Page 5 of Christmas with the Denton Billionaires

All she could think about was this getaway and how she was supposed to spend a full week up in Mr. Denton’s…Josh’s business without losing her cool. When he’d first offered her money, she’d almost said yes. At that hourly rate, she could pay off the last of her student loans and have enough left over to put a sizable down payment on a newer car with working a/c, not that she needed it right now. But then when she had the idea about the promotion, she figured it couldn’t hurt to ask, never anticipating that he'd agree to both. This was either going to turn into her dream come true or an absolute nightmare, and she still wasn’t sure which.

She would never admit it to anyone, but she’d been crushing on her boss since the day she’d started working for him. As it was, staying unaffected around the man required a fair degree of compartmentalization. The guy was sex on legs and didn’t even know it. It was like he had no interest in exploiting his sex appeal via flirtation or dating oranything.Least of all with her.

Not that she’d been hoping for any hint of interest from him. Nope.

It was for the better, though. Dating her boss wasn’t wise, and besides, if things got ugly? She didn’t want to lose her position within Denton Hotels. She loved her job there and working with Josh had given her a taste for the location scout role. And it’s not like she’d never see him. The location scouts all fell under Business Development, so she’d still interact with him, but not daily and probably mostly via email and Zoom.

More importantly, if she got out from under the penetrating, stormy blue gaze of Josh, she might be able to find any other man attractive again and maybe even find a boyfriend. Like she had once,pre-Josh.Not that it was his fault she’d broken things off with her ex. She couldn’t abide cheaters.

As Amelia did a final sweep of the apartment, making sure she packed her good heels, her best work dresses and every single pair of earrings she owned, a horn honked from outside. It had to be Josh. She scurried to the window facing the street, a gasp rocketing out of her once she saw what awaited her at the curb.

A limo.

An honest-to-God stretch limousine.

“Oh, hell no,” she groaned, pushing the window up so she could lean out and shout at him from the third story. Josh exited the back of the car, and she barked out, “Hey! Up here.”

His grin was a mile wide. “What do you think?”

“Uh, how aboutno?” she asked, her teeth chattering a little from the cold December air. “Josh, do you know where we’re going?”

He narrowed his eyes, shutting the door gently. His dark waves were looser than he normally kept them at the office, and without his nicely pressed suit, his weekend vibes were strong. His jeans were the perfect amount of distressed, and his sexy black leather jacket reeked of money.

“Cedar Grove, obviously,” he said, heading toward the apartment building.

“Yes, and Cedar Grove is a small town, a family-oriented place. It’s like, secretly the set of every Hallmark Christmas movie ever made.”

“Really?”

“Notreally,but I’m saying it’s not the place to bring a limo, unless you want to prove to everyone you’re some rich jerk from the city who can barely turn down the side street to get to Dax’s Bakery.”

He sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Okay. You have a point.”

“I know I do. We’ll take my car.”

Josh looked annoyed, but he didn’t fight her on it. She popped back inside the window and shut it tight, then shrugged on her heavy fur-trimmed wool coat. Only the best for Cedar Grove this time around. After all, if anybody asked her why she lookedsodolled up, she had an arsenal of excuses at the ready. First and foremost: she was a big-city girl now working for one of the largest hotel magnates in the country.

The fact that Christmas was in a week was also a good fallback. Everyone seemed to love dressing up for the holidays, and Amelia was no exception.

But dressing up to impress her rich city-slicker fiancé? That was the last excuse she wanted to use.

Even though nobody would necessarily blame her for it. She hated the idea of anyone thinking that she would change herself for a man, for a relationship. Because if there was anything that she strove to project in her life, it was the fact that her career was her life and everything else came after.

Which was, ironically, what had gotten her into this fake-boyfriend situation in the first place.

Make that fake-fiancé.

When she hit the sidewalk outside her brick walk-up in Brooklyn, Josh was unloading his rolling suitcase and talking to the limo driver. He slammed the trunk shut, and the driver got into the car and drove away.

“Hope he’s not sad to miss the Cedar Grove trip,” Amelia said, tugging her keys out of her coat pocket. “My hatchback is in the garage around the corner. It’s not far.”

She hoisted her big purse higher up her shoulder and started pulling her rolling suitcase. Josh shook his head, easing the handle out of her hand.

“Let me,” he said sternly, pulling both suitcases behind him. “You might tip over in those heels, with the weight you have in that purse. It looks like if you swing it too far in one direction, you’ll go with it.”

She scoffed but couldn’t ignore the ripple of delight that coursed through her. She had a soft spot for traditional gestures of chivalry, even though she prided herself on being independent and self-sufficient. She would never admit how much it made her melt on the inside.

“You know I’m perfectly capable of pulling my own rolling luggage, right?”

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