Read Innocent Christmas (Innocence Book 3) for Free Online Page B

making a name for ourselves. But Debra was constantly passed over for promotions because of her sex and because of her name.
    If she was given a promotion it always looked like it was favoritism, so instead the bump would go to me. This frustrated both of us, as we were both friends and colleagues and each giving more than one hundred percent. It’s never fair being a woman in this line of work, and after a few years, we hit a roadblock.
    The firm decided to create a new opening for a partner and I was being groomed to take it. I knew that Debra deserved it as much as I did, but I wasn’t sure what to do. Then one day Steven took Debra and me aside and we came up with a plan.
    After I moved into my new role as partner, Steven would retire. The kicker was, he would only retire after Debra and I got married. After the license was signed, he would then set his retirement in motion.
    Once the ink was dry, and with help from another founding partner, we had the majority vote and were able to secure Debra a spot in the firm as Steven’s replacement. Everybody won. Steven knew his family name was secure in the company, and his daughter wouldn’t have to worry about her future at the firm.
    I was a workaholic already and didn’t have a social life outside of work. When I did find myself out for the evening, women were just attracted to the suit and the money. Women made things messy and complicated, and I didn’t need either in my life. Debra and I both had the same motivation and drive, and neither of us had time for love. Our arrangement was the perfect, until Debra suddenly passed away, leaving me to pick up all the pieces of their family. A family that wasn’t even really mine.
    “She’ll be here tomorrow. She’s packing up the rest of her stuff from the boarding school today. She graduated last weekend,” Jim says, shaking me from my thoughts.
    “I’m just supposed to take in a girl I’ve never met and let her live with me?” I snap, still agitated and taking it out on Jim. What the fuck do I know about raising a young girl, or even making a home for one? I knew nothing about family.
    “The girl does have a trust fund.”
    “It’s not about the money. Can’t she just stay at the boarding school? She turns eighteen in a week. Legally she won’t need a guardian after that, and I’m sure she can find her own place before she starts college in the fall. She’s going to college right?”
    I bring up tomorrow's schedule. Fucking hell, I have a dinner meeting I can’t miss with one of the firm's biggest clients.
    “I’m not sure of her plans for college, but as for the next week she’s solely your responsibility. Do with her what you wish.”
    My cock jerks at his offhand comment. Do with her what you wish. As if she’s mine.
    Apparently I need to get laid. I’m getting hard at the idea of owning some young thing that doesn't know what to do with a dick. I rub my eyes and try to think of the last time I had sex.
    Debra and I might have been married, but we never shared more than a quick embrace for public events. All I’ve had to get me off over the years is my hand. While we were married, the last thing I needed was some scandal about how our nuptials were a sham or that I was cheating. After her father passed, we talked about getting a divorce, but we never got around to it with our busy schedules.
    We never planned for anything in the event of something happening to either of us, and now I’m a widower...and apparently a stepfather.
    Well, I guess I’m a stepfather for the next week or so. I can handle her for a week. I can keep busy while she stays in the condo. I’m never there anyway, and how hard can it really be? I’ll look into helping her find a condo to stay at until it’s time for her to start college. I bet there are probably a few units available in my building, and it’s the least I can do. Her mother and I may have not been close, but we did help each other out when needed.
    “Fine,