Page 19 of Billionaire's Runaway

“Just swipe,” she repeated softly, staring down at the credit card in her hand.

“As long as you don’t use it to run away again.”

She glanced up at me, a look on her face I couldn’t quite read. We stared at each other for a moment, before she slid off the stool and walked over to me.

“Luke.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and met my gaze. “For better or for worse, I’m here. I’m yours. I won’t run again.”

Once again, I found myself wishing I’d just proposed last night. Maybe when I got back this afternoon, I could whisk her to city hall and just get it all over with at once. I wanted her to be my wife. The sooner we got married, the sooner I could start putting my babies in her. The sooner I could guarantee she was out of her family’s clutches forever. The sooner we could build our forever.

“You look very serious all of a sudden,” she said, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Sorry.” I kissed her quickly. “I really should get going, so I can get back.” I pulled out a business card and scribbled our address on the back. “Anything you buy can be delivered, don’t let them tell you otherwise. I’ll send Rick to drive you wherever you need.”

“Okay. Have a good day, dear.”

I smacked her ass as I walked past then grabbed my briefcase and headed out before I changed my mind and carried her back to bed.

* * * *

“Well, who the hell filed the permits!” I yelled at my brother, Jameson, staring down at the stop-work notice he’d handed me when I’d gotten to the job site just outside Tarrytown.

“I did!” he bellowed back. “All of them. But it looks like they got blocked in committee.”

“That’s ridiculous.” I ran my free hand through my hair and glared down at the papers. “We’ve never been denied. Who would want to block us?”

“I’m working on it.”

I was honestly glad to see the fire in his eyes. My youngest brother hadn’t always been the most ambitious of us. But he’d been stepping up a lot lately, and I was proud of him. But this was a disaster. We’d already broken ground. The crew was standing around smoking, talking, and occasionally casting furtive glances our way.

We employed hundreds of people, and a stop-work affected everybody. We’d still pay them out. They had a thirty-day guarantee in their contracts for just this sort of hiccup. But if we didn’t get it resolved soon, they’d be unemployed and we’d be out millions of dollars. Not to mention the hit to our company’s reputation.

“Figure it out,” I growled, shoving the notices back at him. “And fix this.”

“What are you gonna do?” Jameson asked.

“I’m talking to the guys, then I’m heading to the office to put in a few calls. Then I’m going home, I guess. If you need me, call me. Immediately.”

He nodded, clapping me on the back before walking toward the parking lot.

I blew out a sigh and looked back at the crew. What a fucking nightmare. Locating the foreman, I strode over to him. He was in conversation with a small group of men, and I walked slowly,allowing them to continue. This wasn’t their fault. The fact that they were still on site showed a work ethic that made me proud of them. Technically, they should have vacated as soon as they knew about the stop-order.

“So, the waiter brings over the champagne, and there’s a fucking ring in it!” one of the crew was saying as I approached. “I couldn’t believe it. Before I could say anything, Mel just screams yes at me. Then she’s on her phone, calling her mom.”

“You just let her think you were proposing?” another man asked.

“What was I gonna do? She had this massive ring on her hand, and she was all excited. Man, I’m so fucked.”

Oh. My. God.

It was Mark. The kid I’d accidentally pushed into a proposal at the restaurant the night before. Fuck. Could this day get any worse?

“Mr. Cassel,” Mark said, noticing me. “Sorry, sir, me and the guys were just talking. I’m sure you want Doug.” He pointed at the foreman, who’d turned to face me. “We’ll just be…over there.”

I nodded, smiling grimly as they walked off to give us privacy.

“What do you want us to do?” Doug asked bluntly. “We’ll stay, but I can’t let the guys work right now.”

“No, no, of course not. I’m not risking any of your licenses getting pulled. This is our mess, and we’ll get it fixed. I promise you.” I sighed and looked over at the rest of the crew. This was gonna put us behind schedule. “They okay?”

---