BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE: The Unforgettable Billionaires: The Complete Collection Boxed Set 1-12 (Young Adult Rich Alpha Male Billionaire Romance) (Alpha Bad Boy Billionaire Romance) (7 page)

Christmas Hoax

The Billionaire Christmas Story

Book Three

Violet Walker

The Billionaire Christmas Story: Christmas Hoax

Prologue

11 Months Ago, Las Vegas

“
Y
ou sure you don’t want to come with us, man? These are supposed to be the hottest, freakiest babes in Vegas!” Gavin wiggled his eyebrows to convey just how excited he was to pay a visit to
Tits-A-Go-Go
.

“I’m sure.” River loved tits, big or small, real or fake with dark or light nipples. It didn’t matter to him, but he just wasn’t in the mood for that kind of night. “I’m going to hit the bar here and I’ll catch up with you guys later.” Gavin nodded and he and the rest of the guys walked out of the hotel chanting something about glitter and tits. River shook his head, turned on his heel and headed towards the nearest bar. There was a small bar tucked in just beyond the casino called
Crux
. Everything was black leather and purple velvet, making him groan. He spotted a beautiful redhead wearing a tight white dress that made his dick stand up and take notice. He smiled and took a nearby seat.

“What’ll it be?” The bartender was an uninterested man somewhere in his thirties wearing a vest and bow tie.

“I’ll have a whiskey and get her another of whatever she’s drinking,” he nodded to the sexy redhead. The bartender nodded and got to work. River watched him set the drink in front of her and turned his gaze to the woman in white.

She lifted her newly-replenished glass in his direction. “This doesn’t mean I’m gonna fuck you,” she told him, “but thanks.” She leaned over, giving him a glance at her ample cleavage, and tapped her glass against his. She threw back the golden liquid and waved the bartender over. “Another for me and my new friend,” she cut a glance to River.

He leaned in with his blue eyes sparkling like sapphires. “Well now, sweetheart, this definitely means I’m gonna fuck
you
.” He winked and took a sip from his glass, slowly licking away the excess liquid.

She stared at him--or glared--River wasn’t entirely sure, but her stare made him a little uncomfortable. Her look was more investigative than explorative. But then she did the unexpected. She tossed her head back, red hair cascading down her back, and released a husky laugh. “You’re funny, handsome.”

“You think I’m handsome?” He smiled and raised an eyebrow.

She pointed an emerald green nail at him and narrowed her gaze. “Oh come
on
! You know you’re gorgeous. If you weren’t, you’d be sitting over there with those guys,” she pointed to a bunch of decent, if average-looking, guys in suits trying to decide which cluster of women would be most appreciative of free drinks, “instead of bold enough to leave just one stool between us.” She tossed back the remainder of her drink. “Because you know you’re sexy as hell and that’s pretty much all
you
need to get a girl interested.”

River was intrigued and turned on by the sassy chick in white. He slid over to the empty seat between them, catching a whiff of her flowery perfume. It was nice and sweet, a sharp contrast to the sexy siren to his left. “Since I’ve been called out, may as well make sure no one comes between you and me, Ruby.”

“Kara,” she corrected him, her gaze on his succulent lips.

“Kara with hair the color of rubies,” he said in his melodic Irish brogue that never failed to impress the ladies. “They call me River.” He smiled and flashed his perfectly white teeth and deep dimples.

“Oh lord, an Irish accent to boot? How do you not have women just hanging from your body?” She shook her head and motioned to the bartender for two more. “Get my fried here a Jameson. Make it a double,” she said, never taking her eyes off him.

For two hours, they went back and forth. He purchased a round and she purchased a round and made it a double. They laughed over the suits’ bungled attempts to pick up women obviously ripe for the picking. He roared at her hilarious attempt at an Irish accent and she laughed at his pick-up lines.

“Let’s dance!” Kara yanked his hand, pulling him off the stool and onto the dance floor. They danced until their clothes began to stick and she pulled him out of the bar and casino altogether. “I need fresh air.”

They walked until they found another club and Kara paid the cover over River’s protests. They danced some more and drank some more, then dance a little bit more. They stumbled out of a cab and into one of the older casinos where Kara turned her $100 into $5,000 thanks to a lucky run at a blackjack table. She took him with her to celebrate with pancakes and lobster.
Only in Vegas
, he thought with an amused shake of his head. “Let’s go there,” he pointed to a club across the street that looked more like a warehouse.

Kara excitedly slid from the booth and pulled him with her. They were giddy and more than a little tipsy and it showed on the dance floor. They danced close and kissed like teenagers. When River’s hand slid up the inside of her thigh until he was just under the white dress, hovering above where she was hot and wet, she moaned and nibbled his hear lobe. A finger slipped inside and her head lulled back while he attacked her neck with his sexy mouth.

“Alright folks, we’re gonna have to ask you to leave.” A big burly bouncer came from nowhere, startling them both from their erotic reverie.

“Why?” Kara’s innocent voice did nothing to stop the man from grabbing their arms and escorting them to the door. “Oh well, it was hot anyway,” she whispered to River. At the door, she leaned up and kissed the bouncer on his cheek. “No hard feelings, big guy.”

River caught the bouncer’s dazed look and gave him a smile and weak shrug that said,
what are you gonna do
? “So what’s next, sugar?”

She spun to face him with a wide smile. “Let’s get Vegas married!” She punched the air like it was the best idea mankind ever had. “Seriously we can go do the whole little white chapel thing and it won’t count because we’re drunk and we don’t have marriage license. It won’t be real but it’ll be
soooo
much fun!”

River shrugged. It wouldn’t be real, but it’d be a hell of a memory. “Sure, why not?” He leaned in close until her flowery scent engulfed him. “Then we get to have our wedding night.”

Kara grabbed his collar and pulled him down, taking his lips in a gentle but drugging kiss. “Now you’re talking, big guy!”

I guess I’m getting married.

Chapter One

11 Months Later

“
I
’m sorry, what did you say?” River leaned forward and pushed his ear closer to Bobby Wigglesworth, certain he had to have heard the man wrong.

Bobby laughed and a plume of smoke flew out of his mouth with the hacking cough. “I said I had no idea you were even married until I had my PI look into your background. That Dean, well, he’s as solid as they come and he’ll be married soon with that sweet baby. Let’s just say I know I can count on him. But I needed to see if I could count on you since you’ll be heading this project.”

River was still stuck on the whole
married
part. No one knew about that, except, apparently, Wigglesworth’s investigator. That meant…shit. He was still married! “Of course you can count on me, Mr. Wigglesworth. I take my business very seriously and it was my idea to convert your eco-resort to an eco-smart resort and add it to our holdings.”

Bobby let loose another wicked cough. “Oh I know you don’t play around when it comes to business, but a successful businessman understands the importance of balance. After too many weeks working 90 hours, a single man has no real reason to stop, whereas a man with a wife and kids has several reasons. That time you spend at home with the wife, it energizes you and reminds you why you work so hard. Without it, you burn out.” Wigglesworth watched River closely, searching for any signs of weakness or deception.

River leaned back with a lazy grin. “Plus the wife makes life difficult if you spend too much time at the office,” he shook his head as though he knew about that way of life.

Bobby laughed and clapped him on the back. “That’s right, and a backed up Johnson is no way to do business!” He choked out another laugh that soon died, but his eyes were alight with amusement. “You
do
get it.”

River nodded. “Of course I do.” He leaned forward, elbows on the table and blue eyes intense. “Tell me, Mr. Wigglesworth, how can we make this deal happen?”

He waved his hand dismissively. “Call be Bobby Lee, everyone does.” He sipped his scotch, now more melted ice than booze. “We both know I want this sale to go through, but I’m an old man and I want to make sure my baby is in good hands. So, I’d like to sit down with you and the wife for dinner first. Get to know you both a little better and then you can start a-courtin’ me. That’s what my mama used to call it, when boys starting sniffing around my sisters.” He laughed at the memory. “You can tell me all about this eco-smart resort while the women spend our hard-earned money.”

River nodded and promised he’d call personally in the next couple days to set it up. First, he had to locate his wife.

~

Kara Werner was starting her final dye job of the day. Mrs. Miller sat in the chair waiting for the new magenta color she was sure would spice up her sex life with her new boyfriend, Carl. Mrs. Miller had been widowed for nearly a decade and she’d been dating Carl for the last seven years. She was a sixty-seven-year-old sexpot, that’s what Mrs. Miller was, and Kara was jealous as hell. “I figured this color will make me look younger, which will make old Carl
feel
younger and we’ll both get a night worth being tired for the next day!” She cackled along with a few of the other old timers.

Tuesdays were discount day for seniors at
Kara’s Hair-Cuttery
, so she spent all day cutting, curling and coloring for the over-65 set. They were mostly sweet, all the way naughty and talked in way too much detail for her liking. But they all lived life, unlike Kara, who spent every day in her salon and every night thinking about her lost weekend in Vegas. She really needed to get a life, and she would. Soon.

With Mrs. Miller under the dryer for the next half hour, Kara prepared to do highlights for Margaret Totts. Her hair fell down to her bottom, so they would likely be there until she had to lock the doors. “Margaret I’m just going to take a quick minute to myself and then we’ll get started, okay?”

“Sure thing, sweetheart, take your time.”

She smiled and ducked in the back to wash her face and grab a bottle of water. When she returned, a hush had fallen over the naughty women and she assumed the UPS guy waited with a delivery. But it was worse. Much worse. The man standing in the middle of her hair salon was her husband, River Harwood.

“There you are,” his voice boomed. “We need to talk.”

“Sure,” she dried her hands on her smock, “but I’m busy now so how about later? The shop closes at seven and we can talk then.”

His arms were crossed over his wide chest. “I need to talk now.”

“Well I need a million bucks and to finish Margaret’s highlights.” She put her hands on her hips and dared him to test her further.

His nod was curt, but his eyes took their time scanning her body. “Fine, but don’t go anywhere or I will find out. I promise you.”

“Oh I’m so scared,” she joked. She refused to be intimidated by him, no matter how sexy he looked all pissed off in his expensive suit. “Whatever, River. I’ll be here as long as you get here at seven. I won’t wait.”

“Honey I’ll wait for you all day long,” Margaret said from behind him. “Hell with buns like that, I’ll wait however long I need to.” The women all laughed and agreed with her assessment.

“Ladies, please.” Kara could see a blush rise on River’s face, something she didn’t even think he was capable of. “I’ll see you later, River.” She turned and beckoned Margaret over without looking back.

The last person she’d expected to see today, or ever, was River Harwood. He
was
her lost weekend in Vegas. They’d spent three days together in a luxury suite drinking top shelf whiskey, exploring every inch of each other’s bodies and laughing. Truthfully, it was the best date she’d ever had. It was so good, they ended up married. For real.

“So who was the hottie, Kara?”

She sighed because she knew the women would never let it go. “He’s just a guy I know. We met last year on my trip to Vegas.”

Margaret winked at her in the mirror. “And you know what they say about Vegas,” she prompted the women.

“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!” They all shouted the words at the same time, laughing and high fiving each other with too much glee.

“You girls are incorrigible.”

“You should try it. In fact, I think you should get positively incorrigible with that fine young fella tonight. He’s begging for it!”

“Alright girls, settle down or I’ll put you all in detention.” She smiled at them all to take the sting out of her words.

Mrs. Miller yelled louder than necessary over the noise of the hair dryer. “You know, Carl and I sometimes play naughty teacher and student in detention.”

Kara shook her head.
Kara Werner, this is your life
.

~

River shook his head and pounded on the blue door of a little Ranch style home. He couldn’t believe Kara had left the shop when he’s specifically told her not to. The door yanked open. “Yes?”

He growled. “That’s what you have to say to me? I told you not to go anywhere!”

Kara pulled a phone from her back pocket and checked the screen before her gaze traveled up and landed on his. “It’s after eight. You said seven. I work hard and I’m not waiting around because you can’t be bothered to keep your word.” She turned and closed the door in his face, but River’s foot snuck in to stop it from closing.

“I don’t think so, Kara. We need to talk.”

“So now you want to talk?” She tried to reach him for four months after their hasty Vegas marriage, but he couldn’t be bothered to respond like he said he would.

“Well I wouldn’t be here if you’d done what you said you would. I don’t
want
to talk, but we need to.”

Kara pulled the clip from her hair and let the red hair fall down her back. She let her fingers massage her scalp, effectively ignoring him while she soothed her sore head. “I tried to do it, River. But you left Vegas and became an asshole. I called you a hundred times and I even sent the divorce papers to Harwood Industries, addressed to you. Did you respond? No you didn’t, so don’t come in here today acting like the wounded party. Go file the papers yourself,
sign them
, and send them to me and we can take care of it. There, talk done. Goodbye.” Her petite frame pushed at him to no avail and he would have laughed if she didn’t look so angry and hot, trying to push him out of her house. “Dammit River, leave.”

He grabbed Kara’s arms and lifted her in the air. “No.” She kicked him. “Ouch, dammit. Calm down.”

“Screw you, River! Who do you think you are coming into my house and yelling at me?” She kicked and squirmed and fought like hell to break free of his hold.

He flashed her that sexy panty-dropping smile. “Honey, I think you mean
our
house.”

She shook her head and kicked him again, this time right in the shin. “No I mean
my
house, where you are not welcome.”

River brought her body closer and curled his mouth over hers while she squirmed. He kissed her lips until she let him into her mouth and he licked her mouth, sucked her tongue and explored the depths of the sweetness. The moment she gave into the kiss, he pressed her back against the wall and ground into her. She groaned and ripped her mouth from his. “Damn you taste as good as I remember.”

She whimpered and then remembered where she was. “Well you don’t, so put me down, damn you.”

River released her slowly so her body slid down every inch of his six plus foot frame. “You may not like me anymore, Kara, but don’t act like you don’t want me. I’d hate to have to prove you a liar.”

She pushed him and he didn’t move. “What the hell do you want?”

“You.”

Hands on her hips, Kara shook her head. “Nope, try again.”

River invaded her space and watched her eyes widen. “Okay, fine, not you but my wife, which is you so…you.”

She slid against the wall and over to the kitchen, putting her outdated counter between them. “Explain.”

He gave her the basics of his meeting with Bobby Lee. “So since it is your fault we’re still married, I figured you owe me this.”

Kara looked at him and laughed. “Wrong, buster. I owe you exactly not a damn thing. Maybe you should stop screwing your secretaries and you might actually get your mail.” She pulled an envelope from a drawer in the kitchen and tossed it at him. “A copy of the divorce papers I sighed, but you didn’t.”

He scanned them and noted they were dated about four months after that fantastic weekend. “Damn.”

She set a cup of coffee in front of him and took the seat across from him. “So I don’t owe you anything, River. If anything you owe me.”

He stiffened. “So this is where the extortion comes in?”

Her brow furrowed in confusion. “What…oh! You know, River, screw you again. Get the fuck out of my house and don’t ever come back.” She stomped to the door and held it open for him.

River walked to her as calm as can be and shut the door and backed her against it. “I’m not going anywhere until we settle this.”

“Of all the arrogant-” she mumbled and walked away from him. “I don’t have anything to settle. I told you what needs to be done, so go do it and leave me alone.”

“Unfortunately, I have a need for a wife.”

“Then you should probably go find one.”

“It has to be you.” He hated that he needed to pretend to be someone he wasn’t just to close this deal, but too much work had been done to make this resort happen and it
would
happen.

“It won’t be me, but if you’re not leaving, go sit in the living room. I need to change.” She stole upstairs, eager for a shower and sleep. River could rot down there for all it mattered to her.

Twenty minute later, River knew that he’d been had. Kara had disappeared upstairs and hadn’t come back down. He stood and climbed the steps, fuming. She would do this whether she liked it or not. The light was on in one of the rooms and he walked in without knocking and heard the shower. With a smile on his face, River sat down on the bed and waited. Soon the shower stopped and his body tightened thinking about the water droplets on her sinful body. The knob turned and his eyes fixed on the door. It opened and she walked out with a towel around her head.
Only
a towel around her head.

“Geez River! Scare a girl to death, why don’t you.” She walked past him and his hand shot out to grab her wrist. “Yes?”

“You’re still a knockout, Kara.”

“Yeah, thanks. Now I need to get dressed so…,”

“Don’t do it on my account,” he groaned at the sight of her pink-tipped nipples, now hard and waiting for his mouth.

She smiled at him but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Suit yourself,” she told him and grabbed a jar of body cream, setting it down right beside his thigh on the bed. Kara scooped lotion in her hand and started with her arms. “So why is this so important to you?”

River’s gaze was riveted to her naked body and when she began to rub lotion on those big meaty tits he couldn’t speak. He growled and grabbed her by the waist, until she was pressed up against him. “You are so fucking beautiful, Kara.”