The Billionaire Romantic getaway

She forced herself to calm down, knowing she wouldn’t go anywhere. She had the smarts, the common sense, the hard work ethic and even a friendly demeanor when her family wasn’t around. She just lacked the belief she could do it.Enough! She went to the bathroom mirror to touch up her makeup. It was bad enough Stephen had left her for her younger, hotter sister, she didn’t need to look like the rejected one. It hadn’t been meant to be. She and Stephen would never have lasted. She knew that, but it didn’t lessen the hurt and humiliation.To procrastinate more, she practiced her smile in the mirror, trying to make it look more sincere and confident. “That’s right, Stephen, son of Ass Hole,” she told her reflection and giggled. “I don’t need you. You can just kiss my derriere, you shallow son of a bitch.”She froze when she heard Stephen’s voice clearly through the door. The bathroom wasn’t even close to being soundproof.“Carl! How the hell are you doing?”Oh, shit!“It’s good to see you

Mandy got the call from Carl two days later. “First of all, I’d like to apologize for how we met,” he said after pleasantries were exchanged. “It was not my intention to disrespect you, or anyone else, in any way. I’m sorry for Stephen’s behavior.”Mandy sat up and set her laptop aside. “You don’t need to apologize.” She wanted this job, but she would not act like the weak, insecure person Carl probably thought she was. “You’re not responsible for Stephen’s behavior. He’s, well... Stephen.”“He’s an asshole,” Carl said bluntly. “I hope we can move forward and you won’t be insulted when I offer you an interview for tomorrow at two. The interview has nothing to do with Stephen. Your resume’s impressive and ideal for this position.”That’s not the only thing ideal for this position. You need someone un-pretty. Mandy grimaced and thought about the money she would make. You can move out of the basement. “All right,” she said, trying to sound professional and unbothered. “Tomorrow should wo

being replaced with larger ranch-style homes set back against the road. She had assumed by the suite number on her new address it was an apartment building. She scratched her head as she stopped before a very large modern-style house that ended at the long, gated driveway in front of her. Mandy double-checked the address and the GPS.Both were right. Unless this was some kind of terrible sick joke Stephen was pulling on her.She clenched her jaw as she rolled down the car window and spoke into the intercom. “Hi. This is, uh, Mandy Connors. I’m, uh, moving in today.” Why did she sound like an idiot? At least the person controlling the gate wasn’t laughing at her. Or if they were, they had the decency to turn the mike off. She ran her tongue over her lips and checked her watch. Half past eight and the sun had disappeared. It had grown dark quickly, telling us Mandy that summer had given way to fall.As she debated backing out of the driveway and returning to her parents’ place in defeat

The next morning, after a restless night, Mandy got up an hour early and dug through one of her boxes for some workout clothes. “I’m not doing this for Claudia, or my mother, or Carl Salvo,” she told herself. “I’m just doing it because I want to see what the gym looks like. I’ll just peek around and spend twenty minutes on a treadmill.”She yawned, feeling like a zombie that hadn’t started rotting yet. There’s no way I got enough sleep last night. Didn’t lack of sleep also affect weight loss? It definitely wasn’t healthy. Shouldn’t she be losing weight in a healthy way? “Doesn’t matter, not right now. Exercise will wake me up.”She set a skirt and blouse on her bed and dug through the laundry hamper she had filled with shoes for a pair of sneakers. She slipped out the door, wondering if she should lock it as she stared out into what should overlook the pool. The sun did not rise at four, it wanted to sleep.The cool morning air did little to wake her up. She checked her messages on th

The thirty-minute timer went off and Mandy stopped typing long enough to turn it off and grab a piece of celery from the Mason jar on her desk. She took a bite of it as she reset the timer and went back to work. She never liked celery, but it was really just a lot of water in plant form and apparently people could burn more calories eating it than they really consumed. It met Carl’s silly requirement of eating something every half hour, and it gave Mandy a small hope of fitting into the maid of honor dress.“Where’s Carl?” Annette’s voice pierced Mandy’s train of thought and she turned away from her computer screen, doing her best to not look like she was ready to murder someone.Mandy saved what she was working on. “He’s in his office right now.”“Good!” Annette barged through Mandy’s office and paused before she stepped through Carl’s door. “Oh, could you run down and get me a coffee? Three cream and two sugars. Make sure you get it at Starbucks, and not some other place.”Mandy bli