Billionaire and Nanny Secret by Lauren Wood

1

Orion

“Just remember to get all the rooms ready for two. I have twelve people coming in from the city and you know how they are. They want everything just so, like we’ve rolled out the red carpet for them, even though they are in a small town in the middle of nowhere.”

Jesse smiled at me and said that she knew exactly how the city folk were. No one in Shadow Valley liked all of the city tourists, but the small town survived on it, so none of us had a choice. We had to tolerate them as much as possible. I would have liked to have done something else, besides run the old B&B The Changeling, but it was passed onto me when my mother passed away. I could have left, but growing up in the old, sprawling three-story house, I didn’t want to leave. Hell, I’d never left Shadow Valley for more than a few days. I liked familiar and expectable things. They were easier to handle, even if tourists caused an uproar every once and a while.

“When are you going to take some time off? I thought you were taking time off in the spring?”

I shrugged and said that I wasn’t too worried about it. “Things need to be done.”

“And you are avoiding having any kind of real connection with anyone.”

I scoffed at Jessica. She’d worked with my mother and my late wife. She was more family than anyone else that was living, but the tall, German grandmother type, didn’t give me much room to commiserate, and she certainly wasn’t going to agree with me.

“We have a connection, Jess. Isn’t that enough?”

She smiled a little wickedly. “Now, Orion, if you were a bit older or I was a bit younger and I hadn’t watched you grow up, maybe. You turned out nice, but you need to meet up with women your own age. Find you a good one. Maybe even go to the city to get one.”

I didn’t want to hear about it. I went to the entry room and looked over all of the bookings for the next two weeks. It was a bit lean, especially with only two local bookings in that time frame. I may not like the city people, but they were the ones that kept the lights on in the Changeling. So, it meant that I had to have everything ready for when they got here.

Jess didn’t leave me be for long. She was asking questions about the clients and what they were there for.

“I don’t know. I guess they have to come all the way out here to talk about business. It’s some kind of company retreat. My contact is for Mila Glickman. She is the boss, I guess.”

Jesse raised her brows and I waved her off. Ever since my wife died three years ago from a long sickness, Jesse has been trying to push me out into the world. I don’t want to be out there, I’ve told her many times, but she doesn’t seem to listen, at all.

“Don’t get any ideas, Jesse. I am still as opposed to it all as I was the last time that big conference came through here, or when you tried to set me up with Rita from church.”

The old woman just shook her head at me, her eyes glinting with sadness. She was thinking about Elizabeth, and I wanted to tell her that I thought about her all the time as well. I tried not to admit it, but that was one thing I’ve not been able to get over. Losing Elizabeth was it for me, the end. Why couldn’t anyone understand that I wasn’t going to find another like her again? I didn’t feel anything for other woman, so there was no point. She didn’t understand that, though. No one in town seemed to know why I wouldn’t just move on.

Jess seemed to get the hint and started cleaning up and polishing off the dozen rooms that were needed for the conference. I couldn’t remember the company’s name, but it didn’t matter. They were the guests that I needed to keep afloat. I didn’t care where they came from, as long as they stayed, paid their bill, and didn’t get too rowdy.

Many times, city folk would come to the Changeling and think that they were the ones that needed to become something else. It never ended well, thus why I had focused more on business retreats and such. Mary from the library had helped me make a website promoting it and it had brought in a lot more clientele, and they were the ones that paid, acted right, and didn’t threaten to put me back in one of the three jail cells in town.

“Hey, stranger. How are you doing over here all by your lonesome?”

The voice grated on my nerves. I knew it well. Jolene was close enough that I could feel her breath on me. She giggled and backed up a step, like she hadn’t seen me standing there. My eyes took in the huge rack that was busting out of her whore-red dress. It suited her, as did the red lipstick that covered her lips. She was like a raging bull and had about the same sense of finesse as one would imagine. She also wanted me, badly, had even when I was married. Just like Jessica, she’d thought that once Elizabeth finally passed, she was going to swoop in.

There would be no swooping and after three years, Jolene still didn’t get it. She tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear and got the biggest grin on her face. She was a few years older than me, but we were worlds apart. I could feel her aggression, but I didn’t need it, not today. I had a lot of work to do and she was not part of it.

The only problem with Jolene was she was always around. She’d caught me once a little too drunk and she’d looked good. I’d bent her over a sink in the local bar’s bathroom and ever since then, I couldn’t shake her. She was always around, waiting for me to slip up again. I don’t know what she wanted from me, but it felt nefarious.

“Morning, Jolene. You know I am never alone. The spirit of my wife keeps me company.”

That got me a look, but the ill feeling didn’t last long, because her tits were soon pressed against my arm, like she didn’t know they were there.

“What can I do for you, Jolene?”

She smiled and literally batted her eyes, like she was in a cartoon. I had to muffle a chuckle, because if there was nothing worse than telling Jolene no, it would be to make fun of her. She would not understand it, and I didn’t want her as an enemy. It was already bad enough the way it was.

“I was just wondering if you could help me with something a little later.”

“What is it, Jolene?”

I waited for her answer, almost cringing. “You know, I need help with my pipes.”

“Well, since your cousin Wally is a plumber, why don’t you give him a call? I am busy today, have a dozen coming in.”

She made a comical frown. “You are going to be too busy for me?”

Yes, thank God!

“Sad to say, but you know that I am sure we will see each other around. Shadow Valley isn’t that big.”

She agreed and got the hint, leaving right out the way she came. Her departure brought relief and a bit of frustration. What was it with the women in this town? Couldn’t they just leave a man be?

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