The Billionaire's Price (L.A. Players #1) - PREVIEW ONLY

Chapter 5 : Late Night

It was still all very strange to her. Chase interviewed her, but said she wasn't what he was looking for. And then one day he shows up at the Foxhole with a job offer.

Benson may not be into games, but maybe his uncle was.

There was a knock in the study, and the housekeeper, Mrs. Sellers came in. "It's time for dinner. Victoria, won't you join us?"

Victoria hesitated. Was Chase home? She wasn't expecting to be having dinner with the family. "Would that be all right?" she asked.

"Oh, yes, please eat with us," Benson said. "Uncle Sebastian always comes home late. It's just me and Mrs. Sellers."

"Oh." So she wasn't having dinner with her boss. "All right then."

Victoria wasn't used to eating with people she just met, or other people's kids, but dinner wasn't as awkward as she thought it would be. Mrs. Sellers, who was in her sixties, didn't speak much, and neither did Benson. But he was always glancing at Victoria, as though he expected her to make conversation. Which she did. They talked about his favorite subjects at school and sports he was into. He was polite, and she found herself enjoying the boy's company.

After dinner, Benson excused himself to read before bed. Mrs. Sellers asked Victoria if she could wait for Mr. Chase to get home, as he wanted to speak to her before she left.

"Shall I wait in the study?" she asked the elderly woman.

"Maybe you'd prefer the living room?" Mrs. Sellers said. "The one on this floor has a television, so you won't get bored."

"Oh, right. Yes, that would be great, thank you."

Sebastian Chase's house was incredibly large. It had three floors and was divided into two wings. She was almost sure each floor could fit about a dozen rooms. It definitely had more than one living room, but Mrs. Sellers said only the one on the first floor of the main wing had a TV.

Victoria found the channel that showed old movies, and luckily, it was playing one of her favorite Humphrey Bogart films. She settled down on the couch with some tiny cakes and a soda the housekeeper brought her.

The cakes were delicious. Mrs. Sellers mentioned they were madeleines, and she'd just made them that afternoon. Victoria couldn't remember ever having them in her life, and she sighed contentedly as she bit into the buttery goodness. She could definitely get used to this.

What was it like being so rich you had servants bake you tiny French cakes anytime you wanted, she wondered. If she didn't have to make her own dinner or do laundry, she'd probably be able to finish her novel in a month or two. It was way too late for her to have been born to wealthy parents, and she doubted she had a long-lost aunt somewhere out there who needed an heir to leave their fortune to. She had no illusions about hitting it rich by herself someday. There were very few millionaire authors out there.

But she loved writing. There wasn't anything else she could think of doing for the rest of her life. And she was used to not being rich. She knew life could still offer you happiness and good friends and love, even if you didn't have a lot of money.

Key Largo ended around 10pm, and Mr. Chase still hadn't arrived.

Victoria was getting sleepy, but she had assured Mrs. Sellers, who popped in fifteen minutes earlier to tell her Mr. Chase was still at the office but he would be getting home shortly, that she was all right to wait for him. After all, the man was paying her more than what she made for a full day at the coffee shop for only a couple of hours tutoring Benson. She could wait up for him this once.

***

It was midnight when Sebastian let himself in the front door. He was tired. The conference call with China didn't end until an hour ago. But it had been an extremely productive call, and his company's directors were going to be very pleased at the board meeting next month.