Page 5 of More Than a Billionaire

“I promise.”

ONE

Present Day

The wind whipped Skylar Schultz’s long brown hair against her face as she drove along Lake Drive with the top down on her shiny red Porsche convertible. It was the perfect late June afternoon, made even more so by the handsome man currently in her passenger seat.

“I should’ve pulled my hair up.” Skylar gripped her locks, holding them at the base of her neck to keep them under control.

“Me too.” Franky jokingly pushed his honey-blond bangs back from his forehead and held his other arm up, pretending in the most dramatic way to shield himself from the wind, which had her cracking up.

Skylar pressed the brake as she came to a red light in Eastown and quickly twisted and tied her hair in a knot before the light turned green.

Franky laughed as he watched her. “You girls do the craziest things with your hair, and yet, it works.”

“It’s a talent.” She smiled.

“Thanks for helping me with all this, Sky.” Franky glanced over his shoulder at the pile of garbage bags filling the back seat, all bursting with clothing belonging to his ex-girlfriend, Fiona, who had recently ditched him for an Italian guy she met on their European vacation.

“Of course.” She patted him on the forearm, but what she really wanted to do was lean over and plant a kiss on that full bottom lip of his, which was sticking out slightly in an adorable pout. “Are you okay?”

He nodded resolutely. “Yeah, I am. Good riddance, I say.”

“Absolutely. You deserve so much better.”

The traffic light turned green, and Skylar drove on toward the clothing donation center, thinking what a complete idiot Fiona was. If Franky was hers, she would never let him go. No matter how charming some Italian guy seemed. Because there was nobody in the world like Franky, and Skylar could only dream that he was hers, and had been since she was thirteen years old. She couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t loved him.

A frequent fixture at their house since he and Sebastian were in private school, Franky was the first boy who had ever paid attention to her. He’d always been so sweet, actually talking to her rather than treating her like a nuisance as some of her brother’s friends had. Franky was handsome and funny. He was the class clown, the life of the party, and she found it easy to be herself with him. They could talk about anything and nothing. And his attention made her feel special.

But it had always been a one-sided, unrequited kind of love because he was her brother’s best friend, nearly five years her senior, and he’d never seen her as anything other than Sebastian’s little sister. That hadn’t stopped her from wishing they were more or from comparing every other guy to Franky. Nobody came close.

The men she met usually fell into two groups—creeps who were only interested in her for her money and guys who were too intimidated by her family’s notability to ask her out. Being the heiress to the Schultz Chocolate fortune sure didn’t help when it came to dating. The only guy who’d ever looked at her as Just Skylar, without the billionaire status getting in the way, was Franky.

When they arrived, Franky stood and grabbed hold of the car door, swinging his legs over the side to exit rather than opening the door like a normal person. Skylar smiled to herself. Everything about Franky made her smile.

Skylar got out of the car, and they worked together to unload the bags from the back seat and trunk, dropping them into the donation bin.

“What if Fiona calls and wants her stuff back?” Skylar asked as she closed her trunk. “Because I think I saw some Prada in those bags.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Her loss.”

“That’s the truth.” Skylar’s expression turned serious.

He smiled over at her, seeming to catch her meaning.

“Besides,” he said, “after what she did, I’m not going through the hassle of shipping all this stuff to her … in Italy!” He threw his hands up like he was pointing in the direction of Italy, his eyes and mouth open wide, as if the idea was complete insanity, which made Skylar giggle.

Franky turned his attention to her, pointing a finger her way with a sly grin on his face. “You, Skylar Schultz, are the sweetest.” He rushed her and scooped her up in a hug, planting a kiss on her cheek as he set her down. “Let me buy you dinner as a thank you for all the help.”

She could barely contain her smile. “I would love that.”

The late afternoon sun glinted off of Reeds Lake, and a soft breeze off the water caused Skylar’s hair to tickle her neck. The cozy table for two on the deck of Rose’s Restaurant would’ve been completely romantic if Franky felt anything more than sisterly love for her. But she was enjoying being out with him. Every moment with him was a gift.

The waitress arrived at the table with their main courses—salmon for her, grilled pork tenderloin for him—and they dug in. Their meal was peppered with light conversation and plenty of laughter. Franky was always entertaining, with his great sense of humor and happy spirit. His cheerfulness was contagious. And he wasn’t too hard to look at either.

“So, are you home for a while?” Skylar asked. “Any more big trips planned?”

Franky had a habit of coming and going from their lives for long periods of time, depending on who he was dating. He got wrapped up in the women he was with, and along with his job as an attorney, he usually didn’t have time for anything else. At least that’s how it had been in the past. The end of his latest relationship meant he would be around more. At least until he met someone new. But Skylar hoped maybe this time would be different.

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