Her Billionaire Shifter Valentine by Lisa Cullen

PROLOGUE: OLIVIA

“I hate you, Milo Mason,” Olivia muttered under her breath as she sat on her hands and knees while digging through the closet of her bedroom in her shared apartment for a suitcase or duffel bag… anything that would hold a few sets of clothing for this weekend’s business trip with her boss of whom she had just announced she hated.

Olivia could have sworn she had both items stowed away in her closet, safe and sound. At least, she was sure she had them at one point in the past. But her closet apparently liked to eat things, or it was some sort of magical portal to a different world. Because it didn’t appear to matter how much she searched the small space for the things she needed, she wasn’t going to find them.

“I have way too much stuff,” Olivia added with a groan.

“Those are not kind things to say,” Maxine, Olivia’s best friend said over the call Olivia had on speaker. The phone rested on the floor, freeing up Olivia’s hands so she could desperately search for luggage that apparently didn’t want to be found.

“Yeah, well, they are true,” Olivia said, sticking to her word.

“First of all, there is no such thing as too much stuff. Not for you,” Maxine argued. “And your boss can’t be all bad if he’s bringing you here to visit me.”

“That’s the thing. He’s not bringing me to visit you,” Olivia said. “Visiting you is both a bonus and a coincidence. And something I’m going to make sure happens or I may murder him. Besides, I shouldn’t be going with him at all.”

“But you are coming,” Maxine said.

Olivia sat back on her knees. She let out a heavy sigh and stared at her now-destroyed closet with not so much as a hint of the location of her missing luggage in sight. “I won’t be coming with any of my things if I can’t find my luggage.”

“And we are going to hang out,” Maxine added.

“Yes,” Olivia said. Her response came out breathy. “With or without clothes apparently.”

Maxine chuckled. Olivia missed the sound of her best friend’s laugh. They had spent their entire childhood laughing together. It was a sound Olivia found comfort and joy in. Maxine was a big piece of all of Olivia’s fondest memories. And she was excited to finally have the chance to see her. Especially after how much time had passed since they were last able to hang out with each other.

“You’re so dramatic.” She let out a long, sigh. “I seriously freaking miss you.”

“I miss you too,” Olivia said, voice soft.

Olivia rolled her head on her shoulders to try and release the tension building within them, but it wasn’t doing her much good. Her boss wasn’t exactly a patient man, and he didn’t forgive incompetence. At least, not during the time Olivia had worked for him. So, going on a business trip with no clothing because she couldn’t find a bag was something Milo Mason would see as unforgivable.

Carrying her things would likely be looked at more severely.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again,” Olivia started, “Milo Mason is a jerk.”

“Come on, he can’t be all bad,” Maxine said.

Olivia leveled her gaze at her phone and then stood from the floor, picking it up as she righted herself. “Oh, you have yet to discover the jerk he is. Give him five minutes and I guarantee you’re going to agree with me. No. Not even five minutes.”

“Trust and believe, I’m fine without meeting him… for now. But I can’t wait to finally hang out with you though,” she said.

“What are you not telling me?” Olivia asked, picking up on the hint her best friend had not so subtly dropped on her lap.

“Nothing,” she said, playing coy.

Olivia shook her head. She knew when her best friend was hiding something from her, and she knew when she wasn’t going to be able to drag it out of her too. “Very well. And again, I can’t make any guarantees about being able to visit. I’m sure as hell going to try, though.”

“Come on, now. He can’t have control over every minute of your time and life,” Maxine said, trying to sound reasonable.

Normally, it would be reasonable to say not every minute of Olivia’s day would be pre-planned. But Milo wasn’t normal. He was overbearing. In everything she knew about him. Still, that didn’t mean she was going to let him stand in the way of her visiting her oldest and dearest best friend.

Olivia snorted and thought to herself, “He wishes he had that sort of power.”

She hopped in place, trying to see into the back of her closet, along the top shelf.

“Maybe he knew I lived here?” Maxine offered. “He might be trying to be nice to you for once.”

After several unsuccessful attempts at peeking into the top of her closet, Olivia gave up and panted for breath while adjusting her clothing. She knew her luggage had to be around here somewhere.

Evidently, the closet wasn’t it.

“Nice isn’t a word I would ever use to describe that man on any given day. Nice doesn’t come close. Not by a long shot. I highly doubt the word exists in his vocabulary.”

“Fair enough,” Maxine said. “You know… thinking about it all, I agree it’s weird he’s bringing you along to a business meeting… and for the whole weekend? It doesn’t add up.”

“It is very weird,” Olivia agreed and picked up her phone before sitting on the foot of her bed. She sighed as she stared at the condition of her closet. She never thought she would believe it, but she truly did have too much stuff. She promised herself once she got back from her trip, she was going to weed through everything and get rid of what she really didn’t need.

“Well, you know my theory,” Maxine said.

Olivia scoffed. “How could he possibly know about you living there?”

“You would be surprised,” she replied.

Olivia shook her head, though Maxine couldn’t see it. “We’ll see about that. But for him to have known where you lived and set up this whole trip for my sake, he would have to have some sort of interest in me, and I am so far from registering anywhere close to his radar, it’s not even funny. I’m the complete and total opposite of the girls he chooses to date. Besides, he’s probably only going to make me work the entire time. I would be lucky if he let me sleep.”

Maxine laughed. “So dramatic.”

Olivia shrugged. “It’s all true… well, maybe not the sleeping part.”

“I still think you should sneak away when his back is turned,” Maxine said. “I would love for you to meet my men and Phineas.”

Ah, yes. Her new relationship came in the form of three men and a teenage boy. It didn’t surprise Olivia in the least her friend had hit it off with the kid. She relates to kids in ways Olivia was never able to understand. It was almost like she had the ability to tell exactly what they needed as soon as she settled her attention on them. Perhaps, it was because she was a kid at heart too.

Or it was she was just that good.

And Olivia was incredibly happy for her.

A little jealous, truth be told… but happy all the same.

Olivia sighed. “I promise I’m going to do everything I can to come and visit you.”

“You better,” she said. “Any luck finding your bags?”

“No,” Olivia’s voice came out sharp. “You’re hilarious if you think I would be that lucky.”

“Damn right, I’m hilarious,” she said and got quiet for a few moments.

Olivia withdrew into her thoughts, racking her brain, trying to figure out what she had done with her luggage. She hadn’t seen them since she moved into this apartment over a year ago.

Thinking about that time, she might have put them anywhere. And go figure, she forgot exactly where that was. Knowing herself as well as she had, she probably thought she was being clever by putting them in such a great hiding spot. Now, she was kicking herself for not recalling what she had done with them.

“Do you want help?” she asked.

“You gonna fly here?” Olivia asked. “Because I could use the extra eyes.”

She chuckled. “I wish I could fly, though. But have you checked under your bed?”

“Ye—” Olivia started to reply and stopped herself as she gave more consideration to Maxine’s question “No. I haven’t.”

“Try there,” she said as Olivia was already in the process of standing up and placing her phone on the foot of the bed so she can peek underneath.

Sure enough, they were there. And it made so much sense too. It was a clever spot. Too bad Olivia didn’t think to look there first and save herself so much stress and time.

“Found them!” I shouted. Relief flooded through her system. “God, you are amazing at that.”

She giggled. “Thank you.”

“No,” Olivia said and picked up the phone. “Thank you. Seriously, I would totally kiss you right now, if you were standing in front of me.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re gonna see me later, huh?” she asked through a laugh. “You can kiss me then.”

“I think you might have saved my life,” Olivia panted out as she pulled on the luggage.

“I doubt that,” Maxine said.

Olivia let out a deep breath, releasing the tension that had built up in her shoulders. She checked the time and did some quick math. She had forty minutes to get her stuff packed and she wasn’t even fully dressed yet.

And judging by the condition of the luggage she had pulled out, covered in dust and who knows what else, she was going to need to clean it before Milo Mason would allow it to grace the inside of his trunk.

That meant, she had to get off the phone.

“I better let you go,” Olivia said. “I have to wash off my luggage before I can pack, and my boss is going to be here pretty soon.”

“Kay, love you,” she said. “See you soon.”

“Love you too,” Olivia replied and ended the call.

She wasted no time in dragging the suitcase to her shower and rinsing it off before taking a rag and wiping it down. Once the bright purple poked through, looking almost brand new, she called it done enough.

Olivia checked the time again and cursed under her breath.

Cleaning the luggage had taken more time than she had wanted to give. Ten minutes longer. She was now down to thirty minutes to finish. So, she rushed into her room, tossed her suitcase onto the bed, grabbed the clothes she had previously pulled out, and carefully folded them into the suitcase before tossing a few shoes in, along with her toiletry bag.

Once her things were finally packed, she took the suitcase to the door before rushing to finish getting ready.

After wrapping up everything, she impressively had fifteen minutes to spare. So, she took a seat at the little kitchen table and took the opportunity to drink another cup of coffee. Meanwhile, the ticking of the clock she and her roommate had up on the wall just across from her, grew louder with each passing second.

Five minutes passed agonizingly slowly.

Then her doorknob jiggled. The bolt lock clicked over seconds before the door opened, and Olivia’s roommate, Morgan stepped through.

Morgan took one look at the bag and then settled her eyes on Olivia.