Utterly Yours (Book One) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (2 page)

              Nathaniel and Tony pulled around to the back of the shelter; a small, barren parking lot that was shared with the local pet shop.  Sharing a parking lot didn’t bother Nathaniel: he couldn’t imagine a homeless shelter needing a lot of parking with the exception of their grand opening during which the media would be hanging around.

              “So this is your pride and joy, huh?” Nathaniel said as he climbed out of the car and stretched his back.  “Wish we could have gone to the hotel first, man.”

              “Adam is already here,” Tony said, locking the car up tight before leading the way towards the back entrance.

              Nathaniel smiled; he hadn’t seen Adam in a week.  Adam Reins was his long time business partner; they had been friends since they were mere kids, and Adam had even been there when Nathaniel’s father had been killed.  The two of them had started Lynch Industries, and Nathaniel had won the namesake of the company via coin flip and an extra share that put him in the CEO’s seat.  It had been a two-headed coin, but Adam hadn’t known that at the time.  Nathaniel chuckled under his breath as he relived the moment Adam found out he had lost out on an extra zero on the end of his paycheck every year due to an old parlor trick; they didn’t speak for months.  Things had cooled off, though, because no matter what Nathaniel did or vice versa , the old friends had a hard time staying angry at one another.

              They entered through a kitchen entrance where a team of volunteers was already at work getting the place organized for the big day.  Tony made a few introductions on Nathaniel’s behalf before ushering him into the next room –a large, open area full of tables and chairs on one side and lines of beds on the other.  Adam was chit-chatting it up with some ladies who were wearing the volunteer logos on their white t-shirts.  Nathaniel rolled his eyes; Adam was just as bad as him when it came to letting the wrong head lead his thinking.

              “Excuse me for a moment, ladies,” Adam said in his most charming tone as he stepped away to greet Nathaniel and Tony.  He stuck out his hand and shook Nathaniel’s, completely bypassing the young assistant as he often did.  “So, looks like everything is starting to come together.  Should be ready for the big opening tomorrow.”

              “Good to hear,” Nathaniel said.  “You been out this way for a week now.  How is Troy treating you?”

              “There’s a reason neither of us lives here anymore,” Adam grumbled.  “I hate this town.  I prefer California… you know, where there’s the sun.”

              “I’m right there with you,” Nathaniel said.  “So now that I’ve gotten a little tour of the place, are you ready to bolt?”

              “Hell yeah,” Adam said and looked down at his watch.  “Four o’clock.  That’s late enough to start drinking, right?”

              Tony piped up quickly.  “Oh no, you two don’t!” He looked dead at Nathaniel.  “Especially not you!  You have to give a speech tomorrow morning, and you need to do so without a hangover.”

              “Relax, kid,” Adam waved a hand in Tony’s face.  “It’s not like we’re planning on getting wasted.  Just a couple of drinks while you go get Nathaniel checked into his hotel room.”

              “Just a couple of drinks?” Tony questioned, eyeing them both.  “I have been around you two long enough to know that it’s never just a couple of drinks.”

              Nathaniel clasped his hand on Tony’s shoulder.  “Everything is going to go off tomorrow without a hitch, kiddo.  You need to relax a little.  Why don’t you come with us and have a drink with your bosses, huh?”

              “Someone has got to get you checked into the hotel,” Adam reminds them.

              “Believe me, I’d rather go to the hotel than watch you two get hammered while I try to drag you back to the hotel all night.” Tony rolled his eyes. “Mr. Lynch, you need to at least meet the head volunteers who are going to be running this place when we’re all gone before you go off partying tonight with your lesser half,” Adam grumbled at Tony’s remark, but he did not say anything.

              “Fine,” Nathaniel agreed, and soon Tony was dragging him all over the shelter introducing him to more people than he could possibly bother to remember.  Adam watched from afar, shaking his head –both of the grown men knew Tony was just trying to tucker Nathaniel out so that he would choose to go get some rest at the hotel; there would be no such luck.  Eventually, Tony ran out of people to introduce Nathaniel to, and someone had to get back to the hotel.

              Tony griped at the two of them one more time before heading out to bring Nathaniel’s rental car and luggage to the hotel while Nathaniel stood in the parking lot waiting for Adam to finish off a cigarette.  “Those things are going to kill you one day,” Nathaniel scorned.

              “No faster than your drinking is going to kill you,” Adam retorted and put out the cigarette before the two of them climbed into the car.  “I’m just glad I get to go back to California in a couple of days while your ass is going to be stuck here for another two weeks.”

              “You really hate being back in our hometown that much, huh?” Nathaniel asked as he grabbed a seat on the passenger’s side and promptly buckled up, knowing that Adam was truthfully a terrible driver.

              “Man, I drove through our old neighborhood from before your old man struck it rich and drug mine into the gig; looks like a shithole.  Can’t believe we used to live in that dump,” Adam huffed; they had only been about ten years old when their father’s had gotten into the big leagues through investing and they both had shipped their families out to California.  It was strange for them both to be back where it all began.

              “It’s not so bad,” Nathaniel said.  “Remember the skate park?  You and I would go there just about every day after school.”

              “I remember the two of us sharing one skateboard because some punk stole mine,” Adam snarled.  “Fuck Troy,” he added.  Most places in Troy were fairly nice, but like all big cities there were the slums –and that was where these men in suits were from.  It had only been a brief period in their lives, but it was one with both fond and detrimental memories.

              Nathaniel was a little less resentful than Adam, but he agreed that California had been a lot better to them.  They decided not to linger on the topic for too long, and they headed straight for a local club that, by the time they arrived, was already popping with live music, dance, and a lot of drinking.  Almost instantly Nathaniel spotted a pretty red head sitting by herself at the bar, and he decided it was time to do what it was he did best

              Nathaniel sat talking to the redheaded woman at the bar while Adam made his way through the club; it took less than half an hour before the two men lost track of one another, but neither of them seemed to mind.  They had found themselves a gold mind of potential one night stands at this particular venue.  The redhead had certainly gotten Nathaniel’s attention early on during the night, but she was playing hard to get –nothing a little alcohol and smooth talking couldn’t fix.

              This was a rather typical night on the town for Nathaniel; just as it had been since his early twenties, and he and Adam had always been one another’s wingman.  On this particular night, though, neither seemed to need one another.  The redhead woman was quickly falling under Nathaniel’s spell.  He had relied on his good looks for years now, and thus far it had paid off.  The stranger at the bar was destined to become nothing but another notch on his headboard.

              “So what is it you do exactly?” she asked, her voice slightly slurred.

              Nathaniel threw back another shot.  “Tech investments, basically.  We market and brand ideas that spawn within our company,” Nathaniel said.  “A lot of technical stuff.  Apps mostly.”

              Her eyes lingered towards his Rolex.  She looked him up and down, studying his suit and carefully trimmed, chestnut brown hair.  Nathaniel liked to keep himself well-shaven; it was fairly standard in the business that he was in.  Despite his attempt towards keeping a constant professional appeal, there was always a sort of playfulness behind his eyes that made him seem younger than he was but also made it easier for someone to approach him.  It was one reason why his cheesy pick-up lines tended to work and why he had never gotten a drink thrown in his face for being too forward.

              By this point in the conversation, he had learned that the redhead’s name was Sydney –not that he would remember it come morning.  She worked a boring desk job that Nathaniel did not care to recall what exactly she did.  All he knew is that she had come to the bar alone on a Friday night wearing a short, black dress that showed off her cleavage; he was hoping she was looking for the kind of attention that he would be more than happy to give her.

              The conversation went from work to pleasure very rapidly.  Soon Nathaniel had convinced her to let him take a shot with a glass she held tightly between her breasts.  They were both stammering drunk before too long, and soon they were sneaking off to find a more private setting.  His companion for the evening was able to locate an unlocked broom closet; Nathaniel would have been more than pleased to have done it in the bathroom, but she was not so satisfied with that suggestion.

              They slipped into the closet and shut the door behind them; there was not a light inside, so Nathaniel relied heavily on muscle memory to assist him.  He hiked up her dress, and she leaned back onto one of the walls of the closet.  Nathaniel realized he certainly was not the only one who had come to the club with the intention of trying to score when his lingering hand discovered she had chosen not to wear anything under that incredibly short dress of hers.

              He pressed his lips tightly against her, pinning her against the wall.  She moaned excitedly as he caressed her with his fingers.  As he did this, he nibbled on her neck –working his way down her chest until he reached cloth; he pulled her dress back with his teeth, yanking one breast free so that he could gently bite down on one of her nipples.  He unzipped his pants, eager to feel himself inside of her, but he was not granted such satisfaction.

              The door to the broom closet flung open, and a tall, well-built gentleman in a white t-shirt and jeans was staring back at them.  “Sydney!” the man roared, and Nathaniel rushed to zip his pants back up –not realizing he should have been readying to block a punch.  Evidently, the redheaded woman had not come to the club alone as Nathaniel had initially suspected; he had been drinking with her for nearly an hour, so he had assumed she was alone. 

              The punch came hard and quick, beaming Nathaniel against his left cheekbone and sending him falling down into the closet.  The woman shrieked and began having a verbal fight with the man all while Nathaniel attempted to regain his composure.  He rubbed his cheek where the man’s fist had made contact with his face and assessed rather quickly that the gentleman could probably out-do him if things escalated.  Nathaniel was not a weak man by any means, but the not-so-gentle giant standing before him was not something he was willing to take on the day before he was supposed to be appearing on television; he was trying to improve his image, and a bruise covered face would probably not help.  He instead remained on the ground and held up his hands, swallowing his pride, “My bad, man!  I didn’t know she was with anyone!” He slurred slightly, praying the man would not take out the betrayal on him.  Thankfully for Nathaniel, the man, and his cheating redheaded girl were too busy arguing with one another for him to pay Nathaniel much thought.  He just remained seated, hoping for the arguing to calm down before drawing too much attention; it didn’t, and the club's bouncers certainly took notice.

              The next thing Nathaniel knew; he was sitting on the curb outside of the club waiting for Tony to arrive to pick him up.  He had not been able to find Adam, so he was seated alone under a streetlight trying to keep himself from becoming sick.  He had more than one drink too many, and now he was wishing he had heeded his young assistant’s advice.  Soon the familiar rental car pulled up, and Tony was yanking him up off the curb and throwing him into the passenger’s seat.  “Honestly!” Tony shouted at him as they peeled out of the parking lot.  “You’re a grown ass man; I shouldn’t have to babysit you, you drunk moron!” Tony was not normally this vocal; Nathaniel figured that Tony was assuming he was drunk enough that he would forget the conversation the next day.  “You’re useless.  You’re completely useless!” Tony banged on the steering wheel.  “It’s three in the morning…three in the morning!  I bet you haven’t even studied those cards I gave you.  You’re going to make a real ass of yourself tomorrow at the opening.”

              Nathaniel was too drunk to respond; he hung his head out the window and dry heaved for a moment.  He knew he had messed up; he was lucky Tony wasn’t picking him with a broken nose and black eye.  He made a mental commitment that he needed to start leaving his party days behind; he was getting too old to continue like this, and the fifteen missed calls from his mother was a reminder that at least one other person thought he needed to calm down.  It was time, and he knew it –he just didn’t want to admit it just yet.

              Nathaniel was incredibly grateful to wake up to the smell of coffee and pancakes; Tony had set up a morning call for him, as well as room service.  He stretched and crawled out of bed, his head throbbing terribly.  A hangover had been inevitable after the sort of night he had indulged himself in.  He exited the large bedroom and into the even larger living space that was the presidential suite on the ground floor of his hotel.  There was an incredible view of the city.  In the distance, he could see the street where his homeless shelter would be having their grand opening that morning.

              He enjoyed the coffee, praying that it would do the job and alleviate some of the symptoms of his hangover.  He ate the pancakes too, equally hopeful the meal would soak up some of the alcohol.  After a shower, he was starting to feel more like himself.  He threw on a hotel robe as he was leaving the shower, and he could hear Tony speaking on the phone within the living space.  “Morning!” Tony called out in a fake cheer.

              Nathaniel exited the bedroom, rolling his eyes to see him seated in the kitchen area.  “Morning,” he grumbled towards his assistant.

              “This suite is nice, man,” Tony said.  “I sure do spoil you.”

              Nathaniel chuckled slightly.  “Yeah, sure, Tony.  All right, so what’s on the agenda for the day?”

              “Get dressed and head out,” Tony said.  “Your uniform is sitting on the couch over there.  You’re going to be wearing the same t-shirt as the volunteers to give the impression that you’re hands on, and while the cameras are rolling and the media is present that’s just what you’re going to do.  You are going to be working…got it?”

              “Got it,” Nathaniel griped.  “I guess it’s not enough that I bought the damn place and paid for it to get set up, huh?”

              “No, Nathaniel, it’s not,” Tony huffed and dug into some pancakes that Nathaniel had discarded.  “The whole reason we’re doing this is to improve your image.  Not your company’s image.  Your image is the one that’s screwed up, so we need you to look like Mr. Nice guy.  Do you think you can handle that?”

              “Come on, you make it sound like I’m a total tool,” Nathaniel said as he grabbed the uniform Tony had laid out for him.  “I’m not such a bad guy.”

              “No, you’re not.  You’re just an aging playboy,” Tony said.

              Nathaniel rolled his eyes.  “Geez, thanks.” He headed back to the bedroom and changed into the t-shirt and gym shorts.  He laughed to see himself in the mirror in such casual attire.  He felt like he hadn’t worn anything but a suit in at least a year.  Once he was dressed, the two men headed out.  Adam was already at the shelter chatting it up with reporters; he too was dressed in the volunteer’s uniform, and he was wearing his hangover a lot better than Nathaniel.

              Adam marched up to them after speaking with a reporter.  “Morning,” he said, grinning.

              Nathaniel frowned.  “You ditched me in the club last night, jackass.  I almost got my hide handed to me by a jealous boyfriend of a cheating slut.”

              “Nice,” Adam laughed.  “Sorry, but this son of a bitch got lucky last night; I wasn’t too worried about your drunk ass.”

              “Seriously?” Tony rolled his eyes.  “I swear, you two never stop.  Should I schedule a test with your doctor again, Adam?  Make sure you didn’t catch anything?”

              “Screw you, kid,” Adam shook his head.  “Get over there.  The blond guy wants to interview you, and his station is the only one here really worth talking to.”

              “Don’t worry, there will be more,” Tony assured them.  “I have at least ten stations who called and confirmed this morning.”

              “Good job,” Nathaniel said and patted his assistant on his shoulder.  “All right, so interview first, then you want me inside to play the role of a kind-hearted volunteer, right?”

              “That’s the plan,” Tony said and directed both men towards the building.

              Nathaniel did his interview before heading into the shelter where a line of homeless men, women, and children were lining up at the soup kitchen.  He got to work unloading boxes of food for the cooks to get to work.  Once the boxes were unloaded, he got behind the counter where the food was being handed out; a camera from one station or another was constantly in his face getting clips of him handing out food, clothes, or just unloading a box or two.  Eventually, they had enough footage for their evening feel-good news story, and Nathaniel was feeling a little less pressure.

              “Thank you, son,” an older man in line said as Nathaniel scooped some food onto his tray.  “You’re the one who opened this place, right?”

              Nathaniel smiled at the man.  “That’s me,” he said.  “Be sure to get yourself signed in to take advantage of the sleeping quarters tonight; we only have so much room.”

              The man smiled.  “Oh, I think I will pass.  I have a warm coat, and I’d rather a woman or some kids take my spot.”

              Nathaniel frowned as the happy man went to sit down and enjoy his free meal.  He felt sorry for the man as well as a bit moved that he would give up a comfortable place to sleep for someone else.  There was a number of charming incidences like the kind-hearted homeless man that made Nathaniel pause that day.

              A reporter was stationed in a corner, doing his live broadcast from within the building, and Nathaniel noted the camera was pointed in his general direction so he made sure to keep himself busy.  As he was heading over to help unload some boxes of donated clothes, something caught his eye.  Across the cafeteria, seated at one of the tables, was a woman dressed in a thick, worn-out coat.  She looked shy and timid; her long, blonde hair was pulled in a sloppy ponytail and hidden underneath a green, knitted hat.  Despite the obvious dirt on her cheeks, there was a certain elegance about her that caught Nathaniel’s attention.  All day he had heard a number of heart-wrenching stories from various members of the homeless, and there was something about this woman that made him want to hear hers in particular.  There was a familiarity about her that he could not quite place.

              Nathaniel started to go towards her, but almost as soon as he had made up his mind to go speak with the woman, one of the volunteers was shoving a box of clothes into his arms.  “If you don’t mind-,” the young man was saying with a smile.

              “Oh, of course,” Nathaniel said, as he looked back towards the table where the woman had been seated, he saw that she was gone.  He shrugged it off for the time being; he assumed he would run into the woman again.  Nathaniel took the box and hurried to the trucks in the back to help Adam and some of the other volunteers with the unloading; there were two enormous trucks full of donated items ranging from clothes to small children’s toys.  He was surprised at how many members of the homeless were present; he had not realized how bad the homeless situation in his hometown had gotten.  The place was filled to its capacity, but by some miracle, they managed to get every person there a warm meal –although they had cut it very close.  He spoke with the lead woman volunteer, Maggie, and had her increase the amount of food they would need to purchase to ensure that no one got turned away with an empty stomach in the future.

              Once things started to settle down a bit, Nathaniel looked for the woman in the green, knitted hat, but he could not find her anywhere in the crowd.  Soon, more trucks full of goods arrived, and there was more work to be done.  He got his hands dirty, but a part of him was enjoying the charity work –it was a different side of him that he had not used in a while.