Loving Pursuit Read online

  Loving Pursuit

  Billionaire Romance Book Seven

  Emilia Hattington

  Contents

  Prologue

  1. A Crazy Idea

  2. Sharing Secrets

  3. Arriving in Bayville

  4. Surprise

  5. Chemistry

  6. A Good Man

  7. Something More

  8. Little Talks

  9. Looking to the Future

  10. Under the Weather

  11. Meet the Parents

  12. Gold Digger

  13. The Path to Happiness

  Epilogue

  Did You Enjoy This Book?

  Other Books

  © Copyright 2019 - All rights reserved.

  It is not legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental.

  Prologue

  Marie

  I came into consciousness suddenly, waking with a gasp as I sat up in an unfamiliar bed. The sheet and comforter pooled around my waist, making me aware of my nudity as my bare chest was bathed in sunshine coming through the window. I snatched the white sheet and held it against my breasts.

  What the hell happened last night?

  I scanned the room around me. It was clearly a hotel room, and the decor made me think that it was the very same hotel that I had been staying in for the past four days. But this wasn’t my room. The room was at least twice as big as my own and…was that a balcony?

  Movement to my right brought my attention back to the bed. My eyes widened as I turned and caught sight of the gorgeous blonde man beside me.

  Holy Crap.

  It all came back to me once I saw his face. After spending most of my vacation solo, I had gone down to the poolside bar to mingle with the huge crowd of people. I literally ran into Lewis, after being bumped from behind, and spilled my fruity drink all over him. Luckily – for him and for me – he was only wearing a pair of black swim trunks. A quick dip in the pool had cleaned off the drink and left him dripping wet.

  Some flirting and a lot of drinking ensued before we slipped away from the party and up to his room on the top floor. The penthouse suite was impressive, but nothing compared to the man. He’d taken me three times over the course of the night, and I was deliciously sore in all the right places.

  Lewis shifted in his sleep once again, and I held my breath. As much fun as I had last night, I was also eager to get out of here. Falling into bed with a man that I just met was not my style, and I dreaded the awkward morning after. Besides, I had a flight to catch in four hours. A clean getaway was for the best.

  Lewis settled onto his pillow once again, and I took a moment to gaze at his face, trying to memorize it. A chiseled jaw with a stubble beard, golden skin, and long eyelashes made him classically handsome, while the sinewy muscle covering every inch of his body made him irresistibly sexy. I wanted to remember him.

  This whole encounter might have been out of character for me, but I couldn’t help thinking that this was just what I needed. I had come to Hawaii on vacation for a long-overdue escape from real life. That was exactly what I got.

  Moving slowly, I peeled back the covers and slipped out of the bed. I felt too vulnerable standing naked in this man’s room, which was silly considering everything that we’d done together last night. I silently scoured the room for my clothing, trying to find my clothes. It didn’t take long, since I’d only worn a sundress over a bikini and flip-flops.

  We’d been stripping each other while stumbling to the bed from the door, so, by the time I found my shoes, I was a mere two feet from the exit. I glanced back at Lewis, but he hadn’t moved. I told myself it was stupid to be disappointed about that. I wanted this, right? A getaway with no complications, a swoon-worthy memory to carry with me.

  Yes, this was best.

  Turning away, I left the room. My vacation was over.

  1

  A Crazy Idea

  Lewis

  “You’re late.”

  Crap.

  I had been trying to sneak by my secretary’s desk while she was distracted at the filing cabinet, but she’d caught me. I froze for a moment with my back to her, before turning in her direction with my most charming smile plastered on my face.

  “But I come bearing gifts,” I said, holding out the white paper bag from Rosie’s, the bakery down the street.

  My secretary, Lacey, shot me an unamused expression as she folded her arms across her chest. “Really? Because I’m pretty sure you were trying to slip right by without being seen. Doesn’t sound like the pastry in that bag is for me.”

  “It is now.” I moved closer to her desk, setting the bag down like the peace offering it was. It was a shame. If she hadn’t seen me, I’d be in my office eating it right now.

  Lacey opened it, looking inside. She bit back a smile before pulling the cinnamon roll out. It was her go-to order from Rosie’s.

  “You know this doesn’t get you off the hook, right?” Lacey asked, even as she sat down and opened the plastic fork to start digging in. “I’ve had to cover for you with your dad for the last twenty minutes.”

  “That’s why I got your favorite,” I reasoned, knowing that dealing with Adrian Sims was no picnic.

  “Yeah, well, throw in an iced coffee next time.”

  “Done,” I agreed, before turning and walking into my office.

  Lacey technically worked for me, but I depended heavily on her. So, I let her get away with giving me a hard time, and she did everything from managing my calendar to picking up my dry cleaning, to running interference with my boss, also known as my father. The truth was, Lacey and her wife, Celia, were like family to me.

  Shutting myself into my office, I shrugged out of my suit jacket and hung it on the hook by the door. I had never been a fan of wearing a suit every day, but it was expected when you were a top executive at a luxury hotel chain. It was even more crucial when your family owned the whole company.

  In the early 1900s, my great grandfather bought his first hotel at the age of thirty. It had been in northern California and had 40 rooms. From there, he built an empire that was worth billions today. Sims Hotels was the largest hospitality company in America and run by my father. Someday, I would take his place as CEO.

  My office was large and on the top floor of our Beverly Hills headquarters. I could see for miles if I pulled back the curtains and looked out the windows, but I never did. Heights made me uncomfortable. If it were up to me, I’d be located on the ground floor. Instead, my office was just down the hall from my father’s.

  I made my way over to my large mahogany desk, taking a seat in my chair. There was a messy array of papers on my desk, which I gathered into a pile to be sorted through later. I was firing up my computer when there was a knock at my door.

  “Come in,” I called out, without looking away from my computer screen.

  The door opened and Lacey came in with her iPad in one hand, and a steaming mug of coffee in the other. She placed the drink on the desk at my elbow and took a seat in one of the two empty chairs in front of me.

  “Okay, I’ve reviewed and updated your agenda for today. I’m sending it to your email…now,” she said, pressing buttons on her iPad. “First thing is a meeting with the head of marketing. He’s come up with a new approach to staying on top in Charlotte, despite our competitor’s recent success.”

  I nodded. Our m
ain competitor in that area had recently signed on a celebrity chef to open one of his restaurants within their hotel, and it had negatively impacted our business. Customers went nuts for a famous person. It would be interesting to see what the head of marketing came up with.

  Lacey continued on, rattling off a full day of work while I scanned my email. There was one from my father asking that I come see him this afternoon. I felt a flicker of annoyance. Couldn’t he just call me? Or text?

  I was his son. There had to be a better way to communicate than through these official channels.

  I told Lacey about the change in the schedule with a grimace. I knew that meticulously planning my day was a pain in the ass, but there was nothing I could do about it. The boss wanted a meeting, so she’d have to fit it in somewhere.

  After filling me in on my day, Lacey left my office and I dove into work. The company owned hundreds of hotels, spread across the United States and Canada, so I always had something to work on. As I was waiting for the head of marketing to arrive, I took the opportunity to go through the mass of papers I had let accumulate on my desk. When I saw a financial report for our Hawaii resort, my stomach flip-flopped.

  It had been almost two weeks since I got back from vacation, but I could recall my final night there as clear as day. It was a memory that I visited often, and it always ended with frustration. The woman I had met, Marie, had up and disappeared on me after a shared night of passion.

  Waking up alone the morning after had been a kick in the gut, and I should have probably taken the hint and forgotten all about her, but it didn’t seem possible. She had gotten under my skin. Not only was she captivatingly beautiful, but she was sweet. I’d only talked to her for a short period of time before taking her to my hotel room, but I had felt a connection. Was it really only one-sided?

  That was what I had been obsessing about ever since my return to the real world.

  The problem was that we never got around to exchanging phone numbers, or even last names. The only thing I really knew about her was her first name, and that she lived in a small Illinois town called Bayville. It wasn’t much to go on.

  Impulsively, I turned to my computer and typed the name of the town into a search engine. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for as the results loaded on my screen. My eyes scanned the first couple of things that came up. There was a Wikipedia page that listed information, such as demographics, geography, and population. Nothing that interested me. Then, a travel company website with a list of The Ten Best Things to Do in Bayville. I skipped over that too.

  Finally, something caught my eye. It was an online article from the local news in that area about the historic bed and breakfast going up for sale. Clicking on the link, I read the story of a seven thousand-square-foot mansion built in 1865 and converted to a bed and breakfast a hundred years later. It was a part of the underground railroad, and a tunnel still remained beneath the building from that time. I scrolled through the pictures and the place was charming with its huge porch and gazebo out front. To my untrained eye, it looked structurally unchanged over the years.

  This could be it, my chance to see Marie again. But was that a crazy idea?

  Maybe. Or it was terribly romantic. At least, I was going to try to spin it that way.

  This bed and breakfast didn’t exactly fit the Sims brand, but I might be able to talk my father into letting me go and check it out for us. He was opportunistic above all else. I might be able to convince him that passing up something like this, without even sending someone to look at it in person, was reckless.

  Another knock on my office door pulled my attention away from the computer and back to reality. Henry, the head of marketing, came and began our meeting. I tried to stay focused on my work throughout the day, but the potential of seeing Marie again had me amped up, my body practically humming with the desire to be inside of her again. No woman had ever affected me like this before.

  Finally, it was 1pm, and I headed to my father’s office. Normally, I didn’t look forward to these meetings, but today, I was determined to get the green light to travel to Bayville.

  My father and I had always had a strained relationship, for as long as I could remember. We both had certain expectations of each other and we’d each failed to deliver. For me, I wanted a father that spent quality time with me when I was growing up, taught me to throw a football or drive a car, or whatever dads did with their sons. But he never had the time or the interest in any of that.

  I could only speculate about what he wanted from me, but I’d always had the impression that he expected a son that would be dedicated to business and constantly concerned about the way the world saw the Sims family. It was all about appearances with him, and I had the audacity to go through a bit of a rebellious phase in my teen years. A few pictures even landed in magazines of underage drinking and partying. I was thirty-two now, and he still held it against me.

  Reaching his office, I nodded to his secretary, a woman named Margret who had been working for him for nearly twenty years. She must have the patience of a saint. Tapping twice on his office door, I didn’t bother waiting for him to tell me to come inside before turning the knob.

  My father’s office was nearly twice as big as mine, and I could never figure out why he needed so much space. The windows were free of curtains, so I always avoided them, and the walls had pictures of my father with various high-society people and celebrities. In most of the photos, my mother was at his side, smiling brightly at the camera. She was the one I had a close relationship with. I knew what a parent’s unconditional love felt like because of her alone.

  “Take a seat,” my father said, leaning back in his chair. Unlike me, he kept everything on his desk meticulously organized. Even the pictures he had were spaced evenly apart around the edge. I was sure that if I used a ruler to measure the distance between them, they’d be almost exactly right.

  The man himself was also flawless. His silver hair, once blonde like my own, was kept short and styled back off his forehead. He was taller than I was, and thinner, but back when he was my age, I knew that he had been muscular. His suit was tailored to fit him, just like my own, but he hadn’t loosened his tie and discarded his jacket the way I did. I knew that he didn’t approve of that, but he didn’t bother to mention it. We’d been there, done that.

  “What did you want to talk about?” I asked, sitting down across from him and getting comfortable.

  He looked at me for a moment longer before speaking, clicking the pen in his hand over and over again. It was a habit of his that I could remember from when I was a little boy.

  “There is a gala fundraiser this weekend for the Alzheimer’s Association. I want you to go as the family representative.”

  I groaned. “Why don’t you just go? You love that kind of thing.”

  “I’ve already promised your mother that we would go antiquing on Saturday. We won’t be back in time for the gala.” I could hear the disdain in his voice, but it made me smile. The man’s biggest redeeming quality was that he loved my mom enough to do things to make her happy. Sometimes I thought it was the only thing we really had in common.

  “Why does anyone have to go?”

  I hated events like this. It was guaranteed to be an evening of forced small talk and hobnobbing with the Beverly Hills’ elite. They were people that cared more about my net worth than anything else.

  “It’s important that a Sims be there. We are a prominent family in this community and must be represented. It won’t hurt you to go for a couple of hours. And bring a date.”

  “A date?”

  He sighed. “Yes, Lewis. It shouldn’t be hard to find one. Weren’t you just named one of the top most eligible bachelors in that magazine…what is it called?”

  “People magazine,” I told him distractedly. This talk of a date made me remember my goal of going to Bayville.

  “Yes, that one. Find a woman to have on your arm and smile for the cameras.”

  His tone was d
ismissive, but I wasn’t done yet. If he wanted this from me, he was going to have to meet me halfway.

  “Before I agree to this, I want to discuss a business opportunity with you.”

  My father raised his eyebrows and gestured for me to continue.

  “It’s a bed and breakfast for sale in a small midwestern town. There are no major competitors in the area. I think it would be worth checking out. I’ll do it personally.”

  He didn’t speak for a long minute, his probing blue eyes searching my own. “A bed and breakfast?”

  “Yeah, check your email. I sent you the information right before I came in here.”

  I sat quietly while he did, watching his eyes go back and forth as he read over the listing. His expression was impossible to read, but the man was predictable enough that I expected push back.

  “This isn’t exactly our kind of thing,” he said, his voice dripping with suspicion. I hated that he could see through me well enough to know that I was up to something. “Only eight bedrooms to rent? There’s no way the profits will be significant, even if we sold out every single night.”

  He had a point, but if I told him I wanted to go to Bayville to find a woman, he’d never give me the time off work.

  “It doesn’t hurt to expand our horizons a little. Besides, this could be a hidden gem. Give me a week or two to see if it’s worth our while.”

  “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt…” He still looked like he was trying to figure me out, but I was carefully making sure that my face gave away nothing. “Fine, you can leave on Monday. I want you to go to the gala this weekend first.”

  “Deal.”

  I popped up out of my chair, eager to leave the office before he changed his mind. Besides, I had to go and tell Lacey that she was going to be my date for a snooty party this weekend. She didn’t like these things any better than me, but I knew she’d enjoy using my gold card to buy a new dress. At least I’d have someone genuine to talk to while surrounded by snobs.