The Billionaire's Mistaken Mistress - Part 1 (Contemporary BWWM Romance) by Mia Caldwell Page A

get a better job than this. Even after you finish college. You come from the ghetto, just like me. An employer's gonna' look at your address on the application and toss it straight in the trash,” Melanie had said with a wave of her finger.
                  Jessie had tried not to get into a debate with her simple-minded coworker over this. The only way she was going to shut Melanie up would be to do well in college, and so far her grades were stellar. She'd prove to this fool that a person like her could use her brain to get a good job one day and move up in the world. She'd escape her poverty-stricken neighborhood and climb the social ladder to success or die trying, she vowed.
                  “Order for table four!” Burt's voice sounded loudly from the kitchen. He dropped the plate holding a double cheeseburger with extra fries on the kitchen's small counter and clanged the bell signaling a meal was ready.
                  The order was for Earle Jackson. A portly, filthy man in his early forties, he was Jessie's worst customer yet he sauntered in almost every day seemingly to bring on a coronary with his double cheeseburger meals. He also made it his mission to drive Jessie crazy with his inappropriate behavior.
                  “You're up,” Melanie grinned at her, knowing full well that Jessie was beyond sick of the rude slob. He always sat at table four, ordering the same meal and futilely attempting to hit on the waitresses. Since Jessie typically covered table four on her shifts, she'd be stuck putting up with his blatant passes that were just as disgusting as the stains on the armpits of his shirts.
                  Jessie picked up the plate and walked with trepidation to the salivating Earle Jackson. Earle had no front teeth, worked in the local car parts factory, and lived on his own just up the street. Jessie set the plate down in front of him and he tried, yet again, to make a swipe for her backside. She had scurried off to take an order at the next table, and he had hit his hand on her small notepad instead of his intended target. He let out a loud wail as if he'd been mortally wounded, and everyone turned to see what the disturbance was about.
                  “Okay, relax everyone!” Jessie shouted. “That's just another happy customer who can't wait to eat his meal,” she joked with a smile.
                  At the next table, she stood with her pen poised on the pad. “What can I get you?” she asked with a polite grin, allowing herself to be distracted for a second by the television mounted in a corner of the diner's ceiling. The news channel rolled as usual, but there was no sound since Burt preferred to keep the set muted. The featured story appeared to be about billionaire John Harwood and his wife, the former supermodel who made a name for herself simply as “Kimberly” in the runway fashion world. They were climbing into a black limousine, and Jessie couldn't help but wonder what all the fuss was about this time.
                  The couple had been in the news a lot recently thanks to John Harwood, a respected tycoon banker, being seen having dinner with an up-and-coming actress. It was a sad day in age, Jessie lamented silently to herself, when celebrity gossip took a front seat to the world's larger problems. Everyone seemed to obsess over the rich and famous, especially Melanie, who bored Jessie senseless on a regular basis by repeating the latest garbage gossip. Jessie had a busy life of her own to worry about between work and school, and couldn't be bothered by these meaningless reports. She had jokingly reminded Melanie countless times that billionaires don't walk into diners and sweep waitresses off their feet, and that real life wasn't like the movies. Still, that didn't dissuade Melanie from fantasizing about the day when some wealthy stud would waltz into the diner and walk out carrying