This Billionaire's Delivery: This Billionaire, #35

By Rachel Foster

Russell is a billionaire who is successful with an online delivery service. Now he's dappled into same day floral deliveries and has had a huge success. One day he notices his marketing director Claire's boyfriend has ordered flowers to be sent to someone else. Confused on what to do, he decides to tell her. Now he's comforting his assistant and falling for her at the same time. Will they be able to separate work from pleasure or will everything come crashing down? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: 3rd Publishing
• Release date: Mar 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215249666

Book preview

This Billionaire's Delivery

Rachel Foster

Copyright © 2018 by Rachel Foster

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

1. Russell

2. Claire

3. Russell

4. Claire

5. Russell

6. Claire

7. Russell

8. Claire

9. Russell

10. Claire

11. Russell

12. Claire

13. Russell

14. Claire

15. Russell

16. Claire

17. Russell

18. Claire

19. Russell

20. Claire

21. Russell

22. Claire

23. Russell

24. Claire

25. Russell

26. Claire

27. Russell

28. Claire

29. Russell

30. Claire

31. Russell

32. Claire

33. Russell

34. Claire

35. Russell

36. Claire

37. Russell

38. Claire

39. Russell

Epilogue – Claire

1

Russell

I

folded my arms behind my head, swaying lightly back and forth in my cushy leather chair. Remember, Johnson, I said, I’m not in the mood for any kind of news except good news. So tell me what’s good.

My brother and business partner looked at me from where he stood next to my desk, a slight frown on his face. Not in the mood? he repeated. Did something happen that I’m not aware of?

Oh, no, it’s just that I’m trying out this new thing where I don’t allow any negativity into my life, I said breezily. Only positive vibes from now on.

You’ve been staying up late and watching those weird shows again, haven’t you? What’s next? You’re going to buy crystals and burn incense? You know your assistant has allergies.

She can put my paperwork into a bottle and roll it to me from the doorway.

Like a message in a bottle from shipwreck survivors? Johnson shook his head at me. I think she should just throw that bottle straight at your head.

I laughed aloud and grinned at him. I’m only screwing with you. Tell me. How are things looking?

Buck Ventures was the name of my company. We worked with clients from all walks of life, from corporations to small businesses to individuals, who needed to get things from point A to point B. Sometimes that was merchandise. Sometimes it was an ordinary package. We worked with our users to provide the best delivery experience possible, streamlining and simplifying the entire experience for everyone involved.

Most of our business was local, but we also had the ability to go across the country for a slightly elevated fee.

The recent market for faster deliveries within a smaller area had grown exponentially in the past couple years. Everyone used courier services now to get their meals brought to them, and to have their purchases delivered by the next day, or even the same day.

I’d had my Data and Trends guys watching the situation for quite some time to see if this was something that we should be interested in or if it was something that people would gradually lose interest in, the same way interest was lost in fidget spinners and celebrity podcasts. All the information had pointed to faster deliveries being here to stay, only growing in popularity. I would have been remiss not to jump on the bandwagon -and take control of it, if at all possible.

Thus, over the past several months, procedures and protocols for the fastest Buck delivery service yet, Deer Watch, had been put into place. It launched only last week. Today marked the momentous occasion when we would finally have enough information on Deer Watch to see how it was doing and what, if anything, could use improvement.

Johnson gestured to the clipboard he was holding. You’re going to like this. Deer Watch is more of an instant success than a majority of our competitors. Of course, we kind of stood on the backs of giants for this one. We had plenty of precedents to learn from.

I pumped my fist. Hell, yeah, we did. But that’s business, baby. Keep going. Tell me more.

Johnson made a face. Don’t call me baby. That’s weird, bro. Anyway, it certainly helped that we also already had a good reputation. We didn’t come out of nowhere expecting people to trust us. We have a solid, dedicated userbase with plenty of new customers coming on and sticking with us all the time. Russell, this may be one of our smartest business decisions yet. Not only do people love Deer Watch, this sets a new precedent for us. We’ve proven that we can beat people at their own game. We can do it again with anything we set our minds to. It’s awesome. Now, for the actual numbers.

He then read directly from the clipboard, listing numbers and complex percentages. I listened and tried to keep up with him. For a CEO, I wasn’t all that great with numbers. I had grown up with undiagnosed dyslexia until the age of 14. At that point, once I was diagnosed, my parents were able to get me the help I needed, and I had learned many valuable tricks for how to distinguish similar numbers and letters, how to picture them properly in my head and apply meaning to them. That didn’t mean it was easy, though.

Luckily, I knew he would be sending me an email with these numbers later on and I’d be able to view them in private and memorize them at my own pace. My disability could be frustrating, as it occasionally slowed me down, but I knew it had also made me a more careful man and a better business owner as a result.

Really, the numbers didn’t matter so much, anyway. Johnson had already told me what I really needed to know. Our delivery service was a great hit. We had teams of Deer, who were the delivery drivers, on their bicycles, motorcycles, and in their cars. Real-time tracking of their progress could be done by using our app service. That was why we called it Deer Watch. We had learned from other services who used those GPS trackers and built our own from the ground up, creating a seamless experience that didn’t glitch or show false results.

Johnson finished his numerical monologue and looked at me. I smiled at him and said, Those other guys don’t have anything on us. We’re only going to get more powerful and continue to expand. They’re shaking in their shoes right about now, I bet.

Hell, yeah, they must be! Johnson agreed. He held up his hand to give me a high-five and I slapped him one. The Buck brothers are unbeatable.

Whenever we agree on something, yeah!

I chuckled. Well, I’m glad that things are going well. I guess the most we can do right now is watch and listen, and fix any problems that might arise.

Johnson nodded his agreement. There hadn’t been any problems thus far and all our test runs had gone perfectly, and the release of the service was successful, but there would be issues. There would be glitches. Orders would be lost. Human error would come into play and create a less-than-ideal experience for the customer. We would handle it the same way we handled any other issue, with poise and grace, and the understanding that we were different from other corporations because we acted instead like a small business. Our customers were family. We went out of our way for them, like you did with family.

So, now that business is out of the way, I said, are you going to come over to Mom and Dad’s for dinner? They invited me this morning, but I don’t know if I’m currently the favorite child and you weren’t invited.

Yeah, I’ll be coming, Johnson replied. He took the papers from his clipboard and tapped them on my desk to neaten the stack. Any idea what the food is?

I think it’s meatloaf.

Nice. Love a good meatloaf. Johnson replaced the papers in his clipboard and climbed out of his seat. I’ll let you get back to whatever it is that CEO’s do.

I chuckled. Well, first I’m going to gaze out the window of my office down at the city and think about how one day I’m going to own all of Wichita. Then, I’ll make myself some coffee with far too much booze in it because I know all of my underlings will take care of my business for me. Then, I believe I’ll take my private elevator down to the parking garage where my Lambo is waiting in my private spot, and I’ll drive off without letting anyone know. And tomorrow I’ll come back and listen with joy on how much trouble I’ve caused.

A busy schedule, then, Johnson deadpanned.

Yeah, I wish. Actually, no, I don’t. I love my job. And anyway, you would just go to our parents and tattle on me. You always were a tattletale when we were kids.

Hey, someone has to be responsible for keeping the powerful people in charge. Johnson walked to the office door and pulled it open. Have fun with that whiskey-coffee.

I waved him out and he shut the door behind himself. I decided to skip my window-gazing and went straight to the coffee machine on my mini bar. I did not put any whiskey into it, despite my jokes.

I brought my mug of coffee back to my desk and sat down behind my computer to begin working. The life of a CEO was surprisingly boring, all things considered. There was a lot of reading, signing paperwork, and emailing people to make minor, pedantic corrections.

By the time I had finished with the current batch of emails needing my attention, it was already time to head out. I gathered up my things and tucked them away in my briefcase, except for my car keys. I kept those in my hand as I went out of the office, which I made sure to lock behind me, and to my personal elevator. Well, it was mine, but several others also had the passcode. Johnson, for example, and my assistant, and several other important employees who might need to come and see me at any moment.

The ride down was smooth, almost buttery, the motion hardly detectable. The elevator chimed a ding and the doors opened to the well-lit parking garage. The garage was mostly empty at this time of day, with most of the nine-to-fivers having gone long ago and the night workers having yet to show up. It was a damn nice garage too, cleaned and painted and maintained on a regular basis to keep it from looking like a horror movie set.

I walked around the wall of the garage and behind a gate to the private parking area. My Lamborghini and a few other cars were there. I pressed the button on my key as I walked up and the Lambo started up, the headlights blinking on. I wasn’t such a material person, but I loved that car. It was so sleek and powerful-looking, and the paintjob was amazing, gold with abyss-black accents.

I opened the door and climbed inside. The air-conditioning was on, blowing cool air in my face. I put on my seatbelt and shifted out of park and into drive. I maneuvered out of the parking space and went to the gate. I lowered my window and reached out to the console and tapped the passcode into the display -the code was different from the one for my elevator, to minimize security risks. There were also at least two, perhaps three, security cameras pointed over in this direction.

My code was accepted and the gate lifted up. I drove the Lambo through and navigated out of the garage and into the city proper. The sun was setting and the skyscrapers looked like they were on fire, blazing gold and red and orange. The streets and roads were equally clustered with people and cars, everyone on their way to somewhere else.

I listened to music while working my way through the traffic, then turned the volume down as I left the main industrial streets behind and entered the quieter, neighborhood areas of the city. There were fewer cars but almost just as many people, though these folks weren’t rushing around. They were taking their time as they walked their dogs, rode bikes with their kids, strolled on the sidewalks, holding hands with their lovers. They watched the sky from benches, or stood at the edge of fields to take pictures of rabbits hopping around amidst the fresh green grass and vivid wildflowers.

There was no reason to hurry when everything good was already in the area.

I pulled off onto a street that led to yet another gate. My parents lived in a very nice gated community and this was one of only two ways out by car. The guard team was small for the sake of efficiency, and the man in the gatehouse recognized my car and had the gate up before I even had the time to slow down. I waved to him as I drove on through and went straight to my parents’ place from there.

Johnson’s car was already there. He was married and drove something a little more sensible, though the sensible end of luxury was still plenty luxurious.

I parked next to his car in the driveway and walked up to the front door. Opening the door, a warm and savory smell reached my nostrils and my stomach cramped with a sudden hunger. I realized that I had skipped lunch without even really thinking about it, to give myself more time to track the day’s operations. I was starving.

I ignored Johnson and my dad, Bill, who were both in the living room, and went straight to the kitchen. Mom stood in front of the oven with the door open, peering inside. I grabbed onto her around the waist.

She yelped and jumped. Thomas! You’ll scare me half to death doing that one of these days. She turned around and hugged me tightly around the shoulders.

I grinned at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Aw, Mom, you know you’re way too strong to be done in by a little hug.

Not when you hug me while my back is turned and I’m looking in the oven, she scolded. Then, she touched my cheek to take the harshness from her words. I’m glad you’re here, though. Now you can help me set the table.

Fine, I groaned, feeling like a little kid again.

I went to the cabinets and took out enough dishes for all of us, and then made a stop by the silverware drawer. I set everything out on the table. I was hungry enough that the napkins were beginning to look tasty.

Here, put this on the table, Mom called out. I went to her and took the hot serving bowl she offered me. Green beans. I plucked a couple out and put them in my mouth before bringing the rest to the table. She made the best green beans, crisp, buttery, with a kick of garlic and pepper.

I also set out macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and rolls as Mom handed them to me. I took a spoon from the place I’d set for myself and shoveled up a mouthful of the macaroni.

Russell! Mom scolded.

Uh oh. Caught.

Everyone, dinner is ready, she called. You had better come and get some before Russell eats all of it.

Hey, I said, my voice garbled by half-chewed macaroni. I swallowed thickly. Hey, you don’t have to call me out. I even used my own spoon.

Johnson walked into the dining room and pushed at me with his hands. Out of the way, man. Or I’ll spread a rumor about you around the office.

Boys, Mom scolded. You both behave or you don’t get any meatloaf.

Johnson and I looked at each other, and a silent agreement passed between us. We would behave. For now.

We all sat down at the table and started passing the food around. As Mom scooped mashed potatoes onto Dad’s plate for him, she asked, How is work? I know you’ve both been incredibly busy with your new service.

You start, I instructed Johnson, and began to eat.

Johnson rolled his eyes and told Mom and Dad about the week of work that we’d been enduring and how the delivery service was doing. I listened as well, because this was a simplified version without all the numbers involved and I wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. It turned out that I hadn’t, and I was proud of myself. It wasn’t easy to overcome a disability that literally changed how I perceived the world, and I took my wins where I could get them.

When Johnson finally finished yapping, I jumped in. It’s so easy that anyone with a phone can do it. What do you say, Dad? Think you should test it out on Mom? You can buy her something with just the push of a button.

Dad gave a sort of laugh. Yeah, I might have to do just that.

I smirked. Then, I caught the glance Dad threw at Mom. I frowned, unable to really understand what I had just seen. It hadn’t seemed like the cozy, fond look married couples should give each other.

I looked over at Johnson and lifted my eyebrows. He gave a subtle nod, letting me know that he had also seen it. I turned back to our parents. How have things been with you guys? I asked, as casually as possible. No problems or anything?

Mom and Dad looked at each other again and then they both shook their heads, laughing. Of course not. That’s just silly.

I didn’t believe them. Something was wrong.

I was about to press the issue when I felt a tapping on my foot under the table. I shot a look at Johnson and he shook his head at me, warning me to let it go.

I frowned and turned back to my plate, stabbing my fork into the meatloaf. Maybe I was worrying too much. Our parents loved each other. Whether they’d had an argument or something, it would be fine in the end.

2

Claire

L

ibbey came into our office with a stack of books and set them down on the corner of my desk. We’re going to need these, she said.

I started and twisted to face her. Huh? What for? Occasionally, we used reference books and grabbed records to cross-reference from the archives in the basement of Buck Ventures, but this was a bit much. I reached for one of the books to see what it was about, to get some idea of the dilemma we had to be facing if we needed so many books.

The book was upside-down. I turned it around the right way and peeked at the cover. How to Adjust to Fame.

Huh? I asked again. I looked around for Libbey. She had gone back to her own desk and was turning her computer on. I think you picked up the wrong one by mistake.

Libbey didn’t speak, lost in concentration while entering her overly-complex computer password. It never failed to amuse me, the lengths she went to for security, combining symbols and letters in patterns that seemed like alien language. And she changed her passwords very often, too.

While she was distracted, I checked out the other books and wound up equally as confused. Sudden Fame: A Biography. Stress Coping Mechanisms for a Better Life. The Celebrity Lifestyle.

Okay, I said, unable to keep quiet any longer, even while my best friend was concentrating. What’s going on? Did you win the lottery or something?

Libbey laughed. I just thought that we might need some reference points because of how well the delivery service is going.

I looked at her and just laughed. Seriously? You’re going to go this far for a joke?

Hey, the library is free! As long as it doesn’t cost me anything, I’ll do it. Libbey laughed a lot and took the books off my desk. I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.

I smiled and shook my head and turned back to my computer. Well, good luck actually reading all these before they’re due back in four weeks.

Oh, I let the librarian in on what I was planning because she noticed, um, a theme. She even asked me the same question you did! Libbey laughed. I think if I had won the lottery, I’d be a bit more subtle about it.

As your best friend, I have to let you know that no, you wouldn’t.

Well, maybe not, Libbey conceded. She sat down in her chair and scooted closer to my desk. Anyway, the librarian said I didn’t even have to check the books out. She just let me take them and said she was fine with me having them as long as I brought them back, or dropped them off, on my next day off. I said I would, and she said I had better, as she knows where I live.

She sounds pretty scary!

Aw, she was just a sweet old lady. It was cool of her to help me with my prank.

It was, I agreed. I opened my work email account and barely resisted the urge to groan at just how many emails I had waiting for me to read them. You know, I can’t believe exactly how much this same-day delivery stuff is taking off. It’s almost unbelievable to me that people are so eager to have their things instantly. Haven’t they ever heard that the best things are worth waiting for?

The best things might be worth waiting for, but you can get some pretty good things in a couple hours. Libbey smiled at me. She rolled back over to her desk and placed her hands on her computer keyboard.

When you’re right, you’re right.

"And anyway, you should be the one who does believe that Deer Watch has taken off! You led the team! Take that credit, girl."

I blushed. I still couldn’t believe that I had been promoted to Marketing Director and then almost immediately assigned to such a big project. All the hard work I’d put into this job was paying off in a major way. But I can’t take all the credit. You and your top-notch design work is what everyone’s going to see all the time. You and the programmers are the ones who really brought this to life.

I twirled my hair, self-conscious.

Libbey smiled. Look at you! How cute. Anyway, sure, I made all the pretty logos and designed the page layouts, but no part of this project would have come together without you guiding all of us. Especially the tech guys and gals. You really increased our level of communication. You’re the reason all of this reached fruition so fast.

It helps that everyone was amazing and talented. The people you chose to be on your team are some of the best designers I’ve ever seen.

Libbey was the director of web design. She had a masters in graphic design and was just an amazing artist all around. There had been no better choice in the world to be put on the team with me, and all the other directors and managers.

Libbey rolled her computer chair closer to mine and put her arms around me. I hugged her back.

You know it’s Friday, right? Libbey whispered into my ear. You’ve worked so damn hard already. You should take a break and come out and celebrate at the club with me. We haven’t gone out and had real fun since the start of the project.

My heart sank. I think you’re right about taking a break and I would totally agree to that, but I already made similar plans with Mike. We’re going on a date to this chic bar and grill downtown. I’m sorry.

Hey, don’t apologize! Libbey rubbed my arm and began to roll her chair back to her desk. You and Mike deserve to have some time together. I love bar and grill restaurants.

Yeah, I guess this one is supposed to be pretty good. Can I take a rain check on that celebration with you?

Absolutely. Libbey smiled at me.

I smiled back at her.

Then, we both got to work.

We used to have our own separate offices, but then Russell Buck had announced his new project and chose a bunch of us at the top of our respective career fields to be on the team. He had us all moved to temporary offices that were all on one floor, almost at the very top of the building. It was easier for all of us to meet that way, including him.