The Billionaire and the Waitress

Logan’s stomach tilted violently. No one at the PR firm had warned him to bring flowers. Already, he was failing. He frowned at her, unsure how to respond.

“Oh, don’t get so nervous, I’m just teasing you,” she said with a wave of her hand and a giggle. She put her hand up to the side of her mouth and leaned toward Rachel, whispering loudly. “Is he always this serious?”

“Not at all,” Rachel answered, her brown eyes narrowing with suppressed laughter. “I think you caught him on an off day. He’s actually quite charming.”

Logan stared at her, feeling his stomach tilt again, but this time in a pleasant way. Despite all his sputtering and nervousness, Rachel thought he was charming. The knowledge cheered him in a strange way, granting him courage to carry on with the meeting, even in the face of the illustrious Mary Prescott.

“Oh, goody.” Mary clapped

her hands. “I adore a charming man. They are so much more pleasant than the usual dull business types I work with. Come, Mr. Logan. Tell me your proposal.”

Logan spent the next sixty minutes telling Mary about Madison Park and the clientele he hoped to attract. Mary peppered the conversation with flirtatious comments, but this time Logan bobbed and weaved with the attack, flipping on his own boyish charm. Every once in a while, he’d glance over at Rachel to see her watching him, a smile flashing in her eyes. She was enjoying this just a little too much.

“Well, Mr. Logan, I think you have me convinced,” Mary said finally, leaning back in her chair. She gave him a devious grin and ran a tongue over the front of her teeth. “I’m going to hold you to that promise to show me around San Jose when I visit your restaurant.”

A thrill of excitement went through him. This was exactly what his restaurant needed. A grand start. Mary would come by in three weeks and feature him on her show next month. Madison Park would be on everyone’s must-visit list when they came to the Silicon Valley. Logan Madison would no longer be just an ex baseball player or the owner of a fast food pizza chain. He would be legitimatized in the eyes of the upper crust of society — the very people he’d attended school with. People like Michael and Rachel Knight.

“Don’t be a stranger now,” Mary said, waving at them as they left her office. She winked at Rachel and blew her a kiss. “Don’t you let go of that man there, you hear me? He’s as gentlemanly as they come. If he wasn’t so sweet on you, I’d snap him up for myself in a heartbeat.”

Logan pretended not to see Rachel’s cheeks burn bright red. He turned away to cover his own embarrassment, as if he hadn’t heard Mary’s parting comment. That woman was seriously unhinged. She had no idea what she was talking about.

Once they made it inside the elevator, he shrugged off his jacket with a relieved sigh and felt the weight fall off his shoulders.

“That was something,” he said, eyeing Rachel with a grin.

She looked over at him, an incredulous smile on her face. “I was starting to think I should leave the two of you alone. That woman was insatiable. Be careful. When she comes to visit, she might just request you off the dessert menu.”

Logan chuckled, loosening his tie. A thought came to him just then. After a long day’s work, it was always important to unwind. It was a motto he’d stuck to since baseball and he had the perfect idea.

“I think it’s time to celebrate,” he said, sucking in his cheeks. “After a meeting like that, we deserve it. Got plans for tonight?”

She arched a slender eyebrow and gave him a dazzling smile that sent shivers down his back. “Not at all. Lead the way, Mr. Logan.”

RACHEL STROLLED INTO the auto dealership next to Logan, trying her best to keep her cool. This entire day had been a whirlwind of excitement and she was having a hard time keeping her eyes off the man at her side. She had to keep reminding herself that he was her boss, nothing more. No need to let herself get caught up in the rush of emotions that had gone through them both today. They’d had a great day. A wonderful first day of work. That was it. Nothing more.

And they were simply here to celebrate their big win.

Logan had asked the pilot to make a little detour on their way home, landing them squarely in San Francisco, where they took a town car to the Lamborghini dealership. She gazed at the shiny, vehicles of luxury surrounding them. To her, they resembled nothing more than hunks of metal. But to Logan, they must’ve been so much more. His eyes had lit up like a kid in a candy store as soon as they walked through the door.

“Mr. Madison,” a middle-aged Latino man called from behind the counter with a slight accent. He rushed toward them, a large smile lighting up his face. “You’re back. Did you have a big win today?”

“You know me too well, Mateo,” Logan said with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. “Huge win today. We bagged Mary Prescott to review my new restaurant.”

Mateo’s dark brown eyes widened and he whistled. “In that case, I think you need something a little stronger than usual. I’ve got something in the back that just arrived. Want to take her for a test spin?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Logan replied, barely containing his grin.

Rachel watched the exchange with an incredulous smile. It seemed that Logan was a frequent customer around here. She placed a hand on her hip and gazed at him as Mateo rushed off. Logan caught her staring and shrugged helplessly.

“Everyone’s got to have a weakness,” he said. “Mine just happens to come on four wheels. But this is just a test-run, I swear.”

“This is what you do to celebrate?” she asked, biting her lower lip. “Just how many cars do you own?”

“Too many to mention,” he said with a groan, slapping his hand to his face and grimacing at her. “Don’t hate me. I told you it’s a weakness. At least, it’s my only one. That I know of...”

She laughed again and her heart fluttered as his gaze turned darker and an emotion she couldn’t name passed behind his eyes. Heat flared inside her gut, like the afternoon rays of the sunshine on the San Jose roadway. Rattled by her own surprising reaction, she turned away and forced herself to look at the cars parked around the showroom. But even then, she didn’t really see them. All she could think about was the man standing behind her.

“I have it pulled around back, Mr. Madison,” Mateo said, rushing forth to drop a key fob in his hands. “She’s gassed up and ready to go.”