Maid For The Untamed Billionaire

‘It’s a good idea to buy something that is cheap to repair,’ he advised firmly. ‘I would suggest you look at the Japanese cars. Or the Korean ones.’

‘All right,’ she agreed. He seemed to know what he was talking about, whereas she was pretty ignorant when it came to cars.

‘And what bank account would you like the twenty-five thousand put into? The same one your salary goes into, or do you want to start up a special travel fund account?’

Abby was taken by surprise when her chin began to quiver. But really today had all been a bit much.

‘Don’t you dare start crying again,’ he commanded.

Abby bit her bottom lip and blinked madly.

‘Sorry,’ she muttered through gritted teeth. ‘I’m not usually a cry baby.’ Which was true. Nowadays, Abby kept her emotions under tight control. There had been a time when she’d cried too much. And too often. But no longer.

Lifting her chin, she speared her boss with a dry-eyed and rather rebellious glare.

‘Good,’ Jake snapped, making Abby want to hit him. How on earth she could have been sexually attracted to this man—even for a moment—was beyond her.

‘You should go home,’ he went on in that same brusque manner. ‘You look tired. Ring me when you’ve decided on the brand of car and we’ll make arrangements for Saturday. You can tell me then what account you want the money put into.’

‘All right. Bye then,’ Abby went on rather sharply, gathering up her things and taking off before she could say or do something which might jeopardise her job. Or Craig’s remarkable legacies.

She almost slammed the front door, just getting control of her temper in time. She did slam the door on the ute and accelerated off faster than her usual sedate speed. But she soon slowed down, telling herself not to be so silly. No point risking her life because her boss was a pain in the butt.

Think about your new car, she told herself. And all that lovely money.

Abby sighed. Yes, it was sad that Craig was dead, but life went on, as she very well knew. You had to search for the positives in life or you would go mad.

Another thought suddenly came to Abby which made her wince. How much of this was she going to tell Megan? As she’d said to Jake, you couldn’t hide a new car. But perhaps it would be best if she didn’t tell her sister about the money. It might make her jealous and, yes, suspicious.

Abby pulled a face at herself in the rear-view mirror. She hated lying to Megan but she just might have to. Oh, dear. Even when things took a turn for the better, life wasn’t easy.

CHAPTER FOUR

‘YOU HANDLED THAT WELL,’ Jake growled as he pulled a bottle of red at random out of his wine rack. ‘I love the way you kept her at a distance.’

Still, what could he do when she started crying like that? Common sense demanded he do nothing. But common decency insisted that he comfort her.

Big mistake.

The moment he’d taken her in his arms, all those good intentions of his dissolved in the face of a desire so strong it took every ounce of willpower not to pull her even closer than he had. He didn’t want to pat her damned back. Or utter soothing words. He wanted to tip up her chin and kiss the tears from her lovely face.

Thank God he hadn’t given in to that desire. Because she would not have surrendered to him as she did in his darkest dreams. She would have slapped him, then resigned as his housekeeper.

Abby didn’t particularly like him. That, he knew.

Which should have been a relief, given his resolve never to act on his secret desire for her. Instead he felt peeved by her indifference. And jealous of her obvious affection for Craig. Which was all perverse, given his own decision not to have anything to do with her on a personal level, a decision which fate—courtesy of his uncle—had now blown out of the water. Next Saturday morning he would be personally escorting Abby to Craig’s graveside, then afterwards he would be personally buying her a car.

That was all pretty personal, in his opinion.

But there was no way out, Jake accepted bleakly as he gazed down at the label of the bottle he’d pulled out and saw it was one of his favourites. A Shiraz from the Clare Valley. Good. Because he needed to get drunk. And he might as well do so on a favourite tipple rather than rubbish.

Not that he ever bought rubbish, he admitted as he poured himself his first glass. Long gone were the days when he drank rough red from casks. Hell, he hadn’t done that since his university days. And yet they had been good days. Happy days. Carefree days.

Nothing like today, Jake thought ruefully as he lifted the glass to his lips for a deep swallow. Today would not go down as good. Or happy. Or carefree. Today was…what?

He wasn’t sure how to describe it.

Dangerous came to mind. And not in a good way. Jake had enjoyed danger in his life at times. But this was a different kind of danger. This wasn’t physical danger. This involved his emotions. Intense, uncontrollable emotions.

Jake didn’t like intense, uncontrollable emotions. They made you do things which never ended well.

Jake carried the glass and the bottle out to his courtyard, where he placed the bottle on the small circular glass table he liked best then sat down in the chair next to it.

When his phone rang, he saw that it was Olivia.

He didn’t want to talk to Olivia just now. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. So he just turned off the phone and went back to drinking his wine.

CHAPTER FIVE

WITHIN SECONDS OF arriving home Abby rang Megan, not wanting to procrastinate over the call. Megan would only be even more suspicious if she waited too long to give her the good news.

‘Hi there, kiddo,’ Megan answered, a term of endearment which often led people to think Megan was the older sister. And whilst there wasn’t much between them, Abby was actually older by fifteen months.

Abby had already decided that the best way to play this was to sound very happy about it. And she was happy. Just a bit wary about her sister’s reaction.

‘You’ll never guess what’s happened,’ Abby said brightly as she dumped her bag on the floor and plonked herself into a nearby armchair.

‘Something good by the sound of things.’

‘Unbelievably good!’ And she launched into an explanation of the day’s events. As planned, she left out the part about the travel fund money and only mentioned the new car. Naturally, she didn’t include the bit about her bursting into tears and Jake hugging her.

Megan exclaimed a shocked, ‘No!’ at the news about the new car, but thankfully didn’t make any sarcastic crack about what Abby might have done with Jake’s uncle to deserve such an incredibly generous gift. Things might have been different, however, if she’d mentioned the twenty-five thousand dollars as well. Though possibly not. Maybe Megan instinctively knew that Abby would never do anything sexual with a man she didn’t love. Wayne had been her first and only lover because he was the first and only man she’d ever loved.

‘Aren’t you a lucky duck?’ Megan said without a trace of jealousy in her voice. ‘A brand-new car! And you don’t even have to wait for probate to come through, since your hunky boss is buying you the car himself. This Saturday, you said?’

‘Yes. This Saturday.’

‘It’s a wonderful gift. Especially when you hardly knew his uncle. But perhaps not so much if he was filthy rich. Was he filthy rich?’

‘He must have been. Jake said he’d inherited heaps. That’s why he doesn’t mind forking out the money for me for a car.’

‘Oh, right. Still, it’s nice of him to do that. He’s not legally obliged to, I would imagine.’

‘Probably not, but he said he would never go against his uncle’s deathbed wishes.’

‘Did you see this letter his uncle left him?’

‘Well, no, but why would he lie about something like that?’

‘Maybe he fancies you.’

‘Oh, don’t be ridiculous! Why would he fancy someone like me when he has that gorgeous girlfriend? I’ve been thinking, Megan, since I’m getting a new car, would you like the ute? I know it’s done a good few miles but it goes really well. Wayne put a new engine in it not long before he died.’

‘Oh, I’d love it. Thanks, Abby.’

‘Jake is going to take me to see his uncle’s grave as well,’ she blurted out before she could think better of it.

The silence at the other end of the line was telling.

‘Oh, is he?’ Megan said at long last in one of her knowing voices. ‘And why is he doing that?’

‘Because I asked him to,’ Abby said, angry with herself. ‘And, before you jump to conclusions, we’re just dropping in at the cemetery on the way to the car yards at Parramatta. It’s hardly out of his way. And you are so wrong about his fancying me.’

Megan laughed. ‘We’ll see, hon. We’ll see.’

‘Oh, for pity’s sake.’

‘You’ve always underestimated your looks, Abby. Even when your teeth were not great, you were gorgeous. Now that you’ve had them fixed, you’re a knockout. And your figure is to die for.’

‘Oh, go on with you!’

‘No, I mean it. Your fantastic figure was one of the reasons Wayne was so possessive of you. And why he didn’t want you to work after you were married. Because he didn’t want other men lusting after you.’

Abby’s first reaction was to hotly deny what Megan said. But in her heart of hearts she knew it was true. Wayne had been very possessive of her. Right from the start, he’d wanted her all to himself. Which had suited Abby fine. All she’d wanted back then was to be Wayne’s wife, plus the mother of his children. She’d been only too happy to stop work and not have to face the world every day with her horrible teeth. Not so happy, however, as the years had passed and the nursery remained empty.

‘That’s probably the reason he wouldn’t pay for you to get your teeth fixed,’ Megan continued. ‘Because he was afraid you’d be too beautiful and he’d lose you to another man.’

‘That’s ridiculous!’ Abby protested. ‘The reason I didn’t get my teeth fixed back then was because it’s very expensive and we had a huge mortgage. Besides, Wayne already loved me, even with my horrid teeth. As for being too beautiful, please don’t make me laugh. Even if by some miracle I’d become the most beautiful woman in the world, I would never have left Wayne, no matter what. I loved him.’

‘Did you, Abby? Or did you just love that he loved you with the kind of crazy obsession which can be oh, so flattering?’

‘I did so love Wayne,’ she insisted. ‘Very much. We would have been happy together if we’d had children.’

Megan sighed. ‘If you say so, Abby.’

‘I do say so. Now, I do not wish to discuss Wayne any more, thank you. I didn’t realise how much you disliked him.’

‘I didn’t dislike him. I just didn’t think he was good enough for you. You deserved someone better.’

Abby didn’t know whether to feel flattered or frustrated. ‘Such as who, Megan? Prince Charming?’

‘Yeah, why not? And let me tell you something else, kiddo. If you bought some new clothes and put on some make-up occasionally, you would be so hot that every man you met would be drooling. And that includes your handsome hunk of a boss.’

Abby didn’t like to tell Megan that she was being delusional—about Jake at least—so she just laughed.

‘Yeah, you can laugh if you like. Just you wait and see. Speaking of your boss, did you happen to watch his show today?’

‘Hardly. I was too busy cleaning his house.’

‘He interviewed Maddie Hanks. You know, the latest Aussie actress who’s made it big in Hollywood?’

‘I know who you mean. She was in that biblical epic. Played a slave girl.’

‘Yeah, that’s the one. Well, she was flirting with Jake big time. And brother, she is stunning. He seemed very taken with her. Couldn’t keep his eyes off her cleavage. Though I don’t think her boobs are real. Anyway, I wouldn’t mind betting they get together in the near future.’

Abby rolled her eyes. Truly, her sister was so addicted to gossip that she saw scandalous behaviour everywhere. ‘Jake already has a gorgeous girlfriend,’ she pointed out. ‘That newsreader. Remember?’

‘Huh! That won’t stop him getting into Miss Hanks’s pants.’

‘He’s not like that,’ Abby said sharply.

‘Oh, really? And how would you know, Miss I-Know-Nothing-Personal-About-My-Hunk-of-a-Boss? Did something else happen today that you didn’t tell me about?’

‘No,’ she denied, blanking the hug out of her mind. ‘Look, I’m not overly fond of the man, but he’s not some sleazebag.’

‘Wow. He’s sure got you fooled. All men can be sleazebags if the right temptation comes along.’

Abby just shook her head. ‘Truly, Megan, you are such a cynic when it comes to men.’

‘I have good reason to be.’

This was true. Timmy’s father hadn’t been the first man in Megan’s life to treat her badly. She’d met a few since becoming a single mother who’d wined and dined her till they got what they wanted before dumping her as cruelly as the cowardly creep who’d got her pregnant then disappeared once he discovered fatherhood was too much commitment for him.

‘I hope you’re going to make yourself presentable when your boss takes you out on Saturday,’ Megan said.

‘It’s not a date, Megan.’

‘You still want to look a bit nicer than you do when you clean his house.’

‘I will do my best.’

‘Good. Gosh, wait till Jan hears all this. She’s going to be green with envy.’

Jan was Megan’s next-door neighbour, a single mother like Megan. She was one of the reasons Megan wouldn’t come to live with Abby, because she didn’t want to leave her best friend. Abby wasn’t overly keen on Jan, but she’d been a good friend to Megan and had a similar personality. Both were very easy-going but extremely untidy. Abby had been somewhat relieved when Megan knocked back her offer for her and Timmy to come live with her. Their messy lifestyle would have driven her mad within a week.

‘Jan’s sure to think I did something suspect with Jake’s uncle,’ Abby said drily.

‘Nah. Now if it was me.’

Abby smiled. ‘Come on, Megan, you’re not as bad as you pretend to be.’

‘Yeah, I am. Not everyone is as saint-like as you, sweetie. Though, to give you credit, being a goody-two-shoes got you somewhere this time. I dare say you waited on that rich old bastard hand and foot. You probably even baked him those delicious peanut butter cookies of yours.’

Abby fell silent with guilty embarrassment. She had made a fuss of Jake’s uncle. But, at the time, it had been ages since her nurturing side had had an opportunity to flourish. Looking after Jake’s house was a rather impersonal job. It had been so satisfying to bake cookies for a real man and, yes, watch him eat them with relish. She’d enjoyed it all immensely.

‘You did, didn’t you?’ Megan said with laughter in her voice. ‘No wonder he thought of you when he was dying. Those cookies of yours are super-yummy. Though way too fattening. I refuse to let you make me any more. Though Timmy wouldn’t mind some, when you have your next baking session. I have to go and get the little devil himself now. He’s been playing next door. Ring me tomorrow night. Gotta go. Love ya.’

‘You too.’

After Abby clicked off her phone she just sat there, thinking about some of the things Megan had said about her marriage to Wayne. It was true that her husband had loved her more than she’d loved him. But she had loved him. Okay, not with a grand passion. Her feelings for Wayne had been based more on a deep friendship and eternal gratitude rather than the kind of wild sexual yearnings which some people obviously experienced.

Abby supposed she had been flattered by Wayne’s fiercely possessive love. And his insatiable desire for her. After her second miscarriage, she’d wanted to take her doctor’s advice to go on the Pill and give her body a rest. But no, Wayne had refused to countenance that idea, saying he didn’t like to interfere with nature. He’d promised instead to abstain from sex for a while but, of course, that hadn’t lasted for long. He’d never been able to control his desire for her and she’d never felt good about refusing him, mostly because she knew how much he seemed to need it.

Abby liked the kissing and cuddling part of lovemaking—she’d loved being wrapped in Wayne’s strong arms—but she’d never felt any urgent need for the sex act itself, unlike Megan, who claimed she couldn’t live without it. It had never really bothered Abby that she didn’t come during lovemaking. It had bothered Wayne, however, so after a while she had just faked it.

She hadn’t had to fake falling pregnant, however, and a few months after her second miscarriage she’d been pregnant again. But, once again, she’d miscarried at the three months stage. After that, she’d gone on the Pill without discussing it with Wayne, and she was still taking it long after her husband was gone, mainly because she’d discovered it saved her from premenstrual tension.

It felt good, Abby realised, to finally be in control of her body and, yes, her life. She’d been gutted by Wayne’s tragic death, had taken months to get over it. But in the end she’d picked herself up and moved on.

Now, because of Craig’s wonderful kindness and generosity, she would be able to move on some more. And Jake would find another housekeeper easily enough.

Thinking of Jake reminded Abby of what Megan had said about him, and about men in general. Abby had to admit that her view of the opposite sex was possibly narrower than her sister’s. But she wasn’t stupid. She was sure she would recognise a sleazebag when she came across one. And Jake Sanderson was no sleazebag.

But that was possibly the only good point of his character. Abby could see that he had a tendency towards arrogance and self-absorption. Neither was he into commitment, hence his never-ending parade of beautiful girlfriends. But that didn’t mean he would be a cheater. She couldn’t imagine him having sex with some flashy, fly-by-night actress whilst he was dating that truly gorgeous newsreader.

Abby would be utterly disgusted if she ever found out he had done something like that. Not that it was any of her business what her boss did in his private and personal life. Still, it bothered her a bit, thinking that he could be, right at this moment, meeting up with Maddie Hanks somewhere in the city then bringing her back to his place for the night.

It occurred to Abby that she would know within a minute of arriving at his house tomorrow morning if he’d had a new woman stay overnight. Abby knew his current girlfriend’s smell because she recognised the perfume. It was a heavy musky scent which didn’t wear off easily. During the last few weeks Abby had smelled that perfume every couple of days, and almost always on a Monday after the weekend.

But not this Monday morning, she suddenly realised. Which led her to wonder if maybe they’d split up. Maybe that was why he’d been giving Maddie Hanks the eye on his show today. Men like Jake didn’t go without sex for long. Because they didn’t have to. Women threw themselves at famous men in droves—beautiful, sexy, successful women who knew everything there was to know about lovemaking and never had to fake a thing.

A very rude word burst from Abby’s lips as she stood up abruptly then marched into her immaculate little kitchen, where she snapped on the kettle then yanked open the freezer, which was full of frozen meals for one.

Still feeling decidedly disgruntled, she grabbed a chilli con carne and shoved it into the microwave to reheat, telling herself all the while that her boss’s sex life was definitely none of her business.

‘He can sleep with whomever he damned well likes,’ she said in a tone quite uncharacteristic of her usual serene self. ‘Just so long as he delivers everything he promised me today!’

CHAPTER SIX

JAKE LEFT IT until nine that evening to ring Olivia back, having learnt from experience that it was never wise to ring her before she’d been home for a while after work. After reading the news from six till seven, Olivia usually went for a de-stressing drink down near the quay before catching the Manly ferry home.

Her phone rang several times before she picked up.

‘Well, hello, stranger,’ she answered waspishly. ‘Why didn’t you answer when I rang you earlier?’

‘I didn’t feel like talking,’ he said with blunt honesty.

‘Are you upset with me for not going to your uncle’s funeral?’

‘No,’ he told her with equal honesty. ‘I didn’t expect you to cancel your arrangements when they’d been organised weeks before Craig died.’

Olivia and five of her girlfriends had driven up to a resort in the Blue Mountains on the Friday for a hen party for one of the girls, who was getting married shortly.

‘I was home by eight last night,’ Olivia pointed out tartly. ‘Why didn’t you ring? I was waiting for your call. Or your text. Or something.’

Jake was totally taken aback. They didn’t have the kind of relationship where they called and texted each other all the time. They were lovers, but not in love.

‘You told me you were turning off your phone for the weekend,’ he reminded her. ‘Nothing stopped you ringing me when you got home last night.’

‘I was tired.’

‘More likely hungover.’

‘Yes,’ she admitted grudgingly. ‘That, too. But you still could have contacted me this morning.’

‘Come now, Olivia. You know I’m busy on weekday mornings, getting ready for my show.’

‘Ah, yes. Your show,’ she said in a tone which had a decided edge to it. ‘I happened to watch your show today…’

‘And?’ he prompted when she didn’t go on.

‘I saw the way you were ogling that actress’s boobs. You do know they’re fake, don’t you?’

Jake could not believe what he was hearing. He sincerely hoped it wasn’t the sounds of jealousy. Because jealousy meant only one thing.

‘I dare say it was the cameraman doing the ogling,’ he said coldly. ‘Not me.’

‘That’s not the way I saw it. Just remember that if you’re dating me, Jake darling, you can look, but you can’t touch anyone else.’

‘Don’t start getting possessive on me, Olivia,’ he warned, his tone darkly ominous.

There was a short silence before she suddenly laughed. ‘Of course not. I was only kidding. Any red-blooded man would have to be blind not to ogle Maddie Hanks’s boobs. That’s why they pay her so much to take off her clothes. So when am I going to see you next? I was thinking we could meet up somewhere in the city for dinner tomorrow night. Café Sydney, perhaps?’

Jake knew if he did that then Olivia would want to come back to his place for the night. And he simply didn’t want to have sex with her. Truth be told, he’d been glad she’d gone away the previous weekend. After Craig’s wretched funeral and wake he’d just wanted to be alone.

‘I don’t think so, Olivia,’ he told her, trying not to sound as cold and hard as he suddenly felt towards her. But in his head he kept comparing her to Abby, who had cried in his arms over a man she hardly knew. And that was before she knew what he’d left her. Olivia might look all woman but she didn’t have a soft or compassionate bone in her body. She could read the most tragic news and shed not a single tear.

‘But why not?’ Olivia demanded to know in the stroppy tone she adopted when things weren’t going her way.

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