The Naughty List Read online

  THE NAUGHTY LIST

  CAISEY QUINN

  The Naughty List

  Copyright © 2019 Caisey Quinn

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by information storage and retrieval system, without 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 and/or are used fictitiously.

  Short excerpts may be used for editorial review purposes.

  Edited By: editsimpeccable.com

  www.caiseyquinn.com

  Check out The Naughty List Pinterest Board

  Listen to The Naughty List Playlist

  facebook.com/groups/CQsRoadCrew

  Contents

  Also By Caisey Quinn

  Playlist

  Untitled

  About The Naughty List

  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

  Epilogue

  BONUS NOVELLA

  SPECIAL EDITION

  About the Author

  Also By Caisey Quinn

  The Seduction Duet

  Hot for Her

  Hot for Teacher

  The Arrangement Series

  COMING SOON!

  Inconvenient Arrangement

  Temporary Arrangement

  Casual Arrangement

  Complicated Arrangement

  Nashville’s Finest Series

  Lit Fuse

  Live Wire

  Deadly Retribution (TBA)

  Protective Detail (TBA)

  Neon Dreams Series

  Leaving Amarillo

  Loving Dallas

  Missing Dixie

  Kylie Ryans Series

  Girl with Guitar

  Girl on Tour

  Girl in Love

  Standalones

  729 (Coming Sept 2020)

  Last Second Chance

  Duets

  Falling for You

  Falling for Fate

  Keep Me Still

  Give Me You

  All I Need

  All I Want (Coming 12.29.19)

  Dark Net Novels

  (written as Trinity Scott)

  Blood & Lace

  Sin & Silk (TBA)

  Shadow & Glass (TBA)

  Playlist

  The Lady in Red - Chris De Burgh

  I’m A Mess/Issues (Mash Up) - Madilyn Bailey

  Champion - Barns Courtney

  Tattooed on My Heart - Bishop Briggs

  I Knew You Were Trouble - Madilyn Bailey (acoustic cover)

  All I Want for Christmas is You - Michael Bublé

  Winter Wonderland - Dean Martin

  Baby it’s Cold Outside - Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett

  Hallelujah - Pentatonix

  Power Over Me - Dermot Kennedy

  Let It Be Me - Ray LaMontagne

  Make You Feel My Love - Adele

  More Hearts Than Mine - Ingrid Andress

  Happier - Madilyn Bailey cover

  Please Come Home for Christmas - Charles Brown

  Don’t Let Me Down - Chainsmokers

  All I Want (for Christmas) - Liam Payne

  Rescue - Lauren Daigle

  Eyes On You - Chase Rice

  The Bones - Maren Morris

  Wild - Bishop Briggs

  I’ll Be Home for Christmas - Michael Bublé

  For my fellow holiday haters.

  I know it’s tough.

  I lost my dad at Christmas in 2004.

  Know I am thinking of you this holiday season.

  “You don’t know this, but you saved me—from myself and from the idea that I wasn’t worthy of a love like yours.”

  -Leo Christopher

  About The Naughty List

  Hollis Rossi is tired of being good. What’s it ever gotten her anyway?

  She’s a twenty-four-year-old dog walking virgin that still lives at home with her parents.

  When her boss, the infamous and illusive former MMA fighter Jonah X, says she’s too wholesome to handle being his personal assistant, Hollis sets out on a mission to prove him wrong.

  But when he finds her “naughty list” of ways she plans to show him she’s not as innocent as he thinks she is, Hollis has to decide if a promotion is worth risking everything—including her heart.

  1

  HOLLIS

  ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU

  Lady in red, is dancing with me. Cheek to cheek.

  The song plays softly overhead, outdated and out of place in the sleek, modern downtown building that’s home to the offices of The Wildlife Defense Alliance. It brings to mind my bold, uncharacteristic outfit choice. Crimson and black tweed knee-length pencil skirt and a sheer white wrap top that dips low in the front might have been a little more of a statement than I’d meant to make at today’s job interview.

  Not to mention the shiny red stilettos that are currently pinching my pinky toes to death.

  Freaking Addison.

  My sister-in-law likes to push me out of my comfort zone regularly. Though I’d be lying if I said the president and founder of the WDA wasn’t part of my motivation for letting her this time.

  Jonah X is an enigma.

  Four years ago, at twenty-three and at the peak of his UFC fighting career, he went off the grid. Disappeared without a trace for eighteen months.

  “Finding purpose in the chaos,” he’d said.

  People on social media joked that he’d obviously taken too many shots to the head. He’d had millions of potential dollars coming from endorsements and movie deals. But he’d walked away from all of it.

  What he found—while hiking across the most remote parts of the planet like a lumberjack with a death wish—was several endangered species being hunted and tortured for various reasons. Sport, their fur, or just because they happened to be unfortunate enough to inhabit areas where large corporations wanted to build or drill.

  He returned home to Boston last year and founded the Wildlife Defense Alliance, which had become a pretty impressive and powerful company in a short time.

  When I saw the online ad for an available receptionist position during my endless employment search, I applied immediately.

  As did apparently every other woman ages eighteen to one hundred judging from the crowd in the lobby.

  I need this job. At twenty-two I’m still living at home with my parents. And yes, it’s as horrible as it sounds.

  After graduating high school, there was no money for me to go to college and my grades weren’t impressive enough for a substantial scholarship. I waited tables at my family’s bar until I turned twenty-one. Now I bartend, but I still make just a little over minimum wage.

  So far this year I’ve interviewed to be a nanny, a court reporter, and a pharmaceutical sales rep.

  They all say the same thing: I need more experience.

  How in the world am I supposed to gain experience if no one will hire me without it? Needless to say, my options haven’t been stellar.

  I do my best
not to chew on my fingernails as I wait my turn, telling myself that Jonah X probably isn’t even here today. He’s most likely just a figurehead for the non-profit. I doubt he’s involved with the day-to-day operations.

  But some small voice inside me, the one that sounds a lot like my sister-in-law, convinced me to wear this outfit in hopes that he would be.

  “Ms. Rossi?” A ginger-haired woman with librarian glasses calls out from where she stands with a clipboard. “Holly Rossi?”

  I stand and maneuver around the legs of the other waiting applicants, cursing Addi’s heels under my breath.

  “Um, it’s Hollis, actually,” I say once I’ve reached her. “Hollis not Holly. Lots of people make that mistake, though.”

  Shut up, Hollis.

  She narrows her eyes at me. “I’m Elaine Irving, head of HR. Right this way, please.”

  She doesn’t shake my hand, just turns and begins walking in the opposite direction. We take an elevator in awkward silence to the fourteenth floor.

  Once we step out of it, she continues her speedy forward motion. She’s managing in her heels much better than I am so I break into a less than graceful gazelle stride to catch up.

  I follow her down a hallway covered in massive black and white photos of wild animals. Prairie dogs. Gray wolves. Leopards. Sea otters.

  The photography is incredible and I can’t help but wonder who took the pictures.

  “Right this way,” she says, indicating an open door to a large conference room.

  Following her inside, I’m struck silent by the view of the city and the water. The entire back wall of the conference room is glass.

  “Would you like something to drink? Water? Coffee?” She offers as I take a seat directly across the table from where she stands.

  “No, thank you. I’m fine.”

  I don’t know why I said that. It’s a knee-jerk response I regret immediately. My mouth is dry and my throat is parched and water would be wonderful. I’m about to be answering important questions. Croaking out my words won’t help.

  “I’m sorry,” I say, just as she’s lowered herself into her seat. “Actually, a water would be great. I’m nervous,” I admit.

  She frowns, sighing loudly and moving to stand back up.

  I jump out of my seat quickly. “Please, let me. I should’ve answered correctly the first time you asked.”

  I stumble on my way to the table of refreshments. Thankfully I steady myself before sprawling onto the floor, but she definitely noticed. By the time I get back to my seat, eco-friendly bottle of water in hand, Elaine Irving is looking at her phone.

  I wait, sipping my water, trying not to disrupt the silence. But of course I fail and the bottle makes a loud crinkling sound every time I so much as touch it.

  When her gaze finally returns to me, I’ve almost emptied the entire bottle.

  She tilts her head. I can feel bad news coming. “I’m sorry, Ms. Rossi. I’ve actually just been informed that the receptionist position has been filled. Interviewing you won’t be necessary after all.”

  My mouth drops open. “But…we haven’t even started and—”

  “Like I said,” she interrupts, standing with her phone in her hand. “Terribly sorry. You can get your parking validated downstairs.”

  I want to cry.

  Also, I have to pee.

  “Um, okay. Is there a ladies room I could use?”

  She gives me a sympathetic smile. “Down the hall, second door on the left. We have some complimentary items in the reception area as well. Feel free to help yourself.”

  With that, she leaves me alone to mourn the loss of a job I never had. I pull myself together and use the lavish ladies room. One my way back to the elevators, I glance around at the reception desk that was almost was mine. Well, maybe not almost. But whatever.

  I run my fingers over the massive marble desk, then check out the exotic looking reclaimed wood end tables. My feet are so sore I sit for just a second in a plush beige chair that’s even more comfortable than it looks.

  Sighing, I stand and mentally prepare myself for the excruciating walk to the parking garage. Just as I turn to go, I see several bowls full of the items Elaine mentioned.

  Leashes, chew toys, magnets. A small stuffed sea otter plushie wearing a hoodie. All with the WDA logo and their tagline, “Love your local wildlife” on them.

  I don’t personally have any pets but my mom has a Yorkie named Olivia and Mikey and Addi just rescued a Terrier of some kind from the shelter, so I grab them each a leash and a chew toy. Might as well get something to commemorate my time here. I palm a magnet, too.

  I’m just about to put them in my purse when the door at the end of the hall opens and a man’s voice startles me.

  “Thank God, you’re finally here.”

  I stare at him openly, unable to get my brain to signal my mouth to speak.

  Jonah X stands in all his masculine glory, looking like a GQ cover in crisp navy dress pants and a matching tie with a white button down shirt. His sleeves are rolled up so I can see the swirls of ink licking up his thick, vascular forearms. The small charcoal-colored puppy he’s holding wriggles excitedly against his broad chest.

  “Um.” I glance around. Is he talking to me? Surely not. Why would he be glad I was here? I didn’t even get the job.

  He waves his hand at the leash in mine. “You won’t need that. He’s not ready for it. Just carry him to the park and let him do his business. I have back to back meetings the rest of the afternoon, so try to wear him out, will ya?”

  Before I can formulate a response, he nods at the chew toy I’m holding.

  “Might want to grab a few more of those.” I open my mouth to tell him I’m not the dog walker or whoever he thinks I am, but suddenly he yells out “Zeus, come here, boy.”

  Now I wasn’t the best student, but I know who Zeus was in mythology. Appropriately, I hear thunder rumbling in warning as a husky golden retriever sprints toward us.

  And knocks me flat on my ass.

  “Ahh,” I yelp as I go down.

  “Zeus, heel,” Jonah’s commanding voice causes both me and Zeus to go still.

  “I’m, um, wearing my sister-in-law’s clothes. She just got a new dog. Maybe he smells him on me.”

  Those are the first words I say to Jonah X.

  And they always will be, for as long as I live.

  I wish the floor would open up and swallow me whole.

  “Sorry about that. Zeus is getting up there in years but he still has a lot of energy.”

  His hand reaches toward me and I see the intricate braided leather straps he wears on his wrist. I read about them. He met a tribe in the wilderness during his travels and they gave them to him as some kind of honorary gift.

  I take his warm, strong hand as he pulls me to my feet. Once I’m standing, I don’t want to let go. But it gets weird when the puppy in his arms begins licking and nipping at my hair.

  “I’m Jonah,” he says, as if every living, breathing female on the planet doesn’t already know this.

  “Hollis,” I stammer out like I’m new to saying my own name.

  “Okay, here you go, Hollis,” he says, handing the bundle of fur to me like I’m supposed to know what to do with it. “This guy doesn’t have a name yet. But Zeus responds to commands well and doesn’t need a leash.”

  “Wait, I’m not—”

  “I’m so glad you made it,” he interrupts. “And, uh, try to be on time tomorrow, yeah?”

  I was almost an hour early for my interview.

  But this is Jonah X and two roads are diverging before me.

  On the first one, I explain that I’m just a girl who didn’t get the receptionist job and got distracted coming back from the ladies room. We laugh at the case of mistaken identity and I go on my way, back to my life, never to see his beautiful face again.

  On the second, I play along. I become his dog walker. And I see him again for however long I’m able to keep up the charade until
the actual dog walker shows up.

  It’s not a difficult decision to make.

  “Yeah, I’ll definitely be on time tomorrow.”

  2

  HOLLIS

  TWO YEARS LATER

  SLEIGH BELLS RING, ARE YOU LISTENIN’

  “Yes, I can run by the dry-cleaners. It’s no problem, I promise,” I tell my boss as Achilles drags me through the park while Zeus assaults my shins with the frisbee he wants me to throw.

  This is my life now.

  Hollis Rossi, Head Dog Walker in Charge of Man’s Best Friend for the infamous and illusive Jonah X.

  It’s not as glamorous as it sounds.

  Unlike my first day, I dress appropriately now. Flat shoes, comfy leggings, and a soft, charcoal-colored pullover to hide the dog fur.

  Between the generous amount Jonah pays me to care for his pets and bartending at my brother’s tavern nights and weekends, I do pretty well for myself. I just put an offer in on an amazing condo downtown and if I get the job I’ve applied for at the WDA, I’ll be able to buy new furniture to fill it.

  There’s a fireplace and built-in bookshelves, which I’ve decided mean I have arrived.

  Finally.

  “Remember you said we could meet when I got back. We still on for lunch?”

  “You’ve reminded me five times, Hollis. I haven’t forgotten. I’ll see you later.”