Alle Kapitel von One Night Stand With The Billionaire Boss : Kapitel 101 – Kapitel 110

She told me that she cares for her mother twenty-four-seven, which must mean she’s been confined to her home since she was sixteen. Reading must have been a comfort to her, something she could fit around looking after her mum. Maybe she started by doing a blog reviewing books and movies, and the podcast grew out of that. She’s done extremely well for herself, though, to develop it as well as she has.How does she make a living out of it, though? She must monetize her podcasts. I remember something then and google Wonderland and Patreon. Yeah, I was right—you can support her on Patreon and get extra interviews, reviews, discussions, and even merchandise. She’s also running a Kickstarter campaign to fund a proper studio that’s already passed its target amount. Wow. She’s quite the entrepreneur. Now I’m really impressed.Why didn’t she tell me any of this? I’d have been fascinated and would have loved to chat to her about it. But even as I form the question, I know the answer. It’s the s

AliceThe journey home to Gisborne is a long one. Luckily it’s a nice day, and the roads are relatively clear. We chat for most of it, and also sing to music, but the couple of stops we take and a few bouts of roadworks mean it’s nearly seven by the time I pull onto the drive and turn off the engine, and we’re both knackered.“Thank fuck,” Charlie says. Then she turns to me and gives me a big hug. “Thank you so much for coming to get me.”“Oh, you’re welcome. Anytime.” I hug her back. “Come on, let’s go and see Mum.”We get our bags out of the car and head down the path to the front door.This is our family home—a moderately sized, four-bedroomed house in a quiet cul-de-sac. Luckily, the insurance money we received after Dad died paid off the mortgage. I don’t know how we’d have coped if we’d had to find that money each month.The surrounding lawns are neat—my uncle must have mown them while we were away—and the roses I planted around the front porch are blooming and smell gorgeous as

“Yes, like the one Stephen Hawking used?”“Yeah. I know this sounds arrogant, but the software is miles better than anything on the market at the moment. It’s called MOTHER.”“Like in Alien?”“Yeah,” he says softly, and I think he’s smiling. “I’ve been working with my cousin, who runs an AI company.”“Titus, right? Charlie had read about him.”“Yeah, that’s right. The predictive text component is especially advanced, and it’s going to make a real difference for people with speech difficulties. In November, we discussed which company we wanted to employ to make the speech synthesizer. Saxon and I wanted one company, and Craig was super-enthusiastic about another. In the end, I went with the company I liked. Then we discovered that he’d talked to a reporter and told them we’d sold to the company he recommended, Sunrise.”“Shit, really?”“I confronted him. He said Sunrise had offered double what Genica, the company I wanted, had offered. When I said it didn’t matter, that I wasn’t going

A few hours later, I slip out of the building and walk to my car.The party will continue for a few hours yet, but I’m not in the mood for festivities. Saxon has already left anyway, keen to return to his girl. We’ve left Damon there being the life and soul of the party. Hopefully he’ll stay sober enough to steer clear of the young secretaries who are all fluttering their eyelashes at him.I haven’t drunk any alcohol, so I get in my Merc and head out to Oriental Bay, where Renée Garnier apparently lives, and where I’m assuming Craig is now staying. I’m not sure what I’m going to say to him yet. I just know that I need to talk to him.It takes me about fifteen minutes to get there. While I drive, I play one of Alice’s podcasts. She’s interviewing a Kiwi author of a series of fantasy novels, an older guy, and it’s a great interview, with him chuckling constantly as she teases him and makes him laugh. I listen to her husky voice and imagine her singing that Joss Stone song to me in bed,

AliceKip finally messages me just after eight p.m.Just finished the podcast, he says.I’m in the living room, watching a movie with Mum and Charlie, curled up in one of the armchairs. Smiling, I text him back.What did you think?Kip:Loved it. Thought you really brought her out of herself. She seemed very shy.Me:She was. Nobody remains shy with me for long though!Kip:You’re a very easy person to be with.Me:Sorry did you just call me easy?Kip:LOL no!Me:I did sleep with you the first day I met you.Kip:You were also a virgin. I’d hardly call that easy.Me:Good point.“Are you texting Kip?” Charlie asks.I put my phone down, blushing. “No.”“You are,” Mum says. “You’re smiling.”“I smile all the time.”“It’s your bashful smile,” Charlie says. “That’s how you looked at him that morning after he kissed you.”Mum smiles. I know Charlie told her that Kip and I spent the night together. Mum hasn’t mentioned it to me yet. I think she’s aware I don’t want that conversation—not because I’m