The Second Chance Billionaire Boss, page 1
part #1 of Coconut Bachelor Beach Romances Series
The Second Chance Billionaire Boss
Coconut Bachelor Beach Romances Book 1
Taylor Hart
Edited by
Daniel Banner
Copyright
All rights reserved.
© 2019 ArchStone Ink
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. The reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form whether electronic, mechanical or other means, known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written consent of the publisher and/or author. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This edition is published by ArchStone Ink LLC.
First eBook Edition: 2019
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the creation of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Contents
Prologue—6 years ago
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
The Guy Next Door Billionaire Sneak Peak
The Geeky Billionaire Sneak Peak
Also by Taylor Hart
About the Author
Prologue—6 years ago
Nash Kingston, on leave from the Navy SEALs due to a gunshot injury, sprinted through the Logan Regional Airport concourse, dodging other passengers and ignoring the annoyed looks they shot at him. He cursed his luck that when every second counted, he had to fly into one of the largest airports in the country. With every step, his chest pounded with pain on the right side near the shoulder. After taking a bullet less than a week earlier, he was learning that airport obstacle course was definitely not on the approved list of activities.
It didn’t matter, though. Destiny was on his side, and it would all work out. Why else would he get injured and arrive home today, of all days?
He finally reached the pickup area only to find a short line of people waiting. The man at the front of the line had opened the door to a yellow cab, but hadn’t climbed in yet. Nash bolted to the car and stepped in front of the man, still not sure how to play it. If he was in the Air Force he would use the injured soldier card, but that wasn’t the SEALs’ way.
So, he decided to tell the truth. “I need to stop a wedding, sir. True love is at stake.”
The man was still reeling from being cut off, and it took a second for his features to relax. The other people waiting all looked on with interest as the man considered.
“By all means,” said the man, taking a step back. “Who am I to get in the way of true love?” A few of the other people cheered.
“Thank you!” Nash jumped in and slammed the door. Once he’d given the driver the address, he asked how long it would take.
“It’s gonna be over forty-five minutes this time a day.”
Nash sat back and cursed under his breath. That might be too long. The wedding was scheduled to start at 1:30, and it was already 1:20. He didn’t know if weddings started on time or not, but he did know that brides took hours and hours to look perfect.
The thought of Violet May as a bride brought a bigger and purer smile to his face than he’d experienced since before BUD/S training. He remembered her long blonde hair, her playful smile, and her aqua-green eyes, all surrounded by that brilliant glow. If only the wedding dress and church and guests were for Nash and Violet and not for some … Derek.
He would get there in time. Fate was on his side. It was the only way to explain why he’d been shot and then sent home just in time to go to her before she made a decision that would determine the rest of their lives.
It didn’t hurt to grease the wheels of fate a little. He leaned forward and said to the driver, “Get me there before two o’clock and I’ll pay double the fare. Feel free to ignore speed limits, and take red lights as suggestions.”
The driver gave a thumbs-up, and Nash felt the taxi accelerate.
He couldn’t believe he was here, in Boston, going after the woman whose memory had gotten him through BUD/S training and his hardest times as a SEAL. After six long years, he was minutes away from seeing her again, holding her, carrying her out of the church. Talk about shock and awe. The wedding guests wouldn’t know what hit them, especially her parents, who had always hated him. Well, strike that, they had merely thought he was an annoyance … until the accident all those years ago.
The taxi rolled up to the gorgeous Gothic church at 2:02. It was close enough for Nash, and he threw some money into the front seat, thanked the driver, and bolted up the stairs. The whole right side of his chest flared painfully with each step. He took a quick breath, then opened the doors.
The pews were full of people and the bride and groom stood in front, with groomsmen and bridesmaids lined up on either side. Nash only had eyes for Violet, who was turned to face the other guy. Her blonde hair was lighter and longer than he had imagined. The fancy white dress made her look like a queen at a coronation. Her face was more beautiful than any of his fantasies had ever given credit for. And even though she smiled at another man, Nash knew they would be together.
“… any person has reason this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now, or forever hold your peace.”
That was it! The line! He had walked in at the perfect moment. It was fate.
Nash stepped forward into the aisle of the silent church. “I have a reason they should not be married,” announced Nash.
The rustle of people turning, accompanied with gasps of surprise, echoed through the high-ceilinged church. Nash had considered wearing his uniform. If he were a Marine, he would have done it, but SEALs didn’t go around flaunting their service like that. Now he wondered if his choice of casual jeans and a button-up shirt was a mistake.
When Violet met his eyes, he stopped caring about what he was wearing or who else was watching. She was more beautiful than he was prepared to see, and he had to force himself to not fall to his knees before her—she was the perfect woman as far as he was concerned. His prepared speech was a cloud of random thoughts in his head: crossed oceans and deserts … faced the barrels of a thousand guns … give you a life worthy of fairy tales …
He just said what was in his heart. “Vi, I’m in love with you. I should have come sooner, but I’m here now. And I think you still love me too. It’s not too late. Don’t make this mistake. You and I are meant to be together.”
Every eye in the room turned to Violet, but she didn’t so much as blink. She stared at Nash as if he were a dream that she had found herself in and didn’t understand. As he looked into her eyes, all the summers they’d spent together as teenagers came back, reinforcing how perfect they were for each other and how they’d both known they would be married someday.
Whether an hour or a second passed, Nash couldn’t say. He didn’t mind being frozen in a moment balanced on a knife’s edge. The sweet anticipation was better than any adrenaline of pre-battle. He had done the right thing by rushing from Miami this morning.
It was Derek who dared violate the exquisite silence. “Violet.” The word broke the spell like the snap of a warlock’s fingers.
Violet’s mother sprang to her feet, moving toward Violet but staring back at Nash like he was toxic waste. “Violet. What is he doing here? Get him out of here.”
Violet still hadn’t taken her eyes off of him. Nash realized he was halfway up the aisle, ready to run forward and scoop her up and away if she gave him the slightest nod.
But she wasn’t speaking. Nash slowed, dying to know what was going through her mind.
Her mother reached her and adjusted the strap of the wedding dress, while giving Violet a meaningful glare. Violet’s eyes changed then—it was nothing physical, but Nash felt it and he knew the answer. The light had gone out from one second to the next.
“Violet,” said Nash. “Let’s talk about it. Just come outside with me for five minutes, then come back in if you want to still go through with this.”
“That’s enough, pal,” said the groom, stepping down toward Nash.
“Shut up, Derek,” said Nash. “No one asked you.”
“No.” Violet’s voice rang like a bell through the church, like Nash’s death knoll. “Go away, Nash.” She joined Derek and slid her arm through his.
No. That was impossible. Nash must have heard her wrong. But the proof was right there on her face, in her eyes. “Vi …”
“I love Derek.” Her lips were pushed together and she gave a slight shake of her head. But he saw her lip tremble. Both parents stood near her now, staring daggers at him.
This was not how it was supposed to happen. What about destiny?
Unable to believe that she wasn’t coming, he blinked and hated the sudden vulnerability that coursed through him. “Vi,
In a final act of rejection, Violet turned away, but not before he saw a tear fall from the corner of her eye and roll down her cheek.
Pain radiated from his chest, but it wasn’t the pain on the right side where the bullet had torn a hole through him—this intense pain was on the left side, where it felt like his heart had been ripped out. Not only had she flat out rejected him, but he had made her cry on her wedding day, and not the happy tears he’d expected. In a horrible incident of friendly fire, he had let his own heart shatter and crushed hers as well.
The audience murmured as he turned to leave. The whispers turned to scattered laughs and comments directed at him.
Nash didn’t care. Barely able to carry the pain, he staggered to the door and pushed through it. He had lost the woman of his dreams forever.
Chapter 1
Nash Kingston stood on the porch of his Texas ranch and waved goodbye to party goers. He grinned up at the darkened sky. “It worked out tonight.”
He always spoke to the Big Guy. It was kind of his thing.
Even when people would ask him how he could believe in God after so many bad things had happened to him. He would always tell them that God was the only thing he believed in because all the bad things had somehow lead him to right where he needed to be.
Here. In Texas.
Nash had become familiar with the Big Guy while growing up. His mother died when he was eight, and his daddy hit him around before eventually abandoning him when he was fourteen. God had found the perfect foster family for him: the Hamiltons. He’d been happy living with them and working their ranch. They’d been good, kind, God-fearing people, and Nash considered them as part of God’s grace.
This same grace had led him back to the state of Texas for special surgery on his shoulder after that bullet had ended his SEAL career. Even after getting turned down by the woman he loved … he still believed God had a plan for him. Faith was all he had.
It was while sitting in the waiting room at Dallas General that he’d met a billionaire named Hunter James. After striking up a conversation with the man, Nash discovered they weren’t that different. Both were from Texas, both were ex-military, and both were good at poker. They were men who had learned to read others quickly because they weren’t just given things in life. Hunter James had offered him a job right on the spot, to take over some ranches and mineral property around Dallas.
Hunter had mentored him for three years, and then Nash had been able to strike his own deals for land, mineral leases, and a nice little oil company. Under Hunter’s tutelage, he’d grown his fortune a thousand times over and become a billionaire in five short years. It hadn’t been easy, and that made Nash even more proud of what he’d done. And thankful.
His first investment outside of Texas, the little beach resort on Coconut Island that he’d bought three years ago, was the icing on the cake. He’d poured a couple million into Coconut Beach Resort to resurrect it, and it’d been going well, until—bam!—a series of hurricanes last year had hit the resort hard. In his annoyance, Nash had considered selling it—except he’d gotten to know the local people, who depended on the resort as a primary source of income on the island. He couldn’t abandon them after they’d already suffered. Nearly every family on the island had at least one member who worked at the resort, and if he let it go, what would happen to them? He didn’t like feeling responsible for a community of people, but Nash wasn’t the kind to back down from a raging bull, so he’d pushed forward.
Over the past couple of weeks, Nash had devised a plan to keep the resort and make it a viable source of profit for him as well as for the people. The part he didn’t like was that he needed help. Star power helped to keep tourists coming, but it didn’t rebuild an entire resort. He needed cold, hard cash to make the business worthwhile.
Tonight, he’d held a fundraiser for the island and raised a nice sum, but the fundraiser itself wasn’t the moneymaker. No, his major targets were the deep pockets of a couple of select men who were waiting for him in his library.
Sandra Mills, one of the daughter’s of his ranching neighbor, pushed her very well-developed self against him. “I was thinking I could stay tonight.”
Nash carefully pulled the hand of a very nice, but overly aggressive woman off of his arm. “Good night,” he said. “My driver will escort you home.”
The woman had come with her father, Frank Mills, and she’d made no bones about assuming the role of Nash’s date, even though he hadn’t wanted her to. She’d followed him around the party the whole night, linking her arm with his. The only reasons he’d tolerated it were because he liked her father, who was his neighbor on the adjacent ranch, and because it didn’t matter. He would be heading to the island soon anyway.
He gave her a patient smile. “Sandra, thank you for coming, but I don’t do relationships.”
She stuck her lower lip out. “I wasn’t asking for a relationship, Nash.”
He sighed. Her father had a lot of work cut out for him with her. “No, Sandra.” As he spoke, he thought of her—the girl he’d been thinking about for twelve years. But he pushed her face out of his mind. That possibility had died when she’d turned him down that fateful day in the church.
Sandra’s brow furrowed, and she leaned up and lightly pressed her lips to his.
He felt nothing except a slight chill from the February air. He pushed her back. “Sandra, I told you—”
“If you ever change your mind, call me.” She rushed down the stairs, her red dress shimmering in the moonlight, and looked back to add, “And I’m going to make a trip to that beach resort sometime this summer.”
Nash couldn’t help but smile. He was glad that someone was thinking about Coconut Island.
“And you won’t be able to resist me in a bikini, I promise.”
He watched as she got in the limo, untroubled by the woman, but saddened for her father. “Good luck with her, Bill. She’s going to be a wily one,” he muttered to himself.
His phone buzzed, and he tugged it out and stared at a text from Rishi. Have you pitched it yet?
Nash grinned. Rishi was a local in her mid-twenties and the manager of his resort. She’d been scheming with him on how to get the help they needed.
He texted her back. Not yet.
His phone buzzed a couple more times as she sent over some documents. If they are on the fence, show them this video. Marco and I made it. Marco, Rishi’s brother, ran one of the restaurants at the resort.
With a surge of anticipation, Nash rushed through his home and up the long, broad staircase that led to his lavish library office on the second level, taking the stairs two at a time. He was excited about this meeting, even though he knew the men waiting for him had no idea why they’d been asked to stay.
When he walked into the library, he found Noah Sullivan, the huge, tank-like action movie hero, standing at the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing out over the vast ranch.
The moon was out, lighting up the property. Nash’s grounds were lavish. He’d purposefully made them that way, installing a huge fountain, a swimming pool, and an English type of garden with roses and plenty of things that were hard to grow in Texas. The huge horse barn with his prize-winning derby horses was another source of cash flow he’d found quite lucrative. Why not? Since he was running a ranch anyway, why not utilize part of his property for racehorses? Even now, just looking at it reminded him of why he loved it so much. Growing up, he’d never dreamed what he could accomplish. Why not be proud of it?
Noah turned back, peering over his shoulder. “You’ve got a nice place here, Kingston.” He flashed a movie-star grin that got him pretty much any role in any movie he wanted. Nash was hoping that grin would get the tourists out in droves to Coconut Beach Resort.
