The Billionaire's First Christmas Read online

  The Billionaire’s First Christmas

  By Holly Rayner

  https://www.facebook.com/hollyraynerbooks

  Copyright 2014 by Holly Rayner

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the explicit written permission of the author.

  All characters depicted in this fictional work are consenting adults, of at least eighteen years of age. Any resemblance to persons living or deceased, particular businesses, events, or exact locations are entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents:

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER ONE

  ~

  AARON

  I was sitting at my desk with the windows behind me frosted over with the snow that seemed to be continuously falling in this cold city. It was only the first week of December and I was already craving my yearly vacation; this year I was headed to Belize. I’d had three phone calls this morning about the Christmas Party already. Going away every year kept me from having to endure the friendly Christmas get togethers and gift exchanges, but as CEO of Winters Inc. it couldn’t save me from the annual party. I had to re-direct the calls all back to my assistant. I paid for the party, but I didn’t take any part in arranging it. I’m no Ebenezer Scrooge. It’s not that I don’t believe in Christmas or want to deny it to anyone else; it’s just that I find no charm in it myself.

  I had done my best every year to avoid all things Christmas since then, except for the party. I had an obligation to my employees, one that I fully planned to continue fulfilling. I had to make an appearance and wish them well. They worked hard for me; I truly appreciated their dedication and I wanted them to know that. I also gave the yearly address to inform them all how the company had fared over the past year and what kind of changes we may be looking at in the future. I have to do it, but I don’t have to like it.

  The buzzer on my desk phone went off and I picked it up.

  “Yes, Janice?”

  “I’m sorry, sir but I just need one more signature from you and then I promise unless it’s a dire emergency I won’t bother you again about the party.” Janice had been with me long enough to know that enduring the Christmas season was a chore for me. She did a wonderful job of stopping it at my door. Unless it was about money, she handled it.

  I’d founded my company eight years before. It was a one man operation back then and I was the man. Janice had walked in off the street one day looking for a job and because I’d just gained two new clients that same day, and I was feeling like I deserved some help, I hired her. The first six months there were times when I had to dip into my savings just to pay her. I thought so many times during that time in my life about letting her go, explaining to her that I just couldn’t afford her salary, but I didn’t do it. She was more than an outstanding employee, although not quite a friend. I didn’t have many of those. I didn’t have time for it. Back then I was working to get the company off the ground. Within a year my company was making high six figures and then I was working hard to keep it off the ground. I barely had time for myself much less a bunch of people who might expect my attention outside of work. I had to hire ten people that year and I was glad that I’d held onto Janice. If it hadn’t been for her, there were days when the whole operation would have fallen completely apart. Now, eight years later she is still my right hand gal.

  “No worries, Janice. Bring them in and I’ll sign them and then I have to meet with Max over in marketing.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  I smiled as I put the phone down. I had told Janice a million times that she didn’t have to call me “sir.” For one thing, I was twenty-nine and she was fifty-one. I felt silly answering to “sir” from a woman who could have been my mother. It was so hard for people to see me as a twenty-nine year old man. When you sat behind a desk as powerful as mine, they forgot that you were only human.

  Janice came bustling in. Everything she did was with haste, like the very foundation of the company depended on it. Sometimes it could be just a little bit annoying, but it had served the company well so I couldn’t complain. She was one of the employees that I appreciated so much, and one of the reasons that I showed up at the Christmas party at all.

  “Here you go, sir. The first document is the mini-contract we drew up for the charity auction and the second one is for the employee gift cards.”

  I signed them both, trusting Janice enough that I wasn’t going to read through a simple document for the party. When I finished she said, the same as she did every year at this time, “If your plans change or your flight gets cancelled because of weather or anything sir, please remember that you’re always welcome to spend Christmas with my family and me.”

  “Thank you, Janice.” I had yet to meet her family. Maybe I am Scrooge. “I already have the trip arranged and barring a blizzard I’ll be out of this cold city before the sun sets on Christmas Eve. I’ll be in Max’s office for an hour or two if you need me.”

  “Thank you, sir,” she said.

  I gathered my tablet and the files I needed for the meeting with my Director of Marketing, Max Stone. Max was another lucky find. He’d come to me from a corporation that Winters Inc. had taken over. It wasn’t a hostile takeover per se, but it was gut-wrenching for the owners who had to sell because of age and medical issues. Max was brand new to their company when all of that happened and while I was still in the early stages of the take-over and the employees of the previous owners were up in arms about whether or not they would still have a job, I met Max purely by accident in the conference room one day. I’d slipped in, trying to find a place where I could have a moment’s peace and eat my lunch since I didn’t have an office there yet and in bursts this boisterous young man who, as I’ve found out since, never stops talking.

  Without knowing who I was at the time, Max took out his own lunch, sat down and began to talk about the “tyrant” who ran the company that was “swallowing up” the one he was working for. Max went on to speak about the ideas that he still had in the works for marketing the company that I was absorbing. He had some amazing ideas and when he finally stopped talking for five minutes, I introduced myself. The look on his face was comparable to that of a man headed to the gallows to be relieved of the burden of carrying around his head. I let him sweat over it for two weeks before I had HR inform him that his position would be rolled over to the new company if he would like for it to be. He was brilliant at what he did, but he had no idea when he should keep his mouth shut. We’d become friends since then, and Max was one of the few people who worked for me that didn’t kiss my ass or cow down to me. It was a big part of why I liked him.

  I took the elevator down to the third floor where marketing was located. When the elevator door slid open; for a second I thought I’d landed in a dream. There was a young lady standing there, waiting to get on. She had long, honey blonde hair and deep blue eyes, but the thing I noticed most about her was her smile. It was big and genuine and she had deep dimples on either side of her face.
I was so stunned by her that I almost forgot to step off. She didn’t seem to know who I was, but she jauntily said, “Have a nice day!” nonetheless as I finally remembered this was my stop.

  Before I could reply, the doors were closing. I did see that she had a lanyard and a key card around her neck, so I assumed she worked for me. I’d have to look into that after I get back from my trip. I didn’t have the time between now and then to date or cultivate any type of new relationship. Besides, during the holidays if you were dating a woman, she expected you to spend them with her. No matter how beautiful she was, that wasn’t going to happen.

  Although it was hard, I re-focused on what I was doing and headed on down the hallway to Max’s office, preparing myself for an hour or two of Max’s overly enthusiastic company.

  ROBYN

  I was in the middle of a brainstorming session with Gary when HR called and said they needed me to sign some slips to authorize a couple of employee’s vacation time. I’d only recently been promoted to Assistant Manager of the Marketing department at Winters Inc. I didn’t have all the ins and outs of it quite down yet and I’d signed them in the wrong place. Normally, a person might find it tedious to be pulled from what they were doing to sign a few forms. I didn’t today, however, for two reasons: One, Gary was completely infatuated with me so it was uncomfortable when we had to work alone together. It’s not that he’s a bad guy; he’s just not the guy for me. I feel no attraction to him whatsoever at all, and I don’t want to put myself in a situation where I have to tell him that and hurt his feelings. Since I started at Winters nine months earlier he’s been asking me out. I told a white lie…that I was seeing someone the first time he asked, so now he “check’s in” on it periodically. I always tell him that same fib, one of these days I’m sure it’s going to run out of steam. I looked upon the call as a gift and I hurried right out to take care of my obligations.

  The other reason I was happier than I should have been about getting interrupted was that when the elevator doors opened, I’d come face to face with the most beautiful man that I’ve ever seen. He looked a little distracted and stood still when the doors opened for a few minutes, like he wasn’t sure if this was the right floor. It gave me several seconds to notice his dark eyes and perfectly tailored suit. It fit him like a glove and when he had his back to me as he stepped off; I noticed how nicely it fit his broad shoulders and rippled across the muscles in his back. His hair was as dark as his eyes and when he finally smiled at me it was the slow, easy smile of a confident man. My hormones were practically raging like a teenager just from that one delicious look. By the time the doors closed, my mouth was as dry as a desert.

  I forced myself to tuck away the vision of him for now as I stepped off the elevator on the first floor and made my way to the HR department. I’m sure I’d be calling it back up later. When I pushed in the door of the office I saw Mary, the HR manager for the company.

  “Hi Robyn! I’m sorry to have the girls pull you away from your work, but with the holidays coming up, we have so much paperwork in for these day off requests.”

  “It’s okay; I apologize for signing them in the wrong place.” I didn’t tell her how much I appreciated her timing.

  Mary waved a hand at me and said, “They’re not that user friendly. We’re working on re-designing them. We should have new ones out by the New Year. By the way, did you sign up for the auction yet? You can do that here if you like? I’m volunteering and I think Max is too, isn’t he?” I had no idea what she was talking about.

  “Volunteering for what?” I asked her.

  “To be sold at the auction?” My face must have been blank because she said, “For the children’s Charity?”

  “I’m sorry Mary. I’ve been a little bit overwhelmed with my new management duties so if I did hear about that, I didn’t process it. I got my invitation for the Christmas party yesterday. I’m super-excited about that.” I loved Christmas. It was literally my favorite time of year and I savored every part of it. My last job had been at a bank and the administration there had been so concerned that they may offend someone they had cancelled the “Holiday” party all-together. That was the reason they gave us anyways. I’d always been suspicious that it was just about saving the money it cost them. From what I heard about this party, Mr. Winter’s spared no expense. The expense wasn’t what I looked forward to though; it was just that festive spirit of sharing the holidays with other people that was irreplaceable.

  “Yes, the party is a lot of fun,” Mary said. “I look forward to it every year. The auction though is kind of a company tradition too. That will be held on the fourteenth, it’s a Thursday evening. Two members of management from each department are auctioned off to the highest bidder and in doing that they agree to be “ordered around” by their purchaser for an entire day. We do that the next day on Friday since most of the managers normally have that day off anyways. The money from that goes to a children’s charity Mr. Winter’s supports.”

  “What sorts of things do they order you to do?” I asked her.

  “It’s all in fun. Last year I had to sit by the fire, drink hot chocolate and eat homemade cookies while watching a marathon of old black and white Christmas movies with Lance in the production department.”

  I laughed, “That actually sounds like my kind of day.”

  “Right? Me too. It’s fun, you should volunteer. It’s for a good cause too. Mr. Winter’s not only gives all the money earned to the Children’s foundation but he matches it as well.”

  “I’d love to do it,” I told her. It really did sound like a lot of fun. My boss sounded like a really generous man too. I liked that. I came from a family where generosity was looked upon fondly. “I’m looking forward to finally meeting Mr. Winters at the Christmas party,” I told her.

  “Oh, you haven’t met him yet?”

  “No, the day that I was hired, it was one of your girls who interviewed me…Lucy? I think that was her name. Then the promotion was just inter-departmental so Max handled that. I could have passed him in the hallway I guess and just didn’t know who he was.”

  “Maybe,” Mary said. “But I guarantee you wouldn’t forget him if you saw him.”

  “Why’s that?” I asked her. Mary smiled a naughty smile and said, “You’ll see at the party. Here, there are the forms for you to sign as well as the sign up forms for the auction.”

  Smiling I said, “Thanks. You’re not going to tell me what it is about Mr. Winters that is so unforgettable?” It seemed from the look on her face that he was as attractive as he was generous. But, I guess it could have been the opposite as well.

  “He’s just hard to describe,” she said. “You’ll see him soon.” I left there wondering if the man had two heads or something. Either way, I was looking forward to finding out. What I’d read about him was all good. He was lauded as one of the most brilliant business minds of the century. He’d invested his life savings…which according to Forbes was a paltry sum and eight years later he was a billionaire running a multi-national company. Money didn’t interest me much, but I was fascinated by intelligent, driven people.

  CHAPTER TWO

  ~

  ROBYN

  I took the paperwork for the auction back with me when I resumed the meeting with Gary. That was a mistake. As soon as he saw that I was up for bid, he was all over it.

  “This is going to be the best auction ever!” he said, enthusiastically. “Last year I bid on and won Aurora from accounting. She and I had the best day. We went to the movies and had dinner… I’m sure I’ll have plenty of competition bidding on you,” he said. “But for you I’m willing to break the bank.”

  As much as I was looking forward to doing a good deed for charity, and I thought Gary was harmless, I was afraid that spending the day with him would only perpetuate this fantasy he has of us being together someday.

  “Oh, don’t waste your money on me.”

  “Waste? Are you kidding? I’d pay just to be seen with you, Robyn
.” He was so sweet and he had innocence about him as well. But, he did nothing for me. I honestly thought something like this would only encourage him, and that wouldn’t be right.

  I agonized for almost two weeks over what to do about it when I got an idea and went to see my friend John in production.

  “Hey Robyn! Long time no see!”