Boss (8 page)

Epilogue

Twelve months later…

Taking over managing Bright Eyes had been one of the best decisions Hannah had ever made, and she owed everything to Nathan.

He had given her the resources to make her dreams come true.

Her dreams had become their dreams, and life had fallen into place.

Hannah finished setting up delicately frosted cupcakes and baklava dripping in honey in the display case and made sure all of the tags were facing the front before sliding the glass door shut.

"Ten minutes until show time," Nathan called out from the kitchen where he was busy preparing pastries from Hannah's very specific guidelines and making sure everything was in order before they finally opened the door to the public.

She had butterflies the size of eagles in her belly.

"There's already a line of people waiting outside the door," she called back to him with her nerves barely masked behind the facade of control she was trying to portray on the outside.

"That's a good thing, honey,” he reminded her with a laugh.

"I know. I know. I just forget how much work and stress all of this is every time we do it."

Hannah wiped down the front counter for the third time in an hour and straightened a pile of books next to the register and the little bowl of peppermints and hard butterscotch candies.

"Still love it?"

He asked coming out of the kitchen and playfully swatting her butt with a dish towel.

Hannah squealed and swatted him away.

"Yes. And I love you too," she accepted his on the fly kiss as he headed back to the kitchen.

"Both very good things, since I'm still just as in love with you as I was one year ago."

Hannah sighed.

Things had worked out so perfectly for them over the past year. She couldn't be more thankful for that.

They had each other, and now three cafes. Hidden Treasures, their newest café, was having their Grand Opening today and the neighborhood was buzzing with excitement.

She had something to tell Nathan before they opened, and she had been running over it excitedly in her mind all day long and waiting for the perfect moment to tell him.

"Honey, it's about that time. Can you come in here with me?" She tucked her towel in her apron and peered at the clock again which seemed to be moving entirely too fast to be accurate.

Nathan came in beaming and looked up at the clock.

"Yep. It's time. Ready to open the doors to the non-caffeinated masses?" he joked.

"That sounds dangerous," she laughed. "Not quite actually," she put her hand on his chest to stop him from opening the door.

"What's wrong?" He asked concern tingeing his voice.

"Nothing is wrong per say, but I need to tell you something."

Hannah fiddled with the strings on her apron second-guessing herself and her choice of timing to have this conversation.

"Alright, but it is opening time on our first day and the people are waiting, honey. What is it?"

Nathan looked at her and saw the shy smile that he had fallen in love with spread across her face.

At least he knew it wasn't going to be bad news when she looked at him that way.

Hannah looked sheepish "We're going to have baby," she blurted it excitedly.

Nathan's face lit up, "Are you serious? You're pregnant?"

He laughed in excitement and rubbed her belly before he pulled her into a kiss that almost swept her off of her feet.

Nathan went to the entrance and pulled open the doors, "Free coffee for the first hour! In addition to celebrating the opening of our third cafe and bookshop we are celebrating another important event in our lives this morning. We're having a baby!"

Hannah smiled at how proud he was.

She couldn't have wished for a better man to be her partner.

She could not have wished for a better lover, either.

They still spent time as dom and sub, but that part of their lives was starting to fade. That adventure was drawing to a close.

Their sexual desire for each other was slowly being replaced by something else.

Something deeper.

Maybe it was love.

True love.

The crowd cheered at Nathan’s news, and Hannah laughed and hurried over to the register to start taking orders while people filed into the café picking up papers and browsing through the books and antiques that filled the walls.

Life couldn't be better.

Until it was.

The End

Jodi’s Note

I must give a special thanks to the wonderful Sarah, the magical Cara and the ever-reliant Beth.

I am very lucky to have these beautiful women in my life.

These hard working people have built this story up from a small idea into what it is today. Their love, faith and encouragement has enabled me to deliver this story. I cannot thank them enough.

Yesterday, I received the best feedback I have ever received – a fan said that they were entertained by my stories and that reading my books had helped them through a long-term illness.

That made me cry.

I cannot hope to do anything more than entertain – and it means the world to me that someone, somewhere is entertained by my work.

I feel truly blessed.

If you enjoyed this story, please check out my fan favorite - ‘The Billionaire’s Mansion’ series.

Much love

Jodi xx

Other titles by bestselling author Jodi Cooper:

Hired for the Billionaire’s Pleasure

The Billionaire’s Demands

The Billionaire Games

The Exclusive Club

The Billionaire’s Mansion

Return to the Billionaire’s Mansion

Interviewing the Billionaire

The Billionaire Actor

The Billionaire’s Assistant

The Secret Billionaire

Bad Boy Biker

The Billionaire Boss

The Billionaire’s Holiday Mansion

The Billionaire’s Wish

The Damaged Billionaire

Assistant to the Billionaire

Bonus Chapter:

Romance: Assistant to the Billionaire

Jodi Cooper

Bonus Chapter:

Romance: Assistant to the Billionaire

Jodi Cooper

When Jessica was nine years old, life seemed perfect.

She lived an easy childhood in the most exclusive suburb and her best friend, Rhett, lived next door. Born a month apart, Rhett and Jessica were inseparable… until Jessica’s father was arrested for fraud and thrown behind bars for twenty years.

That was the day that Jessica’s life fell apart. The courts took everything, including the house. Jessica had to say goodbye to her school, her life and to Rhett.

Fifteen years later, Rhett has inherited his father’s billion-dollar investment firm.

He has become a man who doesn’t take no for an answer. When he sets his sights on something, he gets it.

And this time, he has set his sights on a reunion with Jessica…

Chapter 1

I remember the day when the beautiful, blazing sunshine glistened off the perfectly cut green grass of my neighbor’s front lawn.

Lying on my back, I looked up to the clouds, watching in awe as the shapes changed from dragons, to rabbits, to bears.

“Look Jessica, that cloud is a spaceship,” Rhett called out as he lay next to me.

“Spaceship? No way. That’s a dragon. Can’t you see the arms and legs?”

Rhett laughed, “They’re not arms and legs – they’re guns!”

As innocent nine year olds, we laughed a lot together.

We were born one month apart, and at that point, we had lived next door to each other our entire lives. We were inseparable.

Life was so perfect then. Best friends forever.

I remember that moment clearly, lying innocently on the grass, gazing into the sky. That was the moment before my life changed forever.

“Are those police sirens?” Rhett asked about the distant noise.

I sat up and watched two police cars and an unmarked black sedan race onto the front lawn of my large house. I remember the black sedan more than the police car because it was the sedan that carried the two men in suits.

The police and the men in suits marched into my house as Rhett and I sat on his lawn next door, watching in silence.

They dragged my father out onto the front steps, throwing him to the ground and handcuffing his hands behind his back. My mother came screaming out of the house after him but one of the police officers held her back.

I felt so sick to the stomach.

They arrested my father, a man I hardly saw thanks to his business, and dragged him out of my life.

I didn’t know it at the time but my father was in charge of large investment firm that was knocking people off for the sake of money. He was charged with conspiracy to murder, fraud and embezzlement. Years later when they read out the amount of money he defrauded people by, my mouth dropped.

That explained our massive mansion in the nicest neighborhood and all his expensive cars.

Mom kept me home from school for a week after that day. She didn’t want to subject me to the rumors about my father. But when I went back to school, I heard them all.

I knew he wasn’t a nice man but I didn’t know how truly bad he was.

In the end, the suits took everything.

My mother sat on the front lawn of our mansion, crying into her hands, while the police, the suits and removal men took all of our possessions.

We were left with almost nothing.

Not even the house.

It was all tied up with my father’s fraudulent behavior and the police seized everything. Luckily, Mom put a little bit of cash aside and was able to buy an old, beaten up car and put a deposit down on a rental apartment in the city. I can’t imagine how much it hurt my mother to drive that old clunker into our very exclusive neighborhood.

But she did.

She stayed strong.

She was, and still is, a very determined, tough woman and she taught me everything I need to know. She is a beautiful, resilient woman.

That experience taught me that we don’t need men. We are strong women. We can look after ourselves.

The day we moved out of the neighborhood stays strong in my memory.

I remember Mom putting one box of belongings in the boot of the car, slamming it shut and nodding her goodbye to our neighbors. Our neighbors all loved Mom, but were afraid to help in case they were seen being associated with my father. All the people in that neighborhood had skeletons in their closets, and none of them wanted the police snooping around in there.

Nine-year-old Rhett stood on his front lawn, staring at our car.

I waved goodbye but he just kept staring. As Mom started the car to leave, I couldn’t bear it any longer. I jumped out of the back seat and ran across our lawn to him.

He hugged me, tightly.

“Don’t go,” he said.

“I have to go.”

His eyes were full of tears as he looked to the ground.

“But we’ll see each other again,” I reassured him.

The look on Rhett’s parents face said that my statement wasn’t going to be true. They weren’t going to be associated with criminals like my family.

“Best friends forever?” Rhett asked with big, vulnerable eyes.

I nodded, “Best friends forever.”

Then he gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek.

And it was the most special kiss of my life…