Breathless: In Love With an Alpha Billionaire (Breathless 1)

"No thanks, sweetheart. You’ve done enough by introducing us. I can handle her on my own from here," I said, thankful for his willingness to help. "But… I do want you to come and put in a good night's work with me," I teased, smiling from ear to ear.

"Destiny…" he began to speak, but I was so excited I continued to talk.

"You can meet me at the Embassy Suites at the Airport. It's not a presidential suite or anything like that, but I really want to see you."

There was a long pause on the line, as if he was thinking about whether he wanted to spend the night with me.

"That’s okay, if tonight is not a good time for you."

"Yeah, it's bad timing. I have a lot going on," he finally admitted in a dry tone.

“I need to get rested up tonight, anyway,” I said, and it took everything in me to not sound disappointed.

"How about I take you to lunch after you meet with Susie tomorrow?"

"Lunch will be fine," I said as the wind deflated from my chest. A long, drawn out pause loomed over the line.

"Sorry Destiny."

An apology wasn’t enough to ease the unexplainable feeling of rejection that came over me. He had nicked my ego, but I would be fine. I steered into the hotel's parking lot and found a parking space. "No, it's okay, Jacob. Tomorrow is fine. I'll see you then."

After late night texting, X-rated phone calls, and fantasizing about what we would do if we were in each other’s arms again, we were only a few miles away and he had something more important to do. I tried to understand that he was the brains and brawn for his family's beloved company. But, he had hundreds of employees at his disposal. He should be able to get any of his qualified workers to free him up for one night. I couldn’t think of one logical reason why he couldn’t make time for me.

"I'll be there as soon as you get out of your meeting tomorrow, Destiny," he promised.

"Sure, you will."

"Destiny?"

"Yes," I said, ready to hang up the phone, take a hot shower, and sink into the comfort of my hotel bed. At least, the bed would be there to hold me tight, all night.

"I'll make this up to you," he said with his voice low, as if he were whispering his words directly to my heart. "I hope you understand."

"I understand," I told him, and part of me did understand. He couldn’t stop his life just because I popped into town – never mind that I arranged a business meeting almost eight hundred miles away from home two weeks before Christmas, just to see him. I was used to men putting work ahead of me. My ex-husband Montie did it for years.

Me being in Miami was obviously nothing extraordinary. Jacob was a powerful executive, with many willing women at his disposal. Hell, we'd had sex on our first night.

After taking a deep gulp to swallow the growing lump in my throat, I disconnected the call, threw my cell phone into my purse, and attempted to remove the huge dagger that hung from my chest.

CHAPTER FIVE

DESTINY

I'm in Love

Instead of sitting around sulking, I called my cousin, Tasha, who lived on the upper east side of Miami. She had been asking me to come to Miami so we could hang out. Maybe she could show me a little bit of the city where the magic happens, since my plans to be with Jacob were a bust.

"Hey Tasha," I feigned excitement when she answered on the first ring. It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy to talk to her; I was just let down by Jacob.

"Hey girlie!" Tasha beamed through the phone. I could hear the love and surprise in her voice, at once. "To what do I owe the pleasure of speaking to my favorite cousin this evening?"

"Well, earlier when I was breezing through the streets of Miami, headed toward the Embassy Suites, I thought I'd give my bestie cousin a call and see what we could get into."

"You've got to be kidding me right now! Who, what, when, where, and how did you end up in Miami?"

I laughed at her silly butt. "You’re still a mess. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was coming to town, but I’m most definitely here. I have a meeting tomorrow, but I'm free to have a good time tonight."

If things had gone my way, I had no intentions of coming up for air the entire weekend, much less hanging out with Tasha. Yet as I talked to her, I couldn’t imagine coming to her city and not hanging out with my cousin.