Page 1 of It Started with a Contract

Chapter One

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Hadley Green looked down at the location of her appointment for the job. “Curvy housekeeper wanted” had been the title that caught her attention. Add in the fact she was unemployed, on the verge of losing her home, and this looked like the best deal going on such short notice. Welcome to the New Year, and hers already sucked. She had lost one job because of the current economic crisis in the world, and everyone was making cutbacks. No matter what she brought to the company she’d worked for, she was still in line for the chop. She’d been in the first wave of cuts, and after that, her rent had gone up, and then her savings had plummeted big time. No one was hiring, and she was either not qualified enough, or was overqualified for any position.

Live-in housekeeper would solve all of her problems. It was of course a little sexist, and a very … blunt call, but hey, she had curves, and was desperate. She wondered how many desperate women there were calling about the ad.

“Erm, I called and spoke to a Mr. Gray, and today is my appointment time.”

“I’m Mr. Gray, and I didn’t make any kind of appointment.”

This was only going from bad to worse. She held up the paper to show him. How could she convince him to hire her if he hadn’t even been the one to talk to her? If he hadn’t been the one to put the ad in the paper, who had? Also, who had she spoken to yesterday?

He took the paper from her, and glared down at the article. Her heart was pounding, and she felt so fucking stupid right now.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I really didn’t mean to disturb your peace. I’ll just be going.” She spun on her heel, ready to leave, and never return. The mansion was really nice. There was no way the front door she had just knocked on could be called a house. It was too damn big. Still, for a roof over her head, and a job she’d have gladly cleaned it butt ass naked. Her life was going to shit faster than she could handle.

“Wait,” Mr. Gray said.

She turned to face him to see that he was watching her, his gaze running up and down her body, and he nodded. “Come on in.”

“I don’t want to intrude,” she said.

“You’re not. Get your ass inside.”

She didn’t argue with him, and rushed toward him. He held the door open, and she brushed past him, and stayed a few steps inside the door. She noticed he was wearing a full business suit, and his hair was slicked back into a style that screamed he was the boss of something.

“Did I speak to you yesterday?” she asked.

“No, you spoke to my secretary.”

He had a male secretary. She hoped she hadn’t gotten him into trouble or anything. She licked her lips, and waited for him to direct. “Follow me.” He walked down the long corridor, and entered a room on the left. She followed him through the door, aware of her heels clicking on the floor. Her heart was racing.

“I have a company that comes to clean, and deals with everything else. This advertisement was … something else,” he said, taking a seat.

“Oh, well, I, erm, would it be best if I just left? If you hire cleaning staff, why do you need a housekeeper?” She stared into his dark eyes and couldn’t help but notice how sexy he was. Averting her gaze, she stared at the paper in his hand.

“I don’t need a housekeeper. What I want is something more … personal.”

“Personal?”

“Yes.” He kept staring at her.

“I really don’t know what you want. I came for the job as a housekeeper, and I’m a good, hard worker. I don’t mind working early in the morning or late at night. I’ll clean toilets, cook, whatever you need me to do.” She was starting to beg now. The thought of having to pack up all of her stuff, and be homeless wasn’t helping either. Her rent was due in three days, and she didn’t have enough.

“I wanted someone to fuck,” he said.

The bluntness of his words startled her. “Fuck?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t … huh?” She grabbed the newspaper, and pointed at the circled advertisement. “It says here housekeeper.”

“It also says ‘for personal needs and more’ in the fine print.”

She frowned and looked back at the advertisement. Holding the paper right in front of her face, she finally saw the fine print, and heat filled her cheeks. “Oh dear.” She looked at the paper, and then back at him. “You want a fuller woman? A curvy woman.”

“Yes.”

---