Tempting the Billionaire Read online

  Not even his parents had said they were proud of him aloud. It was simply implied in the little things they did. The invitations were printed and sent out – and in less than a month, the hotel would be overrun with his father’s friends celebrating the new arrival of another Ichiyo family member that would transition into ownership someday.

  He’d taken business classes online but felt a strong sense of guilt when he’d changed his major to computer programming. He’d never told his family of his decision, yet it was there… and it was done. He could only imagine the lecture he would receive once the guests were gone. There would be no hiding it – his diploma would say Bachelor of Science in Computer Programming… and he would be lucky if they didn’t disown him.

  Of course, his stomach was in knots!

  He’d admitted to throwing up a few times but kept it to himself that he’d been unable to keep anything down but broth. Even his intestines had been in knots when he filed for his graduation certificate. Yes, he would walk across the stage at the university… but it would feel almost like a death march.

  Aaron had begun to feel a kinship with his American friend, so he had told her his name in a moment of weakness. Part of him had hoped she would share her own name. Names held honor, pride, and self-worth here in Japan – so for him it was taking down an invisible wall and baring himself to her… something she’d turned down immediately. JemC1995 needed the wall between them, the anonymity that the internet created. He understood that better than anyone.

  Quickly backing down, he was panicked that he’d driven away the one person that he felt he connected with. He had no one here that seemed to understand him on such a deep level in his psyche… but this young American girl did.

  He wanted to exchange names and a part of him wanted to send her a graduation present. He’d been through that before and she’d helped him deal with his nerves, but he knew that she wouldn’t like that. That would make things real, she had said. If she needed an imaginary friend in her life, he would be it. Her friendship made things real for him – and he needed that friend in his world.

  Real or imaginary.

  Chapter 4

  December 1999

  Jemma waved at the car driving away after her date had dropped her off for the evening back at her dorm. What a complete nightmare. She’d accepted the offer to go to dinner with Chad, and frankly had been flattered to be asked out.

  Dating had been something foreign to Jemma. She was the weird girl, changing her hair from purplish to red and back to brown. She still wore her green mascara and felt like it brought out her eyes – whether that was true or not, she didn’t care… but when the quarterback asked her out? She’d jumped at the chance to go out with the man. He was extremely cute and always had several girls fawning all over him. When he’d first asked her out, she thought he was joking, but he’d seemed so sincere.

  Turns out he wasn’t such a great catch.

  The guy, while he’d been nice in her analytics class… he was a self-proclaimed cheat. He wanted to use her to pass his classes. Jemma had choked on her iced tea when he asked her to sit in front of him during the exams so he could see over her shoulder.

  “You’re short, so the view is good for me,” he’d announced and winked at her. He obviously thought he was the cat’s meow, bestowing a boon on her for allowing her to accompany him out. He sat there in a smug fashion while she stewed internally, just staring at him in surprise and disbelief.

  Jemma asked for the check, signaling the end of their date – and he had let her pay. It was nauseating to see how different someone could be when you really got to know them, which is why Achoo seemed to be so perfect. She didn’t know him – and didn’t want to either, if it meant losing her only true friend.

  Entering into the dorm, she headed straight for her room down the main hallway. Walking in, she unlocked her private bedroom in the shared apartment, and slid open the window to let in some fresh air. The girl that shared her dorm this year wasn’t the cleanest. The faint whiff of body odor seemed to permeate everything. Thankfully, they would be sharing the room for only this semester.

  Cramming in as many hours as possible a semester – she was striving to finish her degree as quickly as possible, but finding it to be a herculean task. Jemma didn’t know how Achoo did it. She resigned it to the man being impossibly smart or horribly driven. He had to be! She was studying as much as possible and barely passing her classes. She was seeing tutors, going to study groups and meeting with other classmates – but the load of courses was overwhelming and at a breakneck speed.

  Sitting at her desk, she flipped open her textbook and began to read. Concentrating seemed to be an impossible task as she kept finding herself staring out the window into the night. She wanted to be anywhere but here right now, and wished that she could take off in one of the mechas she dreamed about, or simply disappear in a faraway land like a fairytale. Somewhere that the woodland creatures would pick up after her pigsty of a roommate. Ugh.

  Her date tonight was supposed to have consisted of dinner and then a party afterwards to ring in the New Year. Now, Jemma would ring it in alone. That was perfectly okay because she couldn’t see herself kissing Chad now after discovering that the cheater also chewed with his mouth open, smacking incessantly, like a cow chewing its cud.

  Ding!

  Glancing up, Jemma shook the mouse until the standby mode of her computer screen disappeared. Achoo had messaged her and it showed that it was barely ten in the morning his time. She read his text and grinned. How did they always seem to find each other when they were down? No wonder he was her best friend in the world – it was like they were on the same wavelength.

  I think I’ve completely lost it…

  Achoo had a flair for the dramatic when it came to talking about himself. She liked that about him and idly wondered if he did it for attention, or perhaps he was just a high-maintenance kinda guy. He had a pretty steady personality online, but often he led into a conversation with something that just hooked her attention.

  Lost what? Your marbles? Weight? Your keys? LOL

  I think I’ve lost my mind…

  Why?

  My dad is going to flip his proverbial old-fashioned lid.

  Uh-oh. Traditional and old-fashioned dad? That means this is a very UNtraditional idea you’ve got brewing in that brilliant head of yours – doesn’t it?

  Very much so! Tell me I am insane.

  Fine. You’re insane- now how about you tell me what’s going on?

  I have an idea and I’m dying to tell someone – but I can’t.

  It’s not like I am going to steal it, you know.

  No, I know – but you are going to think it’s nuts.

  Tell me…!

  I’m going to start my own company.

  Sounds good. You should.

  You don’t even know what it will be!

  So, tell me then already! Spit it out! I swear, the drama you create!

  Well, you know how people have been worried about this Y2K thing?

  Yes. In fact, I was going to ask you if I should do anything special to my computer. Should I unplug it or turn it off before midnight? Maybe I should upload any files to a disc in case it doesn’t boot back up?

  Jemma realized he wasn’t answering and knew deep down inside it had been a dumb question – but she was plagued with doubts. She’d heard on the radio that all the clocks were going to roll back to 1900 causing some major issues all over the world. In her mind, it was valid- even if he thought it was stupid.

  Are you seriously asking me this?

  You are the computer geek – not me. I’m going into marketing and business.

  Your computer will be fine – and that is where I got the idea. I think I am going to work on an artificial intelligence system that can help people.

  So why is that a bad idea?

  Because my father hates computers and believes I should work my way up in a company in order to be successful, or take over the
hotel.

  He has a point though. You have a ready-made job waiting for you.

  Yes, he does – but my views don’t align with the company I currently work for… and I am not ready to take over the hotel. That part of my life I can’t avoid forever, but I’m not there yet. I think I need to try this on my own.

  So, work for this mysterious company for the time being and begin developing your own business. You have a lot to come up with – your branding, your motto, not to mention your product you want to sell. You gotta make it before you sell it, Achoo.

  You’re right. One step at a time. See? I needed you to tell me I was insane LOL!

  No- I think it’s brilliant that you want something bad enough to go for it. If you want to run some of the marketing past me – I am always here to help. The software, however- you are on your own, my friend.

  Thank you.

  Aaron smiled softly at the computer. JemC1995 always seemed to know what to say and how to reach him. The thought of the year turning over to 2000 had many people in town, and at his work, losing their minds. The shrines had been filled with people praying for deliverance. His father had been abhorrent as of late – preaching the traditional lifestyle and arrogantly describing how soft the world had gotten as of late. Even his own mother had begun to panic.

  His father had been a handsome man when he was younger. Photos of him dressed in traditional robes were in frames and you could see his hair was pulled back tightly from his face in a topknot.

  His mother was another story.

  She’d been a nomad and was backpacking across Europe with several friends. When she’d come to Japan, everything changed for her. She’d adopted a traditional Japanese name and fell right into the culture.

  He remembered as a boy, he would ask her why she looked so different from other women in town and she would whisper stories to him of what the world was truly like. Great soaring cities, flagrant outfits, and freedom to do what you want – all you had to do was reach out and grab it. She’d claimed that coming to Japan felt like finally discovering her deepest inner soul – and marrying his father had been the best thing that had ever happened to her.

  It was comical to see her walking around in her robes and stockinged feet on the reed floors as she moved through the house unplugging things. She had brown hair that had grey streaks to it, but the striking thing was her green eyes. Green like a jade stone, his father said – and it was the only hint of how much he cared for her. He was very quiet, very solitary… until this week. Now, he berated anyone who would listen about how Y2K would cause all the modern appliances to break and everyone would have to adopt the traditional ways of life.

  As his mother unplugged things around the house, Aaron would cover his smiling face. She’d unplug his computer… and he would plug it back in. Neither understood that he knew for a fact that everything would work once again. Programming could be tweaked, adjusted, or modified – it would not set the world afire, nor would it throw them back into feudal times like his father preached. He could only imagine how angry his dad would be when he woke up on New Year’s Day to see everything was the same.

  That was part of the reason Aaron had gotten the idea to start his own company. There had to be a way to incorporate both of his worlds into one. The old and the new, making it accessible and easy to use. People who didn’t understand needed to be able to utilize a system to help them comprehend it. The company he worked for currently was building computer games, and while he thought that would be a fun venture, he was always dreaming of more.

  He had loved the mecha in Tempting the Stars television show… but what if that mecha thought for you? What if a robot could anticipate your needs or questions? That was when it hit him – but if he did this, that meant dedicating his time and efforts to a new business venture… forgoing his destiny of taking over the family hotel.

  Chapter 5

  2005

  Jemma flopped down on the couch and grabbed a pillow. Holding it tightly to her face, she screamed in frustration. Why on earth did she only attract the sickos? She’d given up on dying her hair years ago and took her mother’s advice – dressing for the job she wanted, not the one she had. Gone were the goth shirts, homemade outfits, and sweat pants. Now, she wore fitted dresses, dress slacks and blouses – her hair was styled simply in a long, flowing manner that reached the middle of her back.

  Classical – not trendy or fun.

  The girl inside of her still watched anime and ate popcorn until the early morning hours on the weekend, but the woman was a workaholic developing her own marketing strategy to move the things she loved most: computers. She believed you had to have passion in order to present or talk about something – and when it came to computer usage, her cup was overflowing! She’d fallen in love with the computer the first time she heard it dial-in online.

  Unfortunately, when she fell into marketing – she’d fallen into a cesspool of guys that seemed to only know how to brag or sell themselves. They were constantly pitching and she wasn’t buying any of it! She didn’t want to be associated with any of them. Their personas, their sleazy attitudes – it all sickened her. She was trying to get a foothold into the business, but was it something she really wanted to be a part of?

  After today’s failed dinner presentation – she was beyond disgusted and dismayed. Sitting there, she flung the pillow across the room angrily and stared up at the ceiling. What was she going to do? Should she go back to school and get a degree in something else? She kicked off her heels angrily and threw them at the wall, leaving black marks on the cheap apartment she could barely afford.

  Looking at her feet, she saw that she now had another run in her pantyhose and would need to trash them. There were only so many times you could mend them with clear nail polish. Her cell phone rang, piercing the silence and she snatched it up – she barked into the mouthpiece with a barely veiled hostility.

  “Yes? This is Jemma Hastings – may I help you?”

  “Miss Hastings, this is Clark Mercer. We just met at dinner with the firm you work for?” Muffling a groan, she knew that this was going to the be the first of many phone calls once word got out. Maybe she would lie down in a dark room and wait for mushrooms to grow on the remnants of her career thanks to Frank’s stupidity.

  “Mr. Mercer, I would like to apologize truly for my coworker’s behavior – I never dreamt that he would ever attempt to…”

  “Miss Hastings – that is why I am calling you directly. I have your card with your cellphone number on it and wanted to reach out. I saw the look of shame on your face when he asked my wife out to dinner. The man is lucky I didn’t hit him there on the spot! Do you hear me? He crossed a line that cannot be repaired by the firm you represent.”

  Jemma felt her face flood with shame as the scene replayed in her mind. It had been a horrendous situation and Frank had put his foot directly in his mouth, claiming that he could satisfy her more than a decrepit old man. She had been mortified – and still was! So much so that she barely caught Mr. Mercer’s next words.

  “You’ve got class and talent – but it’s being wasted with that firm. Let’s just say that if you were so inclined to branch off into your own marketing firm, I would hire you in a moment’s notice. Please keep me posted if you move companies. My wife truly liked your presentation, and I happen to think that she’s got great taste.”

  “Wait!” Jemma yelped, clutching the phone. Her father had always said that when one door closed, another opened. The proverbial door was being slammed in her face by her coworker, ruining the possibility of hiring on one of the biggest clients she’d ever pursued. Could this phone call be the opening she was looking for so desperately?

  “Yes?”

  Jemma sat silent on the phone for a moment, her mind racing. Maybe the answer to her dreams was being handed to her and she just had to make the leap. She didn’t have time to log in and talk to Achoo. She instead took a move from his playbook and stepped off the ledge. He had wanted m
ore and started his own business… perhaps she could do the same?

  “You are right, Mr. Mercer – and I believe I just quit the firm. When do we get started?”

  Slamming down his hands, Aaron ran his fingers through his dark hair with frustration. His business was struggling and he needed a breakthrough soon. The programming for the system he was developing kept hitting an error and locking up. He was having to restart the system every single time. He’d overcome the overheating the processor, he’d worked past firewalls, and now simply needed to make things more efficient.

  Getting up from the desk, he frowned and paced the room. He was back home to save expenses and it was driving him nuts. He could hear chatter from the other rooms through the thin walls and nothing was giving him peace. His mind raced through code after code, trying to find a way to get past the error. His website was functioning and he was still taking in orders to create other websites for people. It was money coming in, but only to fund his true project.

  I.

  Aaron Ichiyo.

  He had a dream to create a system that could think, talk, and function on its own. Someday he wanted to put it into a robot, but first he had to get the programming running right.

  “Aaron?”

  Turning, he saw his mother’s soft expression as she slid open the doorway to his room. That was another frustration – he had no privacy. Everyone seemed to be everywhere. The rooms of the hotel opened to the outside walkway to view the hot springs on one side and the ocean on the other. It was stunning and he should feel blessed but instead, he felt the cloying pull of familial duty…and it was strangling him.

  “Mother, is everything alright?”

  “I heard a noise and thought I would check on you.”

  “I’m fine – just working on a project and it’s aggravating me.”