The Brazen Billionaire

  The doorbell rang again, jolting Jasper out of his mind. He twisted and pulled, not breathing as the door opened to reveal who stood on the front steps.

  “Sasha.” Her name fell from his lips the way a star falls from heaven, and he wasted no time gathering her into his arms and taking a deep breath of her skin, her hair, her. “You’re here.” He held her away from him, her ponytail swinging with the sudden movement. “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you call? I’d have come met you at the airport.”

  She gazed up at him, her dark honey eyes twinkling yet filled with trepidation at the same time. “Oh, you hate airports, and I figured out how to drive on the wrong side of the road well enough. Well, there was that one car that seemed quite angry at me….”

  He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. “I hate airports.” Pieces clicked around inside his head, but they didn’t come together to make a complete picture.

  “Right.” She looked past him. “Is it possible to go inside? I don’t know how to survive in the cold.”

  “Oh. Right.” Jasper jumped back, pulling her with him into the house like she might make a mad dash for it if he let go of her. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see you,” she said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She wore a black coat that didn’t seem like it fit well, a pair of jeans, and black boots. Lines of exhaustion sat around her eyes, and he wanted to bring her close to his chest and protect her from everything bad in the world.

  He simply kept his hand in hers and watched her. “I called you a kajillion times.”

  “First, a kajillion doesn’t even exist.” She removed her hand from his and unbuttoned the coat. “And second, I would’ve answered the last one, but I was on the plane.”

  “Did you get my messages?”

  “All of them.” She met his eyes, something fearful swimming in hers. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you didn’t have anything going on with Dominique. I just…I don’t quite know how to trust men like you.”

  “Men like me?” Jasper folded his arms. “What kind of man am I?”

  “A rich man.”

  Jasper opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came to mind.

  “I just…. So I was at Stacey’s wedding, and she read her vows to Fisher, and she said something about how she’d gone to Michigan to get him back into her life, and as I stood there in these awful heels.” She rolled her eyes as if heels were the worst imaginable footwear on the planet. “All I could think about was coming here to get you back into my life. I’m not perfect.” She swallowed and wrung her hands together. “Not even close. I know that. I’m in debt up to my eyeballs, and I don’t love you for your money. I need time to learn to trust, but you said once that you weren’t going anywhere.”

  Jasper heard so many things, he didn’t know which one to focus on.

  All I could think about was coming here to get you back into my life.

  She wanted him in her life?

  I don’t love you for your money.

  She loved him?

  “So.” She took a big breath and clenched her arms across her chest. “Are you staying here or are you really coming back to Hawaii with your parents?”

  He swept his hand toward a pile of boxes in the living room, the only answer he could give in his current condition.

  She loved him?

  Her eyes traveled over to the boxes, and he found his voice. “The movers are coming in a week. We fly out the next day.” Just saying the word fly made his stomach clench.

  Sasha nodded and returned her attention to him. “So, this looks like a pretty small cottage. How do you feel about an additional houseguest for the next week?”

  Jasper could answer that non-verbally too, so he cupped her face in his hands, his brain finally aligning all the thoughts, all the words, and turning them into action. “Oh, there’s no room here. But I’ll get you a hotel in town, okay?”

  She put her arms around his neck, her eyes drifting closed as she nodded.

  “And Sasha?”

  “Hm?”

  “I love you too.” He kissed her then, the taste of her, the smell of her, the way she felt against his chest, absolute perfection and everything he’d been hoping for.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “It is not happening, so put it out of your mind.” Sasha glared at Jasper, the man she’d just flown hours and hours to see and pushed her food around her plate. His sister had shown up only a few minutes after they’d made up, and while Sasha had wanted to kiss him for a lot longer and then have him take her on a tour of Bern, that hadn’t happened.

  Introductions were made, and then his parents got home, and dinner was served. They all crammed into the tiny kitchen, where Jasper had thrown a wrench in the conversation by saying, “Oh, and I just came into a bunch of money and I’d like to invest in The Straw.”

  Like it was nothing.

  Like Sasha and The Straw had dozens of billionaire investors banging down the door.

  But she wasn’t going to take a single dime from him. At least not right now. She must’ve glared hard enough, because he dropped the subject.

  “Should we go see about a hotel?” he asked several minutes later.

  She nodded, gave his sister a hug, and left with him. “How do you want to drive?” she asked.

  “Depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On how long you’ll let me stay.” He gave her a wicked grin and pulled her close, his hand along her waist so welcome. It had been too long since she’d seen him and she made a mental vow never to let herself get into that dark place where she’d been for the past six weeks.

  “You can stay as long as you want,” she said. “I mean, not overnight or anything. I don’t want your mom to think I’m that kind of girl.” She gave him a flirty smile. They’d never talked about sex, but Sasha had barely started along the track to fully trusting Jasper. So she knew she wasn’t ready for much more than kissing, and talking, and then more kissing.

  And that was exactly what they spent the rest of the evening doing. By the time Jasper said, “I’ll just take the rental back to my parents’ place and come get you for breakfast,” Sasha felt sure she’d entered an alternate reality.

  After all, she’d never used her passport before. Never flown across the ocean. And never told a billionaire that she loved him.

  Maybe she was the brazen one after all.

  Seven days in Switzerland turned out to be too short to see everything she wanted to see, do everything she wanted to do, kiss Jasper at all the beautiful places she wanted to kiss him.

  Before she knew it, she stood in the security line with him, his parents in front of them, while Jasper tried to squeeze the life out of her hand. She didn’t tell him it was okay. She simply talked to him like normal, asked him his plans for the rest of the week, and if he really wanted her to come clean for him.

  “No,” he said. “You don’t need to do that anymore. Wait.” He peered at her. “You still can. I know you need the money.”

  She did need the money, but she said, “I think you’ll need a few days to get settled with your parents. Then we can talk about it.”

  They’d talked about a lot of things in the past week. He’d brought up everything—her family, his family, children, her job, his job, their odd hours, all of it.

  Well, not all of it. The topic of diamonds and weddings had not been discussed, and Sasha really wanted to get it out in the open. She waited until they’d boarded the plane and put on their seat belts before she turned to Jasper and said, “So, are you going to take me to your jewelry shop and buy me a diamond ring when we get back to the island?”

  He blinked at her for a couple of long seconds before a laugh spilled from his mouth. “Oh, you want to get married, do you?”

  “We’ve talked about it before,” she said as the rumble of the engine built beneath her. The plane moved, and Jasper didn’t seem to notice.

  “I’m just wondering if yo
u’ve ever thought about your wedding,” she said.

  “Not particularly.”

  “Well, it’s April already, and I’ve sort of always wanted to have a holiday wedding. You know, Christmastime?”

  He did that blinking again. “You’re thinking eight months from now?”

  “Too soon?”

  “I haven’t even asked you yet.”

  She giggled and laid her head against his shoulder. “Well, you better get on that then. I’ve seen you pull together last-minute plans like a champ. I’m sure you’ll think of something before we land.”

  His eyebrows shot sky high. “You want to get engaged when we get back to Hawaii?”

  “Of course not.” She lifted the armrest as the plane turned and then paused. In the next breath, it accelerated, pushing her back against the seat, where she snuggled into Jasper.

  His chuckle turned into a gasping inhalation, and he tightened his arm around her shoulders. “I hate taking off.”

  “But I distracted you all the way until then.” She tilted her head back and he touched his lips to hers.

  “I guess you are good to have around,” he teased just before he kissed her again.

  Jasper did not ask Sasha to marry him when they landed. Instead, she watched him fly into oldest son mode as he took care of his parents’ every need. They were hungry? He got them whatever they wanted to eat. His mom was too hot? He turned on a fan. They wanted the royal tour of this house? He led them around with the exuberance of a child on Christmas morning.

  Sasha enjoyed watching him with them, actually, and she was quite happy to trail along. She saw the pure exhaustion come over all of them, and she felt it herself, so she gave him one final kiss and headed back to her condo.

  She’d gotten Lexie of all people to run her stand while she’d been gone to Switzerland, and she found a folder containing all the daily reports for the past eight days, right down to the penny.

  Sasha had asked the woman point-blank if she had a crush on Jasper, and Lexie had laughed in her face.

  “We tried a relationship,” she said when she’d finally stopped laughing. “There was nothing there for either of us. We’re just in this club—” She’d clammed up at that point, and Sasha hadn’t pushed the issue. But knowing Jasper had some secret club and he hadn’t told her about it had caused Sasha a moment’s pause.

  But really, did she have to know everything about him? In the end, she’d decided she didn’t, and she’d gotten on the plane like she’d planned.

  And she’d find out about the club, eventually. After all, she had a club of her own too.

  She jolted away from the folder and opened her Women’s Beach Club group text to let all her friends know she was back on the island, and yes, Jasper had come home with her.

  Smiley faces and exclamations came through on the text, even from Winnie. Sasha practically floated toward her bedroom, where she collapsed and slept for a good long while.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  It took a week for Jasper to re-acclimate to island life and get his parents all settled. They seemed to be enjoying the pool, as well as the trails around town up to waterfalls, the pineapple plantation, and the lava state park.

  His mother had healed from her fall pretty well, and she still had a large percentage of good days. His father seemed to have snapped out of his funk, and he got his wife to doctor’s appointments and made sure she took her medication.

  Jasper got back to work, and he left a list for Sasha each day but he found himself too tired to see her before she went back to The Straw. When he wasn’t sleeping or working or dealing with his parents, his mind revolved around how to ask Sasha to be his wife.

  My wife.

  Sometimes he paused in the middle of a task as the two words struck him with wonder. He somehow managed to keep up with work, but nothing had come for a grand proposal.

  “Sasha doesn’t need grand,” he muttered to himself as he got off the elevator on the twenty-eighth floor at Sweet Breeze.

  Laughter came through the ajar door, and he nudged it open and went inside. He hadn’t seen any of his friends in the Hawaii Nine-0 club in weeks and weeks, and the sense of family and camaraderie that hit him square in the chest made him stall in the doorway.

  “Hey, Jasper’s back.” Tyler approached, looking every bit the beach bum he tried so hard to be. But he walked with the gait of a man who’d worn expensive suits and ate at high-end restaurants quite a lot in his life.

  The two men shook hands, and Jasper couldn’t help grinning at Tyler. “So you’re all made up with Tawny, I’ve heard.”

  “And you came back with your parents and your girlfriend.” Tyler grinned and drank from his water bottle.

  “Yeah.” Jasper exhaled as Marshall and Lawrence walked over, still engaged in a conversation about the value of bitcoins in actual business.

  “Hey, Jasper. Welcome back.” They all shook hands, and Marshall added, “Fish said to say hello. I guess he’s somewhere in France. Newly married, you know.”

  “I know.” A twinge of guilt pulled through him. “I feel bad I missed the ceremony.”

  “Owen took your spot with Sasha,” Marshall said. “It worked out.”

  “When are you getting married?”

  “Oh, you know.” Marshall looked over Jasper’s shoulder as the elevator dinged again. “Whenever Esther tells me.”

  “She hasn’t set a date?” Tyler asked.

  “Do you have a date?” Marshall challenged as Lexie joined them.

  “A date for what?” she asked.

  “His wedding.” Marshall cocked an eyebrow at Tyler.

  “As a matter of fact, Tawny is thinking Christmas.”

  Christmas ran through Jasper’s mind for a moment, and then Lexie said, “I thought you’d come home engaged, Jasper.”

  “Oh?” He studied her, now quite sure why she thought so or how she was privy to any information about his private life.

  “Yeah, I worked The Straw for Sasha. Didn’t she tell you?”

  His mouth dropped open. “You ran The Straw?”

  Lexie smiled and accepted the bottle of water from Agnes as she came over. “Yep. I ran The Straw, and Sasha told me everything.” Her eyes practically danced with delight. She laughed and she and Agnes walked away, already engaged in some other conversation.

  An idea struck him. “Lexie,” he called. She turned back, her eyebrows raised. “I need some ideas for a proposal….”

  He ignored Tyler’s laughter and Marshall’s “You take her to the jeweler and have her pick something out,” and stepped around them to talk to Lexie.

  Another week passed before Jasper’s plans came together. Sure, he owned the jewelry shop, but he couldn’t just happen to take her by and point to the cases like Pick one out. I love you.

  It had to be more than that. Bigger. Better. Something that showed her he truly loved her, and would do anything to be with her.

  Lexie proved to be helpful once again. She owned and operated one of the world’s largest mutual fund companies, and she had some ways of finding information out, especially about Sasha’s business. The two women had formed some sort of bond Jasper hadn’t anticipated when he’d first asked Lexie to take a shift at The Straw so he could go out with Sasha.

  She’d somehow managed to find out where Sasha’s debts were and for how much. Jasper had bided his time as he made the rest of the plans, and finally, yesterday, he’d called and paid off everything.

  When Sasha found out, she’d likely be furious, so he wanted to have the diamond on her finger before he told her.

  To do that, he needed someone in the stand for her, where, once again, Lexie stepped in. To Jasper’s knowledge, she hadn’t dated anyone in a while, and he wondered if he was causing her any distress by asking for so much of her help. He didn’t dare ask, though, and she didn’t say anything.

  He turned from the cases of diamonds in the shop and straightened his tie. His mother had chosen the bright orange pai
sleys on a shopping trip with Sasha, and it paired nicely with his navy blue suit. He just wished his nerves hadn’t come on so strongly.

  But Sasha was late.

  Of course, she didn’t know it, but Jasper did, and he kept telling himself to hold on a little longer. If he could just make it through a few more minutes, he’d have himself a fiancée.

  He took a long, deep breath and moved up one case to examine its contents. This one held red and white balloons, all the gems removed for the time being. The case in front of that, closest to the door, held a single envelope.

  The chime on the door sounded, and Jasper glanced up to find Sasha standing there in a pair of jean shorts and a blouse the color of tangerines. She wore her hair up, like she’d come from work, which of course, she had.

  She carried her purse slung over her arm, and she cocked her eyebrow at him. “What’s going on here?”

  “There’s something for you in that case there.” He nodded to the first one.

  She moved forward, a bit of a smile on her beautiful face, and looked down into the glass. “I don’t know how to open it.”

  “Oh, let me, madam.”

  She quirked a coy smile at him. “Madam?”

  “I’ve worked a lot of hours in a jewelry shop. The women are always madam or ma’am.” He slid open the glass in the back and picked up the envelope as if it were made of glass. “Try this one.”

  She laughed and took the envelope from him, her eyes barely leaving his as she flipped it over and opened it. “Find the next envelope among the red and white.” She nodded toward the next case. “I assume it’s in there?”

  Jasper swept his arm toward it in a grand invitation for her to help herself. “Right this way, ma’am.”

  She shook her head at him, though she clearly enjoyed this game. Jasper wasn’t sure it wasn’t the stupidest way on the planet to ask her to marry him, but he couldn’t think of anything else and he didn’t want May to come without making Sasha his fiancée.