Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 14

Shelby

The clock read 4:30 pm before I finally got out of bed and dressed for the day. I picked out a form-fitting sundress with a delicate blue shell pattern along the hemline.

It was one of the pieces that Michael purchased for me at Amorebelle. I wasn’t used to wearing dresses, but I wanted to look nice when I saw him.

I carefully did my makeup at the vanity table in my bathroom, purposely emphasizing my eyes, which were my favorite feature. As I stepped back and looked in the mirror, I was impressed with my own appearance; I looked like I belonged–almost.

I made my way to Michael’s secret deck. My heart pounded against my ribcage as I got closer. I stopped as I rounded the corner to the private location; all I could see was the back of Michael’s head as he was holding a phone to his ear. The muscles in his shoulders were tense, and I could tell by his low tone that the conversation was not a pleasant one.

“What do you mean he is threatening to contact members of the family?” I heard Michael say. “He has demands now? What are his demands?”

There was a long pause after what Michael said, and I watched him running a hand through his hair; he seemed to be on edge. He listened carefully to whoever he was talking to, and I considered turning around.

“We need to start protecting the family assets. I need you to review my father’s will again and ensure it is airtight. He will not get a dime out of me.”

I knew I should have turned around and given Michael privacy, but my curiosity got the better of me when he started talking about his family. I leaned against the railing to wait, and it squeaked. It squeaked loudly.

Michael turned his head and gave me a small half smile. He waved his hand, gesturing for me to come to join him. I hesitantly walked over, taking as much time as possible.

“I agree that is a good plan. Lock everything down, and let me know if we get any more calls from him. I’m counting on you, Alester. Don’t let me down,” Michael said. He hung up the phone and set it on the table next to the lounge chair he was sitting in.

He sighed, turned to the laptop sitting next to him, and started typing.

“Hey, I hope I am not interrupting anything,” I said and slowly walked up to him.

“Shelby,” Michael said as he closed the laptop and turned to face me. “No, you are not interrupting anything; I was just getting caught up on some work stuff.”

“I just noticed you were on the phone, and I didn’t want to interrupt a business call or something,” I said, trying to explain why I was leaning against the railing and eavesdropping on his phone call.

“Oh, that wasn’t business. I just needed to deal with some family issues,” he said as he moved a white and blue striped towel and a bottle of tanning lotion off of the lounge chair next to him, gesturing for me to take a seat.

“Are you feeling better?” he said, and a natural smile finally mirrored in his eyes.

“I am because of you. Thank you so much for sending me breakfast, and that robe was amazing. I honestly can’t remember the last time I let myself lay around in bed all day. I really enjoyed it,” I said and sat as gracefully as I could manage in the lounge chair next to Michael.

“That is good to hear. You deserved a day to relax like that. You don’t need to thank me for the robe; after seeing you in it last night, I knew it belonged to you. It looked like it was made for you, so it was only right that I send it down to you,” he said.

His words made my heart beat fast again, and my face flushed. I knew I was getting too close to my friend’s very handsome and single father than was wise. But, when he said things like that, it was hard not to.

I thought about telling him the truth about why I was so upset, but I didn’t want to ruin the fun we were having together by unloading about my ex-boyfriend, who was about to be his son-in-law.

“So, are you excited to walk your daughter down the aisle?” I asked, quickly trying to change the subject, so I didn’t blurt out my history with Todd.

“Honestly, I’m not sure if I will walk Lauren down the aisle or if she will want her mom to,” Michael answered.

His response surprised me, and it must have shown on my face because Michael continued with his explanation.

“I was only with Marmie, Lauren’s mother, for a short period of time. Marmie got married to someone else shortly after and had Lauren. Marmie believed that Lauren was biologically her husband’s and not mine. I didn’t even know Lauren existed. She had Lauren take a DNA test when she was ten; she was linked to some of the Astor family members who had also taken the test. Only then did we replace out that Lauren was mine.”

“I had no idea, Michael. Lauren never said anything about any of this,” I said. I felt so sorry for all of them.

“When Marmie’s husband died, she told Lauren and me the truth. However, Lauren had grown up with another man as her father, and I never wanted to try and fill his place in her life. So I never really took on that fatherly role with her. Instead, I bought her everything she ever asked me for, and that was the basis of our relationship for a long time.”

I sat there staring at the pain in Michael’s face for a while. He never took his eyes off of the ocean but continued to tell me about his past.

“Over the years, we have tried to build our relationship, and I take her on vacation with me every summer, but we still don’t have the typical relationship you would expect. At times, Marmie and I have a hard time getting along; we don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things which can cause some tension. So I stayed back and let Marmie raise Lauren; in a lot of ways, I don’t agree with how Marmie raised her,” Michael said with a sigh.

“That’s why all of you are here. Lauren and I don’t know how to talk to each other because we have nothing in common and barely any memories together. So dinner gets a little awkward without others to fill the silence,” Michael said, seeming slightly embarrassed about admitting this.

“I had no idea. Lauren always made it sound like her life was so perfect.”

“In all the ways Lauren measures her life, it has been,” Michael said, but I wasn’t quite sure what he meant by it.

A maid with a tray of tropical cocktails interrupted our conversation, and she set the drinks on the table between Michael and me.

“Thank you, Molly, these look wonderful,” Michael said.

“Of course, sir,” the maid said with a small smile.

“How is your sister doing? I hope she’s making a speedy recovery.”

“She is, sir. She should be back on her feet again in no time.”

“When we get back, you should make some time to go and see her. I will tell Reggie to add some more PTO for you,” Michael said.

“I would really appreciate that. Thank you, sir,” the maid said and turned to leave.

As I watched the interaction between Michael and a member of his staff, I realized I had never seen him treat one of his employees poorly. But, on the other hand, Lauren snapped at them to get their attention, and I was almost positive she did not know a single one of their names or anything about them.

She didn’t even treat them like they were people.

It made sense as to why I did not feel like I fit in with Lauren and her friends, but I felt comfortable and wanted to spend all of my time with Michael.

He didn’t look down on me for being poor, but Lauren did.

The irony of all of it was that the only one on the ship who knew exactly how poor I was, was Michael.

I stared at Michael, and when he finally met my gaze, I couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Thank you for telling me all of this,” I said.

“Thank you for listening,” he responded simply.

“It seems like we’re making a habit of telling each other all of our secrets,” I said with a small giggle.

“I hope that continues.”

“Me too,” I answered.

“Lauren has another dinner planned on the upper deck. Can I walk you up?” Michael asked me.

“I’m actually feeling a little seasick, I don’t think it would be wise for me to eat right now,” I answered. I didn’t feel like spending another evening with Lauren and her new fiance.

“Do you need a doctor? We have a nurse on the yacht, but we will be making port in just a few hours; I can call and have one meet us at the dock.”

“No, I’m okay, really. I just need to go back and lie down.”

“Okay, if you are sure. I’ll walk you down to your room,” Michael said, checking his watch.

“No, no. I’m fine, really.”

“Okay,” he said reluctantly, “but please use the intercom in your room if you need anything.”

“I will, I promise,” I said with a small wave and left to slowly make my way back to my room.

I took my time moving through the ship. I didn’t want to run into anyone heading to Lauren’s dinner, where the topic of conversation was sure to be all about her recent engagement.

I was relieved when I saw that most of the hallways were completely empty, so I quickly started toward my room.

“Shelby!”

I turned and saw Reggie walking up behind me.

“Hey, Reggie. It’s been a while,” I said with a smile.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I’m going back to my room. I wasn’t really in the mood to spend dinner with everyone.”

“Well, I was on my way to play some cards with some of the crew members. Why don’t you come?”

Reggie must have seen the hesitation on my face.

“Come on. It’s actually fun to hang out with normal people every once in a while.”

I laughed. I hadn’t realized that Reggie thought I was just as wealthy as the rest of Lauren’s friends.

“Reggie, I am a normal person. Let’s go.”