The Billionaire's Beautiful Mistake(5)

Her mother was gone now, having passed away from cancer a few years ago and the loneliness that haunted her most nights could sometimes be painful. Was that why she let George hang out at the store so often even though he wasn’t pulling his weight?

Taking a deep breath, she wondered why anyone got married. She glanced over to the bar again, her body jerking to life once more when she noticed that the bartender was still watching her. His eyes looked…was that concern in his eyes now?

She didn’t want pity! No way! Pity was for people without choices. She had choices and a good life.

She pushed the man from her mind, not wanting to think about men or marriage or her lonely nights when she craved a warm man to cuddle up to instead of piling on another blanket. Alaska nights could be cold, but that didn’t mean she wanted…she could deal with…

She was strong and had a good life. With a sigh, she dismissed the man. Or tried to. He’d probably be going home with Boobie Barbie tonight anyway.



Tucker, Knox and Saeger walked into the bar at that moment and Creek almost groaned with irritation. The four of them owned The Rotten Apple together, each owned their own mountain and had basically adopted the small town of Winthrop, Alaska. No one in the town really knew the full extent of each man’s wealth, but just one of them alone could make stock markets in different countries fluctuate with a single statement. So saying each man was a powerhouse in the world of business was understating their influence. They lived in Alaska, but when one of them left the state, the rest of the world quaked with fear of what would come next. Creek’s business empire was built on oil. Not so much retrieving oil from the ground, although he had a company that did exactly that. But the bulk of his wealth came from making oil work better. He had a team of chemists that figured out how to refine the oil more effectively or create additives that made the oil more efficient.

And he invested in other companies that applied the same technology to improving gas and oil usage. At one point, he’d been offered an obscene amount of money to stop his work. Problem was, at that time, his net worth was higher than the amount offered.

Besides, he enjoyed his work, he enjoyed the mental challenges.

And yes, he enjoyed working at The Rotten Apple. The four of them worked long hours in their mountain homes managing their various empires. They needed the mental downtime that tending bar or stocking the bar, even cleaning the tables and waiting on the customers provided. Not to mention, these were good people. They were down-to-earth, hardworking men and women who risked their lives most days in order to make enough money to put food on the table for their families. Working at The Rotten Apple grounded Creek, made him remember what was important. It also helped him to know what was going on in the world and gave him ideas. Hearing these men and women talk about their work, their days and their challenges gave him ideas on how to make life better. Sometimes the ideas were specific to this community but most of the time, he could send his ideas out to one of his companies and tell them to make something work.

He suspected that Knox, Saeger and Tucker did the same thing, and used The Rotten Apple in the same way. All of them were big guys, loved the challenge of the business world, and all four of them would jump on any daredevil idea thrown their way. Surfing bore tides was their latest adventure. And when the surf was up, all four of them would be down on the channel, surfing for as long as their skills could take them. Creek’s record was riding the spring bore tide for twenty miles. That had been a great run and he was hoping to top that this next year.

Right at the moment, his challenge was getting that shy beauty to look his way again. On a normal night, he would have simply sat down and talked to her, learned more about her. But she was in a group celebrating tonight which put him at a disadvantage.

He had to resist the urge to pull her out of that chair, drag her into the dance area and simply wrap his arms around her. She looked like she could use a shoulder to cry on right at the moment and he had some big ones.

Unfortunately, even while he wanted to comfort her, his body also wanted to make love to her in the most desperate way. He stood behind the bar, cleaning glasses, serving up beer and whiskey, mixing the occasional cocktail, and all the while, his body throbbed with the desire to strip her naked and make love to her for the next twenty-four hours. Maybe even longer!

When she got up to use the restroom, his eyes couldn’t stop absorbing every detail of the woman’s petite figure. Normally, he went for the tall women. But there was something about this little lady that set his body on fire. Never had he felt this instant and furious desire for another woman.