Chapter One
Alden
I don’t do sugar babies. Sorry, not this guy. A sugar daddy I am not, and it’s becoming quite clear that all these girls are looking for is a rich guy to take care of them.
But I’m not looking for that. I’m looking for a real, honest-to-goodness housekeeper to replace Carla the Thief.
People steal from me all the time and I get it. A guy as wealthy as me, with as many employees as me, always does. Whether it’s lying about their hours, trying to overcharge me, or just straight up taking merchandise from one of my businesses, it always happens. It’s inevitable.
I tolerate it because I have to. It’s impossible to ferret out all the little hands reaching into my pockets, but if there’s one place I will not tolerate that kind of behavior, it’s in my home.
So when I caught Carla, my housecleaner for eighteen months, stuffing my ex-wife’s diamonds into her purse one evening when I came home early, I was furious. Not only did I fire her right there on the spot, but I also called the cops and had her thrown in jail.
And before you start feeling sorry for Carla, don’t.
This wasn’t some down-on-her-luck gal who took a job to provide for her two-year-old son; this was a spoiled college girl who never studied, even when her parents paid for her tuition, who just took the job to make some extra side cash to blow on what I later learned was her drug habit.
She thought it would be an easy gig, but when she realized she actually had to clean and not just bounce around in a skimpy outfit from Forever 21…well, I guess she figured she’d just straight up steal from me.
And it was for that reason that I, Alden McLaren, thirty-five-year-old CEO of McLaren Enterprises, one of New York City’s most eligible bachelors, was sitting in my Hamptons home personally interviewing candidates to be Carla’s replacement as my new maid.
“Sure, I can clean,” a buxom blonde told me as she leaned forward to show off her enormous fake breasts. “But I can also get real dirty.”
Next.
“I’m really good with the stick,” a starry-eyed redhead winked. “A broomstick I mean, of course!”
Next…
“I love using a sponge,” a brunette who was clearly proud of her assets said as she did a circle around my living room. “You know…washing cars in my bikini—or underwear—getting the suds all over me…”
“Thanks,” I groaned. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Just let me know, babe!” she said, blowing me a kiss before heading out the door, making sure to shake her hips as she went.
Babe…yeah, right.
I groaned and leaned back in my Eames chair and thumbed the buzzer for Heather, my assistant, who was in the foyer letting the girls in.
“Any more?” I asked.
“Just one,” she replied. “Should I send her in?”
“Yeah, let’s get this over with.”
What a night, I thought. I could have been at a show, a celebrity party or a movie premiere, or cruising the town looking for a girl.
After my ex-wife and I split, I went a little wild with the women, but that got old fast. One-night stands just can’t compare to a good woman at your side—one that you can wake up next to every morning and feel like the luckiest man in the world.
And that’s what I was looking for.
Instead, I was here at home with a bunch of gold diggers and sugar babies just looking for an easy paycheck.
My hopes were far from high as the door opened and the last girl stepped inside, but when I saw her, I just about fell out of my chair.
I saw her silhouette first, swaying like Jessica Rabbit as she entered, and when she stepped into the light, my jaw dropped.
Holy shit…
I sniffed the air, waiting for a rush of cheap stripper perfume to wash over me, but instead was greeted with the soft scent of orange blossom. It was barely there too, just a hint, nothing overpowering.
Like I was back in high school, I instantly started to bone up. I couldn’t believe it. No woman, no matter how hot she was—be it model or actress—had managed to get my dick to move just by looking at her. But this goddess had my cock pulsing with blood and my body aching the second I lay eyes on her. Her presence shook me down to my core.
I may have been ready to go to sleep, but now I was wide awake.
“Hi, my name is Belle Blanche,” she said.