Christmas With The Billionaire

By Susan Stephens

This holiday novella, introduces USA Today Bestselling author Susan Stephens all-new Black-Heart series.

Fabulously wealthy entrepreneur Jason Kent hates Christmas.
What Jason wants, Jason gets—which means solitude over the holidays to give him chance plot his next mega-value business deal.
Content in his luxurious penthouse apartment Jason is not prepared for the arrival of the whirlwind of change and challenge that is Ms Kate Black.

Enter Kate—no-nonsense sheep farmer’s daughter from the North of England.

House-sitting for a member of the British aristocracy over the holidays, Kate refuses to sit back and do nothing when she learns that people in her block are going to be on their own over Christmas. Aided by the scruffy little yappy dog she has also taken on, Kate makes it her mission to bring everyone in her snooty building together.

Working flat out to throw the party of the year, Kate meets an unexpected obstacle in the form of a man who turns her sturdy bones to jelly. With her no nonsense attitude to sex, Kate soon finds that she is a lot more deeply involved than she had intended to become with a man whose appetite for life might match her own, but who travels on a very different track.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susan Stephens
• Release date: Jan 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781910604038

Susan Stephens

Romance with heart, heat and red-hot men, written by author addicted to all of the above.USA TODAY best-selling author Susan Stephens has captivated readers worldwide, selling over 10 million copies of her books. Susan’s stories have been translated into 26 languages, reaching readers in 109 countries. this year, Susan celebrates a remarkable milestone with the publication of her 100th book.Living in Yorkshire, England, Susan is surrounded by a large, loving family—a delightful surprise for someone who grew up as an only child. Her passion for storytelling and family shines through in every page she writes, inviting you to share in her vibrant world.NEW short-reads series: ACOSTAS RAW: RODEOBEAU 1# Release date 26th JulyComing soon 2# COLT 3# BLAKENew FATED BY FIRE series. Anthology, 3 HIGHLAND DRAGON ROMANCES with Angelique Armae and Carole Mortimer available for pre-order now. Release date June 28th1# TORRAN (September 2024 will be Susan's 100th book) 2# ACTON coming soonBLOOD AND THUNDER series: Dangerous women. Hard men. Ferocious passion.ALEXEI. https://books2read.com/u/m2leOdDANTE. https://books2read.com/u/38dejVDIEGO https://books2read.com/u/me9XezCESAR https://books2read.com/u/mB25GACONOR https://books2read.com/u/baDBNQELIJAH coming soonBooks 1-4 BLOOD AND THUNDER available as a box set https://books2read.com/u/mYGQ7Y

Book preview

Christmas With The Billionaire

By Susan Stephens

Copyright © 2014 Susan Stephens

ISBN: 978-1-910604-02-1 eBook Mobi

ISBN: 978-1-910604-03-8 eBook ePub

Contemporary Romance

Published by Susan Stephens

Cover by Glass Slipper WebDesign

Formatting by Glass Slipper WebDesign

Copy for the couple on the cover is held by Shutterstock

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.

All Rights Reserved.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. To obtain permission to excerpt portions of the text, please contact the author at: [e-mail]

www.susanstephens.com

Chapter One

Okay. She could do this.

Kate Black stared up at the gleaming façade of 1, Royal Buildings and braced her capable shoulders. Even at first light on a winter morning, with snow drifting down, London’s premier apartment block was impressive. From chambermaid in rural Yorkshire to house sitter for a member of the aristocracy in central London, she’d taken quite a leap, but the agency she’d signed on to had begged her to fill in for them when another girl let them down last minute, so here she was.

Nothing could be as hard as digging sheep out of snowdrifts in the middle of a blizzard on her parents’ farm in the North of England, Kate reflected. She hoisted her bulging carrier bags full of Christmas gifts from her family onto her shoulder and wheeled her case forward. She hadn’t come to London to be crushed by insecurity, but to make her parents proud. Sheep farming was a tough life, and once she graduated college and was on a decent wage, she was going to help them out with extra money where she could.

Can I help you?

She jumped to see the uniformed doorman giving her a disapproving look.  Fair enough. She was littering up his entrance. Gleaming glass doors without a fingerprint to be seen, sitting atop an impressive claret-colored mat with a crown emblazoned on it, hardly agreed with her battered suitcase and the shabby outfit she’d pulled together with a ratty scarf. Who could blame him for staring down his nose at her?

With a bright smile, she advanced. Hi— She extended her hand in greeting. Which he ignored. I’m Kate Black?

His lack of reaction was a concern. She tried again. I’m here to house-sit for Lady Vallender over the holidays?

From his expression she guessed he knew nothing of this.

I have a letter... Shifting her bags around, she delved into the pocket of her coat. Here— She held it out to him. Suite forty-four? she added hopefully when he continued to block her way. The floor just below the top floor...?

Morning Sir!

She staggered back as the doorman brushed past her to swing the door wide. And froze when she recognized his visitor.

The tall, dark man stopped on the threshold in the shadows, where he looked more saturnine than ever, if such a thing were possible.

Morning, Jack. Problem? he questioned in a deep, commanding voice.

She would have known him anywhere from his many interviews on television, and his photographs in the press. Jason Kent, entrepreneur, financial pundit, sex god—the world’s so-called most eligible bachelor was now the man barring her way.

Suited and booted in the finest tailoring that molded his powerful body to perfection, Kent looked as if he might be fresh from a business meeting. He certainly had the expression of the cat that got the cream. Perhaps he’d just sealed one of those billion-dollar deals he was so famous for, Kate mused, transfixed by his dark, probing eyes.

He really had the compelling navy-blue stare they talked about in the press, and sweeping ebony brows that, together with his chiseled cheekbones and thick, jet black hair, gave him the look of a barbarian from the plains... Genghis Khan, potentially—

Can I help you?

In so many ways.

Her foundations rocked at the sound of his voice.

The young lady is just leaving, sir, the doorman hurried to explain.

No, I’m not. I just arrived.

Kent’s stare sharpened. What do you want, Miss...?

Lifting her chin, she stood her ground. Ms. Black. Ms. Kate Black. I’m expected. The agency sent me. I’ve come from the North of England to house-sit for Lady Vallender.

The doorman blinked, while Jason Kent remained impassive. Neither of them moved to let her in. No problem. If there was one thing she’d learned wrestling sheep up on the moors, it was that you didn’t back down until you got the result you wanted.

You can leave this to me now, Kent told the doorman.

Yes, sir. Jack all but saluted. If you’re quite sure, sir?

I think I can handle it, Kent said dryly.

Oh, could he? She wasn’t some fragile female to be brushed off. She was a sturdy farmer’s daughter—who had to admit she was totally disarmed when Jason Kent took hold of her arm and ushered her into the warmth.

Lady Vallender’s apartment? he queried pleasantly. It’s immediately below mine.

Well, this was what she’d been waiting for—a bit of friendliness—and, she was in the building. So far so good...

Thank you. I’m grateful for your guidance, she said politely, wishing he hadn’t let her go quite so fast, but she was grateful for his assistance with her bags, which he had swept up before she could stop him. Maybe he wasn’t so bad, after all?

Her body tingled with appreciation as they waited side by side for the elevator to arrive. She risked a smile when the doors slid open.

As of today, I own this building, he said, towering over her like the barbarian she had originally thought him—acting like him too, Kate concluded when he went on, As your new landlord, I’ll take this opportunity to remind you that large gatherings and noisy parties are expressly forbidden here.

She sucked in a breath to fire back in return, and then remembered that one word: landlord. Not my apartment, Mr. Kent, she said steadily. Is that all?

Thankfully, they’d reached her floor. Conscious of dark eyes narrowing, she grabbed her bags and squeezed past him, bursting with relief into the blissful calm of an empty corridor.

Nursing a mug of coffee to keep her hands warm as the snow drifted down, Kate leaned over the balcony of the beyond fabulous apartment that was hers for the holidays. She was overlooking Oxford Street, the busiest thoroughfare in London, especially during Christmas.

And the most expensive, Kate reflected wryly, pulling back. She wouldn’t be able to afford a closet in a place like this, let alone an apartment like this, but it was great to have the opportunity to house-sit such a fabulous place and get paid for it. The money she earned from this job would cover her college expenses for another term, and all she had to do was keep the apartment neat and clean, and care for the owner’s cute little yappy dog.

As she bent down to make a fuss of the dog that had stuck to her like glue since she’d arrived, she guessed he spent a lot of time with strangers. That makes two of us, she said wryly, stroking his ears as she thought about the unaccustomed solitude ahead of her over Christmas.

Her course was hotel management, which she loved. Working as a chambermaid in Yorkshire to pay the fees had brought her into contact with so many interesting people. She had thought it would be the same in London, but she’d been here a week now and hadn’t spoken to a soul, apart from Jack, the doorman, who had grudgingly given way to her bluff country ways. The cleaners always stopped for a chat, but apart from them she hadn’t talked to anyone properly.

And Jason Kent?

She