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One Night Stand With The Billionaire Boss 6
Kip“I’m off.”I look up from the monthly financial report I’m halfway through checking, glance at my watch and see it’s only six-thirty p.m., and give my twin brother a wry smile. “You’re taking this relationship thing a bit seriously, aren’t you?”In the past, the two of us and our younger brother have worked until seven or eight p.m., or even later when it’s busy, often sending for Uber Eats so we don’t have to worry about getting dinner when we go home. Since his girlfriend moved in with him, though, Saxon has been keen to leave the office early to be with her.He lifts one hand, palm up. “Reading financial reports.” Then he lifts the other hand. “Spending time with a gorgeous redhead who’s prepared to let me kiss every freckle she possesses.” He pretends to weigh the options, then rolls his eyes.“Go on then,” I tell him good naturedly. “Fuck off. And give Catie a kiss from me.”He throws me a wry look. “Absolutely not.”We exchange a smile, and he leaves the room.I sit back for
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He looks up, sees me, and leans back in his chair. He doesn’t smile.“Why?” I say.He turns his swivel chair from side to side. “I’m guessing you’ve seen the article?”I walk into his office, with Damon following behind me. “Yeah. I’ve seen the article. Why did you do it?”Marama also enters, drawn by our raised voices. I hear Damon murmuring to her, and her intake of breath as he tells her what’s happened.“I was talking to a friend of mine who’s a reporter,” Craig says. “I thought it was off the record.”“Bullshit,” I snap. “You know I favored Genica. You wanted to force my hand.”“No,” he says, but I know I’m right.“Why Sunrise?” Damon asks, as he and Marama come to stand on either side of me. “Even the article mentioned the issues they’ve been having with their workforce.”“I’d never sell to Sunrise,” I snap. “I don’t like their CEO.”“What’s wrong with her?” Craig asks.“She’s a bitch, and I’m not letting MOTHER within a mile of her.”He gets slowly to his feet. “She said she’ll
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I watch a blackbird hop along the window ledge before it takes off and soars toward the park.“I wanted to wish you happy birthday,” Lesley says.I lean an elbow on the arm of my chair and rest my head on my hand. “My birthday’s tomorrow.”“Oh… It’s the twenty-first, isn’t it? Shit.” She got the day wrong every year we were together.“Yeah, but thanks anyway.” I wait for her to suggest hooking up again. Be strong, Kip.“I wanted to tell you before someone else did,” she says. “I’m getting married.”I go still. Then, slowly, I sit up. “Oh. Okay.”“His name’s Harrison Ford—and no, it’s not the actor, they just share the name. He’s an architect, and we’re really happy together.”“Congratulations.”“Shit, I didn’t mean to say it like that. You make me nervous.”“Why?”“I don’t know. You always make me feel as if you’re going to tell me off.”I lift my glasses onto my hair and massage the bridge of my nose. “I appreciate you letting me know, and I wish you all the happiness in the world.”
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Nothing else I can do now. I’ve used the app enough to know it’s no guarantee of a match. She might not like the look of me or could already have matched with someone else. She might even be on a date now.My experience has been that for every ten or so right swipes, I might get one or two matches, and often they don’t come to anything. I should swipe right on a few more profiles to increase my chances of finding a match.But I’ve got work to do, and besides, I like the look of Alice, and I’m willing to wait to see what happens.I open my laptop, pull up a report, and start reading.I’ve only been working for a couple of minutes when my mobile lights up. I lift it and look at the message on the screen.Match! You and Alice have liked each other.I get the usual dopamine rush at the connection, and smile.Leaning back in the chair, I study the screen. I’m never sure how long to wait, but as I’m the guy, I normally message first. Fuck it. What’s the point in playing it cool?Me:Hey Alic
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AliceI put down my phone and blow out a long, shaky breath.I’ve got a date! I cover my face with my hands. Tomorrow I’ll be meeting him for real.Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…I still can’t believe how it happened. I’d gotten out of the bath with the intention of deleting the app, convinced the whole thing was a terrible idea, but discovered a message waiting announcing that someone had sent me a Super Like. I was flattered, but told myself it didn’t matter, I was still going to delete the app. Then I pulled up his profile… and my stomach did a strange little flip. He’s gorgeous.Picking up the phone, I look at his profile again. Kip, aged twenty-eight. Twenty-nine tomorrow, obviously. It’s an unusual name. I forgot to ask him what it was short for. Kristopher, I’m guessing. His profile picture shows him from the chest up, dressed in an All Blacks shirt, looking at the camera and smiling. He has short dark-brown hair with a super sharp fade cut that’s longer on top, a
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AliceSeven p.m. the next dayI approach Red’s Rib Shack from the other side of the road, pause in a doorway, and stare at Kip.He’s leaning against the wall not far from the door, looking at his phone in his left hand, his right in the pocket of his black trousers. He’s wearing a white dress shirt, and I can see that the inside of the collar, the placket, and the cuffs where he’s turned them back a couple of times are a silvery gray. The light breeze that’s blowing across the harbor is ruffling the longer hair on the top of his head. He’s wearing glasses, although he’s looking over the top of them at his phone, so he must be short-sighted.Oh my God, he didn’t stand me up. I don’t know why I was so convinced he would. He messaged me this morning, while I was at breakfast, to ask my opinion of a fantasy book he’d heard about, and we’ve messaged on and off all day in between his meetings and while I walked around the zoo with Charlie, who’s been thrilled at the communication. It’s most
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“That’s right,” Saxon says, adding to Kip, “we both read it when we were in our teens, didn’t we?”Kip nods, looking relieved that his brother has taken pity on him at last. “We went through a phase of reading some of the classics, although we missed Neuromancer.”“I’m a little embarrassed to say I haven’t read much at all,” Catie says, and blushes. Saxon glances at her and rubs her back, which strikes me as sweet.“We all lead such busy lives, and it can be hard to squeeze in time for reading,” I say, wanting to put her at ease. “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stonehad just come out when I was born, and Mum read it aloud to me while she was breastfeeding. She said it was the only time she had in the day where she was forced to sit still, so she made the most of it.”“That’s a lovely idea,” Catie says. “I’d thought about getting a rocking chair for the nursery. I could sit there while I’m feeding and read.”Saxon pulls her toward him and kisses her cheek, and she kisses him back. I
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Kip“You really like her, don’t you?” Saxon says as we stand at the till.I touch my card to the reader. “Yeah.”“She’s got that classy, cheeky thing going on. I knew you’d be head over heels as soon as I saw her.”I give him a wry look and pocket the card. “I’m not head over heels. We’ve only just met.” I look outside, where the two girls are waiting. “But yeah. She’s gorgeous. And funny.” My gaze lingers on her as she glances at me. Then I smile at Saxon. “Thanks for coming tonight.”“You’re welcome, and it was fun. We haven’t done this much, have we? Double dated, I mean.”“One of us was always in between relationships.”“Yeah, I guess.”We turn from the till and walk slowly toward the exit. “Did you have any luck with Craig?” he asks.This morning, we had a couple of reporters call to ask for details on the sale of MOTHER to Sunrise. Saxon burst into my office to ask what was going on, and so I had to tell him the stunt that Craig pulled yesterday. Craig called his PA to say he wa
Last Updated : 2024-03-16
Latest chapter
One Night Stand With The Billionaire Boss Epilogue
June 21st (two months later)KipIt’s the winter solstice, exactly six months after I met Alice, and Mum and Dad’s house is full of people who’ve come to celebrate the renewal of Saxon and Catie’s vows and their baby-naming ceremony. Saxon sprung a wedding on her after Christmas while they were on holiday, because he wanted to marry her but knew she’d be overwhelmed by having to say her vows in front of lots of people. However, six months have gone by now, and she’s settled down a lot, to the extent that when he suggested they combine a naming ceremony with a vow renewal ceremony, she jumped at the idea.Dad’s twin brother, Brandon, and my aunt, Jenny, are chatting to Mum and Alice’s mum. Penny has been spending a lot of time with Mum, and I’m so pleased that they genuinely seem to get on well. Penny’s holding one of Catie’s twins and Mum’s holding the other, and the two of them are clearly enjoying themselves.Kennedy’s helping Catie get ready. Her husband, Jackson, with baby Eddie, i
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He holds out a hand to me. “Let’s go outside.”Meekly, my head whirling, I let him pull me up and lead me out into the garden. It’s dark now, and a couple of moths are fluttering around the kitchen window, but there’s enough light for us to see each other clearly, and it’s not cold.Still standing, he turns me to face him. “What do you think?” he asks.“I don’t know what to say. I… I’m ashamed Mum feels that Charlie and I didn’t listen to her. She’s right of course. I was determined to make the sacrifice because I thought it was what I should do. But she is still my mother, and she deserves to have a say in it.”I look down at where he’s holding my hands. “But it’s not easy. It would be a huge change for her to move, and I know that change is one thing she really struggles with. When anything big happens, it always makes her unwell.”“That’s fair enough, but we’d make sure we did it in small steps so it didn’t become too overwhelming.” He lifts my hands and kisses my fingers. “Whateve
One Night Stand With The Billionaire Boss 91
I glance at Charlie, a little ashamed. She looks back at me, her lips twisting.“I don’t think it occurred to either of you to ask me what I want,” Mum says. “And every time I tried to talk about it, you shut me down.”I stare at her, horrified. Is that true? I suppose it is. She did try to say she wanted to find a solution that would mean neither of us would have to give up the men in our lives, but we both steamrollered over her, insisting we weren’t going to cave.“When I talked to Kip, though,” Mum continues, “he said, ‘What do you want?’ I was so touched I nearly cried.”I glance at him, but he’s looking at her, his lips curving up behind his fingers.Mum looks at me. “As I said, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. But I’m not going to let either of you pass up on the chance of happiness with the man of your dreams for me. Alice!” She snaps as I open my mouth. “Please!”I close my mouth again, shocked at her sharp tone.“I know that over the years you’ve had to step up an
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AliceI’m absolutely shattered.Charlie’s revelation yesterday threw all three of us into a whirlwind of heightened emotions, and it’s been very difficult to stop them spinning us around.Mum went to bed early last night, exhausted from the whole thing, and the two of us stayed up until very late, checking on her from time to time, both frightened of leaving her alone.“We have to sort this,” Charlie told me at one point, long after the sun had set. “We can’t keep doing this to her.”“I know that,” I snapped. But I couldn’t see a way clear through the thick forest of our problems.In the end, both of us were so tired and irritable and upset that we decided to sleep on it and talk again the next day.I lay awake for about an hour, thinking about Kip, missing him, and feeling miserable, and fighting with myself because he’s my best friend, and I wanted to call him and talk it over with him, and I couldn’t. Eventually I crashed out, slept too long, and I’ve woken with a headache, grouchy
One Night Stand With The Billionaire Boss 89
I sigh. “Shit.”“Yeah. She was so happy, and I just couldn’t bring myself to say it. I kept thinking about the baby, and I knew I had to try and make a go of my marriage for the baby’s sake. So I stayed. I told Renée I couldn’t see her again. She texted me occasionally, but we didn’t meet up. I tried, I really did. But Chloe had morning sickness for the first few months, and after that she just didn’t want sex—she said it felt weird while she was pregnant. And then the baby was born, and even a few months after, she still wasn’t interested. I tried to be understanding, and accept she was tired and probably sore, but… I know it makes me a terrible person, but I just kept thinking about how Renée wanted me, and how good she made me feel… And then one day she contacted me again and asked to see me. And I’m only human, Kip. I was lonely, and I know it sounds pathetic and childish and makes me an arsehole, but I was angry with Chloe for not wanting me, and for not taking my needs into acco
One Night Stand With The Billionaire Boss 88
KipAfter my long phone call with Penny, I send a text to Sam, the pilot of the Knight Sky, then take my laptop out onto the deck and spend half an hour browsing and jotting down some notes until the doorbell goes. I answer it to find Craig standing there. To my relief, there’s no sign of Renée. I’m tempted to say, ‘So she let you out on your own, then?’ but I manage to restrain myself.“Jesus,” he says, staring at my eye, “what happened to you?”“Don’t ask,” I reply wryly. “Come in.” I stand back and let him pass, close the door, and follow him down the steps. “You want a coffee?”He shrugs. “Okay.”I take it as a sign that he’s planning to stay at least long enough to have a drink, and turn on the machine. “Thanks for coming,” I say as I start the espresso pouring. “I wasn’t sure you’d agree to it.” I glance at him. “Was Renée okay with you coming?” I’m genuinely curious, as I was convinced she’d arrive with him.He sits on one of the barstools and scratches at a mark on the counter.
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He puts his arm around her. “It’s amazing,” he says softly. “Thank you.” The last ounce of resentment has vanished from his eyes.“They’re lovely gifts,” Mum tells me. “Well done.”One of the babies—Liam, I think, because he’s wearing red—stirs in the cot, waving his tiny fists in the air.“Can I pick him up?” I ask, and Catie wipes her eyes and nods..“Of course.”I lift the baby out and walk beneath the umbrella so he doesn’t have the sun in his eyes.“Hey, little fella,” I murmur, and he looks up at me with his big blue eyes. He smells sweet, of milk and talcum powder, and when I stroke his cheek with a finger, he grabs it and tries to suck it. I chuckle and look at Saxon, who’s watching me with a smile.I feel a huge swell of relief. It’s the first step to putting things right with the people I love, and it feels damn good.I just hope I can do something similar with Craig and Alice.*I stay for another hour, drinking my coffee and chatting to my family. Then, just before midday,
One Night Stand With The Billionaire Boss 86
KipI read it several times, then send it.It’s time to head over to my parents’ house. Dad bought each of us a breathalyzer when we were younger so we could make sure we weren’t over the limit after a few drinks. I haven’t used it for a while as I don’t tend to drink at all when I’m driving, but I take it out of the cupboard and blow into it, relieved to find I’m well under.Taking the presents with me, I get into the Merc and head out into the sunny morning.When I pull up at the house, Saxon’s Aston is already there, gleaming in the sunshine. I pick up the parcels and make my way inside, my stomach fluttering. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the need to apologize for bad behavior.As I pass the kitchen I see Mum there, talking to Pamela as they load a tray with cups of coffee. They both look over as I stop and walk in. Pamela gives a wry smile, and Mum gives me a look that says, ‘What am I going to do with you?’“Morning,” I say, going up to Mum, leaving the parcels on the cou
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KipI vomit twice more in the night, but luckily Damon’s there to help me stumble to the bathroom, and to encourage me to drink more water. So when I eventually wake up for real, I feel a tad fragile, but not half as bad as I might have done if he hadn’t been there.I check the time—07:14. The sun is up, flooding the room with pale yellow light. The sky is such a light blue that it’s almost white.The bed next to me is empty, and I can’t hear Damon upstairs.Still no message or calls from Alice, but there are a few others waiting for me. The first is from Damon.Hey bro, I left around two a.m. once you stopped throwing up. Take the Panadol and drink the orange juice, then go apologize to Saxon and Catie and I’m sure you’ll feel better. DThe second is from my father.I’d like to see you here at eleven a.m., kiddo. Make sure you’re not over the limit. Dad xHe hasn’t called me kiddo for years. It’s obviously a reflection of my behavior last night.The third and fourth are from Saxon. The
