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  Stay

  Odd Jobs #1

  AJ Alexander

  Copyright © 2019 by AJ Alexander.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design: Popkitty Designs

  Editing: Jenny Dillion with Prologue and Prose

  Proofreading: Jessica Rousseau with Elemental Editing and Proofreading

  Contents

  Synopsis

  Newsletter

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  Excerpt

  Also by AJ Alexander

  About AJ Alexander

  Acknowledgments

  To my knight in shining camis

  This never would have been possible without you. Thank you xoxo

  To my Heather

  No one in this world has believe in me more than you. Thanks for being my Ride or Die Chick. Gangster Rap and all. Xoxo

  Synopsis

  Against all odds, the dog walker gets the girl...

  ADDISON

  Never knowing if someone is genuinely interested in me or my family’s money keeps my guard up. So when he shows up, my instant hatred for his good looks and sexy smile is no surprise.

  I soon discover that Cole isn’t who I think he is, but I'm afraid to lower my walls and let him in. After his relentless pursuing, I find myself being led down a path I never thought possible.

  COLE

  I never thought I deserved to have the white picket fence life - until her. The last thing I expect to find when I knock on my client's door is the answer to my deepest desires.

  One look and I know Addison is out of my league. That will not stop me from trying to make her mine... but my past might.

  Newsletter

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  1

  COLE

  Bright and early Monday morning, here I’m running down Pacific Beach. This is the life, nothing better than this. Who would’ve thought that I originally wanted to spend my life in an office every day?

  As I near the end of my run, I see what I hope to be my latest conquest coming my way. Long legs, with strawberry blonde hair, jogging slowly with her chocolate lab. Poor dog; it looks miserable. She must have noticed me as well because she sticks her chest out and there’s a little more pep in her step. Slowing my pace, I go in for the kill.

  “I couldn’t help but notice you running with your dog. Hi, my name is Cole. I’m the owner of Promener Le Chien. If you’re ever in need of a dog walker, give me a call. I’d be glad to help.”

  I pull a business card out of my iPod holder. With a smile, I take a step to begin running again when I feel a soft touch. Never fails.

  “This must be fate! I recently moved to the area and have no time to walk Brownie the way she should be with my schedule. I’d love to discuss your business with you further. My apartment is a block or two away.”

  Just like that, my early morning run is cut short. I found another form of exercise.

  * * *

  After my detailed discussion with Paige and a deposit to start walking Brownie tomorrow, I head toward my condo to take a shower and start my day. A little over six feet tall, washboard abs, and dark brown hair most people mistake me for a model. Nothing against models; I fuck them. They make a great lay, but I have a brain between my ears. I could never be one long term.

  I tried veterinary school for a while, but all the rules were too much. Before I wasted any more of mine or my parent's money I dropped out. Instead, I took my love of animals and started my own business, no need for rules or bowing down to the masses. I was my own master, no pun intended.

  That’s where the idea of Promener Le Chien came from, which is the French way to say dog walker. These yuppies eat the name up. I put up a few fliers, and now I make roughly two grand a week walking someone else’s dogs. I’m a genius. I’m glad everyone else is finally getting on board.

  Getting closer to my door, I notice trash waiting to be taken out. “Do I need to call the police? This is getting out of hand.”

  “Cole, we were good together. Fabulous even, we should give it another shot. I can do better, I promise.”

  Just hearing Vickie speak at this point makes my blood boil. I’d count her as my one and only mistake in life. We tried to have a relationship, and everything was amazing, that’s until I caught her bent over the side of our couch with her boss balls deep in her pussy. It’s been almost six months now, but she still sporadically comes back begging to get back together.

  “I need you to go crawl back into whatever hole you crawled out of. We are through, end of story.”

  I shove past her to unlock my door. “Cole, you’ll never be done with me. You always come back for more. Even if it’s just a little taste.”

  She’s right, I always used to come sulking back to her when she was free or wanting a relationship again but looking at her now there’s nothing.

  “Things change, Vic. Right now, I have work to do which doesn’t include you.” With my door finally unlocked, I slide inside and promptly slam the door in her face.

  2

  ADDISON

  I squint as the sun shines through the big windows near my bed. Damn, I need to get used to all this sunlight if I’m going to be staying here in San Diego for the long haul. I roll over and notice my cell phone flashing− seven missed calls. I don’t even need to open my phone to check who the calls are from− my father.

  The prominent director of Massachusetts General Hospital had expectations of his daughter, being a teacher at Francis Parker School wasn’t on the list. I believe his exact words were, ‘No daughter of mine will be just a school teacher.’ Apparently educating the next generation of doctors and lawyers isn’t prestigious enough for him.

  My parents have always had money, old money is how they put it nowadays. I have always had the best school, best tutors, best everything. What I lacked were parents. We never went camping or had family game nights. I spent more time with my nanny than I did my parents. Being rich isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, some expectations and rules must always be followed . Go to the right school, meet the right people, make the right connections, it’s exhausting. Graduating from Cornell with my Bachelor’s in English education, I assumed I was out of the game, but my parents had other plans. So right after graduation, I ran to my aunt’s house− she’s probably one of the only sane people in my entire family− in hopes that my Father would forget I exist. Judging by the missed calls, that hope has been dashed.

  I finally muster th
e energy to get out of bed, my phone begins to ring again. As I debate whether to answer it or not, my cousin Heather comes strolling into the room. I love my cousin, but her model like body and perfect, long, fiery, red hair is everything I’m not. According to my parents, Heather is everything I should be in the looks department. If she wasn’t carefree and said exactly what she was thinking, they would probably adopt her.

  What’s with the heavy this morning? I can’t deal with all this before coffee.

  I use the term cousin loosely, Heather is more like my sister. When I’m in trouble, there’s no one else that I’d turn to. Heather is my rock, my safety net, but she also wants to die right now. She comes strolling into my room like she owns the place, without coffee. Big mistake cousin of mine.

  “You better answer that, it has been ringing non-stop for the last few hours.”

  “Do I have too?” I whine rolling over and covering my head with a pillow and my phone stops ringing.

  “Yes, because I want to get some sleep. Besides, Cole will be here soon. I want you to meet him. You never know what might happen.”

  She has been telling me about Cole since they met freshman year at San Diego Mesa. They both started in the veterinary program, but Cole had an issue with authority. After bonding over dog parks, apparently Heather used part of her trust fund to invest in his business, and they have been friends ever since. There must be another reason, besides their mutual love of dogs, for why she thinks we would make the perfect couple, but right now, I don’t care. The only thing I can honestly remember about him is his need to stick his dick in any attractive woman that walks past him.

  My phone begins to ring again before I have a chance to mute it Heather answers.

  “Hello, Uncle Tom! She’s right here, let me get her for you,” she chirps into my cell before handing it over. Of course, she had to call him Tom. He absolutely loves it when people shorten his name.

  “Hello Father, what do I owe this phone call so early in the morning?”

  “Early? It is after ten in the morning here,” his judgmental tone comes clearly through the phone.

  “Father, I am in California. There is a three-hour time difference, it is only seven here,” I stifle a yawn as I answer.

  “All the important people are awake by seven in the morning Addison. What am I going to do with you?”

  That’s why he has been calling for the last few hours?

  “How about love me and respect my decisions?” I snipe back at him. That was the wrong answer obviously because he immediately responds, “I would if you were making the correct ones. A school teacher is no profession for a prominent Cornell graduate. When will you come home and discuss your future?”

  I can see this conversation is going nowhere. “I have a job at a prominent private school here in San Diego starting in the fall. I will not be returning home until you and Mother can learn that I’m an adult with my own life and have the ability to make my own decisions.”

  “I’m sorry to hear you feel that way. Hopefully, you come to your sense with no money or access to your trust fund,” my father says as he abruptly hangs up the phone.

  As per usual, the threat of my trust fund. I don’t want or need money. Luckily, I saved my allowance while in school, so I have more than enough to take care of myself until I begin receiving my salary from the school.

  I throw my phone onto the bed, pulling a pillow over my face and scream.

  “That went well,” Heather says from her position next to me.

  “As well as can be expected. Come home now. I am cutting you off. You know, the usual,” I respond as I pull the pillow off my face and climb out of bed. “I’m awake, I might as well start my day, right?”

  “Oh, goodie! There are clothes laid out in the bathroom! Cole should be here in the next thirty minutes. Make sure to blow dry your hair so I can do something with it before he comes.”

  “What’s this Addy Barbie day or something?”

  “No, this is I want you and Cole to live happily ever after day. You can’t do that looking like Medusa.”

  “I’m glad you want me to be with a womanizing manwhore. I can feel the love sister-friend,” I say as I head toward the bathroom.

  “Addy, I know I’ve told you stories about Cole, but there’s a reason for everything. Give him a chance, for me, please?” Heather turns on the puppy dog eyes that I can’t resist.

  “Fine, I’ll try to keep the bitch to a minimum, but I make no promises.”

  I chuckle to myself as I shut the bathroom door and turn on the shower. As the bathroom begins to fill with steam, I can’t help but think back on my conversation with my father. Most parents love their children unconditionally, mine probably had me so they could marry me off to a Vanderbilt and have lunch with the Kennedys’. My lack of bleach blonde hair and size two body are another thing on the long list of disappointments my parents have had to endure, and my graduating from Cornell with a teaching degree in English was the last straw.

  Spending the summer in sunny San Diego isn’t going to be all bad. Once the school year starts, I won’t need my parents anymore. They can take all their aspirations and shove them, I plan to live my own life. Not the one that’s been mapped out for me.

  3

  COLE

  I head up to the door for my first appointment for the day, Sampson. A dog that doesn’t fit with his name. Sampson is a seven-pound soaking wet Yorkshire Terrier that believes he’s a pit bull, but I would never tell his owner that. I take a deep breath before knocking on the door.

  “Good morning, Natalie. I’m here to pick up Sampson.” I watch her eyes travel down my body, lingering on my package.

  She licks her lips. “He’s ready and waiting for you Cole. You’re so good with him.”

  Oh, I’m good with everything.

  “He’s a good boy, no trouble at all.” I punctuate my statement with a wink for good measure.

  “If you come to the back when you're finished, I’ll have a special treat for you.”

  I’ll take your special treat, it was delicious yesterday. I always want to keep my clients happy.

  With a wink, Sampson and I turn and head down the driveway. “Where to? Are we going to get Felicity or Delilah first?” Sampson nods toward the right once we reach the end of the driveway.

  “Delilah it is.” Sampson and I head down the street toward the Middletons’s house. I admire the large homes that line the street as we walk. My condo could probably fit in any one of them a few times, but this is where I belong. Not some small town in a corner rotting away, I’ve always deserved more.

  Sampson stops suddenly squatting down to take a dump. “Dude, you couldn’t wait till the park for that.” This is the worst part of my job; thank heavens he went behind a bush.

  We finally make it to the Middletons’ place, and I ring the doorbell, waiting for Heather to answer the door. Heather helped me come up with the idea of Promener Le Chien, so it’s only fitting that her mother is one of my best clients.

  When the door opens, it isn’t Heather. I’m surprised to find a girl with some curves, shoulder-length brown hair, and moss green eyes. She stands just below my chin and her body makes my mouth water.

  Finally finding my ability to speak, I decided to turn on the charm, “Hey gorgeous, haven’t seen you around here before.”

  “Obviously, because I don’t live here. You must be the infamous Cole.”

  I’m not sure if her knowing who I’m is a good or bad thing, but I guess I’ll take my chances.

  “I see my reputation proceeds me. Are you the new maid?”

  The beauty raises one eyebrow as she looks me up and down before she answers, “I’ll go and get Delilah for you.”

  She turns back into the house leaving me standing at the front door. Did she blow me off? That shit never happens! She’s probably into chicks, that’s the only explanation. Crossing my arms over my chest, I wait. I don’t know what shocks me more about this situation, that I got t
he cold shoulder or that I still want to fuck her into next week? My thoughts are interrupted by the beauty once again.

  “Here she is. Just do what you usually do, I guess.”

  “What I usually do isn’t safe for public, but I’m sure Delilah can be persuaded to wait about thirty minutes or so.” I give her a wink for good measure. I know I’m laying it on thick but getting between her legs is a given at this point.

  “Oh, poor thing, only thirty minutes? I’m sure they make medication for that.” This woman isn’t the typical pushover I’m used to, I may have to put in some effort but not too much. I don’t need her to get all clingy.

  “Thirty minutes with my dick between those lips, yes, that’d be enough for me.” I can see the heat behind her eyes as she responds.

  “The only thing that’s going on your dick is a case of syphilis. Penicillin can clear that right up.”

  Before she can shut the door, I ask, “Where’s Heather? She never mentioned that they had a raging bitch as a maid.” Her cheeks turn bright red as she looks over her shoulder, I’m assuming she’s looking for Heather.