Holidays with the Billionaire

Chapter 26

Kelton

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A dlee and I were practically inseparable all week. Thursday, she packed a small bag and I drove her to my place, where I showed her the home my grandfather left me. She absolutely loved the old-world feel of it combined with its modern touches. She said she’d always dreamed of living in a house like that, and it warmed my heart. Because I’m never giving up the house. I want to raise kids there and then pass it off to them.

It’s now Monday, though, and I dropped her off at her place Sunday night, hating to say goodbye, because I know this week is going to be tough, but we’ll get through it.

Adlee is already sitting at the secretary’s desk when I walk in. We’re relatively alone in this section of the office, so when I greet her good morning, she bats her eyelashes and me and says the same.

I set my briefcase on my desk and hang my suit jacket on the coatrack, then head out to get some coffee. Once I return, I call Adlee into my office to discuss work.

“Are you finding the spreadsheets and everything you need? I wasn’t sure how Lea had them organized,” I say.

She smiles. “She didn’t. I did. I put them all in folders by department and priority, so no, I didn’t have any problems finding them.”

I run my hand across my forehead. “I’m really sorry you had to do all that.”

She sits in the chair across from me, her legs crossed under a dark-red skirt she paired with a black blouse that I want to run my fingers over. Her calves look amazing in black heels, too. “Tell me, Kelton. Why did you hire her instead of me? It’s a question that I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while now, but of course never could.”

“That’s easy. I knew working with you every day would be too much. I knew this would happen.” I point between us.

“Really?” she asks. “That’s it? Even though I’m smarter and more qualified?”

“Yes, that’s really it. I just underestimated how... unsharp Lea was. I thought everyone could be trained, even if they were off to a slow start.”

“I don’t think this line of work is for her,” she replies. “Maybe warehouse assembly or hair styling, or something less... paperwork oriented.”

I chuckle. “I agree. But for now, we have to find something for her here. I don’t want to let her go right after her injury. It’ll look bad and she can report me to the Department of Labor.”

My phone buzzes and I hit the button. “Kelton Fox.”

“It’s Jerrold. Can I have a few minutes of your time?”

“Sure, come on over,” I tell him. Good, I need to talk to him anyway.

Adlee gets up, taking the pad of paper and pen with her. “I’ll be at my desk.”

I watch in appreciation as her hips swing and her plump butt moves in that tight skirt.

Stop thinking about that, Kelton...

Soon, Laskin arrives and closes the door behind him.

“Have a seat,” I tell him, indicating the one Adlee had just vacated.

“I want to discuss next year’s budget with you. I think we should increase the staffing budget. Get me a new secretary for one, since you took mine.” He isn’t angry or bitter, but he definitely isn’t mincing his words.

“You can have Lea Jordan when she returns. I’m keeping Miss Phillips,” I tell him matter-of-factly.

He makes a face. “You were serious about that? She’s dumber than a box of rocks.”

“That’s not very nice,” I say, even though I agree with him. “What do you need a secretary for anyway? If you need something, call the appropriate department and ask for it.”

“I could say the same about you,” he comes back, and that pisses me off. Nobody’s getting Adlee but me. Nobody. She’s mine .

“Listen, Jerrold. I think it’s time we discussed your retirement package. Don’t you want to retire? Go play eighteen holes on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon at the country club? Spend more time with Muriel?”

His brows scrunch together. “No, not really. I like my job.”

“I can tell, but you’ve been at this forty years. Aren’t you tired?”

Jerrold stares out the massive floor-to-ceiling window into the gray skies. “I am, but I don’t want to retire. I’m afraid I’ll be bored.”

Well, that’s the most honest thing he’s ever said.

“My dad retired five years ago as you know. He keeps plenty busy, and when my mom gets on his nerves, he just stays outside all day.” I throw him a cocky smirk.

“He has a farm though,” he replies. “I have no interest in that.”

“Listen, I’ll have HR draw up an even better retirement package than you have now, and you can take a look at it, okay?” I say, trying to be nice.

“Maybe,” he replies, plunking a fat folder on the desk. “So, about the budget...”

Another reason he needs to go. He fucking prints out everything when he could have emailed it to me or put it in one of the electronic folders on the drive.

“Okay...” I reply.

He spends thirty minutes telling me things he could have sent in an email, and once he leaves, I wipe a hand down my face. He wears me out sometimes.

My desk phone buzzes again and I hit the button. “Yes, Adlee?”

“I’ve got Jet Keystone on the phone for you,” she says, sounding a little stressed.

Fuck.

“Fine, put him through.” I let go of the button and pick up the phone. “Kelton Fox.”

He doesn’t even say hello or greet me with his smarmy small talk before he launches right in. “I see you’ve got that sweet little thing working for you now. You two must have really hit it off in Aspen Peak. Didn’t you have some other chick before? Lea something?”

“What the fuck do you want?” I ask, in no mood to deal with him.

“You know what I want, Fox. How much money is it gonna take get you to sell?”

“Not sure how many different ways I can say no. Do you need it in writing, asshole?”

“You know I could destroy you, right? Your whole empire?”

I feel my face flush. “Are you threatening me, Keystone?”

He laughs and I want to reach through the phone and throttle him. “Nah, just trying to push you along in your decision that you already know you’re going to make.”

“Never, you dick.” I slam the phone down and then sweep it off the desk with the back of my hand.

“A ren’t you worried about someone seeing us together?” Adlee asks as we pull up to another outdoor skating rink. It’s New Year’s Eve, and I wanted to spend the whole day and night with her.

“Not really. We’re not close to where we live or work. I doubt we’ll see anyone we know,” I reply, staring at her from the driver’s seat of my Bugatti in the warmth of the car.

“What about the ‘paps’ as you call them?” she asks with a smile.

“They don’t have any interest in me,” I reply honestly.

“They seemed to have in Keystone,” she shoots back.

She’s right, but she doesn’t understand. “You’re correct. Two reasons: One, the Foxes are sort of like town royalty since we own it. Two, sports stars, and other celebrities are always there, and the town’s newspaper is very small and likes to print stories about ‘famous’ people. Here in the big city, nobody cares about an old ex-Avalanche player.”

“Makes sense.” She looks out the window thoughtfully. “I can’t believe you want to go skating with me again.”

“With my own skates, and the new ones I got you, we’ll have much more fun.”

“I can’t wait,” she replies and I can’t tell if she’s being sarcastic, so I just laugh.

We exit the warmth of the car and head to the rink, where I pay for access and we put our skates on, leaving our shoes with the attendant.

Like before, I get on the ice first and then help her out. She takes my hand and wobbles a little but I hold her up.

“Let’s do a few laps,” I suggest.

It goes better than last time, and I can already tell she’s better. “Now, let’s do this.” I take both her hands and skate backward while I glide her along. “You’re a dancer, right? Follow my lead, do as I do, and we’ll flow together.”

She nods. “Got it.”

Soon, we’re skating quickly, and I rely on her to tell me if I’m about to hit someone since my back is to them. We skate around a few people and kids but soon we’re going fast, the icy wind whipping our exposed skin, our breaths coming out in foggy clouds.

Adlee’s face is red with the wind, but she wears a big smile, and her green eyes sparkle with happiness.

A few people stop to stare at us, because now, we look like two professional skaters putting on a show. I’m not worried about anyone from the office seeing us. I’m not worried about anything. This carefree fun is what I needed after a stressful few days back in the office. Adlee and I had maintained professionalism, and I was proud of that. I just wonder how long we’ll keep it up.

Is it frowned upon if I end up marrying this girl? How could that be an HR crime? I made a mental note to consult with my attorney about it, or have him refer me to someone who knows about office relationships, where a boss is involved with a subordinate.

After we skate for a couple of hours, we’re both cold and hungry, so we change back into our shoes and walk across the street to a bakery café that serves sandwiches and soups. We were lucky to score a small, two-person table near the window, and we chat over cheddar broccoli soup and turkey paninis.

“I don’t think I ever asked you,” I say, picking up my water glass. “What kind of dancing did you do?”

“I still can’t believe you even know about that,” she replies, her cheeks still red, but now from the warmth in the café. “It was mostly instructional urban dance. Like when the cheerleaders put on a dance at the high school football game to modern hip-hop music.”

“Were you a cheerleader?” I ask curiously.

“Started out that way, but some of us decided to branch off and form a cheer dance squad and let the cheerleaders cheer and let us do the dancing at the games. We went to a few state championships for cheer dance. It was fun, but hard on the body.”

“Sounds fun. Then you went to college?” I ask, dying to know everything about her.

“I did, got a cheer scholarship actually. Did that in college for two years, then worked a few admin jobs after graduating, before landing the position at Fox Investments. So, not very exciting, but I’m happy with my life.” She smiles at me. “Especially now.”

“I’m glad,” I reply. “You make my life so much more enriched. I’m glad we hired you or I would never met you.”

“I don’t know about that,” she says, setting her spoon down. “I think if two people are meant to meet, they will, regardless of the circumstance.”

I smile. “Aw. Hopeless romantic.”

“Maybe more of a hopeful romantic? I’m twenty-eight, I was beginning to think I’d never meet my prince.” She winks.

“You want me to be your prince?” I ask.

She nods. “You already are.”