Chapter 10

Billy

Billy rested his spent body on top of her, his elbows on either side of her. Alice shifted under him and he gently lifted himself up and stood between her legs. He peeled away the condom and tossed it into the trash can under the desk then pulled his jeans back up. Alice lay on the desk, her eyes glowing, a satisfied smile on her face. Billy smiled back and offered her his hand, helping her to sit up. He tried to bend down to pick up her jeans but she reached out and pulled him into an embrace. He held her for a moment, breathing in her scent, a pleasant combination of shampoo, dust and sex.

He tried to lean back, but Alice moaned and tightened her embrace, burying her face in his neck. His initial reaction was to pull away, the intimacy feeling strange to him, but her warm breath on his neck was comforting. He leaned into her instead, placing his hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair softly. She let out a long, peaceful sigh.

“That was a surprise,” she whispered.

Finally, he did lean back and she looked up at him, meeting his gaze.

“Yes it was,” he agreed, kissing her forehead. “I kind of imagined I would be a little more romantic the first time we fucked, but seeing you bent over your desk like that. Damn, woman,” he teased.

Alice blushed and chuckled softly.

“Maybe you could hand me my underwear back,” she suggested, gesturing to the floor.

Billy smiled and shook his head.

“Nah, I kind of like you bare-assed and vulnerable,” he said, grabbing her ass for good measure.

“That right?” she smirked.

“Oh yeah”

He grinned widely. Alice bit her lip, looking up at him with a twinkle in her eyes. Billy groaned and shook his head.

“What did I tell you about biting that lip?” he chided.

He kissed her one more time before reaching down for her clothes that had been discarded recklessly on the floor. He handed them to her and she slipped off the desk to get dressed.

“I wasn’t sure I would see you today. I noticed a truck came in earlier with supplies. I figured you would be busy unloading,” she said as she zipped up her jeans.

Billy laughed impishly.

“Oh, I unloaded alright.”

Alice giggled and punched him playfully in the arm.

“Seriously though, the guys took care of that pretty quickly. The reason I came in was to ask you to issue me the second installment,” he said, his tone less playful.

Alice nodded, letting out a little sigh.

“Already?” she questioned, her brows raised.

Billy nodded.

“I’m afraid so. If you want me to come to the house later I can bring you the ledgers. We are ready for the next steps and I’ll need to place another materials order. I also need to bring in the electrician and a plumber within the next few weeks,” he explained cautiously.

Alice shrugged and offered him a small smile.

“Sure. Come by for supper and we can go over it together. I’ve missed having you at my table.”

Billy pulled her into an embrace, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist.

“I have missed that too.”

He had been busy over the past several weeks, working late into the evening, sometimes well after the sun went down. He was in the zone, focused on the plan, determined to carry things through. If he was being truthful, he might have been avoiding Alice, and his conscience. But he did miss spending time with her. The first few weeks they had spent together were special. In fact, he couldn’t recall a time in his life that had ever been that good.

The job was well in motion and his crew was now self-sufficient, which freed up a little more of his time. It was important now to keep Alice happy, ensure she was preoccupied and distracted or she might start asking too many questions, especially in the next phases.

“I do need to get back to work though.”

He kissed her softly on the lips.

Alice kissed him back affectionately, her hands reaching up for his face. He felt himself pulled into the tender intimacy of that kiss and, for a moment, he felt like her man, the kind of man that would never betray his woman.

It was a dangerous kind of kiss.

“I gotta go,” he said chuckling uneasily.

He gently removed her hands from his face and backed away. Alice smiled at him, her eyes bright with joy. He walked toward the door and unlocked it before she spoke again.

“Billy?”

He turned back to her. She smiled brightly at him and his heart skipped a beat.

“Yeah?”

“I never beg,” she said, throwing him a cheeky wink.

Billy laughed.

“We’ll see about that,” he said.

He opened the door and stepped outside, putting a safe distance between them.

* * *

Three weeks earlier, when Alice had given him the go ahead to build the arena, Billy had wasted no time. He called James right away and told him the plan, then asked him to arrange a crew to come and get to work. James made sure that they all signed nondisclosure agreements, forbidding them to discuss with anyone their involvement with Hunter-Johnson.

Billy had never met any of the twelve guys on the crew prior to their arrival, so none of them were aware that he was William Hunter. To them, he was just a General Contractor hired by the company, and they were there to keep their heads down, keep their mouths shut, and follow orders. They were a good bunch of lads, hard workers. James had sent him the best of the best.

As soon as Alice transferred the money to him, Billy started spending. Normally a G.C. would have carefully priced out everything, ensuring to get the best deal possible for materials and with the trades. He would have negotiated meticulously to ensure the lowest margins so the company would come away with the highest profits possible. He didn’t do that.

Instead, he hired the highest bidders and paid close to retail on much of the materials. He was blowing through her money quickly, in accordance with the plan. At the rate he was going, the arena would cost at least a third more than Alice anticipated, devastating her resources.

It was an ugly thing to do to her, and he didn’t like that part very much, but it was either her dreams, or his.

He didn’t fancy the idea of giving up millions of dollars in profit, no matter how much he liked her. He told himself that at the end of the day, she would be fine. They would pay her more than enough to cover her losses. He had to remind himself of this daily, and did his best not to dwell on the deception.

Easier said than done, especially in those moments when she was in his arms, trusting him to take care of her the way he promised.

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly. Billy was in his room getting ready for dinner with Alice. It wasn’t as quiet in the lodge as it was when he first arrived, with the crew filling every possible room and bunk.

At the end of a long day of construction, the boys liked to unwind with loud music, plenty of beer, and games of pool with some good natured ribbing. Overall, they kept it relatively under control, but after weeks of testosterone driven fun, he was looking forward to a peaceful meal with a lady.

Billy picked up the ledgers to bring along with him. He had kept meticulous detail of everything, certain that Alice would ask to see it all. He had no plans to share all the details with her. She didn’t need to know that lower quotes had come in, or that he planned to save some of the bigger expenses to the end. If she did ask about that, he would just have to lie.

Alice was preparing dinner when he arrived. He placed the ledgers on the counter and quickly approached her, pulling her into a tight embrace. She had showered and her hair was still damp and smelled of peach scented shampoo. She kissed him gently, opening her lips to receive his tongue. Her mouth was warm and tasted of mint toothpaste.

“Hello there,” she said as their kiss ended. “I have dinner almost ready. Are you hungry?”

Billy grinned.

“I am. I worked up quite the appetite today.”

Alice giggled.

“That you did. Can you set the table for us?”

Billy nodded and did as she asked. Supper smelled delicious.

“What did you make?” he asked as he lifted the lid off the pot on the stove.

“It is just chicken stew. I hope it tastes as good as it smells,” she said modestly.

“I’m sure it will be good. I’m so hungry I’d eat a boiled boot.”

“Hopefully it’s a step up from that,” she chuckled, picking the pot up and carrying it to the table. She set it down and filled both bowls with the steaming stew. Billy waited for her to sit down and then took the chair beside her.

“How did the rest of your afternoon go?” she asked.

Billy shrugged.

“It was productive. I had a little free time so I helped Joe with some chores. He seemed grateful, but he’s not an easy man to read.”

Alice nodded slowly agreeing with his assessment.

“I know. Don’t mind him. He’s still adjusting to all the changes and he has a lot on his plate. No matter what goes on around here, we still have to run the ranch and I can tell it’s weighing on him. I want to hire someone else, but there’s the budget to consider. I’m not sure it makes sense financially to take on more help around here, at least until we put all this construction behind us,” she admitted. “Once we get the arena built and start earning an income from that it will be much easier.”

Billy sighed and smiled warmly at her.

“I understand. I’ll try and pitch in more now that things are running a little more smoothly. It will be ok,” he said reaching for her hand.

Alice gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

“You’re doing so much already, Billy. I don’t want you to burn out. We will make it work,” Alice assured him.

“I know, but I don’t mind. The guys usually don’t start working until 8:00 am. That gives me time in the morning to help Joe with the horses. To be honest, I’m not doing a lot of heavy lifting with the construction anymore. I’m mainly supervising and keeping the crew on schedule. The brunt of my work was in the first few weeks.”

Alice put her head down and sighed, clearly emotional.

“What’s it?” Billy asked gently.

Alice shook her head but didn’t meet his eyes. He reached down and lifted her chin. Her eyes were wet with tears.

“Thank you for everything.”

Her voice quivered.

It was Billy’s turn to look away. He swallowed his guilt, hoping she would mistake his shame for humility.

“Aw shucks, Ma’am. It’s nothing,” he said, lightening the moment.

“It’s not nothing, Billy. You don’t know how much this means to me, all of it,” she said, gesturing her hands outward. “You’re done more for me than you’ll ever know.”

Billy shook his head but offered no reply. What could he say?

After the dinner dishes were cleared away, Billy brought the ledger to the table. As hard as it was asking her for more money, it had to be done, so he put aside his doubts and focused on business. He shared everything that he had done up to that point and explained what the next steps would be, estimating the costs with her. He explained the process as best he could and was surprised by how much Alice understood. He was impressed by the level of questions she asked. Dumbing things down wouldn’t fly with this little fire cracker.

“I’m not trying to micro-manage you, Billy, but are you sure that the expenses can’t be reduced a little bit? Maybe negotiate some better rates with our trades?” she asked cautiously.

He was certain she was considering what was left in her budget. Billy nodded.

“I think I did the best I could, Alice. I could have gotten cheaper materials and chosen less qualified trades people, but honestly, in my experience you get what you pay for. In the long run, quality is the best investment. Having said that, I suppose I could cut a few corners, if that is what you want?”

He was certain she wouldn’t be comfortable with that.

“No, I don’t want to cut corners. It’s important that the Equine Center is state of the art. It’ll be the main selling feature of the resort.”

Billy offered a supportive nod.

“In for a penny, in for a pound, right?” she sighed.

He draped his arm loosely around her shoulder and pulled her in for a quick kiss on the forehead.

“It will be ok. This type of project isn’t for the faint-hearted. You’re doing great. My best advice to you is to stay focused on the end result. I’ll keep things running as smoothly as possible,” he assured her.

Alice smiled at him with all the trust in the world.

“Right,” she said, inhaling deeply. “How much do you need for the next installment?”

Alice picked up her phone and pulled up her bank app. Several minutes later, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, the transfer was complete. Easy peasy.

“Taken care of,” Alice said, tossing her phone gently onto the kitchen table.

“I’ll put it to good use,” he said, smiling at her. “Now that the business portion of our evening is over, how about some pleasure?”

Alice raised her eyebrows at him.

“Hm. What do you have in mind?”

Billy reached out and took both of her hands.

“Well, it is a hot night. Why don’t we go down to the pond and take a swim?” he suggested, massaging her palms with his thumbs.

Alice shrugged.

“Why not. I’ll go get changed into my bathing suit.”

“That is not what I had in mind,” he said, shaking his head mischievously.

Alice looked at him nervously. Skinny dipping wasn’t exactly her style. The pond was far enough away from the lodge to shield prying eyes, but Alice was nervous. Still, the flutter in her belly left little doubt as to how much the idea of being naked with Billy aroused her. As if sensing her reluctance, Billy leaned in and kissed her, his hands holding her face gently. He pulled back and looked at her, his eyes twinkling with encouragement.

“Come on, it will be fun,” he urged.

Alice smiled and nodded.

“Ok, let’s do it.”