Page 5 of The Reluctant Billionaire

“You calling me dull?” Luke pushed his chair back, rose to his feet, and grinned broadly. “I’ll show you dull. Come on. Time you sampled some of Sunfish Island’s nightlife!”

“Be gentle with me,” Jace begged laughingly as Luke slung his arm around Jace’s shoulders and steered him out of the office. “I’m an invalid!”

They ended up in the resort’s famous French restaurant. Recently awarded a Michelin star, the food was as good as anything Jace had eaten in the most expensive restaurants in New York. Luke called the sommelier over and ordered a bottle of an Australian white wine Jace hadn’t heard of, which turned out to be so good Jace immediately decided to send his father a case.

“Damn,” Jace said finally, sitting back in his seat and rubbing his stomach. “I don’t think I’ll have much trouble regaining the weight I’ve lost if I eat here regularly.”

Luke chuckled, raising his glass to toast the sentiment. “I go running on the beach every morning to make sure I don’t get tubby. The resort is extremely lucky to have Suzannah Monteil… I need to go through the budget and look at getting her another raise, actually, or she’s gonna get poached from under our noses.”

“I’ll authorize it,” Jace said immediately. “Pay her whatever you think fit. Word is going to get out pretty quickly and people will come to the resort just for the opportunity to eat here.” He looked around the restaurant. He could only see one vacant table, a waitress already clearing and re-setting it to make it ready for occupation again. “It’s already busy, but we could be completely booked out every night. A waiting list. Folks flying in by helicopter just to dine here.”

“You sound like our marketing manager,” Luke said with a grin. “I’ve already heard all this from her. I think she’s got every major restaurant critic in the southern hemisphere lined up to visit us over the next month. That Michelin star has really put us on the map.”

“Which is why you need to keep the chef no matter what.” Jace nodded, his quick mind turning over the issue. “Is there any other incentive you want to offer her? Anything else she’d like?”

“I haven’t really had the chance to sit down and talk with her about it.” Luke shrugged. “Maybe you can meet with her yourself.”

“I’ll think about it, toward the end of my stay. I’d rather not talk to anyone in my official persona before that. Keep it quiet that I’m here, please.”

Luke nodded. “Sure.”

“You have my complete support in offering her whatever the hell she wants to get her to agree to stay, though,” Jace offered. “Up to and including moving into the family villa once I’ve gone, if she’d care for more luxurious living quarters.”

That made Luke laugh. “I’ll keep that card up my sleeve just in case. I very much doubt she’d accept, though. Suzannah is… well, she’s not the sort to be tempted by money or luxuries. Honestly, she’ll probably demand the authority to order loads more exotic ingredients for the restaurant.”

“Fine by me,” Jace said, “she’ll probably earn us another Michelin star with them, so authorize away.” He toasted Luke with the last of the wine before draining it. “Hey, do I need to run the comp card?”

Luke waved him away. “It’s all taken care of, don’t worry. You had enough? Want a coffee?”

“Honestly, I’m fighting to keep my eyelids open,” Jace confessed. “The rest of that nightlife you promised me might have to wait for another day.”

“It’s all good, mate.” Luke gave him a warm smile. “You look pretty done in. Let me run you back home, eh? Get some rest. I don’t want to be the cause of a relapse; your father would kill me!”

Jace found his head nodding as Luke drove the golf cart back to the villa. “Is it okay if I wander over again tomorrow?” he asked drowsily. “I could stop by and see Nessa again.”

“Oh, you met Nessa?” Luke glanced at him as he pulled the cart to a stop. “She’s something, isn’t she? A real asset for the resort. I ran across her slinging drinks in a bar near the football ground in Brisbane; I’d never seen anyone make cocktails so fast.”

The mental image made Jace smile as he got out of the cart and thanked Luke for the ride and his company at dinner. Luke sped off with a cheerful wave and Jace let himself into the villa, collapsing to lie on the couch. He fell asleep right there, worn out from the unaccustomed exercise, delicious food, and the alcohol he’d consumed.

***

Jace woke with a dry mouth, a sore head, and a desperate need to visit the bathroom. Attending to the last need first, he found some painkillers in his toiletries bag and washed them down with a large glass of water. A couple of slices of toast and three more glasses of water later, he started to feel a little more human.No more drinking with Luke, he concluded. The aftermath was no fun.

Refilling his glass again, he took it outside and sat by the villa’s pool, dangling his feet in the sparkling blue water and gazing out over the pool’s infinity edge at the ocean.

“I could live here,” he said aloud, startling himself with the revelation. For years, his view had been the New York City skyline from his penthouse apartment; before that it was Sydney. Both cities with spectacular views available to anyone who cared to look. Still, this place had that one thing both places would never have: tranquility.

It was something Jace had never realized was missing from his life, until yesterday. The knowledge the phone wasn’t going to ring, that nobody would bother him unless he actively went out and sought company, was eye-opening. For the first time he could remember, there were literally no demands on his time at all.

He’d thought the forced inactivity and solitude would drive him crazy with boredom. Instead, he seemed to have unlocked something which had been stagnant for too long: his creativity. Ideas for designs were beginning to surface in his head, as they hadn’t since he gave up his dreams of being a full-time architect and joined Hunter Enterprises at his father’s behest.

Nessa’s story popped back into his head: the way she’d told him so emphatically she never wanted to leave Sunfish, despite her qualifications for a much more high-powered job. She’d consciously chosen a simpler life and found contentment. Perhaps it was her words which caused his introspection now, making him reconsider his own life choices. Kicking his feet absently in the water and watching the ripples spread out from the movement, Jace sighed. He couldn’t walk away from his responsibilities, tempting though the idea seemed. His father had been grooming him for years to take over Hunter Enterprises, and Jace had excelled in every role he’d been given.

Capability did not equal enjoyment, however, and Jace hadn’t enjoyed the work in a while. For the first time, he began to consider alternatives. Maybe he could speak to his father about other options, about looking at someone else being Chief Executive when his father decided to step down, because the idea of being responsible for the whole shebang seemed completely unpalatable.

The sun felt hot on his back, and he didn’t have sunscreen on. Pushing himself up, Jace dried his legs off and headed back inside. Maybe he’d check in with his father. Just say hi. A quick calculation told him it was early evening in New York, a pretty good time to call. John would probably still be at the office.

Jace had to convince his own assistant to put him through. Nancy was a dragon, but a wonderful one; she managed every aspect of his life and mothered him unmercifully when he let her get away with it. She flatly refused to put him through to his father until he promised he wouldn’t talk business, that it was just a social call.

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