The Housekeeper’s Billionaire Boss
A Caprock Canyon Romance Book Three
Bree Livingston
Edited by
Christina Schrunk
The Housekeeper’s Billionaire Boss
Copyright © 2019 by Bree Livingston
Edited by Christina Schrunk
https://www.facebook.com/christinaschrunk.editor
Proofread by Krista R. Burdine
https://www.facebook.com/iamgrammaresque
Cover design by Victorine Lieske
http://victorinelieske.com/
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.
Bree Livingston
https://www.breelivingston.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
The Housekeeper’s Billionaire Boss/ Bree Livingston. -- 1st ed.
ISBN: 9781701594159
Contents
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Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Sneak Peek! The Fake Girlfriend’s Billionaire Match Chapter 1
Also by Bree Livingston
About the Author
This is dedicated to my husband:
Twenty-one years.
Two kids.
Four cats.
And a lot of fun.
I don’t say it often enough, but you are one of the best things to ever happen to me. I’m not sure how you put up with me sometimes. Thank you for loving me. Loving our girls. Supporting me. Being a Godly example for me and my girls. Thank you for being loving and kind and wonderful. You’re the caramel in my popcorn.
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Prologue
Rushing from one machine to the other, Molly Hines didn’t possess enough arms to tackle a coffee shop short-staffed on a Monday. Only two weeks on the job, and she didn’t know enough to handle a rush. She certainly didn’t have all of the drinks memorized yet. Then the special orders on top of that? Her brain was mush by the time she went home each day.
A large man reached the counter, and she took his order, but not before seeing the cute guy who’d been coming in since she’d started working there. Her heart fluttered in her chest, and her face flushed. Josiah, the only thing she knew about him so far. Well, other than he always dressed professionally with a nice button-up and slacks under a long tweed coat. Dapper. That was the best word for him.
After she took the huge guy’s order, Josiah stepped up to the counter. Oh, he was gorgeous with his thick dark hair and a curl in the middle of his forehead, like Clark Kent, that he continually pushed back.
“Hey,” she said and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
Of course, she didn’t need to be acting like that. She had a boyfriend, and she wasn’t that kind of girl. They hadn’t been dating super long, but they were serious enough to be talking about long-term stuff. Clearly, her head and her heart needed a meeting of the minds to get on the same page about her current relationship. The cute guy was totally out of her league anyway.
“What would you like today?” she said and tried to not seem like a complete flake. She knew the answer, but she didn’t want him to think she was a stalker or something. Who memorizes a complete stranger’s drink choices?
“Uh, could I get a caramel macchiato?”
“Sure,” she replied.
She finished ringing him up and slapped the printed ticket on a cup. He drifted over to the corner as the next customer began rattling off a drink order.
Just as the next ticket printed, her manager barged over, holding a cup with steam pouring from it. “Another drink made incorrectly. This is the third one today.” He did nothing to keep his voice down, and now everyone was looking at her.
“Uh,” she stammered. “I’m sorry. I’m trying.”
“Not hard enough. Look, it’s coffee, sweetheart, not rocket science. You take the order, fix the drink using the directions, and that’s it.” His voice only seemed to get louder. “What’s so difficult about that?”
“I—”
“You’re fired. Leave the apron on your way out.”
Molly’s lip trembled and tears threatened. No way was she letting this jerk see her cry. She quickly untied the apron and threw it at him, grabbed her purse sitting on a shelf below the register, and stomped out.
She got half a block before reaching a nearby restaurant that had outdoor seating and dropped into a wire-backed chair. Then the tears flowed. Stupid, stupid crying. She hated it.
“Uh, Molly?”
She jerked her head up at the sound of her name. Josiah had followed her? “Yeah,” she said, realizing she probably looked like a drowned cat. She furiously wiped at her eyes. “How do you know my name?”
He tapped his chest as he smiled. “Name tag.”
Great. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment, and she grimaced. “Right.”
“Mind if I sit?” he asked.
Shaking her head, she waved at the chair next to hers. “No.” She sniffed and realized he didn’t have a drink in his hand. “You didn’t even get your macchiato?”
He shook his head, pushing that curl back. “No, and I won’t be going back either. That guy was a jerk. You don’t treat people like that.”
“I never should have taken the job. He was a jerk from the beginning.” Tears pooled in her eyes again. He’d made her feel stupid.
“Uh, I hope this doesn’t sound weird, but I’ve been looking for a housekeeper. Do you have experience with that?”
With the number of hours Molly’s mom worked after her parent’s divorce? “Uh, yeah. I did most of the cleaning when I was a kid.”
He gave her another fantastic smile. “Great. Uh, I don’t have a ton of time. I’m supposed to be meeting a client in twenty minutes.” He pulled a card out from his pocket. “Here, that’s my number. If you can start tomorrow, that would be great.”
She took the card and studied it. “You haven’t brutally murdered anyone, have you?”
“Maybe it’s just me, but I tend to follow the Judeo-Christian ethic of ‘Thou shall not kill.’”
Her mouth dropped open. “No way. So I Married an Axe Murderer?”
His smile widened. “Really? No one has ever gotten that.”
“It’s one of my favorite movies.”
Taking the card from her, he whipped out a pen and quickly wrote on it. “That’s my address. I leave for work around eight thirty, so if you could be there a little earlier than that, that would be awesome.”
“The po
wer of that movie never ceases to amaze me,” she whispered.
He laughed. “Yeah, me too.” Sticking his pen back in his pocket, he checked his watch. “Oh, geez, I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Molly watched as he waited for a car to pass and then jogged across the street. He was attractive, sweet, and he knew one of her favorite movies. If she wasn’t already dating someone, she’d be turning down the job offer and hoping he’d ask her out. Not that an employee couldn’t date their boss, but with the way things were in this day and age, you had to be careful with that.
Still, she had a new job working for a nice man. A very hot nice man. Grumbling to herself, she stuck his card in her purse and stood. She needed to get home, find some clothes that were good for cleaning, and make sure she got to his apartment on time the next morning. Tomorrow was going to be awesome.
Chapter 1
Six months later…
Closing his eyes, Josiah rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension that had built over the course of the day. Bringing work home over the weekend had been a chore, but it was necessary if he planned to go home for the holidays in three weeks.
Instead of spending his Saturday doing something fun, he was scouring available commercial properties. His newest client was a prominent figure in the Dallas community, Malakai Raven, the lead singer of Crush. Finding him the perfect place for a restaurant and making him happy could potentially boost Josiah’s career. Not potentially—it would definitely get him closer to winning the Realtor of the Year award and a commercial realtor award as well.
Not that he really needed it. He and his brothers liked to play the lottery, and three years ago, they’d become billionaires overnight. Thirty years old, and if he wanted, he’d never have to work another day in his life.
That wasn’t going to happen, though. His parents believed in hard work, and they’d instilled it in him and his siblings: Bear, Hunter, Wyatt, and Carrie Anne. His own desire to show that he could be successful pushed him too. Yeah, the money was great, but it did nothing to show that Josiah was accomplished. And that was something he wanted more than anything—his parents' respect.
“Long day?” asked his housekeeper, Molly Hines. With her head tilted, her short dark hair just barely touched her shoulders.
Man, she was beautiful, but he’d thought that since the moment he saw her. Six months ago, on a whim, he’d hired her after witnessing her manager firing her in front of an entire coffee shop. To Josiah, that was a horrible way to treat someone, and when he’d found her crying, he’d offered her a job cleaning his apartment.
At first, he’d thought about asking her out, but he’d learned shortly after she started working for him that she had a boyfriend. All notions of dating were gone at that point. He wasn’t the kind of guy to steal a girl.
He’d thought about asking if she was still seeing the guy, but he’d chicken out every time. What if she got offended? He didn’t want her to quit because he was too nosey.
Josiah stood, yawned loudly, and stretched. “Oh, I’m sorry. I think I lost track of time.”
Her eyebrows knitted together. “You work too hard, Mr. West.”
No matter how hard he tried to get her to call him Josiah, she wouldn’t, and she was only a year younger than him. Mr. West it was, and every time she called him that, it made him want to look for his dad, King. “Maybe, but I want to go home for the holidays with a clear calendar.”
He followed her into the living room and watched as she slipped on her coat she’d draped over the couch. She held up a finger. “Oh, before I forget. I’ve been meaning to ask about your holiday plans.”
“Yeah, I guess I need to let you know about that. I’ll be leaving Dallas the day before Thanksgiving and most likely won’t be back until the first of the year. Knowing my mom, I won’t be given a choice.” He chuckled.
Molly’s lips turned down ever so slightly. “Oh, okay. I don’t think you’ll need me if you’re not here.”
“Uh.” He scratched the back of his neck. He’d not thought that through, and he hated seeing the little frown. If she wasn’t working, she wouldn’t get paid. Maybe he could give her a bonus closer to Thanksgiving. “Well…”
She waved him off as she walked to the front door. “It’s okay, Mr. West. I’m fine.”
That was her typical response. In the last few weeks, he’d noticed not only was she saying it a lot more, but something was different about her too, like the dark circles around her eyes. He’d wanted to ask about it, but he’d felt awkward inquiring about her home life.
He walked her to the door. “Molly, I hope you know that if you need anything, you can just ask. I mean, I don’t want to pry, but...”
Her posture softened. “You really are wonderful to me already, and I couldn’t ask for a better boss. I’m fine, really, but I appreciate your kindness.”
“All right. I guess I’ll see you next time?”
“Bright and early Tuesday.” She beamed and waved bye.
He closed the door and leaned his back against it. With a heavy sigh, he pushed off and went to his small kitchen. Again, it was dinner for one.
It was times like these when he felt the loneliness the most. No family. No girlfriend. He had friends, but Luke Barker was usually on call at the firehouse, and Case Palmer was a lawyer and even more of a workaholic than Josiah.
After a look through the barren fridge, he rifled through one of the cabinet drawers and pulled out a stack of brochures for delivery places. Pizza. Thai. Asian Fusion. Irish-Italian. He needed to get a dartboard, pin the menus, and pick one that way. At least it would be more fun.
He closed his eyes and blindly lifted one up. A quick peek with one eye, and he shook his head. “Meh. Not that one.” A few more blind picks, and he was ordering tacos with some chips and queso. Hopefully, the cheese wouldn’t be a solid brick by the time it arrived…like last time.
Just as he flopped down on the couch, his phone rang. “Really?” He wasn’t sure what frustrated him more. The fact that he’d forgotten his phone in the kitchen, or that he’d just sat down and had to get up again. He stood and jogged to the kitchen, answering the call on the last ring. “Hello?”
“Hey, bud.” His dad’s deep voice filtered out.
Josiah put the phone on speaker and walked back to the couch. “Hey, Dad. What’s up?” The last part of the sentence came out in a rush as he flopped down.
His dad chuckled. “Oh, you know your mom. She’s dividing and conquering the holidays. I’m making sure you’ve made plans to be here.”
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“She made me promise to ask if you’re bringing anyone.”
Rolling his eyes, Josiah’s shoulders sagged. “If I lie, will she kill me?”
His dad snorted and coughed. “She’d kill us both. You for lying and me for knowing it.”
Josiah laughed. “No, I’m not bringing anyone. It’ll just be me.”
“I told your mom she needed to be happy with the three that are already married off. You and Bear will find your other half when it’s time.”
“At least I’m not actively trying to avoid it like Bear.”
Another deep chuckle rumbled from his dad. “Well, to be fair to your brother, his last girlfriend would have put me on the no-date list too. Then Carrie Anne conspiring with Bandit to put him on a dating website…if I was Bear, I’d be finding a cave to hide in at this point.”
His dad had a point. Poor Bear. When he found out their sister had roped Bandit into putting his profile on Mr. Matchmaker, Bear had wanted to strangle both her and Bandit.
Carrie Anne had struck a bargain with Bear to at least try one date. He’d relented, and the date had been a disaster. The way Bear told it, swimming with hungry sharks would have been more fun.
“I don’t have time to date right now, Dad.” After setting his phone on his chest, Josiah stuffed his hands behind his head as he stretched out. Plus, the women he knew were into art galleries and
lobster dinners. He wanted a girl who loved pizza, popcorn with milk duds in it, and movie nights.
“Sure you do. You just chose not to,” his dad replied.
“I guess.” His whole family knew about his last relationship. They’d been on friendly terms, and he’d seen it going somewhere. Until he figured out she knew about his lottery winnings.
It was easy to forget what was in his bank account. His apartment was the same as before he won, his lifestyle was the same, and everything else for that matter. He was still the same guy driving the pre-owned blue F-150. Granted, he’d had it painted, but it wasn’t new.
“Look, bud, I know the last one wasn’t so great, but there are a lot of good women out there. Dip your toe in. It might not be as bad as you think.”
Josiah nodded. “I know, Dad, and I will. Maybe after the holidays, I’ll see how warm the water is.” He chuckled.
The doorbell rang, and he looked over his shoulder. “Oh, hey, Dad, that’s delivery. I need to get that. Tell Mom, yes, I’ll be there, and I’m staying until the new year.”
“Okay, bud, see you in a few weeks.”
Josiah ended the call and rushed to the door. As he signed for the food, he thought over his conversation with his dad. Maybe he was right. This whole meal-for-one business was getting old. He’d go home for the holidays, get some rest, and return to the city refreshed and ready to give dating another go.
Maybe.
He shut the door and dug into the bag, pulling out a taco. Yep, women were smart enough not to order tacos from the same place that sold sushi. Better, they were bright enough not to keep the menu and then blindly pick it.
The Housekeeper's Billionaire Boss (Caprock Canyon Romance Book 3) Page 1