Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Lukas Tsaldaris' contract with Heart's Match---
Hire Betsy as his housekeeper.
Make up his mind in two months.
Will he marry her or not?
It was supposed to be that simple...
Until Betsy shows up in his home and whose one-year-old son immediately threatens to steal his heart.
Even worse, his irresistibly charming housekeeper isn't able to stop talking about her future husband.
What the---
How does she not realize that Lukas and her future husband are one and the same?
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter One
BETSY PINCHED HERSELF, and while this did hurt, it wasn’t enough. And so she pinched her one-year-old son’s cheeks next. Gently, of course.
D chortled in response, and her heart overflowed with happiness.
"You are just the cutest, my love," she couldn't help gushing, and D proved her words to be true as a semi-toothless smile broke over his lips.
Everyone she met had seen D as a burden, but for Betsy, he was the opposite. The moment she had given birth to D, it was as if time had stopped.
I get it, God, I get it, she remembered thinking dazedly to herself as she cradled her son against her for the first time.
When D’s father dumped her after finding out he had gotten her pregnant, it was as if her whole world had shattered.
But that was all in the past, Betsy reminded herself.
Today was a new beginning for both her and D, and she owed everything to God. She knew with all her heart that it had been no coincidence that a sudden afternoon rainshower had left her stranded at the bus stop, and Charlotte Carmichaels just happened to be driving by at that moment.
The other woman had offered to give them a ride, they had gotten to talking, and what once seemed a bleak future for Betsy and her son had suddenly been full of hope.
Awe filled Betsy as she gazed up at the eight-story apartment building in front of her. Its structure was reminiscent of Greek temples of old with its imposing Doric columns and exquisitely hand-carved pediment. It should've looked out of place in downtown San Antonio, but the luxurious residential establishment had won awards instead for turning itself into a modern architectural icon.
Only God, Betsy thought in wonder as she slowly ascended the marbled steps leading up to the lobby. Only God and no one else could have made this the workplace for someone as unqualified and undeserving as her.
Chapter Two
LUKAS KNEW SOMETHING had changed the moment he walked inside the lobby of his apartment building in San Antonio. This wasn’t the first time he had been away for over a week. But this was certainly the first time he had come home and had just about everyone smile at him like he was their all-year Santa Claus.
What the hell?
Even Conrad, whose expression was usually a mask of aloof courtesy, actually appeared human as he greeted Lukas.
“Welcome back, Mr. Tsaldaris.”
“Has anything happened recently?” the billionaire asked bluntly.
“If you could be more specific, Mr. Tsaldaris?”
Lukas shook his head. “Never mind.” He was probably imagining things. Negotiating his most recent business deal in Athens had taken longer than he expected. Maybe it was only now that exhaustion and jet lag had begun to set in.
An elevator to which only he had access whisked him up to his penthouse apartment in mere seconds, but even this, too, felt suffocatingly long. Ennui seemed to have claimed his soul, with everything in this world having lost its luster.
He pressed his thumb on the scanner when he reached his door, and his security system immediately granted him access. He stepped inside...and was unable to take another.
What the—-?
Lukas closed his eyes. That's it. He was definitely a lot more tired than he supposed, to the point that he had now started seeing illusions in his own damn living room.
Just sleep it off, he told himself, and everything should be normal again.
Since he had already started walking forward even before he opened his eyes, Lukas ended up tripping over his own feet when he realized the illusion...was not an illusion at all.
What the hell was a young boy doing in the middle of his living room? The kid was staring at him with big, green eyes. Lukas expected him to start crying as he came nearer, but the kid was fearless. Lukas loomed over his underaged intruder as his steps slowed to a halt, and the boy's lips ever so slowly...formed a smile that revealed several missing teeth.
Shit.
Lukas inhaled sharply as a torrent of emotions suddenly stormed his being. He had consciously avoided looking at kids since that day. And for a time, he had been able to live his life as if they didn't even exist...until now.
"Who are you?"
Lukas had no idea if kids his age were already capable of talking to him, but he soon had his answer when the boy chortled as if he had just cracked a joke.