Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Hired for the Holidays
By Luke Prescott
Hired for the Holidays
Copyright © 2017 Luke Prescott
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information and retrieval system without express written permission from the Author/Publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Dedication
To You
Merry Christmas
From Luke
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Acknowledgements
Other Books By Luke Prescott
SCREWED
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Wrecked
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Damaged
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Pillow Talk
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter One
Addilyn
Lighting up my small Christmas tree, lights casting a glow all around the small dark room, I sit down to enjoy it. My feet are sore from standing on them all day, so I rest them on my coffee table. Picking up my hot chocolate I take a sip and pull the throw blanket over my lap. Tomorrow is my last day of work until after the holidays. The doctor’s office I work at is closed until the beginning of the year and it’s disappointing. I’d much rather work than deal with my family. I even tried to get Dr. Jones to cancel her trip home to see her family, but she laughed and told me to enjoy the time off.
There’s nothing enjoyable about being around my family. My sister and brother are both married. My sister has two kids and my brother is expecting his first any time now. I’m the black sheep. The one who focused on becoming a nurse, getting a place of my own, living the single life. Most parents would be proud of their daughter for it, for succeeding in her career and doing it all on her own. But not mine.
My parents have been trying to marry me off since I turned twenty-one. When I had my thirtieth birthday this year it was more like a funeral to them. My youth was behind me. My insides are drying up and no way could I possibly get pregnant. Not to mention no man my age worth anything would still be available. No, they are all married with children, living in a house with a white picket fence, coaching little league. My mom gave me a sign on and password for the online dating site she set me up on. Yeah, that was her present to me.
So, the idea of going home for two weeks and having to deal with it was really starting to weigh on me. The little digs, the out right blows, and constant ridicule is not how I want to spend my Christmas. Glancing over at my little tree, I smile. I’d love to stay home with my tree in my apartment.
The ringing of my phone snaps me out of my fantasy of being home and I grab it. Blowing out a breath I answer it. “Hey Mom, what’s going on?”
“Addie, what day exactly will you be here because now all your aunts and uncles are coming. We haven’t had the whole family together in years. Shame you’re coming all alone. This could be your grandmother’s last Christmas and it would be nice if she knew you were going to be taken care of,” she says, sighing.
“Mom, you know this is two thousand and seventeen right? Women don’t need men to take care of them, we can take care of ourselves. Hell, there are plenty of women who take care of their men,” I say, getting frustrated.
“You’re brother would never allow Tracey to take care of him and he’s younger than you are. Although at this pace you’ll end up having to take care of any man who is still available. You know because you’re getting older Addie. Did you even try that site I signed you up for? There are some men on there. Mostly divorced because of your age, but still worth checking out.”
I pull the phone away from my ear and contemplate just hanging up on her. Telling her that my phone died. But instead I put the phone back to my ear. “I’m thirty Mom. You talk like I’ve wasted my entire life, but I haven’t. I’m a successful nurse, living on my own.”
“I’m well aware that you live on your own,” she says. I can hear her rolling those judgemental eyes through the damn phone. “You should just get used to it.”
“Enough Mom,” I say, raising my voice.
“Don’t talk to me like that. You might not like what I have to say but I’m your mother.”
“I’m well aware you are,” I retort.
I hear her close a door and the loud TV I heard in the background disappears. “Addie, your father and I have been talking and I think I might understand what’s going on,” she whispers.
“What’s that?”
This should be great. I can’t wait to hear her explanation.
“Are you gay? Do you like women romantically?” she whispers in a shaky voice.
My stomach tightens with anger listening to her. “I’m not gay Mom and if I was I wouldn’t hide it from you. I didn’t want to say anything because I know how you are, but I’ve been seeing someone for a few months now. He’s amazing, but he can’t make it for Christmas so I didn’t see the point of telling you,” I lie.
The squeal she makes has me pulling the phone away from my ear. “Addilyn Mitchell, how could you keep this from me? What’s his name? What does he do? He needs to come for Christmas, Addie. This could be the last time we are all together. You need to bring him, I won’t take no as an answer. As a matter of fact, why don’t you just give me his number and I’ll personally call him to invite him.”
My eyes widen and I want to kick myself. Shit, what was I thinking? Of course she’d want me to bring him.
“Mom, he has family too. You can’t expect him to not see his family,” I say, hoping she’ll understand.
Her ridiculous laugh makes me think otherwise. “Easy solution, they are all invited here. Just give me their numbers. Oh Addie, this is so exciting. Wait until I tell your father.”
Looking around my apartment like some guy is going to magically pop out, I chew my bottom lip. What am I going to do now? She won’t give up. I could tell her we broke up, but if I do that she’ll be sure to give me example after example of how I need to fix myself. Fuck.
“I’ll talk to him tonight and let you know,” I say, trying to buy time.
I can actually hear her clapping her hands as she shrieks again. “Go talk to him now and call me back in a little bit. Wow, I need to make sure we have enough chairs and dishes and food. Tomorrow I’ll start stocking up, so send me a list of his favorite things so I can have that here. I want him to feel welcomed.”
“Sure Mom, I’ll call you back soon,” I say and without even waiting for a reply I hang up.
Closing my eyes, I sigh. What the fuck did I just do? Resting my head back, I stare up at the Christmas lights illuminating the ceiling. Christmas is supposed to be about family and friends being together, not about this. If I just had a friend I could ask or maybe...an idea hits me and I jerk forward.
Grabbing my phone, pulling up the internet, I start looking for hired dates. It’s pathetic, the lowest thing I’ve ever done, but at this point it might just save my holiday.
Chapter Two
Addilyn
I’ve been searching for a while, but I haven’t found anyone who says they will be your date for extended period of time. They all talk about being your date for a wedding, a funeral, a reunion, but nothing like I need. But I’m desperate. Desperate and fucking pathetic to even contemplate such a thing.
Picking up my phone, I dial the number of a date. A date that I’m using Google to find. This has to be what rock bottom looks like. I’m sure it doesn’t get any worse than paying someone to be your fake boyfriend so your family gets off your ass.
The ringing is loud in my ear, almost as loud as my racing pulse. My stomach is swimming with nerves and suddenly my throat becomes completely dry and I’m not even sure any words are going to be able to come out.
“Hello?” a deep voice says on the other end.
Shit, he really answered. I should have given this more thought. Planned out exactly what I’d say to this guy instead of sitting here frozen in place.
“Hello?” he asks again.
“Umm, hi. Is this Nate Wheeler?” I ask.
“It is. Who’s this?”
Just the pathetic girl who googled you to be her date. “Addilyn Mitchell,” I say instead.
He lightly laughs and I feel like the biggest fool. I should just hang up and deal with my mom, this is so humiliating.
“Well, Addilyn Mitchell, what can I do for you?” he asks and I’m pretty sure he said it with a smile.
He knows why I’m calling. He knows I’m some pathetic chick that found him online and is about to ask him to be my fake boyfriend. Even thinking it makes me close my eyes against the embarrassment.
“Oh, umm, well I got your number offline,” I stutter.
Again he chuckles and I kinda want to punch him in his face. A face I have no idea what it looks like. He could be ugly. He could be some psycho that uses this as a cover-up to find desperate women, lock them in a room and starve them to death. Fuck, what am I doing?
“I figured that much. How about I ask the questions?” he suggests.
“Sure,” I whisper.
“Are you looking for me to be a date to something?”
Covering my face with my hand, I nod my head. “Yes,” I whisper.
“Okay cool. Do you want to tell me a little about it? What is it? Where is it?” he asks, getting right to business.
Here it goes. “Are you going to lock me in a room and starve me to death?” Oops, not what I meant to say.
A full blown laugh comes through the phone and for just a second I grin. “No, I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to bring you to my house or come to your house. I’m not even going to ask for your address. I’ll meet you there and we’ll go our own ways after. No harm. You’re the one in control here, not me. I have some rules, but we’ll get to that. For now just tell me what you need?”
What I need is an understanding mother. Can he provide me with one of those? “I know in your, umm, ad it said you do weddings, funerals, reunions, things like that. I’m needing something a little more than that.”
“Cool, let’s hear it,” he says.
“I want to hire you to be my boyfriend for Christmas. Two weeks to be exact, at my parents,” I blurt out. My stomach is in knots and I’m sweating with nerves.
I hear him blow out a breath and I know he’s going to say it’s too much. That he really does have a family he needs to be with. He’s probably going to tell me to get my pathetic ass out there and meet someone for real.
“Let me tell you my rules before we even move on. I don’t do this to meet women or find romance. I’m not looking for a relationship, I’m just good at pretending to be in one. I don’t have sex with my clients, ever. That is a hard no. You’ll be given plenty of attention in front of people. Enough that no one would question if what we have is real, but in private there is nothing like that,” he says with much professionalism.
“Believe me I’m not looking for a relationship. I just need my mother off my back, even if it’s only for two weeks. She wants me married and to start having kids. I’m not there yet. I understand if it’s too much. Hell, it’s too much for me,” I say.
“You want your family off your back for the holidays, I get that. I don’t normally do two weeks long, but in light of the holiday I’m willing to do this for you.”
Completely shocked and terrified it’s going to blow up in my face, I look over at my little tree. Two weeks with a stranger pretending to be my boyfriend. How bad could it be? Rolling my eyes for even thinking such a ridiculous thought, of course it’s going to bad. It’s going to be a fucking disaster.
“My family is a lot to handle, are you sure?” I ask, nervous of the whole situation.
“I’m sure. I just need to know where and when?” he says, sounding completely sure.
“We’d leave in two days, I was hoping to be on the road around ten in the morning. It’s in New Jersey, which is about four hours from me.”
“Well, Addilyn Mitchell I guess I’ll see you in two days. We’ll meet at Murphy’s Bar at nine forty-five. My buddy owns it and he’ll let you leave your car there. We’ll iron out the details on the ride. Just relax and know that I really am good at what I do. You have nothing to worry about.”
Nothing to worry about? I bite my lip, hoping and praying he's not wrong.
Chapter Three
Nate
Packing the last of my things, I carry my bag out to the living room. This isn’t something I normally do. I’ve never pretended to be a boyfriend for longer than two days, but there was just something about her. Something in her voice that made me feel like I couldn’t say no. Like she needed this more than she needed to breathe. She may not know me, but she needs me.
Not to mention she was nervous as hell. Usually when women call me they just get right to the point. Not her though. I could sense her embarrassment and I didn’t want to add to it. So I just took over, which I prefer anyway.
Grabbing my travel mug of coffee, along with my bag, I carry everything out to my black 1970 Chevy Chevelle. This car is the first thing I bought after I started doing the fake boyfriend thing. I fully restored it and there is nothing that I love more. It’s a sexy, badass car that constantly turns heads. Just like me.
Driving over to Murphy’s, I focus on the road, but my mind is spinning. I had called Addilyn yesterday to give her the final price for me doing this for two weeks and she told me she’d have the cash today. That’s a chick who really doesn’t want to deal with her family. I told her I don’t take payment until the job is complete. She said she’d rather pay me before hand, but I just can’t do it. I’ve been doing this for almost three years now and I’ve never taken a dime before the job was complete. It’s not going to be any different this time.
Parking in the back of the bar, I wait for Addilyn. Within a few minutes, a car parks next to me and I have to assume it’s her. Dropping my sunglasses over my eyes, I step out of my car. Walking to the front I wait for her to get out and when she does I’m fucking glad I put my sunglasses on. My eyes widen when I see how damn beautiful she is. Her long brown hair
is cascading over her shoulders, bringing my attention to her...body. And what a body it is.
Don’t think I’m some shallow asshole because I’m not. I help women all the time fulfill the need to have someone by their side. Helping their confidence as they walk into a room full of judging people. But, if I’m being honest here if I was going on looks alone Addilyn is who I’d create. Alright, maybe a little shallow.
“Addilyn?” I ask, as she closes her door.
Smiling she extends her slender hand. “Yep, which must make you Nate,” she says.
Holding her hand in mine I grin. “Guilty.”
After a second too long, she pulls her hand away and crosses her arms. “Thank you again for doing this. I’m not gonna lie I feel completely pathetic and awkward.”
Laughing, I nod my head. “I get it, but you’re definitely not pathetic. You’d be surprised at the amount of women that need a little help. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about and absolutely no reason to feel pathetic. After our ride you won’t feel awkward, I’m kinda fun to be around,” I say.
Blowing out a breath, she bites her plump bottom lip. “Okay, I guess let’s do this.”
“Don’t sound so excited,” I say, laughing. “Where’s your bag I’ll grab it for you?”
Once I get her things in my car and we get settled, I pull out onto the road. “We have a few hours to get everything straight, so how about you tell me what exactly they are expecting. Have we been dating long? Where did you say we met? Things like that,” I say, glancing over at her.
“I only told her we’d been dating a few months. She asked a million questions, but I avoided them all. So, I ummm guess we can just make everything up,” she says, focusing out the side window. “This is a really nice car, by the way.”
I can’t disguise my smile at the compliment of my car. “Thanks, she’s pretty much my pride and joy. And yeah we can just make everything up. What do you do for a living? Maybe we met at work?”
“I’m a nurse. I work at general doctor’s office, so we can say you were a patient or I don’t know,” she sighs.
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