The Billionaire's First Christmas - Contemporary Romance

The Billionaire’s First
Christmas

By Holly Rayner

Copyright 2014 by Holly
Rayner

All rights reserved. Except for use in
any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole
or in part by any means, now known or hereafter invented, including
xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the explicit
written permission of the author.

All characters depicted in this
fictional work are consenting adults, of at least eighteen years of
age. Any resemblance to persons living or deceased, particular
businesses, events, or exact locations are entirely
coincidental.

Table of
Contents:

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER ONE

~

AARON

I was sitting at my desk with the
windows behind me frosted over with the snow that seemed to be
continuously falling in this cold city. It was only the first week
of December and I was already craving my yearly vacation; this year
I was headed to Belize. I’d had three phone calls this morning
about the Christmas Party already. Going away every year kept me
from having to endure the friendly Christmas get togethers and gift
exchanges, but as CEO of Winters Inc. it couldn’t save me from the
annual party. I had to re-direct the calls all back to my
assistant. I paid for the party, but I didn’t take any part in
arranging it. I’m no Ebenezer Scrooge. It’s not that I don’t
believe in Christmas or want to deny it to anyone else; it’s just
that I find no charm in it myself.

I had done my best every year to avoid
all things Christmas since then, except for the party. I had an
obligation to my employees, one that I fully planned to continue
fulfilling. I had to make an appearance and wish them well. They
worked hard for me; I truly appreciated their dedication and I
wanted them to know that. I also gave the yearly address to inform
them all how the company had fared over the past year and what kind
of changes we may be looking at in the future. I have to do it, but
I don’t have to like it.

The buzzer on my desk phone went off
and I picked it up.

“Yes, Janice?”

“I’m sorry, sir but I just need one
more signature from you and then I promise unless it’s a dire
emergency I won’t bother you again about the party.” Janice had
been with me long enough to know that enduring the Christmas season
was a chore for me. She did a wonderful job of stopping it at my
door. Unless it was about money, she handled it.

I’d founded my company eight years
before. It was a one man operation back then and I was the man.
Janice had walked in off the street one day looking for a job and
because I’d just gained two new clients that same day, and I was
feeling like I deserved some help, I hired her. The first six
months there were times when I had to dip into my savings just to
pay her. I thought so many times during that time in my life about
letting her go, explaining to her that I just couldn’t afford her
salary, but I didn’t do it. She was more than an outstanding
employee, although not quite a friend. I didn’t have many of those.
I didn’t have time for it. Back then I was working to get the
company off the ground. Within a year my company was making high
six figures and then I was working hard to keep it off the ground.
I barely had time for myself much less a bunch of people who might
expect my attention outside of work. I had to hire ten people that
year and I was glad that I’d held onto Janice. If it hadn’t been
for her, there were days when the whole operation would have fallen
completely apart. Now, eight years later she is still my right hand
gal.

“No worries, Janice. Bring them in and
I’ll sign them and then I have to meet with Max over in
marketing.”

“Thank you, sir.”

I smiled as I put the phone down. I
had told Janice a million times that she didn’t have to call me
“sir.” For one thing, I was twenty-nine and she was fifty-one. I
felt silly answering to “sir” from a woman who could have been my
mother. It was so hard for people to see me as a twenty-nine year
old man. When you sat behind a desk as powerful as mine, they
forgot that you were only human.

Janice came bustling in. Everything
she did was with haste, like the very foundation of the company
depended on it. Sometimes it could be just a little bit annoying,
but it had served the company well so I couldn’t complain. She was
one of the employees that I appreciated so much, and one of the
reasons that I showed up at the Christmas party at all.

“Here you go, sir. The first document
is the mini-contract we drew up for the charity auction and the
second one is for the employee gift cards.”

I signed them both, trusting Janice
enough that I wasn’t going to read through a simple document for
the party. When I finished she said, the same as she did every year
at this time, “If your plans change or your flight gets cancelled
because of weather or anything sir, please remember that you’re
always welcome to spend Christmas with my family and
me.”

“Thank you, Janice.” I had yet to meet
her family. Maybe I am Scrooge. “I already have the trip arranged
and barring a blizzard I’ll be out of this cold city before the sun
sets on Christmas Eve. I’ll be in Max’s office for an hour or two
if you need me.”

“Thank you, sir,” she said.

I gathered my tablet and the files I
needed for the meeting with my Director of Marketing, Max Stone.
Max was another lucky find. He’d come to me from a corporation that
Winters Inc. had taken over. It wasn’t a hostile takeover per se,
but it was gut-wrenching for the owners who had to sell because of
age and medical issues. Max was brand new to their company when all
of that happened and while I was still in the early stages of the
take-over and the employees of the previous owners were up in arms
about whether or not they would still have a job, I met Max purely
by accident in the conference room one day. I’d slipped in, trying
to find a place where I could have a moment’s peace and eat my
lunch since I didn’t have an office there yet and in bursts this
boisterous young man who, as I’ve found out since, never stops
talking.

Without knowing who I was at the time,
Max took out his own lunch, sat down and began to talk about the
“tyrant” who ran the company that was “swallowing up” the one he
was working for. Max went on to speak about the ideas that he still
had in the works for marketing the company that I was absorbing. He
had some amazing ideas and when he finally stopped talking for five
minutes, I introduced myself. The look on his face was comparable
to that of a man headed to the gallows to be relieved of the burden
of carrying around his head. I let him sweat over it for two weeks
before I had HR inform him that his position would be rolled over
to the new company if he would like for it to be. He was brilliant
at what he did, but he had no idea when he should keep his mouth
shut. We’d become friends since then, and Max was one of the few
people who worked for me that didn’t kiss my ass or cow down to me.
It was a big part of why I liked him.

I took the elevator down to
the third floor where marketing was located. When the elevator door
slid open; for a second I thought I’d landed in a dream. There was
a young lady standing there, waiting to get on. She had long, honey
blonde hair and deep blue eyes, but the thing I noticed most about
her was her smile. It was big and genuine and she had deep dimples
on either side of her face. I was so stunned by her that I almost
forgot to step off. She didn’t seem to know who I was, but she
jauntily said, “Have a nice day!” nonetheless as I finally
remembered this was my stop.

Before I could reply, the doors were
closing. I did see that she had a lanyard and a key card around her
neck, so I assumed she worked for me. I’d have to look into that
after I get back from my trip. I didn’t have the time between now
and then to date or cultivate any type of new relationship.
Besides, during the holidays if you were dating a woman, she
expected you to spend them with her. No matter how beautiful she
was, that wasn’t going to happen.

Although it was hard, I re-focused on
what I was doing and headed on down the hallway to Max’s office,
preparing myself for an hour or two of Max’s overly enthusiastic
company.

ROBYN

I was in the middle of a brainstorming
session with Gary when HR called and said they needed me to sign
some slips to authorize a couple of employee’s vacation time. I’d
only recently been promoted to Assistant Manager of the Marketing
department at Winters Inc. I didn’t have all the ins and outs of it
quite down yet and I’d signed them in the wrong place. Normally, a
person might find it tedious to be pulled from what they were doing
to sign a few forms. I didn’t today, however, for two reasons: One,
Gary was completely infatuated with me so it was uncomfortable when
we had to work alone together. It’s not that he’s a bad guy; he’s
just not the guy for me. I feel no attraction to him whatsoever at
all, and I don’t want to put myself in a situation where I have to
tell him that and hurt his feelings. Since I started at Winters
nine months earlier he’s been asking me out. I told a white
lie…that I was seeing someone the first time he asked, so now he
“check’s in” on it periodically. I always tell him that same fib,
one of these days I’m sure it’s going to run out of steam. I looked
upon the call as a gift and I hurried right out to take care of my
obligations.

The other reason I was happier than I
should have been about getting interrupted was that when the
elevator doors opened, I’d come face to face with the most
beautiful man that I’ve ever seen. He looked a little distracted
and stood still when the doors opened for a few minutes, like he
wasn’t sure if this was the right floor. It gave me several seconds
to notice his dark eyes and perfectly tailored suit. It fit him
like a glove and when he had his back to me as he stepped off; I
noticed how nicely it fit his broad shoulders and rippled across
the muscles in his back. His hair was as dark as his eyes and when
he finally smiled at me it was the slow, easy smile of a confident
man. My hormones were practically raging like a teenager just from
that one delicious look. By the time the doors closed, my mouth was
as dry as a desert.

I forced myself to tuck away the
vision of him for now as I stepped off the elevator on the first
floor and made my way to the HR department. I’m sure I’d be calling
it back up later. When I pushed in the door of the office I saw
Mary, the HR manager for the company.

“Hi Robyn! I’m sorry to have the girls
pull you away from your work, but with the holidays coming up, we
have so much paperwork in for these day off requests.”

“It’s okay; I apologize for signing
them in the wrong place.” I didn’t tell her how much I appreciated
her timing.

Mary waved a hand at me and said,
“They’re not that user friendly. We’re working on re-designing
them. We should have new ones out by the New Year. By the way, did
you sign up for the auction yet? You can do that here if you like?
I’m volunteering and I think Max is too, isn’t he?” I had no idea
what she was talking about.