by Cooper, Jodi
"Yep. It's time. Ready to open the doors to the non-caffeinated masses?" he joked.
"That sounds dangerous," she laughed. "Not quite actually," she put her hand on his chest to stop him from opening the door.
"What's wrong?" He asked concern tingeing his voice.
"Nothing is wrong per say, but I need to tell you something."
Hannah fiddled with the strings on her apron second-guessing herself and her choice of timing to have this conversation.
"Alright, but it is opening time on our first day and the people are waiting, honey. What is it?"
Nathan looked at her and saw the shy smile that he had fallen in love with spread across her face.
At least he knew it wasn't going to be bad news when she looked at him that way.
Hannah looked sheepish "We're going to have baby," she blurted it excitedly.
Nathan's face lit up, "Are you serious? You're pregnant?"
He laughed in excitement and rubbed her belly before he pulled her into a kiss that almost swept her off of her feet.
Nathan went to the entrance and pulled open the doors, "Free coffee for the first hour! In addition to celebrating the opening of our third cafe and bookshop we are celebrating another important event in our lives this morning. We're having a baby!"
Hannah smiled at how proud he was.
She couldn't have wished for a better man to be her partner.
She could not have wished for a better lover, either.
They still spent time as dom and sub, but that part of their lives was starting to fade. That adventure was drawing to a close.
Their sexual desire for each other was slowly being replaced by something else.
Something deeper.
Maybe it was love.
True love.
The crowd cheered at Nathan’s news, and Hannah laughed and hurried over to the register to start taking orders while people filed into the café picking up papers and browsing through the books and antiques that filled the walls.
Life couldn't be better.
Until it was.
The End
Jodi’s Note
I must give a special thanks to the wonderful Sarah, the magical Cara and the ever-reliant Beth.
I am very lucky to have these beautiful women in my life.
These hard working people have built this story up from a small idea into what it is today. Their love, faith and encouragement has enabled me to deliver this story. I cannot thank them enough.
Yesterday, I received the best feedback I have ever received – a fan said that they were entertained by my stories and that reading my books had helped them through a long-term illness.
That made me cry.
I cannot hope to do anything more than entertain – and it means the world to me that someone, somewhere is entertained by my work.
I feel truly blessed.
If you enjoyed this story, please check out my fan favorite - ‘The Billionaire’s Mansion’ series.
Much love
Jodi xx
Other titles by bestselling author Jodi Cooper:
Hired for the Billionaire’s Pleasure
The Billionaire’s Demands
The Billionaire Games
The Exclusive Club
The Billionaire’s Mansion
Return to the Billionaire’s Mansion
Interviewing the Billionaire
The Billionaire Actor
The Billionaire’s Assistant
The Secret Billionaire
Bad Boy Biker
The Billionaire Boss
The Billionaire’s Holiday Mansion
The Billionaire’s Wish
The Damaged Billionaire
Assistant to the Billionaire
Bonus Chapter:
Romance: Assistant to the Billionaire
Jodi Cooper
Bonus Chapter:
Romance: Assistant to the Billionaire
Jodi Cooper
When Jessica was nine years old, life seemed perfect.
She lived an easy childhood in the most exclusive suburb and her best friend, Rhett, lived next door. Born a month apart, Rhett and Jessica were inseparable… until Jessica’s father was arrested for fraud and thrown behind bars for twenty years.
That was the day that Jessica’s life fell apart. The courts took everything, including the house. Jessica had to say goodbye to her school, her life and to Rhett.
Fifteen years later, Rhett has inherited his father’s billion-dollar investment firm.
He has become a man who doesn’t take no for an answer. When he sets his sights on something, he gets it.
And this time, he has set his sights on a reunion with Jessica…
Chapter 1
I remember the day when the beautiful, blazing sunshine glistened off the perfectly cut green grass of my neighbor’s front lawn.
Lying on my back, I looked up to the clouds, watching in awe as the shapes changed from dragons, to rabbits, to bears.
“Look Jessica, that cloud is a spaceship,” Rhett called out as he lay next to me.
“Spaceship? No way. That’s a dragon. Can’t you see the arms and legs?”
Rhett laughed, “They’re not arms and legs – they’re guns!”
As innocent nine year olds, we laughed a lot together.
We were born one month apart, and at that point, we had lived next door to each other our entire lives. We were inseparable.
Life was so perfect then. Best friends forever.
I remember that moment clearly, lying innocently on the grass, gazing into the sky. That was the moment before my life changed forever.
“Are those police sirens?” Rhett asked about the distant noise.
I sat up and watched two police cars and an unmarked black sedan race onto the front lawn of my large house. I remember the black sedan more than the police car because it was the sedan that carried the two men in suits.
The police and the men in suits marched into my house as Rhett and I sat on his lawn next door, watching in silence.
They dragged my father out onto the front steps, throwing him to the ground and handcuffing his hands behind his back. My mother came screaming out of the house after him but one of the police officers held her back.
I felt so sick to the stomach.
They arrested my father, a man I hardly saw thanks to his business, and dragged him out of my life.
I didn’t know it at the time but my father was in charge of large investment firm that was knocking people off for the sake of money. He was charged with conspiracy to murder, fraud and embezzlement. Years later when they read out the amount of money he defrauded people by, my mouth dropped.
That explained our massive mansion in the nicest neighborhood and all his expensive cars.
Mom kept me home from school for a week after that day. She didn’t want to subject me to the rumors about my father. But when I went back to school, I heard them all.
I knew he wasn’t a nice man but I didn’t know how truly bad he was.
In the end, the suits took everything.
My mother sat on the front lawn of our mansion, crying into her hands, while the police, the suits and removal men took all of our possessions.
We were left with almost nothing.
Not even the house.
It was all tied up with my father’s fraudulent behavior and the police seized everything. Luckily, Mom put a little bit of cash aside and was able to buy an old, beaten up car and put a deposit down on a rental apartment in the city. I can’t imagine how much it hurt my mother to drive that old clunker into our very exclusive neighborhood.
But she did.
She stayed strong.
She was, and still is, a very determined, tough woman and she taught me everything I need to know. She is a beautiful, resilient woman.
That experience taught me that we don’t need men. We are strong women. We can look after ourselves.
The day we moved out of the neigh
borhood stays strong in my memory.
I remember Mom putting one box of belongings in the boot of the car, slamming it shut and nodding her goodbye to our neighbors. Our neighbors all loved Mom, but were afraid to help in case they were seen being associated with my father. All the people in that neighborhood had skeletons in their closets, and none of them wanted the police snooping around in there.
Nine-year-old Rhett stood on his front lawn, staring at our car.
I waved goodbye but he just kept staring. As Mom started the car to leave, I couldn’t bear it any longer. I jumped out of the back seat and ran across our lawn to him.
He hugged me, tightly.
“Don’t go,” he said.
“I have to go.”
His eyes were full of tears as he looked to the ground.
“But we’ll see each other again,” I reassured him.
The look on Rhett’s parents face said that my statement wasn’t going to be true. They weren’t going to be associated with criminals like my family.
“Best friends forever?” Rhett asked with big, vulnerable eyes.
I nodded, “Best friends forever.”
Then he gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek.
And it was the most special kiss of my life…
Chapter 2
15 years later…
Dragging my feet, I sulk back into my Mom’s house after another unsuccessful day of job searching.
I recently finished my degree in business management from USC and I was so proud of myself. My Mom had to work two jobs just to make sure that I actually could go to college, and I worked two jobs as well.
But now, even with this degree, I still can’t find decent work and it is starting to make me upset. I mean, what’s the point of having the thing if I can’t do anything with it? That single piece of paper cost me well over fifty-grand, a lot of stress and a lot of heartache, and I still can’t do anything with it!
Everything just seems so hopeless.
I know that most of the kids I went to college with are either starting work with their parents or their parents had gotten them in at some good business with their connections. I unfortunately don’t have that luxury, although I wish I did.
“Another long day?” asks my Mom, looking me over.
“One like you wouldn’t believe. I had two more interviews and filled in even more applications online and still nothing,” I say. “I’m starting to think that I will never find a job. Why’s it so hard out there, Mom?”
“Well, I think that I may have a way to help you with the job search,” she says.
“At this point, I’m willing to do anything. Even stripping,” I say with a straight face.
Of course I am not serious, but with the way things were going, it doesn’t seem so bad right now. Maybe a girl with a degree will impress the men at the stripper clubs?
Mom laughs and shakes her head. “Well, you can calm down dear; you can keep your clothes on for this one. Do you remember Rhett and his family?”
“Of course I do, Mom,” I roll my eyes.
“So you know that Rhett’s Dad passed away a couple of years ago, right?”
I nod my head. “Yes Mom. We went to the funeral, remember?”
“Oh yes. We sat in the back row, didn’t we?”
I nod, “It was the last time I saw his family.”
She smiles, “Well, Rhett now is the head of his father’s company and I’ve reached out to his mother.”
“Ok…”
“And she has helped me land you an interview to be his personal assistant.”
“What?”
“It’s a job, Jessica.”
“What does a personal assistant even do, Mom?” I ask her. “And what made you decide to reach out to his Mom after all of these years? Doesn’t that seem a little weird? Or have you two been in contact with each other for a while?”
“Right now you just need a job,” Mom avoids my question. “And a job is a job right? And you will get to work with your old friend Rhett.”
“You guys have been in touch, haven’t you?”
“Of course his mother and I have stayed in touch over the years. She was a good friend of mine and we still chat from time to time to discuss how things are going in our lives. It’s not like I just called her out of the blue and was like ‘I know we haven’t spoken in years but can you give my daughter a job?’”
My head immediately starts pounding because it’s clear that she sees nothing wrong with the situation.
“Mom I haven’t talked to Rhett in years! You and his Mom can’t just possibly expect him to just hand me a job because we were close friends when we were younger. After we moved I barely saw him and I doubt that he will be willing to do us any favors. He probably doesn’t even remember me. I mean, do you even think before you do things, because this is madness! You two have kept in touch where Rhett and I haven’t. There’s a big difference in the dynamics of our relationships.”
She places her hand on top of mine and gently squeezes it, “Sweetie, it’s not really a favor. You are more than qualified to do this job. You have a degree and you are super smart, even if he didn’t know you and you were some stranger off of the street, you would have a chance at this job. All Vivian did was give you a push in the right direction. It’s up to you to use the opportunity. Rhett’s family owns a multi-billion dollar investment firm - think of the experience you can gain from a job like that and how nice it will look on your resume.”
“But Mom…” I try to protest.
“I know you don’t like anyone doing you any favors but you have to admit that this is a great opportunity for you whether you agree with me or not. I just think that you should give it a chance.”
I sigh in defeat, “I guess you’re right, Mom. It’s not like I’m in a position to turn down a job opportunity anyway and this is probably a great one.”
“Of course I’m right! I’m your mother. I’m always right. Just make sure you dress like you’re all about business. We got you in the door; it’s up to you to stay in it. So, no jeans and no t-shirts. You have to look professional. I know that you were friends once but you don’t want anyone to think that you don’t deserve the opportunity.”
“Who even says things like that Mom?” I laugh. “I know how to dress for an interview. I’ve been doing it every day for two months. I know not to slack off just because Rhett is an old friend.”
“You can’t tell me that you aren’t even the littlest bit excited to see Rhett again?” she says. “I know you and I’ve known that you thought about him some over the years and I can’t blame you. You two were so close. Maybe his mother and I should’ve made more of an effort to keep you guys as friends.”
I stare at her.
I know what she means.
When I saw Rhett last, he had grown into a man.
He was definitely no longer the boy I once knew.
He was tall and broad, like his father, but with the beautiful features of his mother.
Heart-pounding gorgeous.
“It’s been a while Mom. If anything, I guess it’ll be good to catch up,” I say as I let her words sink in.
My mind drifts back to the first month after we moved into our crummy apartment.
I begged my Mom to take me to visit Rhett and she kept saying no. She didn’t want to be judged by our old neighbors for what my father had done. The embarrassment was too much for her.
And then when I told her that Rhett’s limo driver could pick me up and take me to his house she refused that as well, saying that it would cause too much of a disturbance in front of our new place.
After a while I just quit asking because it seemed like I was never going to get to go and that it was a lost cause. Rhett and I wrote each other letters for a while but even that ended.
I think that I stopped writing to him first because it was starting to get too hard to be away from my old life and then he eventually let it stop too. I still have those letters in a shoebox somewhere.
Mom claps her hands together excitedly, bringing me back to reality, “This is wonderful! Now I can tell Vivian that you said yes and she can confirm it with Rhett but the interview is at nine in the morning so be ready. I’m so excited for you. Maybe you two can become friends again. You never know, right?”
“At nine?”
“Well, I might have said that you already said yes…”
“Mom!”
“It’s an opportunity, sweetie,” she smiles. “Just be ready and on time, ok?”
“I will be ready Mom,” I shake my head. “And I don’t know about the friend thing. We’re not kids anymore and I’m sure we can’t just pick up where we left off. Our worlds became completely different after that day.”
Mom nods.
She still doesn’t like to talk about it.
“Okay… well wash your hands. I left some food for you in the microwave. I had a feeling that you wouldn’t be here on time to eat with me so I put it up for you.”
“Thanks Mom,” I say, rolling my eyes.
What she really meant was that she knew that while I was out all day, the only thing I stuffed myself with were candy and coffee and she just wanted to make sure that I got something that wasn’t toxic in my stomach.
“I saw that, young lady. Don’t think that you aren’t too old to get across my knee. Your eyes are going to get stuck like that if you keep rolling them,” she says.
I laugh. “Mom I’ve never been across your knee and you always say that and my eyes still have yet to have gotten stuck.”
She smiles and then mock frowns. “Just don’t think that it’ll never happen. There’s a first time for everything, young lady.”
“Okay Mom I’ll keep that in mind.”
She picks up her cell phone and heads out of the room while I go wash my hands in the bathroom. I open the microwave and see that she has made my favorite chicken dish.
Since I was going to the interview in the morning, I decide that I need to do a little research for the job so I pull my laptop towards me and open it.