Island Heat (22 page)

Saturday morning couldn't come fast enough for Kevin. It had been nearly a week since they'd spent that tender night together at Eli's mansion, and he'd scarcely noticed the time passing. Hiring his first employee, Alec, had turned out to be remarkably straightforward. Training him was the surprisingly exhausting part.

He rolled out of bed with a groan. This morning, he was teaching Alec how to bake the cheesecake that was on the menu next week, and more importantly, how to decorate it. Plating and presentation were what he wanted to emphasize to their new employee. That was what set their desserts apart from something a guy could get from the supply store bakery. They had to be meticulously elegant in every element of presentation.

There was another pair of shoes at the front door of their apartment, so he didn't bother to disturb Troy. After a quick breakfast, he headed down to Sweet Nothings on his own to start training at ten.

Alec was already there in a freshly-pressed black uniform shirt, looking awake despite the late night.

“Oh, morning. You're even cheerier than me,” Kevin complained as he unlocked the door of the bar.

“I slept well,” Alec retorted with a laugh.

“How is that possible? You can't have gone to bed before four...”

“Three-thirty, and I woke up at nine-thirty.”

Kevin was suspicious. Maybe the bright-eyed cutie with shaggy blond hair and a gorgeous smile he'd hired was magic. “That's only six hours...”

“I'm used to sleeping four or five.”

“What the hell?” Kevin exclaimed, flicking the lights on and shaking his head. “That's not normal.”

“No,” Alec agreed, grinning as he went to put an apron on.

“Thanks for coming in to train so early anyway,” Kevin told him, shaking his head. “This should be the last menu item, if you feel confident with the others.”

“Yeah, I do,” Alec nodded. “And I've seen you do this one, I've just never done it myself, so...”

“No, that's fair,” Kevin told him and headed back to the kitchen to begin baking. He took Alec through each step, watching him closely to make sure he was learning, then made him do the second cheesecake on his own.

“Ahem,” he heard a throat clearing from the main area.

“We're not op--” he started, then realized who it was and smiled as he turned to Eli. “Hi.”

“That was less crabby than I remember. Are you soft-shelled now?” Eli teased, leaning on the counter.

Kevin groaned at the pun and glanced at Alec, who was grinning. “I'll be back in a few minutes. Start up those cream puffs.”

“Aye aye,” Alec mock-saluted and winked as he set about work.

When Kevin came around the counter and chose a table by the window, Eli took a brief glance back to the kitchen before following him to sit down. “He's cute,” Eli remarked.

“Isn't he? The customers love him.” Kevin reached over the table to take Eli's hands.

“I bet.” Eli seemed more interested in looking at
him
, though, and Kevin blushed under the scrutiny. “How did Friday night go?” His new boyfriend had visited before work every couple of mornings, but they hadn't had a chance for a proper date all week.

God, Kevin missed it.

“Good,” Kevin murmured simply. “He did great. I'm ready to leave him with Troy, and Troy told me last night he's ready to be left with me.”

“So you're going to alternate nights off?”

“Something like that, throughout the week. For now, the three of us will all work Friday and Saturday nights.” Kevin saw the disappointment on Eli's face and hastily added, “Not all summer, though. Just until we can hire another employee along with him, but... baby steps.”

Eli glowed as he watched Kevin talk. He shook his head. “I'm so proud of you, Kev,” he murmured, and the nickname made Kevin smile. “You're a proper little business owner.”

“That came off a little patronizing,” Kevin laughed. Eli looked more disappointed than he'd meant, so he quickly added, “I'm kidding, babe.”

“No, sorry,” Eli nodded. “I can see how it did. I meant, you're a proper business owner now.”

“I am,” Kevin agreed and they fell silent for a moment as they gazed into each other's eyes, still holding hands across the table. They could hear rattling and cupboards opening and closing in the background as Alec baked treats for that night.

“Tom been around again?” Eli asked, a bit too casually.

“No. He saw you?” Kevin guessed.

Eli looked surprised that he'd known, but he nodded. “At the club on Friday night. He didn't talk to me long, but... then I saw Bill not long afterwards.”

Kevin narrowed his eyes, drawing his hand away to rub his chin in thought and prop his elbow on the table, his chin in his hand. “You think he's gonna buy it still?”

“I think we should be ready for that possibility,” Eli answered calmly.

Kevin felt his stomach clench, his toe twitching until he started tapping it on the ground. How could Eli stay calm at the prospect of his ex buying the one place Eli seemed to feel happy and secure? He'd seen the change in him even since knowing him, but even more so in their brief visits over the past week. Eli looked more open and free than ever, and always kissed him goodbye now, whether or not anyone else was around.

“Bill won't sell in the middle of a season, and... even if he does, he can't let the businesses shut down,” Eli assured him. “He'd have to issue pro-rated refunds for mentoring and that'd be a pain in the ass. And he's not a bad guy, he's just...”

“Money-hungry?” Kevin muttered. He knew it was bad to trash-talk the island's owner, especially when he'd taken a chance on them, but he couldn't help it.

Eli winced, but he nodded slightly. “That's only slightly unfair.”

The door opened and Kevin let go of Eli's other hand, turning to see who it was.

“Morning,” Troy greeted, then stopped short and winked. “Oh, did I interrupt something?”

“I don't know, did I interrupt something when I left this morning?” Kevin countered with a grin. “Same pair of shoes for the last three nights, man.”

For once, Troy actually blushed. He shut his mouth and headed behind the counter, touching up his hair as he went. “Morning, Alec...”

Kevin gave Eli a wide-eyed stare, and Eli was staring back at him. He'd never known Troy to sleep with the same guy more than a couple times, especially not in a row. Had he met someone he was trying to keep secret, too? Surely it wasn't Alec – but no, Alec had been waiting there when he'd left.

Interesting.

“Is Troy taking over training?”

“Yep,” Kevin confirmed and slid to his feet. He was disappointed that he couldn't have lunch with his boyfriend, since the business owners had Saturday lunches together at Seth's place and he felt it was important to bond more with them. Still, he could walk with him and do a few errands like paying his and Troy's rent.

“Off to pay off our debt,” he called out with a broad grin.

Troy appeared from the kitchen and leaned over the counter to hold out a palm.

Kevin laughed and strode over to high-five his best friend, then leaned over the counter in return to hug him as best they could.

“Good for you both,” Eli commented, his hands in his pockets as he beamed at them, and Eli could see Alec smiling in the kitchen.

The mentoring program and startup costs were paid, with the help of their tips over the past few weeks. Now, they just had to make their rent and salary payments; in comparison, that was easy. Their profits began now.

“See you for lunch at Seth's, right?” Kevin reminded Troy when he pulled away to head out.

“Yep, noon or so,” Troy agreed.

When they reached the street, Eli took Kevin's hand again and swung it lightly. “Last big payment, then?”

Kevin couldn't help grinning at him as he answered, “Yes.” A few thousand dollars – or, hell, even ten grand or a hundred grand – was probably nothing to Eli, but to Kevin, being able to pay the last of this debt on his own, thanks to his and Troy's hard labor over the last few weeks, was priceless.

He was glad the billionaire didn't push his money in his face. Sure, he could see himself accepting
some
money or help starting up a business back in Chicago in the future if they stayed together... it would be foolish not to, and any couple in a long-term relationship would... but not yet.

Kevin had to prove himself to himself first, and Eli had sensed that.

“Good job,” Eli praised, a fond smile on his face as they strolled down past a few now-familiar store fronts. “You've come a long way already.”

“Yeah, we have... Thanks.” Kevin let go of Eli's hand to push open the door of the Main Street business rental and administration office.

“Hi, Kevin-- oh, hello,” the man behind the desk – Jorge, a cute Swedish man who always seemed to be there – greeted them both. He was surprised by Eli being there, but quickly recovered. “How can I help you two?”

“We're just making our last startup cost payment,” Kevin smiled. “Troy's busy training so it's just me.”

“Ah, I see. Will you be paying with cash, check, or credit?” Jorge asked, looking at Eli.

Oh, he's got the wrong impression for sure.
Kevin's lips twitched into a smile. “
I'll
be paying with my credit card, thanks.”

“O-Oh. Oh, sorry. I just assumed.” Jorge's face was red as he quickly pulled up the account on his computer and pushed the credit card machine across the counter.

“Lots of people do,” Eli chuckled, watching as Kevin paid. “You must have a busy job. Do you handle all the rent payments?” Kevin realized that he was chatting casually, trying to lessen Jorge's embarrassment. What a sweetheart.

“Yes, for all the Main Street businesses. And we handle all the maintenance requests and so on. We're always working,” Jorge agreed, relaxing slightly when he saw that neither Eli nor Kevin seemed offended.

“Well, thanks,” Kevin nodded as he took his credit card out of the machine and stepped back to join his boyfriend. “That should be it.”

“Yep, your account is squared up,” Jorge cheerily informed him. “Rent will be due on the fifteenth.”

“I know,” Kevin assured him. “I'll be ready for it.”

“Wonderful. Enjoy your day, then,” Jorge bade him goodbye with a wave.

“Thanks. You too--” Kevin started to say, then broke off when the door was suddenly yanked open. Seth stumbled in, looking straight at Kevin. “Hey, Kevin – oh, and Eli.”

“Hi, Seth,” Eli greeted. “Long time no see.”

Kevin wasn't terribly surprised.
Of course he knows him
. “What's wrong? I was just on my way over for lunch...”

“Oh, good,” Seth breathed out. “I wasn't sure you were coming this week and I wanted to make sure. I literally just found this out.” He licked his lips, glancing between them and then at Jorge. “Tom's finalizing a deal to buy the island. The deal closes in two weeks. Bill just confirmed it to a few people and I overheard.”

Kevin could actually feel the blood rush from his face, and he reached out to grip Eli's hand and ground himself. “What... what's happening?”

“We're stopping it,” Seth told him as if it were the most obvious response in the world. “We're meeting over lunch to figure out how to do that. Come on, everyone's on their way over to my place, and I don't wanna keep them waiting outside.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” Kevin glanced at Eli, studying his expression to see how the billionaire was feeling, but he was too practiced at keeping a straight face and didn't give him much to work with. Eli just took him by the hand to follow Seth out of the business office. “I guess I'll see you soon?”

“Very soon,” Eli promised, squeezing his hand for a moment. Then, he raised Kevin's hand to his lips to kiss lightly before letting go. “This will work out fine.”

“I hope you're right.” Kevin wasn't satisfied with just the modest kiss – he pressed closer to Eli and cupped his cheek to kiss him lightly before pulling away to follow Seth to his house.

“That isn't right.” Dean's chest was rising and falling rapidly, his eyes narrow. Dean had already been much angrier at Tom than Eli, while he'd too readily let go of his grudge. It was even more apparent now as Dean curled his hands into fists. “The fucker.”

“I don't want him buying the place,” Eli shook his head. He was leaning against the gleaming Main Street lamp post, but he pushed himself away and looked around as Boris approached.

“There is a meeting?”

“Hi, Boris. Yes, we're meeting in the La Sol room,” Eli answered, ushering Boris into the restaurant before looking at Dean. “Is that everyone?”

Dean shook his head. “We're still waiting on K and David.”

“Text them again and let them know to come as soon as possible,” Eli told Dean, heading into the restaurant with his best friend to join everyone else in the private room.

James, the manager, had been more than happy to let them use the private room for another meeting of the richest guests on the island – the same ones who had been invited to the initial meeting where Bill hadn't breathed a word of his newly-revealed intention to sell.

Nobody looked especially happy as Dean and Eli entered the room and closed the door. It seemed they'd all heard the news already.

“What the fuck?” Johnson spoke up first.

Eli breathed out a quiet chuckle. “Yeah. That's pretty much it.”

“He met all of us,” Chris – a quiet man who hovered just under the billion-dollar mark much of the time to avoid unwanted attention – spoke up. “We all talked about him wanting to buy a smaller island without the... how did he put it?”

“The business structure,” Dean nodded. “He said it was the structure and size that was overwhelming.”

“But he never said he was selling,” Chris continued, sipping his beer and leaning back. “That's just...”

“We should have had
some
say,” Johnson hotly agreed.

“When is he arriving?”

Eli checked his watch and answered, “In ten minutes, he promised.”

“What do we say to him?” Dean frowned. “Do we try to present a joint bid – all of us go in on buying it?”

“That would never work well, legally,” Johnson sighed. “Dividing everything on the spot would be a mess.”

“But we must not sit down and let that asshole buy it,” Boris strongly voiced out, smacking his palm on the table. “We saw what he tried to do to Eli. He will not be good for this island.”

“I, for one, won't be coming back if he buys it,” Dean muttered.

“What about talking to the business owners?” Eli deflected before the men gathered could start to bash Tom too much. He was pleased that they'd decided to stick to his side, though.

Johnson looked confused. “What about them?”

“They're going to be devastated if he buys it. I know him,” Eli sighed. “He won't be happy with just the arrangement Bill has worked out. He'll try to maximize his profits, especially in the first few years.”

“He can't break their leases, can he?”

Eli bit his lip. “Depends how Bill's team wrote them. In any case, the longest they'd be safe is until the end of this summer, and many of them – Seth, for example, or James – want to come back year after year.”

“We don't know what this means for all of us,” Johnson summarized. “And we want more details, and the chance to bid or settle this in a way that doesn't involve the island shutting down.”

The door opened and a sudden silence fell as they looked around. K and David walked in, their expressions troubled, while Bill followed them in. They were a powerful business team and very good at what they did – investing in companies and maximizing returns.

Speaking of who would drive down margins,
Eli thought, eyeing Bill. It didn't look like he'd been won over by the other two, at least.

“Hello, gentlemen,” Bill greeted as he took a seat at the table.

A waiter followed them in to take drinks orders from Eli, Dean, K, David, and Bill before hurrying out and closing the door.

Once the door was closed, Eli sighed and leaned forward to catch Bill's eye. “Bill, we're all... disappointed.”

Bill frowned and nodded. “Tell me what's on your minds,” he requested.

“We've heard about the deal with Tom,” Eli followed up. “All of us were blindsided by it.”

Dean and a few others nodded.

“We're disappointed that nobody had the chance to bid, or even settle this some other way. Many of us have been coming to Ember Isle for years and would have gladly worked out some sales arrangement.”

“We don't know how invested Tom is in the future of Ember Isle as a community,” Johnson spoke up. “We don't know anything about the deal.”

Bill shifted. “I'd hoped he would keep it running as I have.”

A sharp, “Bullshit,” came from Boris and startled a few of the guys sitting near him. “He obviously does not care, or he would not have hurt Eli in public and lied to you about why he was buying it.”

“And if you'd approached us,” David spoke up, “you know many of us would have offered as much as Tom, if not more.”

Bill looked troubled. “It was never about money. I didn't approach the rest of you because I'm not interested in a bidding war.”

“You aren't?” K asked, furrowing dark brows in confusion as he stared at Bill. The idea of someone
not
wanting more money seemed impossible to him. Eli tried not to chuckle; the situation was serious.

“We settled on a fair price – high, even. I didn't want to disrupt the business season, but I've had the perfect opportunity come up for another island that won't be on the market by the end of the summer. I needed to get out now,” Bill explained. “It was just about getting out gracefully and – I'd hoped – quietly.”

Eli said, with a bit more heat than he'd meant, “What happens to the new business owners? Seth, James, the long-term businesses – they'll do fine. But the ones that just started up two or three weeks ago?”

Bill looked vaguely guilty as he shook his head. “I don't think Tom plans to shut down the island.”

“Is it in the sale?”

Bill glanced down at the table as if realizing his mistake, drawing a deep sigh. “I hadn't negotiated a specific clause; it was understood.”

Everyone was silent for a few moments before Boris scoffed. They all knew that if it wasn't on paper, it didn't count.

“I'll work something out,” Bill promised, his gaze lingering on Eli now. “Write off any remaining debt and send them back home to their normal lives.”

The thought of being separated so abruptly from Kevin was almost breathtakingly painful for Eli. They were too newly dating to relocate for one another, yet he couldn't see himself happily returning to his home and not having the cute, hard-working, clever man making him smile in their scarce stolen moments together.

“I did... have a clause in there,” Bill began slowly, drawing gazes to him again. “Dependent on my offer and acceptance of said offer on the second island I wanted to purchase.”

“Have you made the offer?”

“Not yet. But...” Bill trailed off with a sigh. “If you want me to retain the island and continue to manage it instead of purchasing the Caribbean retreat I've been eyeing, I'll need to make some changes around here.”

“Getting rid of structure?” Dean guessed. “You said that was what was bothering you.”

“Yes and no. I don't like the way the culture has changed. It's not about coming here for romance and a future and with friends. More men are coming here just for cheap thrills,” Bill frowned. “And I don't want this place to be a 24/7 party resort. There are enough other places where that exists. Hell, go to Vegas and get the VIP treatment there.”

“Not all of us are,” Dean spoke up quietly and Eli winced. He was probably the best example of what Bill meant, though Eli would defend Dean's right to hook up instead of date any day.

“Call a meeting,” Eli spoke up, and Bill looked at him. “A town meeting. You know everyone on the island knows now, right? Tell everyone what's happening, let them decide if they'd be happy for Tom to buy the island. Let Tom tell us what he's planning to do.”

It was a bold request: Bill didn't
have
to do anything. It was his property, and he could easily transfer everything on it to Tom and walk away tomorrow if he wanted.

Eli was banking on the fact that Bill didn't want to alienate everyone who had ever enjoyed a summer in this pristine paradise, and that he cared about sustaining the business incubator program he'd started.

After a few moments passed, Bill nodded. “We'll meet on the beach, then. Six o'clock, on the main beach.” He rose to his feet. “Whatever happens, I want there to be no hard feelings.”

“No. It's business,” Boris nodded. “But we also... do not want to come to a place run by a man who lied his way to the top.”

Eli sharply glanced at Boris, then let his gaze wander across the other men there: David, K, Dean, Johnson, and his other friends and acquaintances from the very top of the one percent.

He was surprised to find them all nodding.

“We've always been open and honest here,” Johnson spoke up. “Treating people well has been the bottom line since the beginning. Tom... isn't starting off on the right foot.”

“At the very least, the meeting will get everyone's fears and grievances into the open to equip him to deal with them when he takes over,” K added.

“Very well. Six o'clock,” Bill said again, turning to open the door and nearly bumping into the waiter who had just entered.

“Everyone on the island?” Eli spoke up. “Main Street owners, employees, house staff...?”

Bill nodded and drew breath for a sigh to fortify himself as if anticipating trouble already. “Everyone is welcome.”

Eli wasted no time grabbing his phone to compose a text to Kevin:

6 pm. Main beach. Everyone is invited.