The Billionaire's Beautiful Mistake (Bold Alaskan Men Book 1) (5 page)

Violet was…hell, he just kept coming back to the fact that she was different.  So completely different, and he was going to have to learn how to handle her or he was going to lose her.

What had happened to his plan? 

It had gone out the window. 

Creek stepped into the shop, his eyes automatically looking around for Violet.  They’d been dating for a week now, spending every night together.  His control was wearing thin, but he was determined to treat Violet right.  He couldn’t scare her away with the force of his desire.  He had to remain cool and in control. 

“She’s not here,” George called out, stepping through the storage room doorway. 

The grumbling voice startled him and he swung around, watching Violet’s stepfather munch away on another sandwich.  The man even wiped his hands on his jeans after shoving the last bite into his mouth.  Creek wasn’t sure if wiping his jeans was effective since the fabric was already so filthy. 

Creek accepted that he really didn’t like this guy.  There was just something about him that made his skin crawl.  But Violet seemed to think the guy was…well, Creek didn’t really understand how Violet felt about her stepfather.  Whenever he’d brought up the subject, she’d switched to another topic.  Was she just trying to be nice by not saying a bad thing about someone?  Or was there something going on with the man and Violet didn’t want Creek to know about it? 

Either way, the man was a leech.  Seemed that all he did was sit around on that stupid stool while everyone else worked around him. 

“Where is she?” Creek asked, tucking his motorcycle helmet under his arm and pulling his leather gloves off.  It was a great day to go riding on a motorcycle and he was hoping to take Violet out for a drive.  Nothing long, but he was craving her slender arms around his waist and his mouth actually watered at the idea of her pressing her perfect breasts against his back. 

George sighed heavily.  “She went out.  It’s time you and I discussed business.”

Creek’s hands paused and his stomach tightened.  “Business,” he repeated, wondering what kind of business George might be into.  Whatever it was, Creek was instantly wary.  And from the look in George’s eyes, Creek was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to like whatever it was that George was going to propose. 

George stood up, and rubbed his flannel covered sleeve over his still-greasy mouth.  “You want my girl.” 

Creek stood still, not replying in any way.  Of course he wanted Violet.  She was beautiful and sexy, not to mention smart as hell.  She knew her way around business even though she hadn’t been to business school.  She’d built her business up by reading through all the textbooks she could get her hands on.  As pretty much self-taught himself, he respected that more than he could ever articulate. 

“What of it?” Creek asked, tucking his leather gloves into his belt.  He wanted to find Violet and take her out for a drive, maybe get some lunch and just talk with her, kiss her and feel the brightness of her smile.  He definitely did not want to deal with this blowhard this afternoon. 

George huffed up a bit, his already bulging stomach coming out several inches more and he tugged his loose jeans up underneath that gut.  “You want her, she needs to be paid.”

Creek froze with those words.  Paid?  He repeated the word in his mind.  Then again.  The implications made his blood run cold.  “Excuse me?” he finally said.  Surely the man didn’t mean that…

“You want her, you’re gonna have to pay for her.  She won’t go for free.  I’m just the middle man, here to negotiate on behalf of my daughter.”

“Stepdaughter,” Creek corrected, not wanting any blood relationship between this man and the woman he wanted.  Badly. 

“Whatever,” he grunted.  “Like I said, I’m just here to negotiate.  You want her, you gotta pay.  She wants five grand.”

Creek wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly.  “Dollars?” he almost choked out. 

The disgusting man didn’t even blink.  “Yep.  One night.  Five thousand dollars.  And you’ll be her first.”  He shrugged.  “Or so she says.  I don’t know what happened with the other men.  I just run the deals.  What she does with you guys is her business.”

Creek couldn’t believe this.  Other men?  He’d be her first?  And what the hell kind of deal was he talking about?  Five thousand dollars for…sex?  Then something else struck him.  “You mean, there have been other men before me?”

George chuckled. “Buddy, did you really believe that you’re the first?”  He sighed and rubbed his forehead.  “Look, all I can say is that her specialty is the date night experience.  Other women in this career, they have their own specialties, but Violet, she’s good at making the guy feel special, like a real date.  You want that experience, she wants five thousand dollars.  You don’t want it, fine with me.  All I know is what she tells me and she says she’ll make it extra special for you.”

Creek couldn’t believe this.  “What you’re saying is that Violet is actually a high-priced call girl who specializes in date night experiences.”  He didn’t believe it.  He couldn’t!  Not Violet!  She was different!  All women wanted something and he’d never paid for sex.  Oh, he’d given women a night on the town, dinner at a restaurant that no one else could get into…hell, just being seen on his arm was all some women wanted. 

But outright cash?  Never had he heard of anything so…crass!

Okay, that wasn’t true.  He knew that call girls, street hookers, and ladies of the night abounded.  But he’d never…

“Violet?” he asked again, still trying to absorb the words George was saying.  Every muscle in his body was stiff with the effort not to react in any other way.  But Creek was fighting the impulse to reach across the countertop and slam his fist into the disgusting man’s face. 

“You got it in one,” he said.  “You want the experience or not?  Cause I have other things to do and there’s more than one buyer.  So lock in the date if you want it.  Otherwise, move on because she has a business to run.”

Creek stood still for a long time.  Then he realized that he was actually debating the idea in his mind.  Pay for sex?  Seriously? 

George sighed and leaned against the counter, arms spread wide and his eyebrows moving up and down.  “It isn’t like you haven’t done this before.”  He chuckled and shook his head.  “You’ve done this before, it just hasn’t been this out in the open with your other transactions,” George said, obviously reading his mind. 

Creek shook his head.  “I’ve never paid for sex in my life.”  And never would, he vowed silently. 

“Sure you have.  How many times have you bought the woman an expensive, sparkly trinket?”

Creek didn’t say a word since, yes, he’d given some of his mistresses expensive jewelry on occasion.  Especially when they’d pleased him or when he was ready to move on, end the relationship. 

Somehow, the two transactions seemed different. 

This was not happening, he told himself.  He was not hearing this about Violet.  She wasn’t like that! 

“Get a grip, buddy,” George laughed.  He leaned in closer.  “She really is good, isn’t she?” he said, almost in a whisper. 

Creek was repulsed and not sure if he believed what he was hearing.  It couldn’t be true. 

But he’d said just last night that she was too good to be true, he thought.  Maybe she really was too good to be true.  Maybe Violet had given him a taste, knowing that he’d crave more. 

His thoughts were out of control and he hated the idea of Violet actually being a prostitute.  It seemed impossible, but could any woman really be so…amazing? 

“I’m out of here,” he growled and turned around, intent on getting the hell away from this conversation.  He couldn’t believe that the man was actually pimping out his stepdaughter.  It seemed…foul.  Disgusting. 

“Call me when you change your mind,” George said before the door slammed shut on Creek’s departure. 

Creek slapped his helmet onto his head, not bothering with his gloves in his need to get away as quickly as possible.  He needed a shower, he thought as he slammed the power on and sped away.  He took the corners fast, angling through the narrow streets.  It took the entire ride back to his place before he could calm down. 

“Was that Creek who just drove away?” Violet said as she slipped into the shop with another box of product balanced precariously on her hip.  This one was heavy, she thought.  Her eyes looked out the store window, wishing that she’d been a few minutes earlier.  In just a short period of time, she’d gone from feeling nervous and anxious around Creek, to feeling like she was a princess in his eyes.  The man was such a sweet guy, always concerned about her feelings, holding her hand and making her feel…alive. 

Maybe it hadn’t been Creek, she thought.  Maybe it had just been another handsome guy on a dangerous looking motorcycle with broad shoulders and….

“Yeah, it was him.” George rubbed the back of his neck, eyeing his stepdaughter carefully. 

Violet looked at the man, wondering about the look in his eyes.  It was strange and…she didn’t really like it. 

“Honey, he’s on the edge.  A man like that, he has needs.  You can’t keep stringing him along.  Either give him what he needs or cut him loose, Violet.”

Violet placed the box on the shelf, not bothering to open it up.  What George was suggesting was both terrifying and exciting.  Make love with Creek?  Could she do it?  The way he kissed her and the way she reacted, she knew that it would be a glorious night.  But she’d always thought she’d be married, or at least in a committed relationship before she had sex with a man. 

She had been dating the man for only a week and already, she couldn’t wait to see him, loved just holding his hand and being with him.  With a sigh, she accepted the truth about her feelings for the tall, mysterious man. 

She was in love with Creek.  Every part of her admired the man, enjoyed talking with him and just being with him.  He was so tall and strong and just his voice sent shivers down her body in all the strangest places.  The last time they’d been together, well, things had started to get out of hand.  If she hadn’t gotten nervous and if that phone hadn’t rung…well, maybe she’d be in his bed already. 

She glanced at George and shuddered.  George had been her mother’s idea of wonderful at one point.  Now the man just hung around, not really contributing anything and ate all of her food.  She’d like to kick him out, but she didn’t have the heart.  He was a mooch, yes.  But he didn’t have any other place to go. 

“Creek is a nice guy,” she told him, not wanting to discuss her personal life with George.  He wasn’t very good with relationships.  Or selling merchandise.  Or being a good human being, she thought with increasing frustration.  She had to get him out of the store before the tourist season started.  The man scared away customers, growling at them and just being rude.  And her other employees were starting to complain too.  They said he was bossing them around when she was gone.  That was just not allowed, she thought.

George moved closer, placing his pudgy hand over hers and she had to fight the instinct to pull her hand away.  She felt dirty just with his touch and it had nothing to do with the grease that rubbed off from his fingers to her own.  Ick! 

George was trying to tell her something and she looked up at him, trying to listen and not cringe away from him.  “Creek is a man.  If you don’t start thinking of him that way, you’re going to lose him,” he said and reached for his coat.  “I’m going out for a beer,” he said and snuck Violet’s tuna sandwich into his coat pocket.  He’d already stuffed a twenty dollar bill into his jeans.  A man needed sustenance, he told himself as justification for his theft.  “Let me know if you want me to talk to him, honey.  I know what a man wants and I can make sure he knows to take it easy with you.”

A moment later, he was gone, walking down the street and whistling.  It was the first time that Violet had seen the man with a spring to his step.

Violet tried hard not to cringe as she watched him, even as she took some Lysol out and cleaned the counter as well as the stool he’d been using all morning.  Why that man wanted to hang out here all day long, she didn’t understand.  Couldn’t he find a job somewhere? 

She poured herself a glass of water, then reached down to her small fridge and…darn him!  He’d taken her lunch!  Even her pretzels were gone!  Ugh!  She really needed to have a long talk with George.  She was sick of him stealing her stuff!

She grabbed the carrot sticks that she’d cut up earlier and grabbed several orders, moving to the back room to help wrap up orders and get them ready for the mail carrier.  The whole time, she kept looking out the door to the store and then glancing at her cell phone, hoping to hear or see Creek.  She had no reason to think that he would contact her, but she still hoped.

By the end of the day, she walked up the stairs to her small apartment above the store, depression weighing heavily on her shoulders.  She hadn’t heard from Creek all day long. Not even a text message!  She’d been dating him for a week and a day hadn’t gone by yet when she hadn’t heard from him in some way. 

Glancing down at her phone, she willed the screen to show that she had a message from him.  Anything! 

Of course, she could just shoot him a message.  Where was it written that the guy had to initiate communications in a relationship?  She was being ridiculously old-fashioned by waiting for Creek to send her a message.  She should just…

She wasn’t an old-fashioned woman, she told herself.  She was a modern woman who could take the initiative. 

Picking up her phone, her fingers hesitated over the keys, not sure what to say.  Finally, she decided to be bold and ask him out. He’d taken her out several times, it was her turn.  If he didn’t want to have dinner with her, well, it wasn’t like she would be running into him a lot, now would she?  He lived in the next small town.  They’d only run into each other by accident that one time when she’d gone into The Rotten Apple. 

Releasing a deep breath, she pressed the buttons and tapped out a message.  “Any chance you might be interested in dinner tomorrow night?  My place?  Nothing fancy, just an old-fashioned meal.”  She thought about adding in, “And me” but she didn’t have the courage to say that.  She wasn’t even sure she was ready to take that next step, but offering to cook him dinner at her place seemed like she was sending out that message. 

She pressed “send” before she could lose her courage, then stuffed her phone into her purse, not looking at it for fear that he might not respond.  Or that he would!

Creek got the message and cursed under his breath.  Slamming back the whiskey, he walked behind the bar and poured himself another, ignoring the concerned glances of Tucker and Saeger. 

“What’s going on?” Saeger finally asked, when Creek sat down with the whole bottle.  And wasn’t sharing.

“It’s the woman,” Tucker said, shaking his head.  “Viola or something.”

“Violet,” Creek corrected, slamming the glass back down.  “And she’s too expensive.”

Both men looked at each other.  They knew their friend’s net worth and it was in the billions.  None of them worried about money.  Ever!

“What in the world are you talking about?  You flew that one woman out to Tahoe last summer when she said it was too cold in Alaska.”

Creek took another swig of whiskey.  “And I left her there.”

Tucker shrugged.  “My point is still valid.”

Knox walked in at that moment, saw the three of them and shook his head.  “Violet?” he asked. 

Saeger nodded as he walked behind the bar and grabbed another bottle of whiskey.  “Women,” he grumbled.  “Keep it light and fun and there aren’t any problems.”  He opened the bottle and took a slug, handing the bottle off to Knox who had already sat down to drink in solidarity.  That was the thing about these friends.  They were always more than willing to support one another, even if it meant getting drunk together. 

Tucker glanced at Creek’s phone when it buzzed again.  Reading the message, he was even more confused.  “Creek, she’s just asking if you want a home cooked meal.  If you don’t want it, can I take her up on it?”

Sarah walked behind him and smacked him on the head.  “That’s his girl you’re talking about.”

“Everyone’s girl,” Creek mumbled and slammed back another slug of whiskey. 

Knox did a double take with those words and the three men stared hard at Creek.  Unfortunately, none of them had any idea what he was talking about but Saeger was still fast enough to stop Sarah’s hand from hitting the back of Creek’s head.  “Something’s wrong, Sarah,” he mumbled.  “Help me get him upstairs.”

“I’m fine,” Creek told all of them and stood up.  He wasn’t going to drive home since he’d been drinking but he wasn’t going to continue, knowing that it wasn’t having the needed affect.  He wanted to obliterate her image from his mind, but he was still able to picture her soft lips and those beautiful eyes that tilted up like a cat’s with the crazy blue color that he couldn’t stop thinking about.  And her body!  Damn he wanted to hold her body against his, to feel her tighten around him as he brought her to climax. 

He’d been dreaming every night about doing just that to her and now he knew he couldn’t have her.  Not like that. 

The upstairs area had several small rooms with beds for just this purpose, and he slammed the door on the first room he came to, relieved that it was still early enough in the evening that the bar wasn’t full enough for the entire town to know about his drunken mess. 

He laid down on the soft bed, irritated that he was still thinking about the possibility of being with Violet.  She was so soft, so wonderful.  His mind went over every conversation they’d had in the past week, searching for some clue that he’d missed, something that should have warned him that Violet was a call girl. 

But all of their conversations had been ordinary and still, he’d found each of them stimulating.  He loved talking to her about her business, the way her eyes lit up when one of her crafts people came up with a new idea or when she talked about searching the Internet for display ideas.  Violet made sure that her store was bright and colorful, drawing the eye of any tourist that passed by. 

Hell, he’d looked into the volume of merchandise her store went through, she was more than comfortable!  She should buy her building so that she didn’t have rent but…

Damn it!  He couldn’t get her out of his mind! 

They’d only been seeing each other for the past week, but every moment in her company had been…different. 

Five thousand dollars?! 

Why couldn’t he do it?  That thought sunk into his brain slowly and the idea made his body react.  Fast!  Ah, the idea of holding her in his arms finally! 

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that George was right.  He’d spent more than five thousand dollars on women in the past.  Easily!  The women he’d brought to his bed had been lively and entertaining and, when he felt in the mood, he didn’t mind one of them thinking she’d manipulated him into buying her nice things. 

What was the difference?  What made cash the bad type of transaction when he’d bought jewelry and clothes for exponentially more than five thousand?  Cash was simply a means to pay the piper.  His lovers had expected certain things from him.  He’d known the price, even if it wasn’t spelled out quite as blandly as George had done earlier today. 

“Five thousand,” he said into the darkened room.  “What’s five thousand?”  Hell, he’d dropped five thousand on a hand of poker in Vegas last month.  Okay, so he’d walked away with fifty thousand that night, but that wasn’t the point. 

He’d do it, he thought to the darkness.  His body instantly reacted just to the thought of finally having Violet in his arms.  In his bed.  Damn, but he wanted her now.  Too bad he’d had too much to drink because he’d like to hop on his bike and be over there right this moment. 

As he closed his eyes, he thought about all the things he would do to her.  All the ways he would make love to her.  He could think of five thousand ways, and he fell asleep as his mind pictured at least ten ways instantly. 

Violet dropped her book onto her lap and glanced at her cell phone.  Still no answer.  Darn him!  She’d put her neck out there and he’d ignored her!  He could have at least said no!  He didn’t even have the decency to reject her! 

She turned off the lone light in her apartment and stomped into her bedroom, determined to put him out of her mind.  She ignored the fact that she’d raced out and bought all of the ingredients for a full meat and potatoes meal, had already put together most of the apple pie she would put in the oven so that it smelled delicious when he arrived. 

Maybe she’d just eat the whole thing herself! 

She got ready for bed, pulling on her voluminous, flannel nightgown and snuggled into the warm sheets.  Spring might be starting to show itself in the various ways here in Alaska, but it was still cold!  She thought about trying to find some place that had sexy underwear, but then rejected the idea.  He didn’t want her home cooked meal, so she definitely wasn’t going to waste time and money driving into Eagle Point to find pretty underwear to entice the man! 

He probably didn’t even want her!  Which was why he hadn’t responded to her text message.  Stupid man!  He didn’t know how delicious her apple pie was.  He had no idea what he was missing!