The Gift, Book 3 (The Billionaire's Love Story) (10 page)

Including Tobias Stone.

Chapter 13

She had rushed out of his office, leaving him with a boner the size of the Statue of Liberty.

He still wasn’t sure if she was being a tease, or if she was confused or why she had broken off so suddenly and left. But he was determined to find out. That evening and all through the weekend he had thought of nothing but Savannah. That kiss and the taste of her lips were branded upon his mind forever. It wasn’t enough, he wanted more. He wanted to have and taste all of her.

If he’d been unsure of her interest before, he now had his answer. She felt the same way, or at least she felt
something
. He wasn’t sure of what or how much, but it no longer seemed like a one-sided daydream.

Sometime during the weekend Naomi had texted him, asking if he wanted the key to the 30
th
back. Talk about perfect timing. He’d sent Morris to get it and with that chapter over, he no longer expected to hear from her again. That was how these arrangements worked. He didn’t have to deal with questions about why it had ended or how they could fix it.

Despite the way Savannah had left him—the worse for wear with a need that had gone unrelieved—he hadn’t been tempted, not even by Naomi.

His craving now was only for Savannah—a woman who at first sight would have been light years from the type of woman he thought he’d find attractive. Now, his curiosity was as insatiable as his urge to possess her and he needed to know if what he imagined matched the real thing. He liked to think he knew Savannah, but he also knew she could surprise him, and that element of surprise, with her eager body, and her fiery personality were the things that both tortured and paralyzed Tobias the entire weekend.

He’d been left wondering why she’d suddenly walked out on him and though he had her number—because he had access to her work records—he’d held off the temptation to call her.

Maybe he’d scared her, maybe she felt ashamed. Or was the real surprise going to be the lawsuit she might finally serve him with? It was difficult to tell with women, even those who were passionate enough to want the sex. Sometimes money pulled harder.

He didn’t think Savannah was that type of woman—he knew how badly she wanted that kiss. He wanted to believe in the way she had quickly succumbed and fallen against him, soft and gentle, and hot and needy all at once. Her lips and tongue had sought out his with an urgency that had surprised him. Women didn’t moan like that if they didn’t want something that badly. But he knew better than to assume she wanted the same thing he did. He wanted to think it was because she felt something for him in return. But he’d learned a lot in life and business, and the most powerful lessons were not to trust people so easily and not to take anything for granted.

He was anxious to know how things stood between them and when he returned to work after the weekend, he was desperate to seek her out again. But his day had been full from the start. Meetings with managers and clients kept him busy. He emailed her but she hadn’t replied and by late afternoon he was bristling with irritation.

He wanted her.

He had a good idea that she wanted him.

And the penthouse beckoned.

He shook his head, trying to throw the sordid thought away.
Slow down, Stone. She’s not that kind of woman.

She wasn’t Naomi. Nor did he want her to be. With Savannah, the possibility of something beckoned. Small wisps of light that called out to him and gave him hope.

He checked his inbox throughout the day but still there was no reply from her. By late afternoon, he was so pent-up with frustration that he couldn’t think straight. Returning from yet another meeting, he knocked on her door and when she didn’t answer, he walked in anyway, expecting to see her surprised face looking up at him.

Except that the office was empty and looked as if it hadn’t been in use today. Back in his office, he called Briony. “Did you put together your case for a full-time worker?” It was a flimsy attempt to elicit the information he needed without asking the obvious. Briony’s momentary silence indicated her surprise at this sudden question. These trivial matters were things he would have never chased up before. Except that Savannah Page was not a trivial matter.

Briony laughed instead. “Not yet, Tobias. I’m busy scoping out the exact job spec for the role.” Dissatisfied with her reply, he was about to ask where Savannah was, when Briony offered up the information. “Savannah’s not in today, anyway.”

“She’s not?” Tobias repeated, hoping to hear more.

“I was going to have a word with her when she gets back.”

It would sound suspicious if he enquired further, and he was mindful that whatever it was that had happened between them, it could not be spoken of, nor was it to become public knowledge. He scratched his jaw, and knew there was only one thing to do now, as difficult as it was. And that was to wait.

Chapter 14

$3583.95

She stared at it as if it was a death sentence. It might as well have been.

$3500 dollars for a two-night stay in hospital. The letter floated out of her hands as she slumped to the floor in her bedroom. She didn’t have that kind of money.

Holding her head in her hands she tried to figure out her options. She couldn’t put it on her existing credit card because the one she had was already maxed out and she had closed the account on her other one now that she had paid off the debt on it. She’d cut the newly cleared card into tiny pieces. Congratulatory confetti. Except that it would have come in handy now if she’d had it.

She had been on her laptop for most of yesterday, while Jacob had been resting, trying to apply for another card online but had been denied. Today was her chance to resolve this problem. It was better to do this from home because it wasn’t the sort of thing she wanted to deal with at work. She didn’t want Briony or Tobias walking in while she scrambled to find money to pay the hospital bill she had no hope in hell of settling the bill, unless a miracle fell into her lap.

With her breathing shallow, Savannah folded her arms and hugged them to her chest. She felt the urge to rip the sheet of paper into shreds but she couldn’t do that. Wouldn’t, because she knew her problems wouldn’t disappear as easily. Money problems crushed her hopes and spirit, making her feel a thousand times smaller. She hated sinking into that limitless black hole that drained her completely and reduced her future to bleakness again.

The ray of light had been that the agency had called her this morning to tell her that she had been short-listed with two other candidates and that they were still making their decision. All this interviewing for an office manager’s position. She’d already decided to take it, if it came her way. Stone Enterprises, and Briony, bless her, with her good intentions, could not beat slightly better money, a six month contract and the chance to go full-time.

Still, she needed three and a half thousand dollars in the next few weeks, not in the next few months. If only she’d signed up for government assistance, instead of stubbornly trying to prove that she could do this herself. Her heart was heavy, as if tar had been poured over it and the worry of debt and unpaid bills pinched her insides like cockroaches eating their way out.

But when Colt’s image flashed inside her angry mind, she got up, spurred into action and called him from her cell phone.

“Savannah,” he drawled, picking up eventually as she was about to hang up.

“Jacob’s been ill.”

“Yeah?”

“He had a bad asthma attack and was in the hospital for two days.”

“How’s the little runt now?”

She grit her teeth, trying not to let Colt push her buttons. “He’s recovering. I’m keeping him at home for a couple of days so that he can get his energy back.”

“He always was a weak little thing. Takes after your side, I reckon.”

“He’s not weak,” she snapped. “He never was. He’s sensitive.”
Unlike you
, she wanted to say, but stopped herself, not wanting to get into another argument again. “The hospital bill came through. It’s over $3500.”

He said nothing for a few moments, then, “Why’re you telling me? Ain’t like I can help you out. I’m still trying to find work.”

“Maybe you should try a little harder.” It had already been years. She had a feeling that getting a job was low down on his list of priorities because it would mean he’d have to pay something towards childcare. “You already do nothing for him, it’s not like I’m beating down your door for alimony.” She had trouble keeping her voice calm. “But a little help—”

“Can’t do it. You’re working now, ain’t you?”

How did he know? Savannah flared her nostrils. She’d have to tell her parents to keep their mouths tightly closed although she had a feeling it had probably been her mom. Her dad hated Colt with a passion and barely acknowledged him. “Sounds to me like you’re doing okay, living in New York and all that.” He drawled on, making her wince.

She didn’t want him to know more than he needed to but hearing him talk, any worry she’d had that he might have had some interest in coming to see Jacob, was instantly dismissed. This man never had and never would give a shit about their son.

She pressed the heel of her hand into her chest and thought of her little boy and all at once she wanted to slam the phone down and be done with this man. But she was stuck. She was so broke, and holed up in a corner with nowhere to run, that she’d had to call the man who’d hurt her and sworn at her and made her life a complete misery. And all because she wanted to get some money from him. She should have known better.

How had her life hit rock bottom so quickly? One moment she was getting by, the next she was feeling grateful but the first sign of an emergency and she had fallen into the gutter. She had no rainy day money, she’d only ever had
getting-by
money.

“It’s not cheap, here. I can barely get by.”

“You shoulda thought of that before you moved your ass out of North Carolina.”

I wanted to get as far away from you as possible.

“You can’t help me out at all? Not even with your beer money?”

“You’re scraping the barrel, Sugar, if you’re coming to me asking for money.”

“He’s your son.”

“Is he? Sometimes I’m not so sure myself.”

“You bastard. You know I’ve never been with anyone but you.”

He snorted at her and she knew why she’d been putting off calling him. It hadn’t even occurred to her to call him to let him know that Jacob had been hospitalized. Colt Brookes didn’t care for anyone except himself. He’d put her off men for life. Almost. Tobias’s kiss floated back to her, and she closed her eyes for a few seconds. “Thank goodness I never waited around,” she said, fighting to keep the vitriol out of her words.

“Waited for what?”

“For you to turn into a man.” She hung up on him and this one simple act gave her a feeling of small triumph. She stared at the phone, wondering what it was she’d ever seen in him.

Desperate, she called her parents next. They had called every day, from the moment they’d found out about Jacob going into the hospital and they, along with Rosalee, had been her only source of comfort. She wasn’t sure if Briony would have understood, not having a child herself, but she’d left her a voicemail message yesterday telling her that Jacob wasn’t well. She would explain fully when she returned to work. The only people who could really help her would be her parents, and even though she hated to do it, she had no option. The urge to pay off the soul-sucking hospital bill stuck in her throat like a sewing needle. She couldn’t rest until it had been dealt with.

She called her parents’ home and dropped her head into her hand when her father picked up. It would have been so much easier to ask her mom for the money. She didn’t want to worry her dad because she knew he already worried plenty about her; they both did, but her dad, she knew, worried all the time. She knew that if she told him of her money worries, that he would do whatever it took to help her and get the money to her and she didn’t want to put that kind of burden on him.

But she had no choice.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hey, Ruby Red,” he said, He sometimes called her by the nickname he’d given her when she was a child. It had come from her favorite ragdoll of the same name and she’d been inseparable from it. “How’s the little man doing?”

“He’s resting up, Dad. I’m keeping him from school today as well but he’ll be fine to go back tomorrow.”

“Only two days? Why don’t you give him the whole week off and let him recover properly?” Savannah brushed her hand over her forehead. “I don’t want to take more than two days off work, Dad. I don’t get paid if I don’t turn up.”

“It’s so hard for you, Red. It breaks my heart to know that you’re struggling alone.”

“We’re better off alone, Dad.” She forced herself to sound stronger, even though her soul had been bruised. “It’s not so bad, really it isn’t. The job I have is great. This is a minor setback but he’s okay now and things are looking good.” It couldn’t be further from the truth, but it was better not to spread her woes around.

“Are they?” She heard the anxiety in her father’s voice and knew that he was already worried. Her idea of asking for financial help choked in her throat.