The Billionaire's Convenient Secret

By Leigh Duncan

His secret might save the Super Min, but will the truth cost him his heart?

Tasked to bring a group of mom-and-pop convenience stores under one corporate umbrella, willowy blonde Charlotte Oak seizes the opportunity to secure her future…by any means necessary. But the hunky clerk who refuses to sell the Super Min to her not only blocks Charlie's path to success, he forces her to take a good, hard look at herself. And she doesn't like what she sees.

Self-made billionaire Josh McLean does, though. When the golden-haired beauty struts into his Aunt Charity's Super Min, Josh wants nothing more than to wine and dine the newcomer like only the head of a Fortune 500 company can…until he discovers Charlie's real purpose in coming to Barefoot Bay will destroy the heart and soul of Mimosa Key.

This story is set in a world based on Roxanne St. Claire's Barefoot Bay Series; it is published with the permission of Roxanne St. Claire. Visit her website for links to her books and more information.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gardenia Street Publishing
• Release date: Sep 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781944258207

Book preview

His secret might save the Super Min, but will the truth cost him his heart?

Tasked to bring a group of mom-and-pop convenience stores under one corporate umbrella, willowy blonde Charlotte Oak seizes the opportunity to secure her future…by any means necessary. But the hunky clerk who refuses to sell the Super Min to her not only blocks Charlie’s path to success, he forces her to take a good, hard look at herself. And she doesn’t like what she sees. Self-made billionaire Josh McLean does, though. When the golden-haired beauty struts into his Aunt Charity’s Super Min, Josh wants nothing more than to wine and dine the newcomer like only the head of a Fortune 500 company can…until he discovers Charlie’s real purpose in coming to Barefoot Bay will destroy the heart and soul of Mimosa Key.

This story is set in a world based on Roxanne St. Claire’s Barefoot Bay Series; it is published with the permission of Roxanne St. Claire, information about whose books are found at http://www.roxannestclaire.com/barefoot-bay-series/.

Dear Reader:

Welcome to Barefoot Bay World, a place for authors to write their own stories set in the tropical paradise that I created! For these books, I have only provided the setting of Mimosa Key and a cast of characters from my popular Barefoot Bay series. That’s it! I haven’t contributed to the plotting, writing, or editing of The Billionaire’s Convenient Secret. This book is entirely the work of Leigh Duncan, a talented author I handpicked to help launch this World.

I’ve known Leigh for more than a decade, when we were struggling new writers trying to break into the romance world. Not only is she a dear friend, but she’s a singularly gifted writer whose sweet and emotional stories never fail to twist my heart and leave me wanting more. The Billionaire’s Convenient Secret is no different. Be sure to grab a tissue and leave yourself enough time to read straight to the end because I never want to put down a Leigh Duncan novel! I hope you love Leigh’s take on Barefoot Bay—just kick off your shoes and fall in love!

Roxanne St. Claire

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Barefoot Bay Series

www.roxannestclaire.com

The Billionaire’s Convenient Secret

Copyright ©2016 by Leigh D. Duncan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Digital ISBN: 978-1-944258-20-7

Gardenia Street Publishing

Published in the United States of America

For Rocki

You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.

– Charlotte to Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

Chapter One

Got a minute, David? Charlotte Oak leaned around the door frame to poke her head into her boss’s office. Her heart clenched when the dark-haired man glanced up from his computer monitor without the slightest trace of the proud smile he’d once reserved for her alone.

I needed to speak with you anyway, Charlie. Adjusting his glasses, her former mentor all but grimaced before the screen once more captured his attention. Come in, he mumbled, distracted. Shut the door.

Aware of an involuntary shiver, Charlie took a breath. Something serious had to be afoot in order for David to break the open-door policy he’d instituted after becoming the youngest partner at Waterson and Bash. A year ago, she’d have simply asked him what was going on. But the easy rapport they’d once shared had evaporated. Almost overnight, she’d gone from being a prized protégé to simply one in a staff of twenty junior executives struggling to survive the cutthroat atmosphere of the Mergers and Acquisitions Department.

Since then, she’d racked her brain, trying to put her finger on the exact cause of David’s sudden change of heart. He couldn’t fault her for her work. In the office, she’d been the consummate professional, her attire flawless, her attitude sharp, her tasks completed to perfection. Same as always. She’d done so well, in fact, that she’d been handpicked to represent W&B in Beijing, where her handling of the Makworthy account had gone off without a hitch.

So, no. Whatever had caused the rift, it didn’t have anything to do with work.

Which left the one possibility that struck absolute terror in her heart. David must have somehow realized that her feelings for him went far deeper than she’d let on. But how? Her mama hadn’t raised a homewrecker. Even though Charlie thought she’d die from the sheer ache of wanting David, she’d refused to act. Refused to so much as hint at how deeply she’d fallen for him. Instead, she’d waited, certain his rocky marriage would crash and burn of its own accord.

But that hadn’t happened.

One minute, she’d been dreaming of forever while David complained about his bee-ach of a wife. The next, the pair were billing and cooing like newlyweds. Leaving Charlie to nurse a broken heart while she scurried to repair the damage her onetime mentor’s rapidly cooling shoulders were wreaking on her career. Still, it could have been so much worse. If her whispered professions of love and adoration had ever traveled any further than her feather pillow, no doubt she wouldn’t have simply lost her grip on her boss’s coattails. No, she’d be out of a job. And in this market, without David’s solid recommendation, she’d probably wind up using her master’s from Columbia to hoe field peas.

Determined to keep as much distance as possible between her and the red dust of her Georgia childhood, she’d resolved to keep her heart from ever again putting her career at risk. She’d learned her lesson about office love affairs—even unrequited ones—thank you very much. To make sure she never made that mistake again, she’d instituted a new rule—no involvement with anyone connected to her job. Period. For three solid months, she’d politely, but firmly, refused dates with co-workers or clients. She’d sworn off drinks with the gang from the office on Friday nights. She’d even looked away without stealing so much as a second glance at the bulging muscles of the guy who lugged five-gallon water jugs into the office.

Well, maybe a second glance, but no more.

Her new rule had pretty much put the kibosh on the whole dating scene, but it had its upside, too. Instead of wasting her time on men who’d never put a ring on her finger, she’d poured all her efforts into trying to stand out from the crowd of junior executives who jockeyed for position in Central Florida’s most prestigious brokerage firm. When Favor Oil hired W&B to bring all the privately owned convenience stores at its gas stations under its own corporate umbrella, she’d really buckled down. No one at W&B put in more hours than she did. No one worked harder. No one. This was her chance to shine, she’d told herself.

And shine, she had. In a little more than three months, she’d already brought a dozen mom-and-pop stores into the Favor fold. Today, she’d nail down one more, putting her so far ahead of the rest of the pack she was practically a shoo-in for the promotion that, rumor had it, would go to the team’s top performer.

But now, David wanted to talk. Behind closed doors. What was so secret he couldn’t take the chance they’d be overheard? It couldn’t be good news—that swept through W&B’s rabbit warren of office cubicles like wildfire.

Her grip on her travel itinerary tightened as the door whispered shut behind her. While David’s attention turned to the reports on his desk, she crossed the half acre of plush carpet that sucked at the soles of her shoes like wet, red clay. Reaching the leather guest chair opposite the polished mahogany desk, she perched on the edge of her seat as if it were the narrow fence rail she’d sat on as a child. After quite a long wait, her boss finally stopped shuffling papers and steepled his hands over the pages.

I see the Favor Oil conversion is going well. The team is ahead of schedule, isn’t it?

She nodded, cautious. The parent company has offered excellent terms. The response has been good. I’ve closed on a dozen convenience stores myself. This afternoon, I’m headed to Barefoot Bay for lucky number thirteen. Though all the details had been worked out, Charity Grambling, owner of the Super Mini Mart Convenience Store on Mimosa Key, had insisted on a face-to-face. Otherwise, the contract was a done deal.

Good. David nodded absently. That’s good.

If so, why was the muscle under his left eye twitching the way it always did when something bothered him? She folded her hands and waited for him to drop the other shoe.

Your co-workers are doing their part, too. Grant was in here earlier. He’s been working the Fort Pierce area. Says he has another half-dozen stores ready to sign.

A half dozen?

Charlie gulped. Flipping through her mental notes, she recalled six tiny mom-and-pops owned by a single parent company. Her shoulders softened.

I’m not worried. I’m still ahead. She leaned back, satisfied. In a business like theirs, quality always counted more than quantity, and the Super Mini Mart Convenience Store was more profitable than most. Each day, hundreds of locals and tourists passed through the doors of the shop that was strategically located near the only bridge connecting the twelve-mile-long island off Florida’s Gulf Coast. With this one, my overall gross will exceed Grant’s by half.

I don’t know, Charlie. Others have tried to get Charity Grambling to sell. They’ve all failed. I wish I could help, but you’ll have to sink or swim on your own.

He spoke as if she’d already lost, but she wasn’t finished. Not by a long shot. Bringing this particular convenience store under the Favor umbrella was the next step in a career that would put as much space as possible between her and the hardscrabble existence her parents lived. She squared her shoulders. Don’t count me out just yet, David. I have the grit and the determination to get the job done.

Plus, Charity Grambling had no choice, really. Not if she wanted to stay in business at all. Though Charlie hadn’t needed to shake the ace out of her sleeve with any of the other owners, she’d applied extra pressure to close the deal on the Mimosa Key property.

But David shook his head. You’ve spent a lot of time on this one account. Even with its higher income, that store is a loner.

Charlie pursed her lips. Was her boss directing her to shift her efforts to a different venue? Turning to the man she’d once counted among her friends, she pointed out her problem. It’s too late to back out of the appointment now. She’d been corresponding