Chapter 3
“Next time I need a break, I’m going to a spa. Alone.” ~ Jeremy
Jeremy
“Good morning.”
At Eli’s greeting, I glance up from my computer. “Morning,” I mumble.
He lifts up his coffee cup. “Need a refill?”
I slide my cup across the kitchen counter toward him in answer.
“Paisley is happy you decided to accept my invitation for Thanksgiving,” he says as he prepares our coffee. “Although a little heads up would have been nice.”
I shrug. “I was trying to surprise you.”
He chuckles. “And ended up getting lost on Smuggler’s Hideaway.”
I grunt. “I didn’t expect the locals to send me on a wild goose chase.”
“They thought you were a reporter and were protecting me. No way was anyone – especially Parker – going to give you directions.”
Parker. Despite how annoying she was – giving me wrong directions is not very neighborly – I can’t get her beautiful face or smile out of my mind. And those curves? My fingers itch to touch them. My cock twitches. It wants in on the fun.
No one is having any fun, I remind my body. I’m here to finish coding the app. I’m not here to seduce a local.
Why can’t we do both?
I ignore my cock. I’ve learned my lesson about listening to it. Nothing good comes from being led around by my dick.
Eli sets a coffee in front of me and sits on the stool next to mine. “So, what’s up?”
I feign innocence. “What do you mean, what’s up?”
He barks out a laugh. “I have five brothers who are all shit stirrers to their core, I know better than to buy your innocent look.”
I try batting my lashes.
“You can’t fool me. I’ve known you since the first day of freshman orientation when you arrived in our dorm room wearing a Darth Vader outfit.”
“I was not wearing a Darth Vader outfit.” It was a t-shirt of Darth Vader. Not the same thing.
He raises his eyebrow. “My brother has the same t-shirt.”
I leap at the chance to change the subject. “How is Jaxon doing?”
He shakes a finger at me. “Nope. I’m not allowing you to avoid my questions.”
“What questions?”
He scowls. “Jeremy, what are you doing on Smuggler’s Hideaway?”
“I’m here to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family.”
“One, you hate celebrating holidays with family. You prefer to pick up a supermodel and spend the weekend between the sheets. Two, you hate small towns. I believe you refer to them as ‘Podunk’.”
I can’t contradict him since he’s right. I do hate celebrating holidays with my family. I swallow the growl trying to emerge at the thought of my so-called family.
But I’m done with supermodels. They’re clingy and only want one thing. My money. I want someone to want me for me. Not because of how many zeroes are in my bank account. But I’ve given up on that particular dream.
What about Parker? She didn’t care about your money. She also doesn’t know who I am. Everything changes once women know my name.
“Jeremy,” Eli pushes.
I clear my throat and push all my thoughts away. “I needed a break from California.”
His eyes narrow. “And why did you need a break?”
I shrug. “Just tired of all the California bullshit.”
“You always were a crappy liar.”
I glare at him. “I am not a crappy liar.”
“You scratch your neck when you lie.”
“I do not…” Damn. I am scratching my neck. I drop my hand. “Whatever.”
“Tell me what’s going on. Paisley says I’m a great listener.”
“Paisley never said you were a great listener.”
The door to the kitchen flies open and Paisley rushes in, cradling a baby. “I never said what?”
“You had to marry a woman with the hearing of a bat,” I mutter.
“One, we’re not married. And, two, bats cannot hear the best of all animals. The greater wax moth can. And, three, what were you discussing?”
Eli stands and takes the baby from Paisley. The love on his face has my stomach souring. I want a family. People who will love me for who I am. But experience has taught me the truth. People don’t love you for who you are when you’re a billionaire.
Eli found a unicorn in Paisley. The chances of me finding another unicorn are nearly non-existent.
“We were discussing work,” Eli says to Paisley before kissing her forehead.
“Which is code for ‘it’s none of my business’. Fine, I’ll drop it.” Yep, Paisley is a unicorn. Any other woman would pry and pry.
Paisley digs around in the back of the refrigerator before pulling out a bottle. “You’re feeding Stephanie this morning. I need to cook and get the house ready.”
Eli scowls. “I told you to have the food catered.”
Paisley’s lips purse. “I am not having the food catered at the first Thanksgiving we host.”
“It’s too much for you.”
Paisley slams the bottle on the counter before turning to Eli and spitting daggers out of her eyes at him. Uh oh. This is my cue to exit the kitchen.
I shut my computer and gather my things. But before I can pick everything up, Eli shoves the baby at me.
“Here. Take her.”
I hold up my hands. “I don’t know how to hold a baby.”
“It’s easy. Make sure her neck and head are cradled. Treat her like she’s the most precious thing on earth.”
Most precious thing on earth? This is not a responsibility I can handle.
“Nope. You can hold her and fight with your wife about what an idiot you are at the same time.”
“Thank you, Jeremy.” Paisley beams at me. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
“Seriously?” Eli asks. “You’re taking her side?”
“I’m not taking sides at all.” I keep my hands in the air as I back away. I can rescue my computer later. It’s not as if I was actually getting any coding done anyway. “But I know better than to tell a woman things are too much for her.”
Eli growls. “It’s my job to protect Paisley.”
“Your job? I’m a job now?”
“Fine. My privilege. It’s my privilege to protect Paisley. Happy now?” He waits for her to nod before continuing. “What kind of protector would I be if I allowed her to run herself ragged this soon after birth? We have fourteen guests coming. It’s too much.”
“Hold up. Fourteen guests?” I was expecting a small, intimate Thanksgiving. I have no desire to answer the numerous questions people always have about me once they realize who I am.
“My mom and step-dad. My brother Rhett with his fiancée and their two children. My brother Jaxon and his wife Blossom. My brother Kai and his girlfriend Harper, and her dad. My brother Zane and his baby, Adele. And Miles.”
The tension in my chest loosens. It’s Eli’s family. They won’t grill me with a thousand questions since they’re used to having a billionaire around.
“I can cook for fourteen guests without a problem,” Paisley declares.
Eli shoves baby Stephanie into my arms before stalking to Paisley.
My heart goes into overdrive while my chest tightens. I’ve never held a baby before. I don’t want to drop her. If anything happens to Stephanie, Eli would kill me. Rightfully so.
“A little help here,” I holler as the baby squirms in my arms.
Paisley frowns at Eli before making her way to me and retrieving the baby. “What are you thinking, Eli? He’s obviously terrified of babies.”
Eli shrugs. “He needs to get used to the idea.”
“Get used to…” Paisley trails off to study me. “Is love in the air?”
I back away. “No. Love is not the air. Most definitely not.”
“Why not?”
“You’re a unicorn,” I tell her. “There aren’t any other women in the world who can see past the money to the man.”
She fiddles with her glasses as she studies me. “Hmm…”
The scheming look in her eye is beginning to terrify me. “I need to…”
The doorbell rings. I smile. Perfect excuse.
“I’ll get the door while the two of you discuss why Eli thinks you can’t cook for fourteen people.”
“I can cook for four thousand people if I want,” Paisley says.
I chuckle as I make my way to the door. I open it and frown at the person waiting on the porch. “What are you doing here?”
Parker lifts the bag she’s carrying. “Special Thanksgiving day delivery.”
I nearly moan at the scent of pumpkin and cinnamon emitting from the bag. My stomach rumbles. I haven’t eaten a homemade pumpkin pie in years. Mom stopped baking once she got her claws in my money.
“Are you going to stare at me all day, or are you going to take the pies?”