Billionaire Under the Mistletoe

Abi Williams dreams of being a writer, but her parents and her bank account tell her she needs a real job. 

Stewart Vincent doesn’t like change. So when his long-time assistant quits on him right before the holidays, he dreads the process of finding someone new.

When Abi walks into his office and asks for the job, he’s uncertain, but agrees to a trial employment to get him through Christmas. When they begin to work together in close quarters, Abi realizes he’s much more than a suit, and Stewart finds that her zest for life might be just what he’s been missing.

But Abi is determined to keep her job, and Stewart decided a long time ago that he’s married to his work. 

Will they get their wishes for Christmas, or will business get in the way of pleasure before their relationship can reach the new year? 

If you love Hallmark Christmas Movies and Sweet Romance stories, you’ll love Hannah Jo Abbott’s Christmas stories. 

“Fa la la la la la la la la,” Abigail Williams sang into her hairbrush as she stood in front of her mirror. The song playing from the radio came to an end, and she looked into the mirror and spoke to herself, “You really should be more serious,” she said. Then she laughed as she picked the brush back up and began singing “Rocking Around the Christmas tree.” Abi danced her way to the kitchen where she poured herself a cup of coffee. She walked to the window feeling hopeful. The weatherman had predicted flurries today. She pulled back the curtain and held her breath. She let out that breath in disappointment. “No snow,” she said. “I shouldn’t have hoped.” Growing up and living in her hometown of Denver, Colorado, she still never grew tired of seeing the snow. She had always felt there was a magic to the season, and that never changed. 

With her cup of coffee in hand she sat at the kitchen table. In the one-bedroom apartment she could see the bedroom and the living room from the kitchen. She pushed a pile of papers out of the way and brushed her long blonde hair over her shoulders as she opened her laptop. She navigated to the job postings page she had been looking at the night before. She would much rather open up the document holding her latest writing project, a romance novel, but she knew she had to put that aside for now. Her stomach growled reminding her that she hadn’t eaten breakfast. She thought about checking the cabinet for something to eat, but knew she would find it empty. Like her stomach. She wasn’t exactly a starving artist, she just hadn’t been to the store this week. And yes, her bank account was running low since she had paid the rent yesterday. 

Abi thought about her last office job and part of her wished she still had a job for the paycheck. But she had felt like working in a cubical had drained every creative thought right out of her. She had scrimped and saved for months, waiting until the right time to quit her job and write full time. But she hadn’t been ready when the company downsized and she was let go before she could carry out her plan. 

Now she sighed as she stared at the computer screen reading over job listings that sounded as bad as her previous employment. She read ten descriptions before slamming the computer shut and leaning back in her chair with her arms across her chest. “I won’t go back to something that soul sucking.” She told herself. “But what else can I do?” She moved the cursor over the file to her story and opened it up before she could tell herself not to. For twenty minutes she lost herself in the world of her characters. Her fingers flying over the keyboard with ease. Until her stomach growled again. 

Standing up from the table she made a decision. I will not go back to a cubical. She promised herself. I need to write. She sighed again, But I also need to eat. And pay the bills. All the things her parents had said came back to whisper in her ears. 

“Honey, you are a talented writer. And I know you love it, but you need to be serious,” her dad had said. 

“It’s fine to write as a hobby,” her mom had said another time, “But you need to keep a real job.” 

“A real job,” Abi said out loud, “A job that will take all your time and drain you of all ability to write ‘as a hobby’.” She shook her head. What would her parents say about her today? Closing the job listing page to write, all while she needed groceries and she didn’t know where her next rent payment was coming from? “I’ve got to do something,” she told herself. An idea came to her then. “Maybe I can get a part-time job so I can pay the bills and still have time to write, yeah that’s it.” She said. She pushed down the negative thoughts in her head saying, Uh yeah, that won’t work. She wouldn’t listen to that today. It could work, she would make it work. If only to keep from having to ask her parents for money. 

Abi took the few steps to her bedroom closet and picked out an outfit that was warm and casual but that she also thought would say, “Hire me.” Dressy jeans and a cream colored sweater was just the thing. She hurried out the door determined to come home with a job.