THE BILLIONAIRE'S DANCE(Billionaire Bachelors #2)(2)

Katherine didn’t approve of her husband interfering in their children’s lives but she had to admit the end result of Lucas and Amy getting married and having precious little Jasmine was worth the troubles.

Joseph sighed at the sight of his beautiful wife holding their granddaughter. Life was certainly good.

“Lucas will be back in a few minutes so help me get the baby changed,” Katherine said as she walked from the room.

Joseph stood and looked at the picture on his wall. “Alex my boy, you are in for a surprise,” Joseph whispered to the frame so his wife wouldn’t overhear. He quietly chuckled to himself as he walked out of the door.



Chapter one

“Alex, good to see you,” Joseph said. He wrapped his arm around his son’s shoulders while leading him into the den.

“Hi Dad, sorry I haven’t made it home in a while. That contract in Spain took a lot longer than I thought. Of course, I’m not complaining because those beaches are hot and the women are even hotter,” he said with a laugh.

“Now son, there’s more to life than going out all the time and picking up pretty ladies who don’t have a lick of brains or an ounce of heart,” Joseph admonished.

Alex gave a hearty laugh. He knew his father wanted him and his brothers all married. He was more than a little suspicious Joseph had something to do with Lucas’s recent marriage. Lucas wasn’t complaining though. His wife, Amy was a true gem and their precious daughter was about the cutest thing there ever was.

“Dad, you know I’m far too young to tie the knot. I don’t need some woman in my life telling me what to do. I like having a lot of ladies to wine and dine. You don’t want to break the hearts of all the single ladies in Seattle, now do you,” Alex asked with far too much confidence, in his father’s opinion?

Joseph knew it would take a very strong woman to bring his middle child to his knees. Luckily, he figured, the right woman wasn’t far away.

“Okay, I get it, you like the single life but you should know you’re breaking your mother’s heart. She wants many grandkids running through these cold hallways but children never think of their poor parents. After all, parents only sacrifice everything to raise their kids and bandage their wounds and love them unconditionally. There wouldn’t be any reason to want to give back to them, I guess,” Joseph said with a dramatic sigh.

Alex smiled at his father’s antics. He and his brothers were used to the whole guilt trip charade since Joseph had perfected it. “You know I appreciate everything you and mom do for me. That doesn’t mean I’m going to let you guilt me into getting married. I’m smarter than Lucas,” he said with a wink.

Joseph chuckled to himself. The harder they fought, the more satisfying it was when they fell, he figured.

“All right then, enough of this marriage talk,” Joseph conceded. “We have that fundraiser banquet this weekend and I need you to attend. Both of your brothers can’t because of previous engagements and it would look really bad for the company if at least one of my sons didn’t show up to our own fundraiser,” Joseph said, while acting like a martyr.

Alex hated going to those things. The people were boring with a capital B and it was all about being seen. He wished they could just give the money away without having to go through all the motions of a fundraiser. But he also knew millions of dollars could be raised in one night because the rich liked to be seen giving their money away. It made them feel self-important, he supposed.

“Just let me know when and where. You know I’ll go.” He sounded more like he was headed to the guillotine, instead of an evening with great food and dancing. On a positive note, he would most likely take a lady home for a steamy night of lovemaking. That was something to look forward too.

“It’s being held at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel on Friday night, starting at nine,” Joseph told him.

“Well, at least if I have to go out and act like I actually care about the newest and greatest fashions, I’ll be in a great place,” Alex said.

The Fairmont was spectacular inside and out. It was listed on the National Register of Historical Places and they’d done a fantastic job of bringing in the new designs without taking away from the old history. Alex enjoyed doing business there and he knew the food was going to be top quality. His mouth started watering a bit at the thought of having some Cedar Plank Smoked Salmon, one of their specialties.

“Oh, and keep an eye out for Jessica Sanders. She’s the daughter of my dear business associate John Sanders and she’s going to be there alone, as her father’s out of town.”

“Dad, what have I told you about matchmaking? I can choose my own dates,” Alex said, losing some of his patience. He didn’t want to be set up. Marriage was simply not in the cards for him and in no way did he want kids. He idolized his gorgeous niece but the family thing was for Lucas, not him. He was still young at thirty-two years old and he wasn’t ready to trade in the Lamborghini for a mini-van.

He shuddered at the thought.

“I’m not trying to be a matchmaker. I didn’t ask you to take her to the fundraiser. I simply asked you to keep an eye on her and say hello; maybe ask her for a dance. She’s not from around here and her father said she isn’t used to huge events. She normally avoids them at all costs but this fundraiser is something very important to her. She’s always wanted to spend an evening at the Fairmont. Here’s a couple of pictures so you can recognize her,” Joseph said while holding them out.