Not Husband Material (Billionaire's Contract Duet 1)

I gave the pilot a quick nod and a tight smile. He rolled his eyes knowingly at my phone call. “Make the arrangements and have her email me before tomorrow morning. I’ll be back in Aspen before sundown.”

Fresh coffee was waiting for me when I settled down in my seat, and I let out a long breath of relief.

Honestly, as good as the marriage arrangement was, there was one other advantage to having Haley in charge of the Peppertree. I didn’t have to wrangle with complete strangers in trying to redesign the resort. The other eleven properties were a headache to deal with, but these were teeth that had to be pulled.

At least I would be back with Haley in a few hours, and I’d get to negotiate renovations with someone I knew how to deal with.

The thought made me smile. Another perk to working with Haley was that I knew more than one way to deal with her. I would be lying if I said I never mixed business and pleasure, but with Haley, it was something special.

Hours later, after the plane had landed and my driver brought me to the Peppertree’s driveway, I looked up at the place and felt an odd cozy feeling. I was starting to understand why Haley could get attached to a place like this. From a business point of view, it was nothing special, and it was easy to point out why it was tanking, but the place had a certain charm about it that made you feel comfortable after visiti

ng it a few times.

The fact that my wife was here played into that, sure.

Things were already starting to shape up, though. The moment my driver came to a stop, a bellhop was already on his way out the doors to greet me. It was the same young man who’d met me my first day, but his uniform looked a little crisper and his face a little brighter.

They were the sure signs of having recently gotten a raise.

“Afternoon, Mr. Hawthorne,” he greeted me cheerfully as he got my bags. “Hope the drive was easy on you.”

“I’m starting to appreciate the view around here,” I admitted, “but it’ll be a lot nicer when I’m done with it.”

“I can believe it,” he replied. I had a feeling he knew who he had to thank for his sudden pay raise.

“Is the suite I used last time ready for me?”

“Actually, sir, Ms. Sim—excuse me, Mrs. Hawthorne arranged for you to be staying in her suite as long as you’re here.”

“Did she, now?” I mused, chuckling.

He led me up to her room, and along the way, I could see the sudden injection of money was doing wonders already. The elevators were in working order, morale was up for the staff, and everything looked so clean that you could eat off the floors.

“This will do fine,” I told the bellhop as we reached the doorway to Haley’s room. As he unstacked the bags, I held out a couple of $100s to him. I couldn’t help but smile at the way his hand was nearly shaking when he took it, thanked me profusely, and darted off.

I raised my fist to knock on the door when I heard a voice from behind me that made my cock twitch in anticipation.

“Mr. Hawthorne,” came Haley’s voice in a playful tone, “trying to break into my room?”

I turned and cracked a smile at her. She was wearing the same outfit she wore when I first walked into the Peppertree, and she was carrying two steaming coffees. “I can have you thrown out for that, you know.”

“I’d rather be the one throwing you around today, Mrs. Hawthorne,” I growled as she made her way over and handed me a coffee before she unlocked the door. “For now, though, I have some paperwork for you to go over.”

She pushed the door open, and I set the bags just inside. “Oh? I’m guessing this is about the renovations.”

“We’ll call it a first draft of the plans,” I teased, slipping my jacket off, “and we can hash out the details in private.”

“Let’s take things to my office, then,” she invited me, nodding further into the suite. “Leave your jacket, though. Don’t you think it’s too warm for that inside?”

I winked at her before she started making her way into the suite.

Her office was attached to the suite, making the whole place like a spacious apartment in the resort, and as soon as she got the door open, I moved in. There was a small table just to my right, and in a swift motion, I set my folder of papers down on it, grabbed our coffees and did the same, and seized Haley by the hips to spin her around and press her lips to mine.

She moaned into the kiss as I shut the door behind us and started walking her backward to her desk.

“Jesus, Chase,” she gasped as soon as the kiss broke, but I wasn’t holding back in any way. My hands felt up her ass and her thighs, pinching and squeezing for every minute I was away from her. “Have you been thinking about this as much as I have?”

“You have no fucking idea,” I groaned.