Page 4 of Flirting with my Billionaire Boss

Her eyes soften. “Oh, honey. That’s so hard. I’m sorry. Unfortunately, I totally understand bad exes. My ex-husband was terrible to me too. I’m so glad I got out of that marriage. What can I do to help?”

“My head is kind of spinning. I can’t even think straight.”

“Well, maybe I can help you brainstorm. Do you have a job?”

“No. That’s my next step. My taxi driver said I can find postings at the grocery store.”

“You can. Do you need a ride over there?” Stella asks.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to bother you with a ride.”

“It’s no problem, really. It looks like it’s about to rain out there. You don’t want to walk to the grocery store in that.”

“It’s just down the street, right?” I ask. “I saw it when we were coming in town.”

“Yep. So it’s really fine. I promise.”

“Okay.” I nod. “Yeah. That sound’s good.” I should have just asked the taxi driver to drop me off at the grocery store, but I really wanted coffee. I didn’t think about not having a way to get to the store after that. Life is going to be much harder without a car. That means I’m going to need a job that’s close enough to walk from wherever I can find a place to stay.

“Ready to go?” Stella asks. “You can just bring your coffee with you if you’re not finished.”

“Okay.” I stand up, and she leads me out to her vehicle, a little black economy car. “Did you grow up here?”

“My whole life.” She grins at me as she heads to the driver’s side.

“And do you like it here?”

She shrugs. “I don’t really know anything different. It’s home.”

“What do you do for work?” I asked.

“I’m a maid for a family who lives around here.”

“The billionaire family?”

“That’s the one.” She raises an eyebrow at me. “So you’ve heard of the Keiths?”

I buckle my seat belt. “I hadn’t heard their name, but my taxi driver told me they were a prominent family in the community.”

Stella puts the car into reverse. “They basically own the town. The Keiths own a big real estate corporation based out of Atlanta, but their family goes way back in this town. They’ve been here for generations. Old money, if you know what I mean.”

As a native, Stella knows an awful lot about this town. And that wealthy family. She probably picks up a lot of information being a part of the household like that.

“I’m not the hugest fan of ultra-rich people. My, uh, ex,” I stumble over the word, “had money, and he was a class A jerk.” Is that who Markus is to me now? My ex? It sounds funny to say that.

“Hey, not all wealthy people are bad. The Keiths are great people.”

“So you know them?” I ask.

“Of course I do. They treat their household employees like family.”

Markus and I had someone who cleaned our house. But he didn’t even know her name. That isn’t my life anymore. It was weird to think about.

She pulls into the grocery store parking lot. “Well, that was a short drive.” I totally could have walked. So what if it is starting to drizzle?

“This town isn’t very big,” Stella admits. “What do you think of it so far?”

“It seems like a good place to hide.”

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