if you can forgive me for not talking to you.  For slapping you when I was hurt.  It was horrible and I don’t…” she couldn’t say another word because he was kissing her and she was kissing him right back. 

When he lifted his head up, there was a different look in his eyes, one that made her stomach quiver with excitement and expectation.  “You have to marry me, then,” he told her with absolute finality. 

Violet laughed, thinking he was joking.  “Right,” she said and leaned her head against him again, loving the strength in him. 

“I’m not kidding, Violet.  We’re getting married.  As soon as I can make it happen.”

She smiled and felt his hands move against her back.  “Anything you say, Creek.”

He laughed, relief surging through him.  “We’ll fly down to Vegas tonight.”

She snuggled up against him.  “Right, as if we could get a flight to Vegas on such short notice.”  She didn’t care.  She loved this man, and she would go just about anywhere with him. 

Creek stared over her head and chuckled.  “Violet, you really don’t know much about me, do you?”

“Tyla explained that you live on a mountain and you’re rich.  But I don’t care.  I won’t hold that against you.”

Creek was so stunned by her words, he didn’t really know what to say.  “Promise?” he asked, thinking he couldn’t wait to get her onto his plane and fly her away somewhere warm and private.  Somewhere he could strip all of her clothes off of her delectable body and she wouldn’t need to wear anything for days and days. 

“How about a honeymoon in Saint Thomas?” he suggested. 

Violet laughed.  “How about a honeymoon in my apartment with lots of brownies?” she offered and looked up at him, that suggestive light in her eyes that sent lust surging through him. 

“Brownies…” he groaned.  “That actually sounds a whole lot better.”  And a moment later, he was lifting her into his arms, carrying her through the back.  “Kevin, you’re in charge!” he announced.  “A huge bonus is in your future if you make sure no one bothers us for a few days.”  And he disappeared with his fiancée out the back door. 

Creek thought about taking her up her wooden staircase, but instead, he deposited her in his SUV. 

“Where are we going?” Violet asked, thinking that her bed was pretty darn close.

Creek looked over at her, loving the way her blush revealed all of her thoughts.  “Hold that thought,” he said and started the engine.  “It’s time that I took you to my place.”  It was time that she understood who he really was. 

A half hour later, Violet slowly turned around, taking in the enormous house with the huge windows looking out to the mountains and ocean.  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered. 

He took her hand and led her to the back where his bedroom was located.  There were more windows back here but the woods formed a rich, green hideaway.  “And this is where I’m going to make love to you every night for the rest of your life,” he told her as he stripped off her clothes. 

Violet smiled up into his dark eyes, so in love with him, she could barely contain it all inside of her.  “Promise?” she whispered, ignoring the way her cheeks turned pink again. 

“You’re wearing too many clothes, Ms. Jones,” Creek said as he walked down the sandy path towards his new wife. 

He might have thought she was sleeping except for the smile. 

With deft hands, he untied the delicate strings on each side of her hips and easily swept away the red bikini bottoms.  She’d already discarded the top, although she was lying on her stomach, so the view was slightly less than ideal. 

“You’re trying to pretend to be asleep, Ms. Jones,” he teased as he squirted sunscreen on his hands, which he then smoothed over her back and bottom.  “But I know better.”

“I am asleep,” she lied.  “I’m exhausted because you kept me up all night.”

He bent down and kissed her sun-warmed shoulders.  “And the night before.  And the night before that.”

Violet gasped when his hand moved to the backs of her thighs.  “The sun won’t…”

He laughed, a deep, sexy sound as he shook his head while his fingers moved along her sensitive skin.  “Oh, yes it will,” he promised. 

True to his word, the sun really did.  And she loved every moment of it. 

When she was once again lying in his arms, she curled around him.  “I love you,” she whispered to him, her fingers wrapped around his arm as if she didn’t want to let him go.”

“I love you too,” he growled back and pulled her closer.  He would never let her go, he thought. 

(Tyla and Saeger’s story!)

Wednesday!

Saeger stared out through the windows of his mountain retreat, his body instantly reacting to what this day would bring.  What every Wednesday brought.

“Tyla,” he grimaced, and downed the rest of his coffee in one swallow.  Anticipation, lust, and guilt surged through him as he contemplated the night ahead. 

The lovely, sexy, sassy Tyla Griffin waited tables at The Rotten Apple on Wednesdays.  With her dark blond hair and her sparkling blue eyes, Tyla was the kind of woman a man would die for, he thought.  She was unconsciously sensual, irreverently funny, unnervingly smart, and…completely off limits. 

“Damn,” he muttered, as he moved towards the shower. 

Saeger had been working since before dawn but he still had a long day ahead of him.  A long, boring day of meetings, listening to the tedious explanations of quarterly earnings even though he already knew the statistics.  He needed to get moving, but just the thought of seeing Tyla tonight made his body ache with a lust so intense, it burned him from the inside out. 

Tyla’s brother, Matt, would be furious if he knew the kinds of fantasies slipping through his mind, Saeger thought with self-disgust.  But in his defense, Tyla, Matt’s younger sister, was…gorgeous!  She was like the voluptuous goddess that every man dreamed about with her long, blond hair and those flashing, blue eyes.  Not to mention the longest legs possible on a human being, legs that were always encased in a pair of jeans that clung lovingly to her curves. 

She wasn’t very tall, but somehow her legs seemed to go on forever!  Why did the damn woman always have to wear jeans?  It was like she didn’t own anything else.  He prayed every day that she would walk into The Rotten Apple, the town’s local bar and of which he was part owner, in something other than jeans that hugged her adorable butt like loving hands.  Her bottom was perfectly round, gloriously pert, and taunted him in ways he hadn’t thought possible. 

Every Wednesday night, and sometimes on the weekend when they both worked, he had a hard time keeping his eyes off of her figure while she waited tables and he tended the bar, unfortunately a perfect vantage point to always keep an eye on her…and her butt…and every movement of her gorgeous figure. 

Saeger sighed as frustration surged through him yet again. 

Everything about her made his body ache with desire.  She was lust personified. 

Matt was a Marine who had enlisted about six months ago.  Before he’d shipped off, he’d asked if Saeger could watch out for his little sister, Tyla, since she’d come back from her two years in the Peace Corps.  Of course Saeger had agreed.  Matt was a good guy who had raised his little sister when their parents had died ten years ago. 

At the time, Saeger hadn’t realized what he was getting into.  He hadn’t seen Tyla in several years since she’d joined the Peace Corps.  The day she’d come back, sauntering into The Rotten Apple, it had felt like Saeger had been slammed sideways.  The cute teenager that had run around driving the local boys crazy as a cheerleader had turned into a sultry woman with flashing blue eyes that could drive a man insane with the teasing messages and a body that made his mouth go dry every time he looked at her. 

And since his friend Tucker had given her a job at The Rotten Apple, he saw her a lot! 

Why the hell had Tucker scheduled Tyla to work all of the nights when Saeger helped out?  Why hadn’t Tucker put Tyla on his own shifts? 

Then again, Saeger didn’t really want Tyla on anyone else’s shifts, he thought grimly.  Every time he covered as bartender, he endured hours of torture watching Tyla move in between the tables, serving the beer and drinks, squeezing behind him at the bar when he was pouring drinks…

He shifted the shower controls to cold since his body had reacted in anticipation of some of those tight squeezes tonight, her soft body pressing against him, her breasts....

Hell, he felt like a dirty old man even though he was only thirty-six and Tyla was now twenty-four years old.  He should be protecting her, watching out for her.  Not lusting after her!  He’d promised Matt that he would watch out for his kid sister and Saeger was pretty sure that Matt hadn’t meant watching her legs and butt during all that time. 

He slammed off the cold water since it wasn’t helping.  So far, nothing had helped!  He’d lived in an almost constant state of arousal ever since the damn woman had walked into the bar several months ago!  He’d fire her, but she was one of the best waitresses on staff, joking with the customers, helping with speedy service and just smiling with whoever walked through the doors.  The locals loved her and word had spread about the lovely Tyla’s smiles and cheeriness, now others were coming in just to bask in her glow, so she was great for business as well! 

He needed to find a woman.  Maybe he’d fly down to Seattle tomorrow.  He had been looking at several promising, up and coming computer companies, considering adding them to his portfolio.  He’d been putting off travel for a while…hell, because he didn’t want to miss any nights with Tyla, he suddenly realized. 

He needed to stop thinking about her, he told himself as he pulled on jeans and a sweater.  She was off limits and he should just accept that.  He should call one of the other bartenders and get them to work tonight.  There was no reason for him to work.  He was one of the owners and even that was just for entertainment.  His real business was in the computer and technology field, mostly making gaming software but he had a wide range of companies developing software for various industries. 

As founder of Rollins Technologies, he should be focusing more of his attention on his businesses, and putting less attention on Tyla’s adorable bottom.  Or the way her full breasts pressed against whatever sweater she’d chosen to wear.  And he sure as hell shouldn’t be thinking about her long, sexy legs or that tiny waist that made her hips….

Maybe she’d wear that red sweater again tonight, he thought.  Or the blue one.  Yeah, he liked the blue one.  It matched her eyes almost perfectly.  And it was a bit smaller than the others, making her breasts more pronounced. 

Damn, he was in trouble, he thought as he sat down at his desk.  Pressing a few buttons on his keyboard, all the screens came alive, including a pinging noise that indicated he was late for his morning board meeting.  Sitting down in the leather chair, he pushed all thoughts of Tyla out of his mind. 

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen,” he said, when the monitor came alive, “tell me what you’ve got.”  Ten men and seven women were looking at the screen.  Each person represented one of his divisions, basically entire companies in themselves. 

Unfortunately, even as he listened to his division directors discuss the profits that had been made over the last quarter and the new developments in their areas, his mind was still on Tyla’s blond hair and laughing blue eyes.  He handed out instructions to each of his directors as they spoke, pushing them in one direction or another when their descriptions of the next quarter’s plans sounded as if they might be shifting off focus.  But in reality, he could probably do this in his sleep.  He’d created a multi-billion dollar empire based off of computers and other growing technologies, including a completely separate division for innovation, the newest inventions which were parceled out to his various companies to market and integrate into their current product lines. 

Saeger loved this business, thrived on the challenge of coming up with new inventions and getting them to market faster than any other company in the world.  He loved the competitive edge that was required to keep innovation secret and then spring it on the world as new products.  It was in his blood, and he thrived on the competitiveness of the industry. 

Then again, he also thrived on views of the lovely Tyla. 

Tyla walked into the bar that same afternoon and looked around, sighing with relief when she didn’t see Saeger anywhere around.  She refused to acknowledge the other feeling as disappointment.  This was just a job, she reminded herself, a way to pay the rent until she could build up her graphic art business, trying to help websites with their graphics. 

Saeger Rollins was not for her.  He had proven over and over again that he had absolutely no interest in her as anything other than an employee.  She was like a kid sister to the gorgeous man who towered over her, those navy blue eyes glaring at her when she teased him.  Oh and his jeans!  Goodness, but she hadn’t ever known of another man who looked better in jeans.  Not to mention his shoulders in either flannel shirts or those soft sweaters that he wore, the white tee-shirt poking out of the top as if taunting her with secrets of what might be underneath. 

As she restocked the bar, preparing for the evening ahead, she half-wished they all lived in a small town near a warm beach so that she could watch him when he was only half dressed.  She could easily picture him in a short bathing suit, his long, muscular legs running as he jumped into the surf.  He’d probably carry a surfboard too, showing off all of those amazing muscles in his arms, back and stomach. 

“I think the pourer is on now, Tyla,” Saeger said as he snatched the bottle out of her hand.

Tyla blinked, looking down at her hands where the bottle of whiskey had been only moments ago.  She’d been pushing the majugy that helped pour the liquor without it spilling, and it also measured out a specific amount for each shot. 

Glancing behind her, she realized that Saeger had taken it away and was putting it on the shelf.  “Hey!” she snapped. 

“Here,” he said and plunked another one down in front of her.  “Do this one,” and he squeezed behind her to get to the other side of the bar. 

Tyla gasped as his strong hands grabbed her hips and the rest of his body pressed hers against the counter in front of her.  Surely there was enough room for both of them to pass without this kind of distraction, wasn’t there?