A Billionaire BWWM Romance 4: The Proposal Read online

  “I just know it’s going to be a box office success. So I thought I could live in the same area as the rest of the so called stars. I mean some of the people living in Little Rock haven’t had any acting jobs in years. I guess I’ll be a breath of fresh air there,” Sonya said. There was a long silence before she finally talked. “So, are you going to help me with this?” Sonya asked. Julie pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled.

  “You see, Miss Clarke, Little Rock is not really my turf. There isn’t much I can do for you,” she explained.

  “But I heard that you were the go-to person when I want any kind of property. Was the report I got wrong?” Sonya frowned. Julie wanted to punch her.

  “I would love to know who it was that sold me ever so highly,” she said.

  “Well, I can’t say anything but a little birdie told me that you are a realtor to the stars,” Sonya answered winking at her. Julie laughed. This time her laugh was more real than it had been for the last two hours.

  “Actually, someone I am associated with is the realtor to the stars. I am just your good old girl next door realtor,” she confessed.

  “So you are not associated with Steven Davenport? And by associated I mean dating?” Sonya asked. Julie shook her head. This woman was seriously getting on her nerves.

  “Miss Clarke…” she started before Sonya flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled at her.

  “Please, call me Sonya,” she insisted with a smile.

  “Sonya. We are not here to discuss my personal life,” Julie commented. “But what I can do, is do what I can to get the Little Rock listing.” She looked at Sonya. “How about I give you a call in a day or two?” she asked. Sonya shrugged and nodded.

  “The Europe trip….” She started.

  “I will pull every string possible to get you the listing before your trip. How’s that?” Julie asked, hoping to God she wouldn’t start yapping.

  “Sounds good,” Sonya replied.

  “Good. I’ll get started right away,” Julie promised as she started walking out. “Do you need a ride or something?” she asked as she looked at Sonya.

  “No, I have my car upfront,” Sonya explained as she followed Julie out. “So are you seriously not going to tell me if you and that gorgeous Brit are an item?” Sonya asked looking at Julie. They were now walking to the parking lot.

  “Does it matter?” Julie asked before she got into her car. Sonya smiled and climbed into her convertible. Julie shrugged and drove away silently thanking God she had been finally able to get rid of Sonya. If ever there was an annoying client, it had to be Sonya Clarke. She was the definition of annoying. When she got to the office, she walked into her office and raised an eyebrow when she saw a man seated at her assistant’s desk. “Hi,” she said as she approached the desk.

  “Hi…good morning, Miss Parker. I got you a latte and a cronuts. They’re on your desk and the morning paper is there as well,” the man informed her. Julie looked at him and smiled.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t read the newspaper. I get the online copy…remember the twenty first century?” The man looked a bit embarrassed. “But good call on the cronut,” she finished.

  “Oh, thank you Miss Parker,” the man grinned.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry, but I have to ask. Who are you, exactly? Where’s Caroline?” she asked, looking around.

  “I’m Anderson Cooper from the temp agency. Caroline had to rush to Los Angeles…family emergency,” he explained. Julie smiled.

  “I’m sorry. Did you just say your name was Anderson Cooper?” He smiled and nodded. “Like the journalist?” she asked, smiling broadly.

  “Yes, like the journalist. And it is purely coincidental that I have a Copper 360 mug. I just happen to love the show,” he described. Julie smiled and shook her head.

  “I would love to meet your folks, Mr. Copper,” she gushed.

  “Please, Andy. Mr. Cooper is my father,” he replied, smiling. Julie shrugged.

  “Okay, then. Andy. I need you to do some research for me on Little Rock. Which agency handles the houses there, who’s moving, who’s selling and who’s getting divorced,” she explained.

  “Little Rock? Isn’t that out of our turf?” he asked.

  “Well, yes but I have this client who is like a bad smell. You cannot get away from her,” she complained as she walked into her office. “That’s your one and only priority, Anderson Cooper,” she called out as she sat down. She put her bag down and then picked up the cronuts. She closed her eyes and bit into it. There was no greater feeling than having the taste of what croissant and donut sweet lovemaking produced. She smiled to herself. “I can’t believe I just thought that,” she thought. She took another bite and leaned back in her chair. She didn’t even hear the door open.

  “Miss. Parker, there is a Meg here to see you,” she heard Andy’s voice. She opened her eyes and looked at Andy and Meg standing at the doorway. She smiled and waved her in.

  “Who’s the hunk?” Meg asked as she walked into the office. Julie smiled.

  “A temp,” she said. “Apparently Caroline had a family emergency and had to rush to LA,” she added.

  “Wow, Caroline has family in LA?” Meg asked. Julie shrugged.

  “Well, if she does, she never told me about it. She’s always been so secretive,” she said. Meg smiled and sat down in front of her desk. “Cronut?” Julie offered. Meg smiled and nodded. “We’ll have to split mine. I only have the one,” she added as she cut the confectionery in half.

  “Thanks,” Meg said. “How’s your day coming along?” she asked. Julie shook her head.

  “Don’t get me started. I just dealt with the worst, most difficult client I have ever come across. We went to six houses,” Julie grumbled. “Six,” she repeated. Meg smiled.

  “And she didn’t like them at all?” she asked.

  “Well, apparently, she wasn’t really 'feeling the space',” Julie mimicked. “I swear she was arousing my inner serial killer. I was homicidal for the entire two hours I was with her,” she added. Meg smiled. “And here is the worst thing. She wanted to know if I was ‘associated’ with the Brit hunk Steven Davenport,” Julie told Meg before she took a long sip of her latte.

  “Really? How did she even know about that?” Meg asked.

  “I don’t know. It’s like my private life is now grapevine news,” Julie complained as she looked at her. Meg smiled and leaned back in her seat. “Anyway, enough about me. How are you?” Julie asked, looking at Meg.

  “I’ve had better days to be honest,” Meg confessed, taking a long, deep breath.

  “What are you talking about? What’s going on?” Julie asked.

  “It’s Sadler,” Meg sighed. Julie shrugged and shook her head. Byron Sadler was Meg’s ex-husband and the only man who Julie knew that she really ever loved. Julie leaned forward and raised an eyebrow.

  “Byron? What has he got to do with anything?” she asked. Meg leaned forward and ran her fingers through her hair. “Is it the baby? Where is he?”

  “He’s at my mom’s. He’s fine,” Meg assured her.

  “Then what is it?” Julie pressed.

  “Sadler wants custody of him. Full custody,” Meg said. Julie raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

  “But the court already awarded you full custody, right?” she asked. Meg nodded. “So what’s the big deal?” Julie asked, trying hard to understand what was going on.

  “He got this new job with the World Bank. And the money is actually good….I think he is buying off a judge or something. There is no way a judgment would get overturned just like that, right?”

  “I don’t know much about law, but I know that much. Who is this judge?” Julie asked.

  “Dillinger,” Meg said. Julie looked at her and picked up her phone. “What are you doing?” Meg asked.

  “Getting you legal representation,” Julie said as she dialed a number. “Ashley, hi…I know, right. Really long time…coffee sounds great, but listen, right now I ne
ed a favor,” she started. Meg watched her best friend as she made plans to get her a lawyer. By the way they spoke, Meg could guess that this Ashley was a big deal. But as they talked, she couldn’t help but wonder how she was going to pay her. When Julie hung up, she looked at Meg and smiled. “Don’t worry. Ashley Keen is the best civil lawyer you could ever get.”

  “The best? Does it mean she works for some Fortune 500 legal firm?” Meg asked.

  “Actually, yes. She is a partner at Lovell, Porter and Smith,” Julie said as she scribbled something on a piece of paper in her writing pad. “This is her number. Call her. Today,” she added.

  “Juelz, what these guys ask for retainer is probably what I make in a year,” Meg sighed.

  “No, don’t worry about that. She is doing this as a favor to me,” Julie promised. “Now I need you to tell me exactly what happened,” she added. Meg ran her fingers through her hair again.

  “It happened again,” she admitted. Julie looked at her and shook her head.

  “You slept with Byron, really? And when was this? When he decided to take your son from you or after?” she asked.

  “That was not what we were supposed to talk about. The whole meeting was about…he called me and said he wants to patch things up,” Meg said. Julie felt sorry for her. She had heard this story so many times, she practically knew it by heart. Byron knew that Meg had a soft spot for him and he loved manipulating it. She looked at her and sighed.

  “Why do you keep on believing him, sweeties?” Julie asked.

  “I don’t know…I just keep on hoping that he’s changed,” Meg admitted.

  “So, what did he say?” Julie asked. Meg went through her bag and fished out her phone before handing it to Julie. “What’s this?” Julie asked as she looked at the phone.

  “The email he sent me last night,” Meg said. Julie took a long deep breath and began reading.

  Babe, I know it’s been a while, but I really need to see you. I know you think that every time we meet something awful happens, but I need my family back. When we made our vows to each other, it was supposed to be for life and maybe we made a wrong turn somewhere, but I know you are not seeing anyone and I am also not seeing anyone. So that should be a sign enough, right? I need you and you need me. Our son needs us, Meg. If you feel the same, I’ll be in town for a few days. Meet me at Reddington Creek at ten tomorrow. I’m in cabin no. 14. I can’t wait to see you.

  Julie looked up and shook her head. She had every right to think that there was nothing new in the message.

  “Babe, this is the same shit he gives you every time,” she sighed as she looked at Meg.

  “But this is the first time he’s brought up our marriage,” Meg proclaimed. Julie took another sip of her latte.

  “One, he can’t get the boy, that’s given. And two, you need to change your number. If he wants to reach you there’s email, house phone and hell, Twitter,” she said. Julie took a long, deep breath and scrolled her phone book. “You know what, this is a favor I am doing you.”

  “What is? What are you doing?” Meg asked.

  “Deleting Byron Sadler’s number from your phone,” Julie said. “Something I should have done three years ago when your divorce got finalized,” she added. She looked at Meg and gave her a smile.

  “What is wrong with me?” Meg asked. Julie shook her head and stood up before she walked round to where Meg was.

  “Nothing is wrong. It’s just something we women have. It’s called a heart,” Julie said as she draped an arm around Meg’s shoulders. She heard Meg sniffling back a tear. “Hey, you’re better than that. Don’t let him have the satisfaction of knowing that he has you exactly where he wants you,” Julie added. She pulled away and looked at her best friend. She hated seeing Meg this distraught. “Right now, all you care about is whooping his butt in court because believe me, if there is anything Ashley Keen is good at, it is handing asses back to the other side and on a silver platter no less,” she said smiling. Meg smiled and Julie brushed off her tears with her thumbs.

  “Thanks. I really needed that,” Meg said.

  “Actually, you need more than just that. How about you and me blow this joint and have a drink at my place?” Julie asked. Meg raised an eyebrow.

  “Much as I want to drink right now, it is not even noon yet,” Meg gasped.

  “Well, it’s way past noon somewhere in the world. In some places, it’s already tomorrow, so in a way in their time it’s actually very late at night,” Julie replied. Meg gave her a questioning look.

  “What?” she asked. Julie smiled.

  “Even I am not sure what I just said,” she laughed as she walked round to the other side of the desk. “Come on,” she said as she picked her bag and keys.

  “You are really serious about this, aren’t you?” Meg asked as she stood up.

  “Like a heart attack,” Julie laughed as the two walked out of the office. “Mr. Cooper…I know you said I should call you Andy but I like Mr. Cooper more,” she smiled.

  “It’s alright, Miss Parker,” Andy said.

  “Call me as soon as you get anything from Little Rock,” Julie said.

  “What about your two o’ clock?” he asked. Julie looked at him.

  “What was it about?”

  “Inter-departmental meeting,” Andy reminded her. Julie looked at Meg.

  “It’s okay,” she said smiling at Julie. Julie shook her head.

  “No, this is all about you. Tell Dana I’m following up on a lead and that I’ll be back at my earliest convenience,” she winked as they walked away.

  “Sure, Miss Parker,” Andy said as the two walked away. Meg looked at Julie as they got into the elevator.

  “One of these days you will get into serious trouble with Dana,” she said. Julie shook her head.

  “I make her millions of dollars. If she fires me she will have lost the best thing that has ever happened to her,” she grinned. Meg looked at her and laughed.

  “Modest much?” she teased. Julie shrugged.

  “So, did you drive here?” she asked. Meg nodded. “Okay then we can just meet up at home,” she added. Meg smiled and nodded. “Twenty minutes tops,” she said as they both walked out into the parking lot.

  Chapter 4

  Meg walked into Amelia’s and looked around before she dialed Steven.

  “I’m here. Where are you?” she asked when Steven picked up.

  “Turn right and walk to the last table. Private booth,” he explained. Meg walked in the direction he suggested and stopped when she got to the private booth.

  “Okay, what the hell is happening?” she asked when she saw Dana seated next to Steven. “Is this where you tell me that you are actually a black ops guy and this British act has been your cover and that Julie is in danger?” Meg asked. “Or am I in danger?”. Steven looked at her and smiled.

  “Nice to see you too,” he joked.

  “You watch way too much TV by the way,” Dana said when Meg sat down.

  “Tell me about it. I have no social life. TV is as good as my life gets,” Meg admitted.

  “I took the liberty of ordering you some food,” Steven told them as a waiter walked up to them and placed a plate of sirloin steak in front of Meg.

  “Oh, thank God, I’m starved,” she said as she looked at the inviting platter. “So, what’s the big idea?” Meg asked as she took her first bite. “Oh my god….this is the best sirloin steak I have ever had!” she said as she cut another piece.

  “I know, right? I am taking some to go,” Dana said smiling. Steven shrugged.

  “We aim to please,” he winked.

  “Wait, you own this place?” Dana asked as she looked at him. Steven shrugged and smiled.

  “Oh my God, you are the complete package,” Meg gushed.

  “Well, I only own part of it,” Steven said.

  “How come I never knew this? Does Julie know?” Meg asked. Steven smiled and nodded.

  “And here we have been bending over backwards t
rying to get a reservation here? Julie owes me,” Dana said.

  “So anyway, now that it has been decided that I can get whatever table I want here any time I want, why don’t you tell us why you called us here?” Meg remarked. Steven looked at Dana and then placed a black velvet case on the table. Meg’s eyes grew large. “Is that what I think it is?” she asked. Steven smiled and nodded.

  “I want to ask Julie to marry me and I wanted the two of you to help me out. I don’t know what she would like, but I have already taken care of the important aspects like asking her father,” he said. Meg smiled.

  “You already talked to Michael?” Meg asked.

  “I thought that was the more traditional thing to do,” he admitted.

  “We all know you are nothing if not traditional,” Dana said as she took a sip of her wine. Meg picked up the velvet case and opened it.

  “Oh my God,” she gasped when she saw the ring. It was the kind of thing that made you get a safe in the house. It was the most perfect rock she had ever seen. She looked up at Steven. “You have outdone yourself Davenport,” she said in a low voice.

  “It was my grandmother’s. She gave it to me and told me to only use it when I know I want to spend the rest of my life with the love of my life,” he explained. “So, two months ago when I took Julie home, I brought it back with me and had the stone replaced.”

  “Oh my God, some men are so damn romantic,” Dana gushed as she took a sip. “All I got was a nervous guy delivering a cake with the words ‘will you marry me’ on it.”

  “Hey, that’s good. I got married in Vegas under the influence of God knows what,” Meg laughed. Steven smiled at them and leaned back. “So, it looks like you have everything under control. What do you need us for?”

  “Apparently I need some sort of grand gesture. Grand gestures are not my cup of tea,” he said.

  “So in other words you want us to tell you exactly where you should go down on one knee?” Dana asked.

  “Well, not exactly…okay, yes,” he muttered. “Or how I can do it differently. I don’t want to do some cliché thing,” he added.

  “Davenport, clichés are clichés because they work,” Dana said looking at him. Meg took another bite and nodded.