Page 1 of Mistletoe Bargain with the Billionaire

1-Nick

‘Tis the season of excess for the sake of excess. Halloween jack-o-lanterns have barely begun to rot and the Christmas trees are suddenly everywhere. I’m sick of it well before my Thanksgiving turkey has thawed. Especially in California where I’m as likely to see Haley’s comet as a White Christmas.

But you know what else Christmastime heralds?

Fake relationship season.

“Bring home a girl for me to meet next year.”

“I don’t know your type, Grams.”

My grandmother had rolled her eyes and swatted my arm. “A girl for you, Nicholas! You’re nearly thirty.”

“I’ll have to check with Santa Claus and get back to you.”

I’d thought she’d laugh. She hadn’t. Augusta Lavinia Frost, the matriarch of our family, had given me a disappointed look and said,“Let an old lady see you happily settled.”

I wasn’t sure how to break it to her that it hardly felt like settling down time to me. I love my grams and she’s getting up there in years. She raised me and my sister after our parents jetted when we were little. I owe all my success to her no matter what my father wishes to believe. He’d been annoyed by the son who always had his nose stuck in a keyboard but he loves to crow about his connection to Frost Tech now.

But back to Grams, I’d dismissed her request as grandmotherly fretting initially but it won’t be long until I’m making the trip home to Whistler for the holiday season where I can disappoint her… or pursue other options.

I’ll be there longer than usual this year, too, thanks to my sister’s wedding. I’m not crazy about showing up at Marley’s nuptials flying solo. Just my luck that Lydia has remained friends with my older sister.

“For Christ’s sake, Nick. You’re twenty-nine, richer than Midas and this is the Twenty-First Century. Who says you’ve got to be settled?” Anthony asks.

“Grams says but I take your point.”

I met my business partner and best friend at MIT freshman year. He lured me out to the West Coast upon graduation, saying I was the whiz kid and he had the business know-how. He wasn’t wrong. In five years, our little tech startup went from a dream to a reality being traded on the NYSE. We’ve only expanded since then.

“I get not wanting to go to the wedding alone but there’s plenty of girls who’d jump at the chance to go play girlfriend for you.”

“You mean the ones we pick up at clubs? Or the women I’ve dated who’re more interested in calculating my net worth over dinner than anything else?”

A bit of a late bloomer, I was the nerd they wouldn’t have thought twice about in high school but whose stock portfolio suddenly makes me a catch.

“You’re not giving yourself enough credit, man. Those girls at the clubs are always ready to go home with you before they even know your name.”

Maybe so. I work out every day. I dress a helluva lot better than I did as a teen. “They’re not the sort Grams will want to meet. She’ll expect the type of girl you settle down with.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Hell no.”

Anthony looks skeptical. “Okay. Best not take a girl you might catch feelings for then.”

I scoff. “That’s not happening.”

Last time I tried anything serious, I got my heart stomped. My parents were a disaster as a couple from the get-go based on everything I’ve been told, too. I’ll stick with good times and great sex. A few weeks, a month or two and move on. That’s easier. Safer.

“You could take Lori with you to Maine.”

“I’m not taking my assistant to meet my grandmother. Grams has talked to her enough to learn she’s not into men anyway.”

“Take mine then.”

“Aren’t you sleeping with her?” He starts to open his mouth and I don’t really want to hear this. “I’m not taking any of the women from our company. Whether you’re sleeping with them or not. You’re an HR violation waiting to happen by the way.”

“Okay, fine. Just find a nice girl to take.”

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