Page 1 of Bonking the Billionaire

ONE

MORGAN

With a fourth and final swipe of my eyeliner pencil across my face, I grinned into my car’s rear-view mirror. My faux whiskers curled over the apples of my cheeks in cartoonish swoops.

“Perfect,” I told my reflection.

The worry lines between my brows betrayed the calm composure I was working hard to manifest. They showed my truth—I was nervous.

I flattened the lines with my finger and focused on my breathing.

“You’re a topnotch, super-prepared boss lady.” I pointed at my reflection. “There’s no task you can’t crush as utterly and completely as the Rice Krispy treat pancaked to the bottom of your purse.”

Unfortunately, the nerves remained. Usually clients who chose my costume option when they hired me through the Delymo app were booking me for a birthday party, not for babysitting one kid. It was a strange request, and I hadn’t had particularly good luck with strange requests.

There’d been the furry who wanted me as his date to a convention, for one. Then there’d been the guy who wanted me to make fish lips while I taught his goldfish how to sing an opera. And finally, there’d been the guy who asked me to wear something prickly. When I’d arrived with spiked bracelets, he’d asked me to poke him with my spikes as I sang a love song to his “lonely cactus.” Yeah, my track record wasn’t great.

This, though, couldn’t be as bad as any of that. Today’s job would be great because ithadto be.

Feeling as confident as was humanly possible while wearing an oversized pink rabbit costume in public, I popped out of my car, put on the final touch of my costume—horn-rimmed glasses—and slipped my hood up. I ran a hand across each bunny ear to check that they were bent just right.

The ears were fine.

Everything would be fine.

I slipped my phone from the pocket of my costume and checked the Delymo app one last time to make sure I had the gig’s details right.

Listing Type: Bunny costume

Client: SpankKing69

Task: Watch Lil Miso

Time: 1-4pm

Location: West Side Carnival

Additional Notes: Meet us by the octopus. Thanks so much. You’re a lifesaver!

Miso?That had to be a mistake, some sort of autocorrect error for Mina or something.

The client’s username—SpankKing69—should have made this job a pass, but the pathetic balance in my bank account and the rumble in my belly outweighed my hesitation. Plus, the gratitude in the listing’s notes did seem sincere. Maybe this time everything would actually go smoothly.

No, there was nomaybe.

This gig would be easy peasy epic perfection. Even if it wasn’t, it would keep me fed for another couple of days. Plus, working for Delymo was only temporary, and any day now I’d land my dream job.

With my destination confirmed—the octopus—I held my chin up and waggled my fluffy cotton tail from the grass parking lot into the maze of fried food vendors and wailing mechanical rides. Small crowds gathered here and there, and more people trickled in with every minute that passed.

It didn’t take long to spot the octopus. It was a large purple ride with a cracked and faded nightmare face. Metal tentacles swooped up and down in a circle, each carrying a cart of delighted, screaming passengers.

A man leaned on the outside of the fence that encircled the ride. He was lanky, with furrowed brows and a scrunched mouth. At the end of his stiff arms, his hands were balled up tight in his pockets. His jaw ticked in agitation as he scowled at everyone who passed. He was the only person by the ride focused away from the attraction instead of on it, so I knew he had to be SpankKing69.

Noting his demeanor, and the lack of a child accompanying him, I approached with caution. He wouldn’t be the first dirtbag to try and use lies and a gig app to lure innocent women into his nefarious web.

Then again, maybe little Mina was on the ride.

SpankKing’s spider-eyed gaze locked on me and he leaped from the fence. His lip quivered in a way that made him look desperate. Desperate for what though?

---