Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Vivian
Chapter 2 - Carter
Chapter 3 - Vivian
Chapter 4 - Carter
Chapter 5 - Vivian
Chapter 6 - Carter
Chapter 7 - Vivian
Chapter 8 - Carter
Chapter 9 - Vivian
Chapter 10 - Carter
Chapter 11 - Vivian
Chapter 12 - Carter
Chapter 13 - Vivian
Chapter 14 - Carter
Chapter 15 - Vivian
Chapter 16 - Carter
Epilogue - Carter
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The Boss's Secret Baby
A Bad Boy Office Romance
By: Charlize Starr
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Vivian
Chapter 2 - Carter
Chapter 3 - Vivian
Chapter 4 - Carter
Chapter 5 - Vivian
Chapter 6 - Carter
Chapter 7 - Vivian
Chapter 8 - Carter
Chapter 9 - Vivian
Chapter 10 - Carter
Chapter 11 - Vivian
Chapter 12 - Carter
Chapter 13 - Vivian
Chapter 14 - Carter
Chapter 15 - Vivian
Chapter 16 - Carter
Epilogue - Carter
Vivian
Specially Selected Bonus Content
Contemporary Romance Collection
Secret Baby Sports Romance Collection
Paranormal Menage Romance Collection
Cowboy Romance Collection
Contemporary Romance: Daddy's Billionaire Friend
Contemporary Romance: Daddy's Business Friend
Billionaire Romance: The Boss's Game
About Charlize Starr
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Chapter 1 - Vivian
I pulled my blonde curls into a low ponytail, cursing the fact that I didn’t have time to take a shower again. I always tried to clean up when Mason was at school. I lived just far enough from the school to send him on the bus, though I’d rather drive him. I felt safer seeing him walk into the building but we’d moved to New York from Vermont and it wasn’t a small town living anymore. I had to adjust. The jobs were there for me and everything was dried up in my small town back home. I didn’t want to rely on family and as hard as it was being a single mom, I had too much pride to ask for help.
Mom always called me stubborn and she was right. Once I found out I was pregnant, Mason’s dad had already left town in a rush to make it big here in the city and I refused to call and ask him for help. That and I was scared. We had ended things abruptly after two years of dating at the end of high school and a bit into college. I didn’t want to make him come back just because I was expecting a baby. I had plenty of help and that worked for me until I knew I couldn’t find a good job and would have to rely on the support of family.
In addition to Mason’s father living here in the city, another friend made the move as well. Lainie and I were close in school. She went to college and moved to Brooklyn to run an art gallery. Once she knew I was having financial issues, she invited me to join her in New York and even got us a good deal on rent in a one-bedroom apartment near her place. If I got a job quickly, I’d make it here just fine.
I looked out of the window in the tiny kitchen as I pulled bread from the top of the small fridge. I was going to make my son grilled cheese. It was his favorite right now and easy and affordable. The bus pulled up and I grinned as I walked out front and watched him climb the stairs with a huge smile on his face. “Hi, Mommy.”
“How was your day, Mase?” I asked him as I hugged him and ruffled his dark tousled hair.
“We had fun at school. Can you make me my sandwich?” he asked. I chuckled and followed him inside.
“You got it,” I replied as he hung his backpack on a hook by the door and went to wash his hands. Mason was a good boy and I smiled as I locked the door and headed into the kitchen to start cooking for him.
I knew that tomorrow I had a job interview and that this routine would change, but I already set it up with the school for him to stay at the discovery club until I finished work, if I got the job at all. I’d been at the discovery club a couple of times and it seemed like a fun environment for Mason while I worked. He could make friends and play like he loved to do, even if I’d miss him. “Did you have a good day, Mommy?”
I placed the sandwich and added some grapes and sliced strawberries to the plate as he sat down. “Here you go, baby. I did have a good day. I have a job interview tomorrow,” I told him as I grabbed my green tea and moved to sit down at the small table with him. He looked at me with wide dark green eyes as a frown crossed his mouth and I took a slow breath in. “It’s a good thing, Mase. We can get a bigger place and you’ll get to spend some more time with your friends after school. Remember that place we visited a few times?” He nodded and I reached out to cover his hand with mine. “It’s just an interview but this job would be great for us. I could take us to a better doctor and dentist and we could do more around the city.”
We’d discussed this and he nodded with a solemn expression on his face. He looked so much like Carter and I fought the urge to sigh as I gazed into his handsome face. What I wasn’t telling Mason was that the interview was with the company that his father started here in New York. The job I had applied for was to assist a manager far lower than Carter. His firm employed thousands of people and we’d likely never see one another. That’s what I hoped for anyway. The job was too good to me to pass up.
“I know, Mommy. I want to go to the zoo more so I hope you get the job,” Mason said. He reached for his sandwich to take a bite and I smiled gratefully.
“Me, too. There’s a lot of stuff to do here and we’ll go see everything once I get a job.” Another benefit to living here was that Lainie worked from her apartment in this building and was willing to watch Mason if I ever needed her to. I expected to be able to drop him off and pick him up from the after school care myself, but it was nice to have a backup plan.
I’d been a single mom since he was born. I didn’t even date after Carter left and focused wholly on Mason, even though my family urged me to start dating again. But it hurt too much to think of another man touching me when I still had lingering feelings for Mason’s father. Now that Mason was older, I could work and start to build a life for myself again.
We talked about school as he ate. I cleaned up before he took his bath and I read to him before bed. He liked books. I had vowed to make him a good student and a strong learner.
His dad was that way and had managed to found a successful business. Mason was doing well and I saw a lot of Carter in him, as well as a lot of my good characteristics. He was compassionate like I was, though I didn’t want him to be a sucker like I was with Carter. I fell for Carter within a week of meeting him back home and before I knew it, we were spending all our time together. I wasn’t nearly as smart as I’d wanted to be with him and I found out I was pregnant a few months after graduating high school when Carter had already left. It changed everything for me but I felt like I was stronger now. I would never let a man get that far under my skin ever again.
&nb
sp; I got Mason off to sleep and walked into the living room with a yawn. The evening was both my favorite part of my day as well as the most exhausting. I did everything I could with Mason and by the time he was asleep, I could barely find it in myself to read a chapter in one of the used books piled next to my bed.
I called my parents. It had become something of a nightly tradition for me since moving, and Mom wanted to hear all about the interview. We talked for a while as I went through my meager closet to find something to wear for the interview, asking her opinion. I was happy that I wasn’t too far away from them to make visits impossible, but at the same time, it was nice to be on our own. We could visit or they could come here and still see a lot of Mason.
I settled on a black pencil skirt with a pale pink blouse, both of which I bought at a consignment store here in New York. I also had a hose and a pair of new black heels, along with a black cardigan sweater that added a touch of femininity to the outfit. I had a few curves since having Mason that weren’t there in high school but I tried my best to stay in shape with the little time that I had. Until I could figure out a workout regime, I told myself that my curves were sexy. I was going to shower in the morning. I had scheduled the interview for a time when Mason would already be in school so I could see him off.
If I were truthful with myself, the idea of being away from him all day was breaking my heart a little bit. I knew that we’d both be better from the change, but I frowned as I went into the bathroom to change into the t-shirt that I slept in.
It was Carter’s from his hockey days. He’d been a great player but decided to go into finance a long time ago. Hockey was just a sport that he did in school. I looked at the thinning blue material and pushed my feelings about tomorrow to the back of my mind. I wasn’t going to see him and made sure of that. It wasn’t an issue at all. I locked up the apartment and made my way to the hand-me-down queen-sized bed that my parents drove over with them, vowing to get a chapter of the new book that I was reading in.
It was a wonderful second chance romance, my favorite kind of story. Not that I believed in that stuff in real life. It was just fun to get lost in the happy-ever-afters of books and movies before returning to reality.
Chapter 2 - Carter
I leaned back against my pillow as I listened to the sink running in the bathroom attached to my spacious master bedroom. I’d nailed Gillian in three days after I met her at the bar down the street from the office. She was a waitress there and I’d take every chance I got to charm her into my brownstone since she was on my list.
I reached for my sleek phone on the table beside the bed, unlocking the list and marking her off. I looked at the empty space after, wondering who might fill it. No doubt my buddy Shane was working on his next conquest as well. We always found a new challenge once we fucked the current woman.
The light shut off and the bathroom door opened as Gillian walked into the bedroom. She was dressed to leave since I wasn’t the type of guy to sugarcoat a one-night-stand to anybody. I was upfront about it in the beginning and being new to the city from Georgia, Gillian was down with the idea. She wasn’t great in the sack but I did love her accent when she cried my name as she came for me. Each and every time. It didn’t make it worth a second round though and I walked her to the front door, calling an Uber for her and covering the ride home. I wasn’t a complete asshole and I had billions of dollars. It was the least that I could do.
I locked the door and walked across my sunken living room to the wall of windows that overlooked Manhattan. The city was ablaze with lights and I took a moment to appreciate all my hard work for a moment. I came from a small town in Vermont. After attending NYU, I had started my investment business, which was now one of the highest ranked in Forbes. I was proud of myself. Even though my life was fast-paced and perhaps a bit meaningless, and even though I spent long hours at the office, I was living a good life. I’d had a girlfriend back home before I left abruptly and while she was nice, the moment hadn’t been right for us. I wanted to make it big, while she seemed to be more of the small-town girl that was happy with any ordinary job there. So I’d bid her farewell and left.
It was only now that I was here and had slept with a lot of women, that I had come to realize how sweet she was. Vivian would have done anything for me and her memory made me smile. I also felt my cock twitch a bit when I remembered how her mouth felt wrapped around me. I turned to walk to the kitchen for a beer and opened it, tossing the cap on the marble counter to pick up in the morning. If I forgot, the maid service would be here.
I called Shane once I was back on my bed, looking out of the window. “I tapped it. What about you?” I asked when he answered, hearing his cocky laugh.
“Fuck, yes. It took the same amount of time for both of us so I guess we’re even. How was she?” Shane asked.
“Decent. Hot accent,” I said as I thought back. “Yours?”
“She likes anal. That was a big bonus,” he said. I chuckled. A lot of women seemed to consider that forbidden territory, so bonus for Shane.
“Nice.” I yawned and sipped my beer. “I’m still ahead though.” I had slept with Daisy from my building in a matter of hours, which put me in the lead but also had me ducking around the building to avoid her. She liked me more than I did her, despite my honesty about casual relationships.
“Yeah, for now. Who’s next?” he asked with a confident tone in his voice. I thought the question over. Women were too easy to get into bed and I wanted to challenge myself with a harder catch. The building wasn’t a great place to find a new fuck and I’d been working the bar and restaurant angle a lot lately.
“Oh, fuck. I have an interview for a new PA tomorrow. Gwen’s husband made her quit after she had the baby and I need someone new,” I said in a bored tone. I didn’t fuck everyone at work, particularly if they were married. Nevertheless, Gwen’s husband apparently didn’t like Gwen working close to me, so he made quick work of talking her into staying home after maternity leave. I’d switched an interview with a lower manager who was interviewing a new PA tomorrow. I needed it more since I was running the entire company and he quickly agreed. “I know she’s a woman, but I don’t know her fucking name. I’ll have to grab the resume tomorrow at work.”
“Are you going to cross the work line for the sake of this bet?” Shane asked.
“Sure. Why not?” I asked as I heard him whistle on the other end. “It’s been a while. I’ll have to make sure she’s hot plus not married or engaged or some shit like that. I don’t want to piss any guys off. It’s a pain in the ass.”
“OK, so a work fuck. I’ll be nice and give you a week to butter her up if she meets your standards.”
I smirked at the offer. “Get that money ready. You’ll be paying me…again.” Our bets ran for a few months at a time and right now, it looked like I was going to win easily. I had more game than Shane did since I had a business to impress the ladies while he was just working for his dad’s architecture company. He was a decent looking guy, though, with dark-blonde spiked hair and brown eyes that seemed to move the ladies easily.
“We shall see, my friend.” Shane hung up and I dropped back against my pillow as I checked my emails. There was one from my PR adviser about an upcoming deal that would make a mint for the company. The deal was with a family-friendly company that I had to go sign in London. He suggested that I take a woman along with me and introduce her as my fiancée. He felt like it might benefit me. Well, that was fine with me. I wanted their money.
I replied and dropped the phone on the bed. I considered the possibility of taking my new PA along as my fake fiancée. Being my PA, it would make sense for her to take a business trip with me. The trip was in a couple of weeks. So I would have already slept with her and we could make a fun time out of it.
A week. I scoffed at the idea as I turned on some late-night television to watch before I went to sleep for the night. I never let a woman stay the night with me since it always seemed like they’d expect m
ore that way. I was happy being in my bed alone, satisfied for the moment and facing my future alone. As always, I fell asleep with the television on. I preferred the television over the city noise that seemed to reach me even though I was on the fifteenth floor. I had the window open a lot and after living in a place where I heard crickets and frogs, I couldn’t stand the sounds of the city at night.
I woke up early to take a run before showering. It was a ritual that helped me clear my head and start the day fresh. It kept me in shape and I was planning on making it a long-term habit. I was only twenty-four, but I knew already that I wanted to look good when I was older, for all the younger women that I was going to fuck. I noticed the looks I garnered from the women out on the sidewalk and flirted heavily with the barista that handed me my black coffee before I headed home.
I showered and sipped the coffee as I checked the computer for the morning activity. I made a lot of money in the stock market and it wasn’t from slacking off. I made sure to be up-to-date all the time. I dressed in one of my custom suits for the day, giving it a little extra flair with a bright green tie that brought out my eyes. I was seducing a PA if all went well, after all. I styled my dark hair in tousled waves since it was what the ladies liked and slipped my feet into a pair of my best shoes.
I walked the few blocks to the office and stopped by Nick’s office to see if he had the new PA’s resume out. But he wasn’t in yet, which I should have expected. I always got here before almost anyone else, but I also took the liberty of leaving early if a good reason arose. I worked hard and everyone knew and respected that, but I also took some time to enjoy life. I deserved that.
I walked to my office, fixing another cup of coffee before I unlocked the door. I warmed up my computer while looking outside to take in the city. I liked these early mornings where I could have some peace because once this place was full it could get chaotic. We were a big company and had a lot of deals going every minute of the shift, most of which were run through me in some form or another. I checked business emails and pulled up some deals that I had going on before my cell chimed on my desk.
The Boss’s Secret Baby Page 1
