The Billionaire From Hawaii_A Steamy Billionaire Romance Read online

  She pointed to the office behind her. “This is my desk. That is your office. So, you have a minute to go check it out, and then you should go up to the next floor and go see the guys.”

  “The guys?” Nicole asked, walking toward the door of her new office.

  “Edward Stein and Dane Priestly. It’s their company. Your interview is with them.” Tia gave her a smile and sat down at her desk, and flipped on her computer.“Good luck!”

  Nicole smiled and nodded her thanks before turning to look at her new office. It was bigger than she had expected it to be, and Tia was right; it had a view of the beach, the bay, and the sea that was as perfect as a postcard. She didn’t feel like she could possibly be looking at something real before her. She gave her head a little shake and promised herself that someday it might become more real to her, but it was never going to be something that she took for granted.

  She tucked her purse into her new desk and then went to the elevator and pressed the up arrow. Her heart began beating swiftly in her chest, and she told herself that she needn’t worry, that the job was already hers, but it didn’t do much to assuage her nervousness. It was after all a new job, she had never met her bosses in person, and she had taken it all on like a gamble, trusting that it would all work out to such a degree that she had bet changing her whole life on it. It was the biggest gamble that she had ever made, and she wanted it to work out well.

  The elevator doors opened, and she faced a reception desk. There were a few doors behind it; one of them went to a conference room completely encased in glass, which she liked the look of. It made her feel that even though there might be a closed-door meeting there, there would be no big secrets behind those walls; transparency didn’t allow for secrets.

  To her left were two more doors made of a light wood. The secretary sitting at the reception desk looked at her and smiled. “May I help you?” she asked pleasantly.

  “Yes, I’m Nicole Hamilton,” she began, and before she could get out her reason for being there, the older woman brightened, and her smile became a grin.

  “You’re Miss Hamilton! What a great pleasure to meet you!” She stood and extended her hand. “I’m Rose.”

  Nicole smiled and shook the woman’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Rose.”

  Rose beamed at her. “Ed is expecting you. Just go ahead and go into the door just behind me there.” She watched Nicole walk around her desk and waved her fingers at her. “Good to have you here!”

  “Thank you, Rose!” Nicole went to Edward’s door as her heart beat even faster, and she felt some more happiness in her that she would be working with such nice people. She only hoped that her bosses would be as good, though from the time she had spent on the telephone with Edward already, she felt that they would be.

  Turning the handle, she pushed the door open and walked inside. Edward was sitting at his desk, tapping away on a strange looking flat keyboard that seemed to be made more of light than of plastic or some similar component.

  He had unruly brown wavy hair that had been corralled into place as much as it could be. He had bright blue eyes and thin lips, wide cheeks and a square jaw. He wore a bright Hawaiian shirt, red with big white flowers on it, and she could see thick tufts of chest hair poking out over the top button. His arms were just as hairy, it seemed, from his short sleeves above the elbow to his hands, which were moving at lightning speed over the keyboard.

  The man looked up at her, and a grin spread over his face. “There she is!” He stood up and reached his hand out to her, and she saw that he was wearing dark olive-green shorts from which his hairy legs protruded to his sandals. “Welcome to paradise!” he cried out happily as she shook his hand.

  With that one single, firm, friendly handshake, all of her anxiety left her. She knew that she had absolutely, definitely made the right choice by taking the job that she had been offered, change her whole life, and move to Hawaii to work for this man and his partner. Relief flooded her, and happiness replaced the stress and anxiety that had been there.

  He glanced at her pin striped business suit, and she tried not to look at his Hawaiian shirt and olive cargo shorts. He shrugged and laughed jovially. “Hey, it’s casual day.”

  She blinked. “It’s Monday,” she said evenly.

  He shrugged. “Is it? That’s great! We have the whole week ahead of us!” He laughed and sat down in his chair, indicating to her that she should do the same. She did. “We don’t keep track of the days too closely here unless something big is coming up, but then Rose lets us know and keeps us in line. So, any day that ends in a Y is a great day for a casual day as far as I’m concerned. Unless Dane makes me put on a tie for a meeting. I try to avoid those days, though.” He laughed again and leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk and giving her an inquisitive look.

  “Dress however you like; I’m not worried about what you’re wearing. I’m concerned with growing the company, and if your office wardrobe doesn’t hamper that, then it’s all good with me.” He threw the subject away then like a used tissue. “Have you been to your office? It’s nice. We saved one of the best ones for you, just in case we were lucky enough to actually get you. Dane owes me twenty dollars for that, by the way. I said we could get you, and he said there was no way you’d do it.” He laughed then, a belly laugh, and she found herself laughing right along with him.

  “You seriously made a bet over whether I’d take the job?” She couldn’t believe it. Suddenly, she had no idea what it was that she had been nervous about.

  “Yes! We were having a couple of beers down the street, and we decided that we needed you here, and that was when we made the bet. I said we could do it, he said we couldn’t, that you wouldn’t leave San Francisco. You’re a star in the industry, Nicole. We’re lucky to have you here, and we know it.” He gave her a nod and a grin.

  “I’m the lucky one.” She shook her head. “I did see my office, by the way, and it’s amazing. Thank you.” She gave him a grateful smile.

  “Hey, I’ll give you the grand tour at some point. There’s a café on your level, a yoga room, a zen room with a little garden and waterfall, a library with real books (nothing electronic), and the kitchen, which is fully stocked. Also, we buy lunch for everyone on Fridays around here, so sign up on the sheet in the kitchen, and we’ll have delivery bring you anything you like every Friday.” He looked as if Friday might be his favorite day of the week in the office.

  She was stunned. “All of that? Wow!” She was past trying to keep her cool. She was much too impressed with the way that the office was run to try to blow it all off as if it was blasé and so five years ago. “You’re giving Google a run for their money with that kind of office management.” She was only half teasing.

  “Oh! We have a massage therapist who comes in and does chair massages for people during the day. There aren’t many of us here, but posture is important, and good health, and you can’t have a productive day if you’re in pain, can you? So, the masseuse comes in whenever you need them. They’re on speed dial on your desk phone.” He seemed to enjoy that service quite a bit as well.

  She laughed and gave him a grin. “Well, it looks like I couldn’t have chosen a better company to work for. I’m really glad to be here.” She meant it, and she saw that he could see it too.

  “Good. Great! I’m so glad to hear that. I’m just sorry that Dane isn’t here. I’m sure Rose must have told him that you were coming in today. No worries. You’ll meet him sooner or later.” He waved his hand in the air dismissively, and she chuckled and shook her head. She had never in her life had a job or a job interview with such a casually managed company or one that was so employee oriented. She knew already that she was going to like it.

  “I’ve done quite a bit of research into your company, so I’m pretty familiar with it; how you started, what you’ve done, where you plan on going. That sort of thing, along with financials. What would you like me to start working on now that I’m here? What direction do you want to see
me take with my position here?” she asked, looking at him a little more seriously.

  He clapped his hands down on the arm rests of his chair and grinned. “I’m glad that you asked! I’d like you to take over expansion. We’ve got a great model, and we’re going like crazy everywhere that we are, but we want to grow where we aren’t, which is more than half of the world. There’s a place for us and our company in every town and city in almost every country in the world, and we need to get there.

  I would love it if you took us there. That’s what you’re doing here. That’s why we need you. Your brilliant concepts and work are going to help us grow in major ways. That’s the goal. We want the whole world in our hands.” He almost sang the last thing he said, to the old familiar tune, and she had to stop herself from laughing, and then she had to try to push the song out of her head.

  “That is definitely something that I can do. I’ll get on it and get started right away,” she promised him resolutely.

  He shook his head. “Well, not today. You just got here, didn’t you? Did you just fly in this morning? That’s a long flight. Take the day and relax, go check out the island and find your bearings. If you need anything, Tia can help you. She’s your assistant inside and outside of the office, and we’re paying her well for that, so make use of it. If you need her to go to the grocery store for you, she’s being paid for it, so take advantage of that.”

  Nicole nodded in amazement. “Wow…” she said again, still meaning it. “Thank you so very much. I really appreciate all that you’ve done for me in hiring me, bringing me here, and providing a whole new life for me.”

  “You’re a terrific addition to our team. We’re glad to have you here.” Edward smiled at her in earnest.

  “Thank you, Edward; I’ll do my best,” she promised him. Then, she stood up and held her hand out to him. He rose from his chair as well and gave her another handshake.

  “Call me Ed.” He gave her a nod and then set his hands on his hips. “Good luck, Nicole; we’re glad you’re on board. See you tomorrow morning.”

  She nodded and left him, heading back to her office to pick up her purse. She stopped at Tia’s desk, and Tia beamed at her. “Ed’s pretty great, isn’t he?” she asked happily.

  Nicole nodded. “Yeah, he really is. I think I’m going to love working here.”

  “You will. I promise. I never want another job for the rest of my life. Only this one with those two guys forever.” Tia laughed and then gave Nicole a smile. “I’ll be here the rest of the day, but you have my cell phone number. If you need anything, anything at all, you let me know; text, call, whatever, and I’ll take care of it for you. Day or night, doesn’t matter.”

  “Ed told me that. Thank you, I really appreciate it.” Nicole gave her a heartfelt smile. “Ed kicked me out for the day to get settled, so I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Was Dane up there?” Tia asked, giving her a curious look.

  Nicole shook her head. “No, I guess I’ll meet him later.”

  Tia grinned. “You have something to look forward to then. Ed is the fun boss. Dane is the hot one.” She laughed a little. “I had your car valet parked. It’s another perk of working here. Just give them this slip.” She handed a small piece of paper to Nicole and then turned back to her computer, and Nicole waved goodbye to her as she thanked her and headed for the elevator.

  She sent Jeffrey a text to tell him that she was done and ready to go, and then she went to the main door. A valet appeared out of thin air, and she handed him the ticket. Not two minutes later, her car was brought around for her.

  Jeffrey texted her back and said that he was on his way to her, and a few minutes later, she saw him walking up the sidewalk toward her with pink cheeks and the biggest grin she had seen on his face in a long time.

  When he reached her, they got into the car together, and he looked at her sidelong, as if he was quite possibly the cat who had eaten the canary.

  “What kind of trouble did you manage to go get into?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously. He giggled deeply in response.

  “Oh, you’re going to love this.” He leaned back and clicked his seat belt, looking over at her casually. “You know that I’ve always said that the best way to get over one guy is to get underneath another one. Right?”

  Nicole lowered one brow steeply and lifted her chin a little. “Yeah…” she trailed off, waiting to hear what he had gotten himself into.

  “Well, you need to get over Paul and let that whole thing go, so I’ve found the perfect solution for you, to get you welcomed to this island paradise the proper way.” He was devilishly pleased with himself, and he wasn’t doing anything to hide the fact.

  “What did you do?” she asked him directly, wondering what he had concocted in his brilliant, scheming head.

  “Listen. I know my girl like no one knows you, and I know that you need something just a little bit on the wild side. That’s what’s going to fix you up. That’s what will get you on the right track, right away here in your new home. A little something extra… wild.” He couldn’t suppress his grin.

  She felt like every part of her was going to explode from the pressure of curiosity. “….and?” she asked expectantly.

  He leaned closer to her and gave her a naughty look. “We’re going to a private party tonight.”

  Her heart nearly skipped a beat. “A private party? What kind of party?” She wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted to know, but she could see that the deed was already done.

  “A kinky private party, with lots of people who are going to have a kinky, hot, steamy, wild night. It’s just what the doctor ordered for you. You’re going to howl like you haven’t howled in ages, and I’m going to enjoy the hell out of it myself. So, go home; we need to get dressed down for this one.” He laughed wickedly, and she gasped at him and then began laughing herself.

  “How on earth did you manage to do that so fast? I wasn’t upstairs that long!” She couldn’t imagine how he had managed it.

  “I’ve got friends everywhere, darling. Now then, home to dress for a night out!” He flipped his hand in the air above the car, and she pulled away from her work building and headed to her new home with her best friend in the car and nothing but possibility ahead of her.

  She couldn’t remember the last time that she had been to a sex party, but it had been long before she had started dating Paul. She didn’t have to feel ashamed in front of Jeffrey. He was kinkier than she was, but they had talked so long and so much about all of their preferences and fantasies that he knew her the way that only a very close friend or a lover might know someone; aside from there never having been any intimacy between them because Jeffrey was gay, they could barely have known each other better, and she cherished that.

  She especially appreciated the fact that while she was down for the count in her love life, having just had a nasty breakup after a long dating stint, she could use a pick-me-up, a little wild release and fulfillment. Something erotic and exotic without any commitment or judgment, without shame or apprehension. No strings attached. Just hot, incredible sex with a total stranger whom she would never have to see again in her life. It sounded like the perfect way to begin her new life on the little Hawaiian island, and the closer she and Jeffrey got to the house, the more excited she became about the possibilities ahead in the coming evening.

  With a roar of excitement, she turned the radio up, and both she and Jeffrey sang as loudly as they could, with the top down, the wind racing through their hair, and a whole new world within their grasp, just in front of them, waiting like ripe fruit to be plucked from the tree.

  Hawaii was paradise, paradise was good, and she felt like a goddess in her own new world.

  Chapter3

  Nicole and Jeffrey readied for their night out, and she found herself electrified with a mixture of surprise, excitement, delight, and curiosity. Before she had begun dating Paul, her preferences for intimacy with a partner had run much more in the way of domination,
and it had aroused her tremendously to take a powerful lead over her lover.

  With Paul, those tendencies had been subdued, because he preferred a more equal interaction in the bedroom, and though she had been reluctant to do it, she had gradually relinquished her appetite for control. She hadn’t felt totally satisfied in his bed, and she hadn’t really realized it until she was readying for the party Jeffrey had found for them.

  It wasn’t until she was slipping on her thigh-high hosiery and high heels that she felt the rush of anticipation in power that she would possibly have over a lover that night, and it was so strong that it surprised her. She had been gone from her worlds of intense pleasure for far too long, and she hadn’t even realized it, numb to the volume of absence of it, until the tidal wave of excitement for it hit her like a wall. She understood just how much she had sacrificed of herself just to please Paul, just to make it comfortable for him when all along she had needed so much more.

  She had wanted more, and done without for him, so that he would be comfortable and satisfied, and the sacrifice had been for nothing. They hadn’t stayed together. He had demanded of her that she choose him over the best career opportunity of her life, and it was yet another selfish move of his, except that it had been the one selfish move that she had not succumbed to, the first demand of his that she had declined, and chosen herself over him.