Unwrapped by The Billionaire

by Joanna Nicholson

  Nora was holding her breath, unsure of how her father was going to react, but he burst out laughing. Which made Theo laugh too and Nora covered her mouth with her hands in surprise and delight.

  “Come here so I can kick your ass then, Theodor!” Andy barked joyfully and the two men hugged and Andy slapped Theo’s back.

  Then he turned to her and walked over to her side and got down on both knees. His face was now at level with hers and they stared at each other. It was too emotional for Nora to not cry and her eyes welled up with tears.

  “I couldn’t think of a better place or a better time to do it in,” he said and she watched as he pulled a blue velvet box out of his pocket. He snapped it open and a huge teardrop shaped diamond ring sparkled at her.

  “Nora Rose Moor, will you be my wife?” he asked and she bit down on her lip before she nodded her head wildly. Theo Heffernan was asking her to marry him. Of all the crazy things that could have happened in this world!

  “In a heartbeat,” she said.

  2. Ace's Gamble

  By: Natasha Spencer

  Ace's Gamble

  © July 2017 – All rights reserved

  By Natasha Spencer,

  Published by Passionate Publishing Inc.

  This is a work of fiction. All names and characters in this novel are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is entirely coincidental.

  This book is for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher.

  Warning

  This book is intended for adult readers, 18+ years old. Please close this e-book if you are not comfortable reading adult content.

  Chapter 1

  The sun was hot on Christie’s back, baking her sensitive skin. She sighed and adjusted her hair to cover her neck. She knew that she must be sunburned already, and she had only been out for only about ten minutes or so. The sun in Phoenix was brutal and it was something that Christie was finding to be quite the adjustment.

  The weather was quite different here from where she grew up in Minnesota. Of course, Christie knew that it got hot in the summer, but she had no idea. The heat was searing. Sometimes she wished she had stayed home.

  She had moved about three months ago, and Christie knew that living in Phoenix was going to be a huge change. But, jobs were hard to come by and when an opportunity came up for a new journalist in Phoenix, that's where Christie went. So, she packed up and moved into a small rented apartment in a house a couple miles from downtown.

  It wasn't just the climate that was different, the size and pace of the city was also a huge change. She grew up in Anoka, a really small town where she pretty much knew everyone, and people were always so friendly. When she first arrived in Phoenix, Christie didn't know a soul.

  the move was pretty much all or nothing, and it was a climate and pace that Christie had had to adjust to damn quickly to survive. Christie looked up as the Valley Metro bus rumbled past. She glanced at the time and dipped her head again, scrolling through the music in her playlist. Her bus wasn’t here yet, but that was okay. She was on time for work.

  That first week had been the most difficult. Given where she came from, Christie had no clue about the distance and time she needed to get from place to place. As a result, she had first been way too late for work, and then the next day way too early after she panicked and took an earlier bus. It was a delicate balancing act and it took Christie a few days to really get the hang of it.

  Christie shut her eyes waiting for the bus, and clicked on the song of her choice. It had been a busy few weeks, that much was for sure. She had moved cities, found an apartment, and threw herself into her new job. Her determination to succeed was only stronger now. She was more determined to make it than she ever had been before, now that she had gotten a taste of the life she wanted. She had left home feeling heartbroken, but determined. She had just gone through a bad breakup, and she promised herself that she would never let a man dictate her life again.

  It was her life, and her choices and she wasn’t about to stay in a small town and a dead-end job because of a man who was threatened by her ambition. So she had applied for work and took the first contract that she could get. She had jumped on a train, bags in hand, ready to leave her old life behind.

  That had been three months ago and so much had changed. Christie found herself loving the pace of the city more and more. It was fast and it was exciting. It was everything that she had ever hoped for. The pounding rhythm in her heart matched that of the street, and she threw herself into every challenge.

  She hadn’t made many friends yet, but her colleagues were nice enough, and she didn’t mind. She had no sort of love interest and while she couldn’t ignore the sting of loneliness in the cooler evening air, she found it easy to push it aside in the crush of the day.

  Besides, she didn’t miss her ex. She just missed the companionship. She missed having someone to talk to, although she knew it wasn’t worth compromising her future or her happiness. No man was worth that. If she found anyone again, she wasn’t going to just settle. He needed to be someone special and Christie was yet to go out enough to find anyone who fit the bill.

  The bus pulled up and Christie stood, sliding through the doors and making her way to a seat after scanning her card. She sat down and stared out of the window, watching the world pass her by. The bus was slightly crowded, but not too bad. She felt a woman sit next to her and she turned, gave a polite smile, and turned back to the window.

  Truth be told, work was consuming her life, and Christie didn’t mind. She wasn’t in a permanent position after all, and she needed to prove herself to her boss. It was a provisional hire to see how well she would do in the company and how well she would fit in with her colleagues.

  She had just under four months to prove herself. After that, the decision would be made as to whether or not to keep her on permanent staff. Christie was keeping her fingers crossed for a full-time position, and was working as hard as she could to get there.

  The bus turned a corner and she smiled as the building came into view. It was tall and imposing and yet it made Christie’s heart beat just a little faster. She loved her job. She didn’t know how many people could say that with any sort of honesty or conviction, but Christie could. She enjoyed her job and she wanted to do it.

  Three years of journalism school and two more languishing in a dead-end office where the best story in the paper was the one about the church bake sale. She had longed for more, longed for a job that had the opportunity for real stories. She was a journalist at heart and she was determined to follow that dream, chase that passion and make it a reality.

  Her heart burnt, passionate and sure that she was on the right path. She loved every part of her job, even the terrible admin work that left everyone grumbling. She grumbled alongside them, not wanting to put anybody out, but in her heart of hearts, she knew this was just where she belonged.

  The city and her job had staked a claim on her heart, and who was Christie to deny them?

  The bus arrived at her stop and she squeezed past everyone, stepping lightly out and onto the street. A few more people spilled out after her, before the doors shut with a sickly sounding wheeze, and the bus took off down the street again.

  Christie took a deep breath and realized that, on some level, she still felt as nervous as she had the first time she had gone to work. She supposed this had something to do with the fact that she still didn’t know if they were going to keep her on staff or not.

  Fixing a smile on her face, Christie walked through the office. It was bustling and busy and just how she liked it. Christie felt her heart spike, pleasure rushing through her. It was like seeing an old friend, comforting and welcoming. It was like everything in the world was right again.

  She greeted her colleagues with a polite smile and a wave, before making her way to her desk. She put down her things and looked around, th
inking about how lucky she was to be working in a place as fantastic as this. She flicked on her laptop and waited for it to load up her documents.

  As she did, she opened the folder on her desk and flicked through story ideas. She’d written a few for the paper in the last three months. None of them were particularly ground-breaking, but she thought that they were pretty decent, at the very least.

  She hadn’t been given much opportunity to take on the big stories, but she assumed that would come with time and experience. Being impatient wasn’t going to help her at all. Taking a deep breath, Christie got straight into her work.

  She didn’t look up until at least an hour later, when she felt someone tap on her shoulder. Christie turned around with a start to see Jane grinning at her. Jane was about Christie’s age; she had short blond hair that was spiked up, and she wore glasses in a delicate frame. Her eyes were always alive with mischief, and she was the closest thing to a friend that Christie had in this city. In fact, she appreciated Jane’s friendship more than Jane could have ever imagined.

  Christie didn’t have much of a social life, and Jane would drag her to fairs and bars and insist that she get out more and explore the city. Christie was sure that at this point, she had seen more of the nightlife than most locals had, and it was all thanks to Jane’s good influence.

  “Hi Jane. How are you?” Christie smiled.

  “I’m doing great.” Jane was grinning, “I heard you have an appointment with the boss later. Nervous?”

  Christie laughed, and she couldn’t help shake her head. Jane wasn’t supposed to know about that meeting. She wasn’t surprised that her friend had found out anyway. Jane always had her finger on the ball after all.

  “I guess I am. You know you’re meant to be keeping that quiet.”

  Jane shrugged, “You know what it’s about?”

  Christie shook her head, “Not for sure, but I suppose it’s about my contract.” She shifted her weight, feeling nervousness grip her, twisting her stomach again. She swallowed and managed a smile.

  “You’ll do great.” Jane smiled, supremely confident. Christie wished that she had that kind of confidence. Jane smiled again, “I better get going. Good luck. You’re telling me all about it after work.”

  “I am?” Christie smiled, amused.

  “You are. Meet me at the Orion, okay? Six sharp.”

  And, not giving Christie any chance to protest, she wandered away back to her work station. Christie couldn’t help but smile. Without Jane, she’d probably never get the opportunity to go out and be social. She turned back to her work, trying not to focus on the meeting. She’d been working hard to put it out of her mind all day. It didn’t do any good to be nervous about it. Whatever was to happen would happen regardless of whether or not she had spent all day stressing about it.

  For the rest of the day, she buried herself in her work, sorting through emails and filing that had gotten neglected throughout the week. However, despite her best efforts to prepare herself, four o’clock still came far too quickly for Christie’s taste and she could practically feel the worry in her stomach.

  Swallowing down her nervousness, Christie took a deep breath, smiled and grabbed a book and pen in case she needed to take notes. She did her best to keep her expression steady as she walked to Mr. Casey’s office. He was a nice man, after all. She was sure whatever he wanted to talk about was perfectly reasonable. She was probably stressing far too much and over-reacting in general. She always had been a stress head.

  It was with shaking fingers that she knocked on the door.

  “Come in.” Mr. Casey’s voice boomed out through the door and Christie felt her legs turn to lead.

  Still, she reminded herself to smile as she stepped into the office, “Mr. Casey, you wanted to see me?”

  “Christie…yes, thank you for coming.” He turned to his notes, “Take a seat please…oh, and…shut the door behind you.”

  Chapter 2

  “He really said that?” Jane was leaning over her cocktail, staring at Christie with wide eyes.

  Christie sighed and nodded, “Well it’s not like I’m making this up for my health, Jane.”

  Jane nodded, “Yeah, I know but…well, I’ve never heard of this happening before!”

  They were sitting at the bar. It was going on seven o’clock and they had been talking about this since arriving at the bar an hour earlier. Christie was still nursing her first drink, but Jane was on her second one, at least. Jane frowned, looking concerned, “So what are you going to do?”

  Christie shrugged, feeling the dizzying dream swirl back up in her gut, “What can I do, Jane? I have to at least try, don’t I?”

  Jane nodded and took a long sip of her drink, “I know, but…damn” She sighed and Christie saw real worry in her friend’s eyes for what seemed like the first time.

  She wasn’t the only one feeling worry. That morning Christie had been filled with such optimism for her job, such surety that everything would be okay, that everything would turn out alright. Now, though, now she just wasn’t so sure anymore.

  The meeting with Mr. Casey seemed surreal, and Christie’s guts clenched at the thought. The meeting had started off well enough; he had made a point of praising her performance and Christie had felt bubbles of happiness rise up within her. Hope had been well and truly in her grasp. Then it had all fallen away. With a sad look in his eye, Mr. Casey had explained that the company didn’t have the money to keep around fluff writers. He acknowledged that she was a good writer but they needed writers who could deliver the big stories right off the bat. She hadn’t been able to do that and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to talk the board into keeping her on board.

  The regret and sincerity in his voice had seemed very real, but it didn’t make the blow any easier to cope with. In fact, Christie had felt physically sick.

  Mr. Casey had looked at her frankly, “You still have a few weeks. If you can find a good story, I can convince the board. The rest of your work is impeccable, so if you can do that, I’ll be able to help you. If not…” he sighed and looked her sadly, “I will give you a good referral letter and I’ll have to send you on your way. I’m really sorry, Christie.”

  It had been a difficult blow to take, but Christie nodded and thanked him most profusely. She had respectfully left the room, and it wasn’t until she was at her desk that she had grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes, feeling the crushing weight of his words in all their entirety.

  She had gone home as fast as she could without making a scene and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to pick herself up. She’d taken a long shower and made a point of shaving her legs and scrubbing every inch of her skin. She’d styled her hair, done her makeup and put on her best dress and heels.

  She felt lower than she had felt in a long time, but she wasn’t about to let anyone see how badly this was getting to her. She had to keep her pride and look her best if she wanted to find this story. It was out there somewhere, if she just had known where to look.

  Her brave new attitude, though, had not lasted long. The moment she saw Jane’s happy face, she thought she was going to start crying right there and then. Instead, they ordered drinks and Christie talked while Jane listened.

  “Look, if I hear about anything good, I’ll let you know.” Jane looked at her honestly, “I mean, you just need one good story right? You can do that, I know you can.”

  “Thanks.” Christie smiled, but she knew that it looked shaky.

  Jane nodded, and then smiled, mischief lighting up her eyes. She never could stay serious for long. An hour of comforting and listening to Christie must have been some kind of record and Christie felt lucky that her friend had taken so much time to be serious and supportive.

  That said, Jane was changing track now and Christie decided that it was best to just go with it. After all, she couldn’t let this beat her.

  “Now, you need to take your mind off this for the evening.” Jane said with a grin, “The best way
to do that is to find someone sexy.”

  “Jane!” Christie found herself blushing red at her friend’s words.

  “What?” Jane was grinning, “I think it’s the best medicine. Someone for a quick fling, not a full blown romance, if you catch my drift.” Jane winked.

  She scanned the bar, her eyes falling on a man at the far end, “I’ll be right back.”

  “Wait, I don’t-” Christie tried, but Jane was already out of earshot. Christie sighed and leaned back against the bar. She followed Jane’s path through the bar, her eyes falling on the stranger in the corner.

  He was a big guy and Christie could see the outline of his muscles through his t-shirt. He wore a button-up over that, left undone and a pair of dark jeans. His eyes were piercing and Christie could see how blue they were from across the room. His hair was dark and he wore fingerless gloves.

  Christie felt something inside her shift, her stomach tightening at the sight of him. There was something there that called to her in a way she didn’t understand, something that called her to talk to him. He wasn’t her type and anyway, she wasn’t looking to hook up. She had more pressing matters to attend to.

  Still, she couldn’t deny that he was attractive. Maybe Jane’s taste in men wasn’t completely terrible. She didn’t have to wait long for Jane to storm back to her, “Forget him. He’s not your type.”

  Jane’s words came out as almost a shout and Christie could tell she was angry from a mile away. She knew that look and she knew it well. Jane had been rebuffed. It wasn’t something that happened very often, but it wasn’t something that Christie would soon forget. Jane didn’t like being slighted.

  Christie bit her lip to hold back her laughter. Instead, she scanned the bar to find someone that suited Jane’s tastes. She leaned in and whispered into her friend’s ear, “That guy’s been looking at you, you should say hello.”