Billionaire At Sea

2

Mia

The following day, Ridley’s brother, Michael, invited us both to dinner to discuss the trip and Damian Stryker. We had a week to plan the menu and purchase what we needed for the stag party, and I had yet to meet the man hiring us.

“Michael said Damian is going to try and meet us for dinner,” she told me when we were in my kitchen and drinking coffee, earlier in the day. “So, wear that black cocktail dress of yours.”

John had picked out that particular dress and I hadn’t put it on in months. It was tight, flirty, and drew attention, which wasn’t something I particularly wanted. Since breaking up with him, I’d been taking a sabbatical from the opposite s*x and still wasn’t ready to return to the dating scene.

“Why?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “Wait a second. You’re not trying to set me up with this guy, are you?”

She gave me an innocent look. “No. Of course not.”

I stared at her hard. “Ridley…”

“What?” she said, trying to keep a straight face. “Even I know that it would be totally unprofessional and in bad taste.”

“You’re damn right it would.”

Removing a binder from around her wrist, she pulled her blonde hair back and made it into a ponytail. “I mean, if he finds you attractive, and decides to ask you out, that might not necessarily be such a bad thing, would it? He is rich and now very available.”

“He’s single?” I replied, not even sure why I was asking. I certainly wasn’t interested in dating anyone and didn’t know what this guy looked like, or even more importantly, how he treated women.

“He was recently divorced,” she said. “From what Michael said, it was pretty messy.”

“Let me guess… he had an affair,” I said dryly, knowing that I was being cynical but had good reason.

“No. In fact, I think it was all her. They have a son together and it sounds like she’s a shitty mother.”

I sighed. “Really? That’s too bad.”

Ridley nodded. “Obviously, he travels a lot and apparently, she parties like a rock star. I’m sure there’s more to it than that, but Michael told me that Damian ended up getting full custody of their son. Poor kid. The woman must be truly neglectful to lose in court. You hardly ever see cases go that way.”

“Or the judge is a big baseball fan,” I replied, taking a sip of coffee.

Ridley shrugged. “I guess there’s always that. Money and fame do strange things to people, even judges. Anyway, you still have to feel sorry for their son. I think he’s only eight.”

“Damn,” I replied, picturing a sad little boy who was probably missing the hell out of his mommy. Even if she was a party-animal, that didn’t mean he loved her any less. “So, if Damian has full custody, does he take his son along with him when he travels?”

“I have no idea. I’m sure he has a nanny or something.”

“So, basically, he probably doesn’t get to see his father or his mother very much.”

“Maybe, maybe not. On the other hand – his dad is a famous baseball player and probably spoils the crap out of him.”

“Even so, money can’t replace someone you love,” I replied, remembering when my parents had divorced. I’d just turned eleven when it happened. My father had been an alcoholic and after many years of trying to get him to quit drinking, my mother couldn’t take it anymore. One morning, after he’d banged up the car because of drinking, she kicked him out of the house, refusing to let him back in until he sought treatment. Unfortunately, my father didn’t believe he had a drinking problem, nor did he like ultimatums. He ended up getting his own place and I was able to visit him every other weekend. Luckily, he was usually sober during those times, although I suspected it hadn’t been easy for him. Tragically, he ended up passing out behind the wheel while returning home from a Christmas party, five years later. His car hit a tree and it was said that he died upon impact. My heart broke after hearing the news. As many problems as he had, I always knew that my father had loved me, and I’d never stopped loving him.

Ridley’s eyes softened. “I know. You’re right and I’m sure you know that more than anyone. I’m just saying that Damian Stryker wouldn’t necessarily be such a bad catch.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t, but I’m not interested in casting out any lines. Not right now, at least.”

“Fine. I get it. But, it’s been almost a year since John pulled that crap on you, and your social life is like a cat lady’s, minus the cats. You might be missing out on the man of your dreams because you’re living like a hobbit. And no, I’m not necessarily talking about Damian.”

“I know that this might be hard for you to comprehend, but my life doesn’t have to revolve around a man or my search for the perfect one. I’m quite happy being alone.”

“You’re quite happy sitting home every weekend, all by yourself?” she asked with a small smile.

Admittedly, I did get bored and even missed John, at times. I sometimes had to stop myself from answering his calls or messages. Just last week he’d sent me a text.

Mia, I know I made a mistake, but I love you and we can still have a life together…

As usual, I’d ignored him, although it hadn’t been easy.

“I’m fine with my life right now. Besides,” I told her, “most of the weekends are tied up because of the business anyway. I don’t remember many of them where I’m sitting at home, bored out of my skull and miserable.”

“Whatever. There’s time. I find it with Adam. I am starting to think that you’ve forgotten how to be single.”

“Believe me, that’s definitely not the case,” I said dryly. I was reminded of it every day when I woke up and found myself alone in bed.

“Still, you need some fun in your life.”

“I have fun.” I nodded toward my trusty camera sitting on the counter. “When I’m bored I take that out.”

“And take naked pictures?” she teased.

“No. Of course not.”

Ridley picked it up and turned it on. She began looking through my most recent photos, which I’d taken at the beach, right before sunset.

She glanced at me. “I mean, I have to admit, you take stunning pictures…”

“Thank you.”

My father had given me my first camera, after he’d moved out of the house. I soon developed a passion for photography, but mainly as a hobby. Cooking was still my first love, which my mother had introduced to me when I was old enough to look over the kitchen counter. The camera, on the other hand, brought me a different kind of joy. It captured moments in time that you’d never get back, but could still reflect on fondly.

“You know, Mia, you could probably sell a lot of these photos online,” she said, looking through more of them. “There are websites that allow you to do that.”

“Why would I want to sell them?”

She gave me a surprised look. “For money?! I mean, look at this photo. Whose dog is this? He’s adorable enough and you were able to catch him at just the right moment, when he’s airborne. And look at this one… it looks like something you’d see in National Geographic.”

I walked over and smiled at the pictures I’d taken on Cocoa Beach. A man had let his Golden Retriever puppy loose near the water. He’d allowed me to take a couple of shots while the animal taunted a ghost crab moving in the sand.

“I doubt I’m allowed to sell most of the pictures I’ve taken, without getting a release form from the models.”

“Something tells me that this one would have given you a ‘ruff’ time,” she joked.

I laughed. “Exactly. Anyway, this really is just a hobby. Not like cooking.”

She handed me back the camera. “I guess I should be happy that you’re not investing too much time with this or making it a career. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Although Ridley was a fantastic cook, and we’d both graduated from culinary school together, she didn’t have a lot patience, especially when it came to food preparation. If something went wrong it wasn’t unusual for her to fly into hysterics. Usually, it was up to me to calm her down and get us back on track.

“We do make a great team,” I agreed. “Although, it would be nice to start earning enough money that we could hire an assistant or two. Then we could start doing much larger parties.”

At the moment, we were currently working out of Ridley’s mother’s gourmet kitchen in Miami. Her parents were loaded and owned three homes – one in Florida, one in Hawaii, and one in New York. Her father was some kind of real estate developer and they were currently in Maui on business. Although it was saving us a ton of money, we really wanted our own facility to work from and had been discussing the possibility of applying for a loan to do just that.

“I’m telling you, this gig we have coming up might just allow us to do something like that.”

“How much is he paying us? You didn’t really give me an actual figure yet,” I asked, before finishing the rest of my coffee.

“Enough so I can purchase those Jimmy Choo sandals I saw at Sak’s yesterday.”

“Which is?”

“Twenty grand. Plus, the cost of food,” she said, beaming.

I stared at her in shock. Had I heard her correctly? “Twenty thousand dollars?”

She nodded.

I knew she’d said the money was going to be great, but I had no idea.

“That’s insane. How many guests?” I asked, elated now.

“Roughly fifteen. I mean, we’ll have our hands full. We have to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner from Friday through Sunday. And that’s not including the actual party.”

“Twenty grand. I can’t believe it,” I replied, feeling a rush of excitement and relief, especially knowing that the bills really would get paid for the next few months. I could even afford to have someone look at my truck, which was making a clunking noise every time I turned a corner. “Are you sure he said ‘grand’?”

“I’m positive. We’ll verify it with him tonight, since he might be joining us for dinner. I seriously can’t wait to meet this guy in person. Maybe I’ll stop by Sak’s on the way home and see if they still have those sandals in my size,” she said, grabbing her cell phone. “I’d love to wear them tonight.”

For the first time since I’d heard the name Damian Stryker, I had to admit, I couldn’t wait to meet him either.