Billionaire Bachelor_Sean Read online

  Billionaire Bachelor: Sean

  Melissa Stevens

  Contents

  Books by Melissa Stevens

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Books by Melissa Stevens

  About the Author

  2018 by Melissa Stevens

  Edited by Elizabeth A. Lance

  Cover art by Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Designs

  All rights reserved.

  Created with Vellum

  Books by Melissa Stevens

  Kitsune Series:

  Change

  Fight

  Hunt

  Live

  The Kitsune Collection

  (with Change, Fight, Hunt and Live in one volume)

  WMC Series:

  Escape

  Jade's Peace

  Risking Alex

  Demented Souls:

  Ruger

  City of Sin:

  Released by Desire

  Redeemed by Desire

  Revealed by Desire

  The Dragon Chronicles

  (with Released by Desire, Redeemed by Desire and Revealed by Desire)

  Diamond Bridal Agency:

  Justin

  Sean

  Alex

  Novels:

  Robin’s Nest

  Choosing Happiness

  Special Thanks

  A big thank you to Alicia Hale, for helping me with the details of Houston. This would have been much more difficult without your expertise!

  Chapter 1

  Dear Mr. Callahan,

  After careful consideration of your needs, and evaluation of the options available, the Diamond Bridal Agency is pleased to inform you that a bride has been located who matches your unique requirements. All communications have been kept private, as is our policy. Communications from the agency will cease after this missive and we request, for the security of our other clients, that you destroy this message after reading it.

  Your satisfaction is guaranteed. To comply with your request for haste and privacy, your bride will arrive on the 15th day of July, via private jet to William P. Hobby Airport. Please do not hesitate to contact me should there be any issue with your bride. Her name is Sabrina White and she understands the stipulations of the contract.

  Sincerely,

  Mrs. Alveda Creed, Diamond Bridal Agency.

  Sean sat at the bar in his kitchen sipping his coffee as he read the letter a second time. He’d been on a job site in Florida for nearly a week and had arrived home to a stack of mail late last night. He was just getting a chance to go through it when he’d noticed the unique, hand written envelope in the pile. He’d opened it first. He blinked and yawned then picked up his phone and checked the date. Fuck. July 15th was today.

  Picking up his phone, he sent a message to Harriet, his assistant, to investigate private flights landing today from Dallas, where the headquarters of Diamond Bridal Agency was, then picked up the letter again and read it one more time. The only detail he had about his bride to be, or he could call her his fiancée, was a name. Sabrina White — assuming it was her real name — neither name was unique enough to give him much hope, but using his phone again, he put the name into Facebook and hit search. After scrolling through four screens of faces he gave up. With nothing more than a name, there was no way to guess which might be the right one, if she even used the social media site. The only reason he did was for business purposes. Not just advertising, but also checking out possibly employees and clients.

  He finished his cup of coffee while sorting through the stack of mail, throwing away the junk and setting other things aside to be dealt with later. With that done, he poured another cup and took it with him to the bedroom to get dressed. His day had been busy before and just got busier. He’d put off meeting with clients for the last two weeks, while he sorted out problems at different construction sites in three states, and people were not going to be happy at being delayed even more. By the time he was ready to leave, Harriet had messaged him back. The only flight from Dallas scheduled for today would land in a little over an hour.

  Sean called Harriet, had her cancel everything she could and postpone anything that couldn’t be canceled until this afternoon. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. He’d ask Sabrina when he met her if she wanted to have a wedding and invite people or make it a private ceremony. Either way, they’d have three days to get it set up. It wasn’t something they had a choice in. It was Texas state law. If he’d received the letter sooner, special arrangements could have been made, but it was too late to bemoan that now.

  Instead of walking the block and a half to the office like he normally did, he had the valet get his truck. He headed to the airport instead. He’d considered hiring a limo and trying to get some work done on the drive, but decided he didn’t want to. He wanted the distraction of driving to keep his mind on track, and not coming up with every possible thing that could go wrong.

  Chapter 2

  Sabrina waited until the small, neatly appointed plane stopped, then stood and gathered her things. Not that she had much. Just her purse, which held the small package the agency had given her before she’d boarded the plane and the packet of information on her soon to be husband. Not that there was much information there. It simply gave her his name, and his basic requirements. He wanted someone to be a homemaker, to cook, manage the home, and make a comfortable life for him. Oh. And the most important part. He wanted children. That was one part of the agreement she had no problems with. It was a big part of why she’d decided to contact the agency. She wanted children, but found that there were few men willing to date someone like her, who wanted what she did. To settle down and raise a family.

  She’d dated some, but soon realized that most men wanted a career woman, someone to go out and help the family live large. Sabrina couldn’t fault them for that, but she wanted children and felt it was important to be there for them and to raise her children. She hoped that Mr. Callahan felt the same way. Her mother had been pushing for her to find a career and start making a name for herself. Sabrina couldn’t get her to see that wasn’t what she wanted. Desperate for something to finally start moving, and to get her mother off her back, she’d answered the ad looking for eligible women, looking for long term commitments and happiness. What she’d thought would be a dating agency ended up being a mail-order-bride company. She’d been nervous, but decided why not? If they could find her what she was after, then it was worth it.

  She knew first hand that most people found her unattractive and unappealing. Brian had even told her once that she was so unattractive he couldn’t even fake it. That had stung, more than she wanted to admit. And it had stuck with her. She still couldn’t think about it long or she found herself blushing with the intense shame she’d felt then.

  By the time the lone flight attendant opened the door to let Sabrina off the plane, she was ready. She took the short flight of stairs down to the tarmac and looked around. Her hair and clothes stuck to her and though it was early, there was already a promise of the heat of the day in the thick, humid air. Without delay, she ducked inside the glass walled building to wait for her luggage to be delivered.

  Inside, she waited for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer room, then glanced around. With the exception of the person behind the counter, there was only one person in the
room. He sat in one of several stuffed chairs, his attention on his phone. She used his distraction as a chance to look him over. He had short cut hair that was so dark brown it looked almost black, tanned skin and he wore a bright blue button-down shirt with the collar open. She looked at him a second longer, wondering if this was to be her husband. If he was, she had no complaints. He was younger than she expected, maybe mid-thirties, no older than forty, and had a rugged look that made her think he didn’t spend all his time in an office. She took a few steps, her heels clicking on the tile floor. The man looked up and Sabrina’s heart stuttered as she caught sight of his pale blue eyes that seemed out of place against such dark skin.

  “Ms. White?”

  His low voice rumbled through her making heat pool in her belly. She hoped this was the man she was to marry, as she would hate to react like this to one of his employees.

  “Yes.”

  He stood, her eyes followed him all the way up to what had to be at least 6’2” maybe a little over.

  “I’m Sean Callahan,” he extended one hand, “it’s nice to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you too.” She shook his hand, it was a firm but not crushing grip. “Um.” She looked down, not sure what to say next.

  “Do you have luggage?”

  “A couple bags, yes.” She hadn’t wanted to bring too much, but she had no clue what he’d require of her, so she’d packed a variety and had ended up with two bags instead of the one she’d planned on. The agency had assured her they would ship the rest of her things once everything was settled. They’d kept their promises so far, so she trusted them.

  “Then have a seat. It won’t take them long to unload.”

  Sabrina sat but remained silent and watchful. She didn’t know what to say and she didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she wondered what to say. Finally, she decided to wait and see if he spoke first. Better to be quiet than say the wrong thing.

  Chapter 3

  Sean sat across from his mail-order-bride and wondered what to say.

  “Did you have a good flight?” he finally settled on. It was friendly and not too specific. The terminal was empty except for the receptionist, but he’d learned to keep personal things out of the public eye as much as possible.

  “Yes, thank you. It was a quick flight.” She smiled. “I didn’t even have time to doze off.”

  Her smile made his stomach drop. He’d had a hard time hiding his reaction to her when she’d stepped in the door and instead had pretended to be busy on his phone for a few seconds, just to have a chance to school his expression. Somehow, the agency had managed to find someone who not only agreed to his requirements, but whom he found extremely attractive as well. He didn’t know how they’d done it, but assuming things went as planned, they had been worth every penny of their not-at-all affordable fee.

  “That’s good. It is a short trip. I’ve made it myself more than a few times. It’s far faster than driving, with less stress and I can work on the trip.”

  “Do you travel a lot?”

  “I do. All over Texas and Florida mostly, but to a few other places as well.”

  “For work or pleasure?”

  “Work.” He gave her a wry smile. “It’s one of the downsides of owning and managing a massive construction company with crews in more than twenty cities.”

  “I can’t imagine.” Her eyes widened as if she didn’t know about what he did or the extent of his holdings. Could they possibly have sent him someone who didn’t know? If she wasn’t in this for the money, what made her do it? From what little she’d spoken, and her name, she seemed to be an American.

  “Where are you from?” he asked, might as well start with the basics.

  “I grew up in a small town in Arizona. Pretty much a speck on the map. What about you?”

  “I grew up outside Dallas. Spent a lot of time working for my dad and grandfather in the construction company my grandfather started.”

  “That’s sweet. Is that where you got started in construction?”

  “When I was twenty-five my grandfather gave the business to my dad. I inherited it three years later when Dad had a heart attack and nearly died. Mom insisted he give up working, so I took it over. It was my first company.”

  Sabrina’s eyes were wide. He expected her to ask about the business.

  “I’m sorry to hear about your dad, is he still with you?”

  “He is. Mom put him on a heart-healthy diet and watches him like a hawk. He complains, but he’s still here and mostly happy.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” Her smile was warm and reached her eyes as if she was truly glad his father was doing well. That warmed Sean’s heart and made him like her just a little more.

  A uniformed man came in from outside, pulling a pair of suitcases tethered together.

  “Ms. White?”

  “Yes?” She stood and turned to face the new comer, giving Sean her back for a moment.

  Her round ass was right at eye level and he couldn’t help but notice the slight jiggle as she moved. His mouth watered, and his hand itched to take a hand full and squeeze.

  “Your bags, ma’am.” He stood them up, nodded in her direction then turned to leave.

  “Thank you,” she said as the man left then went to fetch them. “I’m ready when you are,” she said as she wrapped her hand around the handle on the larger of the two bags.

  Sean pushed himself to his feet and closed the distance between them.

  “I’ll take those.”

  “I can do it.” She looked up at him with wide eyes.

  He didn’t say a word, just waited until she released the bag and stepped back. He took her place and wheeled the bags out. “My truck is out this way.”

  “I really could have done it. I don’t mind,” she muttered as she walked a little behind him. When they reached his truck, he unlocked it and opened the passenger side door for her before going to her bags and disconnecting the strap that bound them together. Once he’d lifted them both into the back of the truck, he slid in behind the wheel and started the engine, letting the air conditioner start cooling the interior, but he didn’t move it yet.

  “I don’t want us to start out on the wrong foot, so I’m going to do something I don’t often do. Explain myself.” He glanced over at her and found himself distracted by the dark fringe of lashes around her chocolate brown eyes. “Where I come from, men carry things, we pay for dinner, we open doors. It’s not because we don’t think women aren’t capable or want to. It’s a sign of respect. I know that women these days are independent and want to do everything for themselves. That’s not what I’m looking for. I need a wife willing to stay home and raise our children, which I’d like to start on immediately. I’m not getting any younger and I don’t want my kids’ teachers to think I’m their grandfather.” He took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “I’m screwing this up.”

  “You’re not screwing up. I think I get it.” She folded her hands in her lap and stared down at them a moment, then looked up to meet his gaze. “You’re looking for someone to do the things you can’t. At least that’s the way I understood what the Agency said. You want a wife who will have your children and raise them. You can’t do that and run your business at the same time.”

  Relief washed through him. For a moment he’d been afraid he was going to need to put her on the plane and send her back. Maybe not.

  “I’m kind of looking for the same thing. I want kids. I want to be able to stay home and raise them. I think having a parent home with kids, someone there when they get out of school, someone to take care of Halloween costumes and sports practice, scouting, 4-H and FFA, is important.” Her gaze dropped to her lap again. “It’s a big part of why I signed on with the agency. Everyone I knew was looking for another income. Someone to get a job, and earn more money, because that’s what it takes for a lot of families these days. It’s not what I wanted.” She turned and looked out the windshiel
d, Sean wondered if maybe she didn’t want to see his face if he was going to turn her down. If he was going to laugh and send her back. That would have been his fear. It had happened to him before. Not with a woman from the Diamond Bridal Agency, but when he’d taken the time to try to find what he was looking for the old-fashioned way. By meeting women and dating.

  “It sounds like we’re well matched then.” He reached up and hooked one finger under her chin and gently turned her face until she looked at him. “You want to go through with this then?”

  “If you’re not put off by what I want, then yes. I do.”

  “Then let’s go.” He put the truck in gear and in moments they were pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road. “As much as I’d like to get married right away, Texas has a three day wait. No blood tests or I’m sure the agency would have taken care of that, but once the license is purchased, it’s not good for three days.” He glanced over at her. “I would say let’s just go to Vegas, but I just got back to town last night and found the letter about your arrival this morning. I had Harriet, you’ll meet her soon, cancel what she could, but I’ve still got meetings this afternoon and for the next week that have been waiting weeks already.”

  She tilted her head to one side as if thinking. “All right. Three days isn’t too bad. It will give us a chance to get to know each other a little better.”