Read Online Kiki's Millionaire by Patricia Green - Free Book Online

have all the time in the world for her.
They chatted about the weather, books, and a new art exhibit in one of the
local galleries. He seemed genuinely interested in her comments, and his brown
eyes were engaged and intelligent. Eventually, though, he asked to see her C.V.
    He looked it over carefully and asked a few questions,
focusing his queries on an obscure paper she’d written as a grad student. They
talked about it for a few minutes, and then the real grilling started.
    “So how do you know the DiMaggios? Their children are
shining stars here at the academy.”
    “Well, John, I don’t actually know them in person.
They’re friends with one of my friends and thought maybe I’d be a good fit for
Wildwood.” She tried to sound confident, as though friends of friends gave her
opportunities all the time.
    “I see. The DiMaggios are nice people. Renzo is
prominent in his field. You might say that he’s got some powerful friends.”
    She nodded, beginning to feel like her blouse was
tight around her throat.
    “Who directed you to the DiMaggios, Kiki?”
    “Um.” What kind of impression would Heath get if she gave
James Chesterfield’s name? She wasn’t a name-dropper by nature. Would he even
believe her? She decided to just plow through. If they didn’t offer her a job,
well, so be it. That was about the worst thing they could do to her—they
couldn’t hit her. “Actually, James Chesterfield is a friend of mine and he’s
also a friend of Mister DiMaggio.”
    John slowly smiled. It was an unpleasant smile, a
greasy smile, very much unlike the toothy expressions he’d shown her up to that
point. “James Chesterfield.” He seemed to savor the syllables coming out of his
mouth. “I’ve always wanted to meet him. How do you know him?”
    Now they were getting into personal territory. She
could hardly say that they’d met in a coffee shop and had dated and slept
together. She could hardly say that she basically traded sex for this
opportunity. She tried evasion. “Well, it’s a long story.”
    He seemed to take the hint, steepling his fingers in
front of his face. He looked at her legs, and after an uncomfortably long time,
his gaze traveled up to her face to focus on her lips. Kiki’s skin went hot and
she knew she was blushing under his scrutiny.
    “We might have something for you here at Wildwood,
Kiki.”
    How desperate was she? Was he expecting her to sleep
with him to get a job? She’d already slept with Jim for favors, although she’d
done the sleeping before the favors were offered. The timing was a technicality
she chose to overlook.
    Kiki clutched her leather portfolio tightly in her
lap. “What did you have in mind?” Ack. Wrong question! Too provocative! “I
mean, I might be interested. Depending.”
    He sat back in his chair, staring at her, looking her
over once again. Kiki squeezed her knees tighter together, feeling like he
might be trying to look up her skirt. She almost hoped he’d change his mind
just so she could get the hell out of there.
    “Have you ever taught children?”
    Her heart skipped a beat. “Not children. Undergrads
for two quarters, yes.”
    “We might have an opening for an English teacher for
our seventh- and eighth-graders when the Fall semester begins.”
    A moment’s consideration made her hopes crash down
with a thud. “I don’t have a teaching credential.”
    He waved a well-manicured hand. “You don’t need one to
teach at a private school.”
    “I don’t? Well… Certainly, I’d be interested.”
    “I hoped you’d say so, Kiki.” John licked his lips and
Kiki thought maybe he was going to proposition her, but he didn’t. “Let me give
you some details.”
    After twenty minutes of friendly negotiations, Kiki
thought maybe she had a job offer. John was looking her over again. “If the
particulars are acceptable to you, Kiki, I’d like to extend my invitation for
you to join our teaching staff on August first. The semester begins on