The Billionaire Next Door (Billionaire Bad Boys #2)(74)

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Since Rachel had the day off work, her plan was to start packing up her room at the apartment before her date with Tag that night.

Today’s apartment hunt hadn’t fared much better than her recent job hunt. She’d spent the afternoon looking at rinky-dink living spaces that, after deposit and first month’s rent, she could only afford for two more months…maybe.

She’d have thought the Hawaii gig she’d helped Tag with would shine on her resume, but so far none of the companies where she’d applied had been impressed by her advising on a major redesign. Though, there was one place that would be impressed.

Crane Hotels.

She’d had the thought before—briefly. During her online apartment hunt, she’d even looked up Crane Hotels headquarters. Turned out the building, separate from the Crane where the CEO’s offices were located, was hiring.

In marketing.

She’d shut the computer window, determined to find work outside of the Crane realm. Now that she thought about it, though, why couldn’t she apply? It wasn’t as if Tag had carved out a position for her. If she applied blind, and a manager hired her for HQ, Tag wouldn’t find out unless said manager called him as a reference. Unlikely. Tag was in charge of Guest and Restaurant Services, not human resources.

Plus, she was getting desperate.

Her cell buzzed, and Rachel stared at the name on the screen for the length of three rings before pressing the Accept button.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hey, sweetheart! I hadn’t heard from you in a while so I assumed you’ve been busy with work and watching the big dog for your friend.”

“You’re right about busy, but I’m not dog sitting any longer.” Rachel piled books into a box while she talked, unsure why she’d kept so many. Half were college texts and the other half paperback novels she could easily replace if she ever wanted to reread them. She thought of Tag and his well-worn paperback.

Use is a sign of love.

With a smile, she stacked the paperbacks into the box.

“…And your cousin Sheryl is pregnant. So the wedding should be interesting.”

“Really.”

“I know. Scandal, right?” Her mother sipped, drinking her evening tea no doubt. “But she’s only ten weeks, so it’s not like she’s walking down the aisle with a baby bump.”

Through a laugh, Rachel said, “I’m happy for her.”

“Yes, so am I. Rich is a nice man,” she said of Sheryl’s groom. “How’s work going?”

“Well. It’s going well.” Her heart rattled out an unsteady series of beats. She hadn’t shared the whole truth with her mom. She supposed now was as good a time as any. “I don’t actually have the job you’re referring to,” she finally admitted. “I didn’t want to tell you because then I’d have to tell you how Shaun betrayed me.”

“Rachel. What do you mean?” Her mom’s concern was palpable. “It’s his fault you don’t have a job?”

“It’s my fault I don’t have my marketing job.” She was the one who’d allowed herself to be bullied out of the company, after all. “But I do have a job. Just not one where high heels are standard.” From there, she told her mother everything, from the presentation to Shaun taking all the credit, to the moment when she took the dog sitting job from a male regular at the bar. She debated for a few seconds before sharing the part about Tag knocking on her door.

“Are you and Tag…?”

“We’re seeing each other.” Which was a parent-friendly way to say they were sleeping together. But her mother didn’t need to know the details or that Tag was a billionaire, for God’s sake. Baby steps.

“I helped him out with a bar project recently. In Hawaii.”

“Hawaii!”

“I didn’t want you to worry. Or get the wrong idea,” Rachel was quick to say. Even though the idea her mom had was probably pretty close to the right one. “Anyway, he wanted to pay me for going, but I didn’t let him.”

“Smart girl.”

At that, Rachel’s shoulders pulled back. Her mother had always respected Rachel’s independence. It felt nice to have that acknowledged. “It’s been a few weeks and I haven’t had any luck finding a corporate job, but there is an opening at…uh, the place Tag works.”

“Would he put in a good word for you?”

Rachel nearly laughed, swallowing down the words You mean with his brother the CEO?

“That’s just it. I don’t want him to.” She wanted to do this on her own. Prove she could do it on her own. “Do you think it’d be wrong to apply and not tell him?”

“I think you should apply, and I think you should tell him,” her mother stated without hesitation.

“I don’t want him pulling any strings.”

“Then tell him so.”

Rachel sighed.

“Don’t start off your relationship with a lie, Rach. It won’t end well.”

She appreciated her mom’s advice, but Keri Foster wasn’t all the way in the know. Rachel and Tag had a nontraditional relationship. When it ended, she didn’t want her employer thinking the only way she’d landed the job was on the merits of the man she had been sleeping with. It had been all too easy for her last employer to believe Shaun had done the heavy lifting. Her hard work had been completely overlooked. She refused to let it happen again.