Single Dad CEO: A Billionaire Boss Romance Read online

  Damn it. You’re done crying over her. You promised yourself that years ago.

  I’m not sure whether it’s her, though, or Gramps’ steadfast love beside me. I lean my head down onto his shoulder and sigh, letting him gather me up and take the weight off my heavy heart the same way he used to when I was a kid.

  “It’s your choice, Jessie. I’ll be here whatever you decide - and however long you want to take to decide.” He takes my hand again, squeezing it tightly. “And if you want me to be there…”

  I swallow hard.

  “I don’t know.” I repeat, my voice sounding hoarse. “I just don’t know.”

  “That’s okay. You’ve got all the time in the world.”

  But it doesn’t feel like I have all the time in the world. Even as he smiles at me, I can see the creases that weren’t there a year ago - his cheekbones more prominent than they were - the thinning of his wild gray hair. The frailty of his hands in mine.

  I don’t know whether I can do this without him.

  I’m scared of being alone.

  I don’t realize I’ve said it out loud until he responds.

  “You’ll never be alone, Jessie. I’ll always be here for you. Just like Grandma is.”

  That’s all it takes for me to break down completely and I find myself sobbing in his arms in a way I haven’t done in years. His arms pull tighter around me and I cling to him, feeling heartbroken and not even sure why.

  “That’s okay. Let it out, girl, I’m here.”

  I do just that. I’m not sure what I’m letting out, the emotions that pour through me feeling like they’re about more than just my Mom and Grandma and my fear of Gramps leaving me, but I do it anyway. I take that invitation, the gratitude and relief I feel bittersweet as I wonder how I’m ever going to cope if something happened to him.

  It’s been a long time since I ended up crying on a park bench, oblivious to anyone else around us, but the moment it all starts to subside, I remember just how embarrassing I find it, sniffling and wiping at my eyes and nose.

  “Here.”

  Gramps hands me a handkerchief, and it makes me laugh in between the tears.

  He always did have one of those. Always claimed it was something every man should carry around - just in case he came across a woman in distress. I can’t count the number of times I’ve taken one from him, over the years.

  I clean myself up gratefully, the last remaining sobs slowly coming back under control as I do, something inside me starting to stabilize again after the storm of emotion that blew through.

  “All better?”

  I nod, even though both of us know it’s not actually all better - it’s just a bit better for now. That’s just how life works.

  He gives me a gentle smile, squeezing my shoulder.

  “I’d offer you an ice cream, but given your earlier reaction, I’m not sure it’s going to work as well as it did when you were eight.”

  I laugh again, hiccuping a little and appreciating the way he can always make me laugh.

  “Maybe you could just tell me some more stories from the care home for a while?”

  He nods, the sparkle back in his eye - if I ignore some of the concern underneath - and starts up easily as I help him back into the wheelchair. I stand up and start pushing him along the path again, continuing our walk and immediately feeling less on display than when I was sobbing on the bench. My cheeks are still red and my eyes feel puffy, but as Gramps makes me laugh a few more times, I start to feel more normal again.

  And I’m glad I told him.

  I still don’t know what I’m going to do, but not telling him was eating at me too much.

  The rest of our day together passes a lot more easily and by the end of it I start feeling more like myself again - like I’ll be able to deal with things, even if I don’t know how yet.

  As the sun starts to set on us, seated inside a cafe overlooking Lake Springfield, he turns to me with a frown, as if only just realizing.

  “You didn’t say we’d be out all day, Jessica.”

  It’s almost an accusation and I raise an eyebrow. “I didn’t say we wouldn’t be. Why, worried about missing out on the chance to chase Janet around some more?”

  “You spent all of last weekend with me, too.”

  “I love you.” I say, smiling easily as I reach over and squeeze his hand. “I came back to spend time with you.”

  “Not this much of it.” He scowls. “You can’t be spending all your free time with me, Jessie. You need other people around you here, too, even if you will be moving back to St. Louis soon.”

  I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes at the comment about St. Louis. He always has to slip it in somewhere, every time I see him.

  “I’ve only just moved back, Gramps - I have other people, but it just takes a bit of time to reconnect, you know?” I reassure him. “I’m going out with a couple of them for drinks tonight, actually.”

  “Ohh?” He raises an eyebrow. “You didn’t say! Well then, you’d better drop me home, you don’t want to be late for your friends.”

  I laugh. “I’ve got plenty of—”

  “No, no. Come now. They’re supposed to be showing The Bucket List tonight - and I don’t want to miss that!”

  I object a few more times, but I know when I’m not going to win - which seems to be most of the time, with Gramps. Half-laughing and half-reluctant, I do as he says, settling the bill and taking him back to the care home. My heart does a funny little twist as he waves goodbye and then wheels himself inside without a second thought, and I have a brief flashback to all the emotion of earlier - and the way he comforted me, as he always does.

  I leave with a small sigh, part of me thinking that I’d almost rather stay and watch The Bucket List with him than get dressed up and go out to a bar with people I haven’t seen for years. Which, of course, he knows.

  And he’s right too - I do need to have friends here. Whatever he may think, as far as I’m concerned, I’m back for good - and I need to build a life here.

  So I make myself walk out of the care home and back to the car.

  At least it should be a good distraction.

  A few drinks should give me the chance to forget about everything that’s going on at the moment - something I never quite get around Gramps, not with how perceptive he is.

  * * *

  Unfortunately, that’s not how it works out at all.

  “I can’t believe how long it’s been, Jessie!” Kerry grins, standing up to give me a hug.

  I hug them both before sitting down, surprised how enthusiastic they are to see me again - and immediately warmed by it. We were great friends in school and did try to keep in contact after I moved, but the last few years it’s seemed to fade away a bit. I came back to visit Gramps often enough, but life seemed to get busy for all of us, and arranging a time to meet up just became harder.

  “I’m so glad you’ve moved back here, babe.” Ange adds, pushing a mojito over toward me.

  I raise it with a smile, feeling far more at ease than I was expecting.

  “Yeah, I’m glad to be back.”

  We clink and spend the first drink catching up. I tell them about Gramps and the move back home and they’re genuinely sympathetic, before letting me know how they and their families have been in turn.

  Kerry has a little boy now, a two year old, which is the most shocking revelation - and Ange has just got a promotion at the department store she works at. So we celebrate my return, her new job and Kerry finally finding time to slip away from her kid for a night, and I’m surprised how much I start enjoying it all.

  I’ve been missing my friends from St. Louis and the work colleagues I have there, but somehow I’d forgotten that I’ve known the people down here practically all my life - so reaching out to Kerry and Ange really wasn’t that difficult, and it’s not hard for us to slip back into our usual comfortable conversation.

  At least, until we start reflecting on the past - and in partic
ular, our old high school. That always used to be a fun conversation - gossiping about our former classmates and where they might have ended up now, what we might have seen or heard.

  This time, though…not so much.

  Somehow both Kerry and Ange also saw the front page of the Springfield News-Leader this morning - and it’s obvious there’s one classmate in particular they want to talk about.

  “Hey, you must have heard about Kenneth - even all the way in St. Louis - right, Jessie?” Ange asks eagerly.

  “Yeah, he really did well for himself. I’m pretty sure a multi-billion dollar start up makes the headlines throughout the whole state.” Kerry adds, grinning at me.

  “He’s probably the biggest success story to come out of Parkview High School - I reckon they’re still talking about him now. D’you think he goes back, gives talks and things like that?”

  “Nah.” Kerry wrinkles her nose. “I mean, if they wanted you to go back and do that, would you?”

  “Mm, fair point. Maybe not. Unless I wanted to flaunt all my great achievements—ooh, do you think Mrs Patmoor is still there? God, I’d love to walk in there as a billionaire and see what she says now about how I’ll never amount to anything. Think she remembers that? Yeah, I’d do it then.”

  Kerry laughs. “I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t remember saying anything of the sort, if you’d actually amounted to anything.”

  “Hey! I’m a store manager now, that’s something, I’ll tell you.” She grins suddenly. “Hey, maybe they’d want me to go back after all, with this new promotion. I could tell all the kids that it doesn’t matter what they say, you can still make something of yourself - that’s a good story. You don’t have to be a billionaire to be impressive, right?”

  “Yeah, I don’t think they’d invite you to go say that.”

  “Pity.” She sighs, still laughing, then obviously notices my silence and glances over. “You do remember Kenneth, right?”

  “’Course she does.” Kerry interrupts, nudging me. “Jessica here even had that thing with him for a while, didn’t you, babe?”

  “Oohh yeah!”

  I try not to wince. It was years ago. Of course they remember it as ‘that thing’ instead of the total heartbreak it ended in. I’m sure that’s all they think of their own immature, high school heartbreaks too.

  That’s all your think of it too, Jessica, remember? It’s not like yours was any different - or that you’re any less over high school than they are.

  “Damn, should’ve hung onto that one, clearly.” Ange grins at me, then glances over at Kerry with a sigh. “We all should have. Think he’d find it weird if we get back in touch now? Suspect that it’s just because he’s rich and famous and all that?”

  “It would be just because of that.” Kerry points out with a laugh, taking another sip of the nearly-empty mojito.

  As the drinks have emptied, her voice has slowly gotten louder - and it’s obvious where these light-hearted, merry comments are coming from. Usually, I’d be laughing along with them, but the last thing I want to talk about tonight is Kenneth. I’ve still got Gramps’ words in my ears - and I was hoping for a distraction from all that.

  “Yeah, but would he know?” Ange presses and Kerry nudges her.

  “’Course. You don’t get to where he is without working shit like that out.”

  “Yeah…guess so.” She sighs dramatically, then looks over at me. “Don’t suppose you kept in touch with him?”

  “Hey, don’t you work there now?” Kerry adds, eyes alighting on me suddenly. “Didn’t you say you got a job at ExVenture - that’s his company, you know!”

  Yes, I know.

  The knot in my stomach seems to get heavier, twisting inside me as I try to shrug the comment off.

  “Yeah, but…”

  “Oh my god!” Ange says, nudging me from the other side, and I can tell that the cocktails are starting to affect her by the slight glint in her eyes.

  That wouldn’t usually be a problem, of course - they’d started to affect me, too, before this talk of Kenneth sobered me up like a splash of cold water - but right now, I can’t help wishing they weren’t being quite so loud…or persistent.

  Can’t we just talk about something else? Please?

  “Well?” Kerry asks, giving me a sly smile. “Have you seen him?”

  “It’s a big office, Kerry.” I shrug again. “I’m just a secretary there.”

  Both of those things are true, and neither one actually answers the question. I don’t want to lie to them - they’re my friends - but I can’t bring myself to admit that I work directly for him, not with the way they’re talking at the moment.

  Ange lets out another big sigh, as neither of them pick up on that. “Typical. Our one chance…”

  “Why are you both so hung up on him, anyway?” I finally say something. “High school was forever ago.”

  “Oh, we know.” Kerry says, her smile gentling a little. “But don’t you find it cool, too? Even if it was that long ago, we sort-of-know a billionaire. Back then, I don’t think anyone would’ve guessed it would work out that way - and now, well…it’s almost like he’s our billionaire. Gotta keep tabs on the one claim to fame we’re ever gonna have, girl.”

  She winks at me - and even though I don’t agree with any of that, I can’t help softening a little bit.

  “I guess…” I say slowly, then try to change the subject. “Still, it’s a little defeatist, don’t you think? Who says we’re not going to be rich and famous one day ourselves?”

  Kerry laughs. “If that was going to happen, I think it would’ve by now, Jess. Besides, when am I going to get time to do anything impressive with little Adam screaming the house down night and day?”

  Unbidden, an image of Abbie floats into my mind again - and the way Kenneth somehow manages to run his company anyway. I shake it off. Even I’m not going to claim that would be simple.

  Instead, I squeeze her shoulder. “Believe me, Kerry - right now, I can’t imagine anything more impressive than raising a one-year-old kid.”

  She beams at me and something inside me loosens a little, feeling warm at how pleased she obviously is - and slightly relieved that we might finally be able to move onto talking about her little boy, instead of the boss I can’t work out.

  Until Ange interrupts us.

  “Talking of keeping tabs on him.” She says, as if she hasn’t heard anything we’ve said since that. “Did you guys see the paper this morning?”

  This time, I almost do groan out loud. One conversation about that is pretty much all I can take - and I’ve already had it.

  “Fuck, yes!” Kerry’s attention snaps back over to her. “I couldn’t believe it—he’s been accused of sexual harassment, Jessica.”

  She adds, filling me in as if I didn’t already know.

  “Do you think it’s true?” Ange asks, chewing her lip.

  “I don’t know. I mean—why would he? It just seems stupid. With a company—and he has a kid now, Jess, did you know that?”

  “Guys can be idiots.” Ange offers, by way of explanation. “Though I don’t know why he’d need to. I mean, god, have you seen the guy recently?”

  Kerry shakes her head.

  “There was a full-length photo in…oh, god, I forget, but anyway—he is seriously smokin’ these days. Total babe. I mean, I know you’re happily married and all, but I’m not sure I’d mind if he wanted to sexually harass me a little.” She winks, giggling, and my nose wrinkles at the comment.

  Was she always this…crude?

  Kerry catches it too, though, however happy-drunk she might be right now.

  “Ange.” She says, her tone disapproving. “Don’t say things like that.”

  “Yeah, yeah, okay, but you get my point, right?”

  Kerry rolls her eyes and I just sigh.

  “What do you think?” Kerry asks, turning to me. “Got any inside gossip? Is this thing real?”

  I shake my head immediately. “The paper was pri
nted today, remember? No one has heard anything about it at ExVenture. Came out of nowhere.”

  That’s definitely true, and there’s no way I’m saying anything else.

  “That means it’s false, right?” Ange says, looking at Kerry hopefully. “If no one heard anything about it, it probably didn’t happen.”

  “Who knows?” Kerry shrugs, then frowns. “I hope not. I kind of admired the guy, what he’s made of himself, but if that’s what he’s like…”

  “Yeah. Why do all the rich, hot guys turn out to be assholes?” Ange sympathizes immediately.

  Kerry laughs. “Because that’s the only thing stopping you hooking up with one, right?”

  Ange grins back and they finally - finally - move onto talking about Ange’s love life.

  I don’t try to correct any of their thoughts or assumptions about Kenneth. For one thing, they don’t know that I’m working closely enough with him to have an opinion, and I’d rather keep it that way. For another, I don’t even know if I have an opinion. At least, not one I can back up with anything real.

  I might not have been able to hold my tongue with Gramps, but that was different. I don’t know why I cared what he thought about Kenneth so much, but for some reason I did. With Ange and Kerry, it’s obviously just idle speculation - and the worst thing I could do would be to continue talking about it.

  The conversation moves on, but I’m quiet for the rest of the evening, not quite able to recapture my initial buzz at seeing them after being away for the last few years.

  It’s still a nice evening, but I can’t deny my mind is stuck on Kenneth again - and this time, I can’t shake it.

  It seems like whatever I do, everything comes back to him. I guess maybe that’s what happens when you’re working for a local celebrity, but still…damn it.

  So much for a pleasant evening to distract me.

  Chapter Seven

  Kenneth

  “I want to come with you, Daddy!”

  Abbie bounces on her toes as I try to say goodbye.

  I laugh, ruffling the knot of hair on the top of her head. “I’m going to work, sweetie. You don’t want to come and watch that all day. You’d be bored.”