Fugitive Millionaire (Fugitive Millionaire Book One) Read Free Page A

Cooper sitting on her boss’s lap. Sloane and Nathan are making out hot and heavy. They are oblivious to her staring as their entwined bodies bounce up and down on the luxuriously supple leather couch that is a part of Nathan’s office décor. The lovers quickly untangle when they realize she is there.
    “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in.” Claire can’t think of anything else to say. She’s just caught her boss getting it on with the Chairman’s wife. What can she say? It’s not like there’s a Cooper Enterprises instruction manual that explains to employees how to respond after catching your boss fooling around at work.
    Please don’t let this cost me my job.
    Nathan is clearly embarrassed as well to be caught in this compromising position. His tie is undone. His shirt unbuttoned at the top. His hair is mussed. As for Sloane, she avoids looking at Claire and starts reapplying makeup.
    “Claire, come in here and shut the door. Quickly, before someone else sees us,” Nathan says with hushed urgency.
    Claire follows her boss’s order. She stands just inside his office with her back leaning tightly against the door. She is hoping to beat a hasty retreat after Nathan lets her know what to expect next.
    Nathan stands up and nervously runs his fingers through his hair. Claire can see he’s trying to think of the right words to say. Claire is sucking in shallow pockets of air as she waits for Nathan to speak.
    “I’m sorry you had to see us like this, Claire. I know it puts you in an awkward position.”
    Claire stares blankly at Nathan. She’s afraid of uttering the wrong words.
    Nathan begins pacing the floor like a cornered big cat. “I realize this goes beyond our normal working relationship. Geez. I feel like such an idiot. I should have told you not to bother me. Anyway, I have to come up with a fast solution to this little problem.”
    Claire braces herself for bad news. “Are you going to fire me?”
    Nathan looks at Claire with surprise. “No, of course not. You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had. I’m asking you a big favor, though. Promise me you won’t ever say a word to anyone, including Fabian, about what you saw here just now.”
    Claire eagerly nods her acceptance of these terms. “Absolutely. I’ll pretend it never happened. You have my word as a loyal employee and friend.”
    Nathan seems relieved that he’s gotten a verbal commitment of silence from Claire. He smiles and winks at her, which signals she is now a part of their big, fat secret. “Okay, you can go now. Wait. Why don’t you go ahead and take the rest of the day off with full pay. My treat.”
    Nathan is blatantly kissing her butt to ensure her silence, but Claire is in no position to refuse his generous offer. She’ll simply take the rest of her work home.
    “Thanks, Nathan. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Claire retreats to the sanctuary of her glass-walled cubicle. “What a crazy day,” she whispers to no one but herself.
     
    *****
     
    Claire steps out of the black Lincoln town car that was sent to pick her up and bring her to the Cooper estate. It was a long, scenic drive from her tiny city apartment to the suburbs, but she enjoyed every minute of it. Right now she feels like a princess in one of those fairy tales she loved reading as a kid.
    Claire has never seen the Cooper estate in person. To her delight the mansion is much grander in real life than what the photos depict. A man dressed in formal attire greets her at the main front gate. “Your name?”
    “Claire Decker.”
    Claire waits with baited breath as the man checks the guest registry for her name. “Okay, you’re all set. Welcome to Cooper manor.”
    The gate opens wide and Claire walks into another world. She is now in the midst of extremely rich women who all look like a million bucks in their designer gowns. These ladies are blinged out in what Claire assumes are real diamonds, gemstones and pearls. Meanwhile, here she is wearing her