“You—you have?” I cleared my throat awkwardly. “That’s…”
Alden looked at me like I was funny. “That’s great?”
“I—Alden, I just don’t want things to be confusing here,” I told him. “I’m a professional housekeeper. I had a business until it was destroyed by one of my competitors slandering my name. I’m not looking for…an arrangement.”
“You called me Alden,” he smiled as he advanced on me, his strong python-arms swinging loosely at his sides. “What happened to Mr. McLaren? I liked that.”
“You did? I thought you told me that was your father—”
“I did,” he smiled. “But now, as your boss, I don’t mind being called mister.”
“My boss?” I asked. “I haven’t signed anything yet.”
“Well, let’s get that fixed then,” he said. He stepped over to Heather’s desk and lifted a clipboard with a contract on it. I took it from him and began reading it over. It looked standard enough until I came to the section detailing my pay.
“This can’t be right,” I stammered when I saw the amount. “This has to be a typo.”
“It’s right,” Alden smiled.
“But—”
“I’m a billionaire, Belle,” he grinned.
As if I could forget, I thought.
And then I saw the next section and my heart almost stopped.
LIVING ARRANGEMENTS
He must have seen my reaction because I heard him chuckle.
“That’s right, Belle. You’re going to live here with me,” he said. “I have your own wing of the house set aside. The boys will come over tomorrow and set it up however you want. That way you’ll be here whenever I need you.”
My head started spinning. Was he joking?
Alden stood there as confident as ever as though we were discussing the weather. Nothing about what he was saying was apparently strange to him. But I, on the other hand, was about to fall over.
“I can’t sign this…” I said softly. Alden moved right in on me and my body flushed with heat as it had done in his living room when we’d kissed.
“Of course you can,” he whispered. “You want to sign it, Belle. We both know you do.”
Who was this man?
It was like he could see right through me, and as he spoke, I realized that he was right; I did want to sign it.
I was tingling with anticipation as he handed me a Montblanc fountain pen and pointed to the dotted line where I was supposed to sign.
Holy shit…I thought as I pressed the nib against the paper and wrote my name. I’m really doing this.
When I was done, I looked up at him and smiled nervously. He took the clipboard from me and set it aside. For a second, I thought he was going to lean in and kiss me again, but instead, he reached out and took me by the hand.
“You’re mine now,” he smiled. “Come on. I’ve got a bit of work for you to do tonight.”
“Tonight?” I gasped as he tugged me towards the enormous marble staircase.
Chapter Four
Alden