Page 22 of The Billionaire's Romance

“What is this place?” I asked him.

“Years ago, there was no passage across the river during the winter when the water would rise. The only means of getting around would be by boat. There was a man who lived here who used a relatively small inheritance he received to finance making boats for all of those in the community who couldn’t afford to buy their own. There were people who couldn’t get to work or school because they lacked the transportation and the resources to pay for it. He did such fine work that everyone wanted one and he started taking special orders. The boats got so popular that he stopped working at his other job altogether and began a business just building the boats….”

“Hamilton’s grandfather?”

Aaron nodded, “Yeah. After you and I talked, I got curious. This man is seventy-eight years old and I wondered why he wouldn’t just give in and retire already. The company doesn’t make a lot of money anymore and that’s why his kids want out of it. It’s likely that if they don’t sell, it will go under in a few years. It could be turned around, but only with a lot of money poured into it. The old man is generous with his donations and his employees….too generous for his own good, according to the kids. But you can see in his eyes how much he loves that place. His father worked for his grandfather and expanded the business to several states in the U.S. Hamilton expanded it to Canada and Alaska and he re-started the tradition that his grandfather had begun…every year he gives away thousands of canoes and kayaks to people who live in regions where they need them for things like getting to work and getting to town.”

“Wow, that’s nice,” I said. “How did you find this place?”

“I remembered something that Hamilton said to me and did some simple research. The thing is, it’s something I wouldn’t have ever done before. I would have never thought about had it not been for you even questioning me on this. And it is nice what he does….and I’m trying to take that away from him.”

“So…are you thinking about not buying out his kids?”

“They’re set on selling. If I don’t buy it, they’ll find a company who will.”

“Oh….”

He came over to me and took my face in his hands and said, “All of a sudden, I want to be a better man.”

“You’re already an amazing man,” I told him. He looked at me then like we were the only two people in the world then and he said,

“I like you, Robyn. I really, really like you. It’s the closest thing to love that I’ve ever felt and it might be that….but you know how I am….I need to examine it a little closer. I’ve never cared what anyone thought of me on a personal level before. As long as I excelled in business and the business world respected me….that was all that mattered, until I met you. You walked into my life and you changed everything and for the first time I can step outside the business part of this deal and look at the humans behind it. I’m going to buy the kids out, but I’m going to let the old man keep operating it the way he always has until he dies. I don’t care if it makes money or not, at least he will know for sure that until he dies…. his company will be run by a Hamilton.”

“That is amazing and I’m so proud of you,” I told him. He smiled, looking pleased with both me and himself.

“It’s funny that those five words mean more to me than a multi-million dollar business deal.” With that, he tipped my face up and his down and he kissed me. It wasn’t a peck, or a kiss that was really even appropriate for public. His teeth grazed mine as he searched in my mouth for my tongue, sucking it back into his. It felt like he was claiming me as his and I wasn’t going to tell him right then that he already had me, because I had no desire for him to ever stop.

***

It was Valentine’s Day. Aaron had done something new this year for his employees and he’d put together a Valentine’s dinner dance for them. To be honest, Janice and her minions had pulled it together, but Aaron had suggested it and financed it. He was starting to do a much better job of getting into the spirit of the holidays, and getting in touch with his own feelings and emotions. He was even doing a great job of talking to me about them.

We’d been together almost two months by then…if you didn’t count the short time we weren’t really dating right after New Year’s. I was spending most of my time with him at his apartment now and he was talking about us moving in together. I wasn’t sure if we were ready for that, but the fact that he was suggesting it told me he was looking at us as long-term. That was what I wanted…I wanted to keep him. I couldn’t imagine how life could get any better.

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