Page 6 of The Billionaire's Bride for a Day

Huh. Not too many highly-ranked executives in an organization such as the Belmont Hotel & Resort would stay late on a holiday weekend. It was Christmas Eve and you would think that the GM of a luxury hotel such as this would be cozying up by the Christmas tree next to the fireplace with his significant other, his two-point-four children and maybe the family pet. And not just any pet, but a dog. He seemed like a dog man. In a good way, of course. Olivia couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy for whomever was his love interest. He must have been involved in a relationship. Or, perhaps he was engaged.

“Of course,” Olivia murmured thoughtfully. “That’s nice of you.” Her eyes were stinging again. She and Jack had planned to have two-point-four children and a pet. Actually, Jack had protested over getting a pet. He claimed he was allergic to pet dander.

No, not the tears again. She was not going to shed another tear for Jack. He simply wasn’t worth her sorrow. Not anymore…

* * *

Dane could not believe the dainty woman before him, graceful as a swan. She stole his breath away without even realizing it. He could tell a lot in a few seconds about a woman’s composure, her facial expression, her lips, her natural beauty. She looked as elegant and sophisticated as those Hollywood movie stars of the silver screen era. She looked so humble…yet so broken. He wasn’t usually the type of guy to butt in but he really had to know who caused this pretty little thing in front of him to have swollen, red-rimmed eyes. She was far too hot to be in agony.

“Is there anything you’d like to talk about?” he asked, trying to contain his anger at the jerk (he was sure it was a guy) who had caused her so much pain.

Her beautiful brown eyes barely met his gaze. She looked down as if she was going to burst into tears again. He reached over and did something he’d never really done before. He hugged her and the feel of her body in his arms caused his groin to react. That almost never happened when he hugged someone.

“It’s over…” Olivia cried out into his chest. “He’s…he’s gone. He’s…leaving me.”

Dane pulled away from her as if fire had scorched him.

“Your groom?” He had to clarify.

Olivia held her head down and covered her face with her hands.

“Oh, man! I’m really sorry, Olivia.” He really was. But he shouldn’t be the one apologizing to her right now. If he could find this creep, he’d drag his butt through the street and demand he apologize on his knees and beg for forgiveness from this young lady.

What kind of a jerk leaves his bride-to-be in a hotel alone and dumps her before the wedding? Something in Dane’s gut told him she was way too nice to deserve this. No woman deserved this—regardless. But he could just tell it must have been all this Jack dude’s fault.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Dane fought to soften his tone but knew his controlled voice must have probably sounded more dangerous than soft. He’d seen this groom-to-be the other day when the couple came to the hotel to make arrangements and book the rooms, the chapel and ballroom for Christmas Day! Of all the lowdown dirty things a guy could do to a girl. That was freaking unacceptable in Dane’s book.

Olivia dabbed her face with some tissues she’d grabbed from the box on the side table. “It’s okay. It doesn’t matter,” she said, her voice hoarse and shaken.

God, it squeezed Dane’s heart to see this pretty, young woman going through so much turmoil. The crazy part was—he didn’t know her from Adam but there was something about her that pulled him to her. Something that tugged at his heartstrings and that didn’t happen often either. He’d had his fair share of sexy women but there was something sweet, kind and pure about Olivia McAlister. He just didn’t know what it was—but it was there.

Inner angst gnawed at him. Dane was instantly reminded of his ex Sophie and how she’d done a heart-breaking number on him in a similar fashion. Then the emotional torment came flooding back through his veins. God, he hated insensitive people who trashed the hearts of others without a thought.

“I’m calling off the wedding…I…I don’t care if we lose the deposit. I don’t care if everyone shows up tomorrow. I’m going away.”

At that moment, something crazy came over Dane. He didn’t know what it was but before he could stop himself the words flew out of his lips. “The hell you are.”

Chapter 3

“I’m sorry?” Olivia could not believe her ears.

“Oh, no. I don’t mean like that. Don’t let that guy ruin your day twice! What I meant was…so what if you don’t have a groom? If he could leave you at a time like this he probably wasn’t worth it in the first place. It’s a holiday tomorrow and I’m sure everyone cancelled their family plans to be here for you.”

“You have a point. And wow, you really do speak your mind.”

“They don’t pay me to be a hypocrite. Professional, yes. A hypocrite? No.”

“But…what are you saying?”

“Olivia,” Dane said. “I don’t know you, but I do know you don’t deserve to be screwed over twice on your big day.”

“I don’t understand—"

“It’s not about the money or anything else but there are some things in life you just can’t put a price tag on.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah…and self-respect is one of them.”

Olivia’s heart flip-flopped in her chest. Usually, she was the one in her new career as a social worker to tell women that. Empowerment. Now, this gorgeous young man was giving her some of that same medicine? Wow.

“Just do me a favor,” he continued. “Don’t let this Jack guy screw you over twice. Tomorrow is your big day and you may not have a groom but you can still have your wedding or a celebration.”

“Wow, those are strong words,” she said, feeling helpless. Alone. She felt terrible feeling this way. Here Dane was trying to make her feel better about herself and yet she was resisting. Olivia glanced over at the garment bag with her Vera Wang silk wedding dress. She’d dreamed of walking down the aisle in this dress. Her day. It was supposed to be a turning point in her life.

“It’s a lot easier said than done, Dane. You’re sweet, really but…you’re…”

“What? A guy? First of all, I’m anything but sweet. I’m simply practical.”

“I take it you’ve been hurt before.”

“Who hasn’t?” he responded casually. “You live. You get hurt. You can either recover and move on or you can dwell on the so-called injustice and stay put. Life is about choices, Olivia. We may not always have control over what crap happens to us, but we do have control over what stuff happens inside us.”

Despite herself, Olivia couldn’t help but grin. It was painful to smile at a time like this but this Dane guy really had a way with words.

“Listen, I’m going to be leaving the hotel soon. Have you had anything to eat?”

“Besides humble pie?” she said softly, arching a brow. “I mean…this is quite a humbling situation to be in the night of your wedding.” She smiled wryly.

An amused grin touched the corner of his sweet, full lips. He really had sexy lips for a guy. The type of lips you wanted to press your own to.

“I like a girl with a sense of humor.”

Waves of delight wiggled through Olivia’s belly. What was that? Was it because after being rejected by one man she’d trusted, she was now in the company of a hot guy who seemed to appreciate her for who she was? It wasn’t as if she looked like a model or anything. For goodness sake, she had scary mascara streaks running down her face.

“Listen, why don’t we get away from here and go down the street to the Belmont Restaurant? It’s still open. The food is usually hot and tasty.”

“Okay.” Olivia smiled appreciatively. She couldn’t believe what was happening. As carollers belted out Christmas songs on the street outside, and decorated lamp posts glistened while cascading snow fell, she felt a tinge of warmth come over her heart, which had been iced over earlier. It was good to know there were still decent people around. Decent guys who were also hot as sin!

“I’ll get ready.”

“Good, I’ll meet you downstairs in the lobby if you like.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

And with those words, hot, sexy and Mr. Bad-Boy-to-the-Rescue walked out of Olivia's hotel suite.

* * *

“Her groom ditched her?” Chase turned to his brother, Dane, incredulously. He’d been in the office, helping Dane out with the figures on Christmas Eve—they’d had a few staff members call in sick because of the flu virus going around.

Dane and his brothers were trying to get things in order so they would be able to help Aunt Maya get ready for her home cooked Christmas special tomorrow. He knew it could very well be Jonah’s last Christmas. The thought of Jonah’s bucket list still haunted Dane.

“Yeah,” Dane said, his tone dangerously low. “He called it off tonight.”

If only Dane could get a moment with this Jack character. Olivia was way too fine to have someone pull a low stunt like that on her. He could tell a lot from first impressions of a woman. And Olivia was a true lady. No matter what, no woman deserved that. Period.

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