Billionaire Boss Read Free Page A

stare.
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    By her second drink, Kirsten was getting over her unease. The silence grew into an exchange of pleasantries, finally to actual talk. Seth asked a lot of personal questions—no, rather demanded answers to a lot of personal questions, but Kirsten didn’t mind answering him. She just explained away, the hum of the jet engines strongly comforting.
    â€œThere isn’t a whole lot more to be said. After that, my mom and my sister moved back to Mystery. And here we are today. Just hunky-dory.” Kirsten sat cross-legged in her seat, her hand nursing the best whiskey and soda she’d ever tasted. The liquor left her sleepy and mellow. Even as harsh as Seth Morgan could look, she didn’t mind it so much now. Now that the ice had broken, and they were talking.
    â€œWhy were you so hungry for this job?” His pointed question sent a chill down her spine.
    â€œHey, I could have worked flipping burgers at the Mystery Diner, but do you know what they pay?” She averted her gaze with a laugh.
    â€œHazel said you had to have this job. You needed the money.”
    Depression crept into her like the whiskey. “Carrie’s only eleven, and my mom—well—she’s been having some health problems lately. She really can’t work.”
    â€œSo everything’s fallen on you.”
    Kirsten fell silent. Finally she said, “I didn’t need Hazel to help me find a job, but I confess, if this can work out, I’d really like that.”
    Desperate to change the subject, she gave the cabin a cursory glance. “I can’t believe I just took a shower on an airplane. I mean, how do you get used to all this?”
    It was his turn to fall silent. He stared at her for a long curious moment.
    Eventually he said, “I used to be hungry for things, too. I wanted the world in my lap, and then I got it. I guess I’m jaded about riches now. It takes a lot to make me want something these days.”
    â€œIt must be great to have all your appetites appeased,” she said quietly. “I just get hungrier and hungrier.”
    â€œMy appetites are far from sated. And I always get what I want.”
    His words seemed more like a threat than a statement.
    She studied him, a warning tingle creeping down her spine.
    He said no more after that.
    He only stared into the darkness out the window, dismissing her as if she had grown invisible.
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    The plane landed on time. When the steward Ricky brought Kirsten her luggage, she changed into a pair of jeans and a thermal shirt. Seth had a Jeep waiting for him at the airport and in no time they took off for the new ranch.
    It was not what she’d expected.
    After seeing his office, she figured Seth Morgan’s ranch house would be a sprawling mansion tacked onto the side of a mountain. Instead, what she found was a master-crafted log house settled snugly into the land like a bird in a nest. The house was immensely livable. Fieldstone fireplaces graced each room. The ranch house didn’t even have an office. Seth explained that he’d bought a ranch in Montana to relax, not work.
    Against her better judgment to remain aloof, Kirsten was impressed by the building and the man.
    The housekeeper, Viola, was an older woman with close-cropped white hair and high cheekbones that hinted at Native ancestry. She showed Kirsten her room and kindly left her with a tea tray.
    Kirsten looked around the beautiful bedroom done warmly in aqua-blue cashmere, then threwherself on the bed and went right to the phone to call her family.
    â€œCarrie! Tell Mom I’m back and I got the job!” Kirsten whispered excitedly into the phone.
    She waited until she heard the familiar voice and then continued, “That’s right. I got the job! So tomorrow you quit at the diner. No more work. You need to get over the chemo and be happy again. That way you’ll be as healthy as the doctor says you are.”
    Her mom’s expected