The Billionaire’s Christmas Son: Elkin Brothers Christmas Book Three Read online

  Elkin Brothers Christmas

  The Billionaire Athlete’s Christmas Fling

  The Billionaire’s Fake Christmas Engagement

  The Billionaire’s Christmas Son

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

  RELAY PUBLISHING EDITION, DECEMBER 2020

  Copyright © 2020 Relay Publishing Ltd.

  All rights reserved. Published in the United Kingdom by Relay Publishing. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Leslie North is a pen name created by Relay Publishing for co-authored Romance projects. Relay Publishing works with incredible teams of writers and editors to collaboratively create the very best stories for our readers.

  Cover design by Mayhem Cover Creations.

  www.relaypub.com

  Blurb

  Golden boy of the family empire and billionaire CEO of Elk Lodge, Jonas Elkin is in for the shock of a lifetime after he hires a photographer to shoot family portraits as a gift to his dying grandmother. When Rachel Alexander, his steamy one-night stand, shows up, Jonas must face the unexpected consequences of their actions three years ago: he has a son.

  Rachel never expected to see the father of her son again. She definitely didn’t expect him to be in charge of the ski resort she met him at. She almost wishes she could say no to Jonas’ request for family portraits, but without enough money to pass up the job, she’s not only forced to work during the Christmas holidays, but has to push aside her lingering feelings for Jonas and what they could have been.

  But then Jonas reveals he still has feelings for her and wants to get to know his surprise son; on one condition: they have to keep the baby a secret from Jonas’ traditional family. He’s used to being the alpha male, in control of every situation, but Rachel refuses to be told what to do, especially when it comes to her son. Will they be able to overcome the differences that threaten to tear them apart, or will Jonas’ family finding out about their past destroy their chance at a future?

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  (Elkin Brothers Christmas Book Three)

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  Contents

  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

  Epilogue

  End of The Billionaire’s Christmas Son

  Thank you!

  About Leslie

  Sneak Peek: The Billionaire Prince’s Surprise Son

  Also by Leslie

  1

  The Christmas Day photo session had been excruciating.

  Jonas hoped that the rest of his family hadn’t noticed how unbelievably tense he was—how sweat prickled at his hairline. How he couldn’t stop looking at the photographer he’d hired. She was utterly professional and charming, and everyone had loved her. And the problem was that Jonas had loved her, too.

  Well—he’d made love to her, almost three years ago. A one-night stand, showing up to be his last-minute photographer. How did something like this happen? He knew the broad outlines of how—the man he’d hired bowed out because of a family emergency, and he’d suggested Rachel Alexander. Someone local enough to make the trip to the resort at the last minute. Jonas had been relieved when a replacement was found, so much so that he’d asked her to stay through the New Year to photograph the family events over what could end up being his grandmother’s last Christmas.

  He hadn’t recognized her name.

  But he would never forget her face, or her eyes, or her body. It hit him in waves—she’d never told him her name, and he’d never looked her up. It had been here, at the resort, after the place had been through a precarious year. Jonas wanted one night for himself. A night off to relax.

  One night of bliss and then she’d checked out the next morning. For him, it was back to the daily routine called life and that was the end of it. He’d thought of her. Of course he’d thought of her. He couldn’t stop. But he’d never done anything about it. Chasing down one-night stands wasn’t his role as the oldest Elkin brother, in charge of the resort.

  Until now.

  The rest of his family was ensconced in the living room of his grandmother’s apartment at the opulent Elk Lodge, a fire crackling merrily in the fireplace, and the room staged to perfection by an in-house staff of interior decorators, when Jonas reached the end of his patience.

  Rachel—her name was Rachel—sat quietly at the side of the room, snapping photos of the day every so often. He approached her in what he hoped was a very relaxed manner, but the muscles across his shoulders were tight as could be.

  “Hi, Jonas,” she said, getting up from her seat and looking down at her camera. “Was there another photo you wanted? I can—”

  “Stop pretending,” he said in a low voice.

  Her smile faltered, and her eyes widened.

  “You never told me your name,” Jonas ground out.

  Rachel blushed a deep scarlet and pulled her camera close to her body. “Honestly,” she said softly, “I thought you wouldn’t recognize me. It was a few years ago.” Her glance cut down to the side. “Maybe it’s best if I leave.”

  “Can we talk about this? Because I don’t think—”

  “I didn’t know it was you, but it’s okay.” She waved him off. “You don’t have to worry. The photos are lovely, and I’ll have them to you as soon as I can.” She gathered up her camera bag, waved at his family, and hurried for the door, only stopping briefly to glance back at him. “Thank you for hiring me for the job.” The front door of his grandmother’s apartment opened and shut, hiding her from him again.

  Jonas’s heart wouldn’t settle down. This was how the one-night stand had ended—with a door opening and closing, and Rachel disappearing. Wait—had she just ended the job? He’d hired her through the New Year.

  “Do you like the new sweater?” Gabe’s hand came down on Jonas’s arm, causing him to jump. “Wow. Tense, much?” his brother asked, frowning.

  “The sweater is great,” Jonas said. “I can’t wait to wear it.”

  Gabe looked him in the eye. “Is something wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “You know what, no. No.” No, I can’t let her walk out of here. For one thing, I paid her for all this time. For another, there are things I want to say to her. I’m not sure what, exactly, but I can’t let her walk away. “There were other—other photos I wanted. I’ll talk to the photographer about it before she calls it quits for the day.”

  “It’s Christmas,” chide
d Gabe. “Aren’t you going to let her have a little time with her son?”

  He’d forgotten about her son. Rachel had wanted to bring him along for the job since it would be over the holiday, and Jonas had agreed, not thinking twice about it. Well, he’d catch her before she and the boy took off. There was plenty for a kid to do at the Elk Lodge.

  “Of course I am,” Jonas said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  He felt Gabe’s eyes on his back as he went out into the hall. The expanse of plush carpet was empty, the elevator humming at one end, and he stabbed at the button impatiently. It was so slow. He couldn’t bear the wait. After fifteen seconds, he hustled for the stairwell, taking them down two at a time. There was a separate elevator for the guest rooms—and she was more than likely headed there.

  He burst into the vaulted lobby a few moments later, into the swirl of elegant Christmas decorations and soft music. Glancing around, he caught sight of Rachel by the enormous Christmas tree, tucking a length of jet-black hair behind her ear. She was grinning down at something he couldn’t see because of a huge leather sofa blocking his view.

  Another woman stood close by, her red hair piled on top of her head in a loose bun. Lisa, the resort babysitter, who was on call for any family who needed one. He blinked, moving closer without thinking.

  And then he came to an abrupt halt.

  The little boy had come into view, and—he was a miniature version of Jonas. Rachel had black hair and blue eyes, but this little boy had Jonas’s dark blonde hair and his chin, too.

  His heart stuttered to a start again.

  Her son. The little boy couldn’t have been much more than two, and he pulled gently at Lisa’s hand as they stood, swaying toward the tree and back again.

  Oh, God. No wonder she wanted to leave. If what he suspected was true—if this was his son. “Rachel,” he called out, before he’d thought about what to say.

  She straightened, turning to meet his gaze.

  “Mr. Elkin.” Lisa gave him a nod and said something he couldn’t hear to Rachel, and then turned to leave. “Merry Christmas,” she told them all, waving until she was out of sight around the corridor.

  Jonas wanted to talk to Rachel about the one-night stand, but that seemed insignificant now—laughably so. He went to where she stood with the little boy, irresistibly drawn to them both. It was an awkward moment and he stuck his hands in his pockets to cover any sign of nervousness.

  Rachel bit her lip.

  The little boy stared up at them, small lips pursed.

  Outside, the Colorado snow came down in gentle flakes, the cool light tempering the golden glow from the hundreds of lights inside the lobby. It was as though time stood still.

  “I was going to tell you—” Jonas racked his brain for what he’d come to tell her. “I was going to say that I didn’t want you to leave on account of what happened between us. Before.” He dragged his eyes from the boy’s and back to Rachel’s—a lighter blue than his own. “But I think there’s something else I should know. Something more important.”

  The rest of the room disappeared. It was only the three of them and the Christmas tree. Everything else—the tinsel and the music and the other people in the lobby—they were gone, and Jonas braced for the words that would change his life. One way or the other, things would be different.

  “He’s yours,” Rachel said, her voice calm and matter-of-fact.

  Yours. The word echoed in his mind until it was big enough to fill the entire lobby of the Elk Lodge, bouncing around in a thousand echoes of itself. “Mine.”

  “Yes.” Rachel was at ease with her son, letting him step from side to side, but her shoulders were tensed up to her ears. “It happened after we were—were together that one time.” Her cheeks went a deeper red. “I thought you were another guest. I didn’t know you were Jonas Elkin.”

  “And I never told you.” It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. The night had lifted the weight from his shoulders long enough for him to catch his breath. Jonas wasn’t in the habit of asking—he was used to telling people what to do as part of his job as CEO. Nobody wanted a CEO without leadership ability. But Rachel didn’t technically work for him—not for the Elk Lodge, anyway. “You don’t need to leave.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure? Because this is a huge thing to find out, and I’m sure you’re…” Her voice softened, the sentence petering out. “I’d understand if you didn’t want me here at a time like this.”

  His emotions were so huge he thought he might burst. Guilt. A flash of anger. A lightning bolt of fear. Over it all, a layer of shock. He had a son, and the son was this boy, and his mother was Rachel. “What’s his name?”

  “Scott,” Rachel offered. “Scott Alexander.”

  There was too much to decide at that moment. He hadn’t been there to take care of his own child. Neglected his responsibility. It didn’t matter that there was no way he could have known. Jonas felt like he was falling. It was a terrifying sensation. But he wasn’t going to fire Rachel—no way.

  For one thing, the photography job she was working on was his gift to his grandmother and to the rest of his family. If he sent Rachel away now, there would be no replacement photographer. And then he’d have to explain it to his grandmother, which would require a lie—something he didn’t want to do. Not while she was dealing with cancer. Not now, when they might not have much time left.

  Decide.

  Jonas was the one who had to make a choice. It was his job. It had been his job for years, and nothing had ever been as important as this. “Let me take you back to your suite.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want us to head out?”

  “I’m sure.” There. Decision made. “Let’s walk together.”

  He could almost feel time ticking by. Up in his grandmother’s apartment, his family would be wondering where he’d gone. They might try to call down to the front desk to see if something happened at the resort that demanded his attention. They might try any number of things if he didn’t return to the Christmas celebration soon.

  In the elevator, Rachel lifted Scott up to push the buttons, guiding his small finger with her hand. “Floor number three,” she told him.

  “Tree,” Scott repeated, his son’s baby voice striking straight to Jonas’s heart.

  They rode the elevator up, questions crowding Jonas’s mind. How was he going to fix this situation? Scott looked happy, oblivious to the fact that he was seeing his father for the first time. It didn’t change the problem they faced.

  Rachel slipped the key card into her door, and the lock clicked, driving home the reality of the situation.

  What had he been thinking? That he’d go back to her room with her and they’d hash everything out while his family waited upstairs? It would have to wait a little longer. He didn’t want his family to come looking for him. And he didn’t want his son to disappear while his back was turned.

  But before they did anything, he needed to get his thoughts in order. There were so many variables in this situation. So many people to consider. So many factors. He’d always been proud of the way he could make decisions, keep things moving. Now Jonas felt like he was treading water in the middle of the ocean.

  Scott toddled into the suite, and Rachel turned back. “Thank you for letting us stay.” It sounded hopeful, like a question—one last chance for him to change his mind.

  “I’m glad you’re staying.” He cleared his throat. “I have to head back upstairs and visit with my family for a short while, but will you meet me in my office later to talk? It’s on the fourth floor.” She was willowy and gorgeous, and he felt a certain desperation rise in him—don’t let her get away. And a competing pull—don’t let this holiday become a disaster.

  Rachel took a deep breath. “If you’re sure.”

  “I’m very sure,” Jonas said. “Meet me there in an hour.”

  She searched his eyes one more time, then gave a small nod. “We will.”

  2
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  Rachel pressed her forehead to the picture window in the guest suite and tried to cool down her feverish skin. It had been an endless morning of holding it together. She had been so close to getting away, too—and then, no. The awkwardness had descended. Who knew that Jonas owned the Elk Lodge? The father of her child wasn’t just another guest—he owned the place.

  A place where she could barely afford to stay.

  Rachel had visited here as a child with her parents. They’d loved the resort, and so had she. There was a certain magic to it, especially around the holidays. Rachel had fallen in love with the Elk Lodge as a little girl—with the glittering snow on the hills, the hot cocoa they served to guests for free, and evergreens draped in Christmas decorations. It was breathtakingly fancy, with lovely bathrooms and lovely beds and lovely everything.

  She’d stayed once as an adult, on a getaway that her fiancé had planned and then bailed on, and then never again. The room rates were too high for a photographer with a business one couldn’t describe as successful by any stretch of the imagination. The opportunity to work here was like a Christmas gift for her and Scott—and a way to earn a little money. It would be a long time before that happened again.

  And now there was Jonas to contend with. Rachel had never expected to come across the father of her child again, and why would she have? He could have been from anywhere. Instead, he was an hour away from the town she’d made her home and lived at the resort she’d fallen in love with as a child.