Читать книгу Cinderella's Billion-Dollar Christmas - Susan Meier - Страница 13

GIVEN THE TIME difference between Kansas and New York, it was almost three o’clock when they landed in New York. Leni had eaten a fabulous lunch, served by Marie, prepared by a chef hiding somewhere in the back. Leni hadn’t seen her luggage since climbing into the SUV in Mannington, but she suspected someone had handled it. Nick had said to settle in and get comfortable with luxury...but, come on. A chef who had flown from New York to Mannington and from Mannington back to New York, just to make lunch? On a jet? For her?

It boggled the mind.

They boarded a limo and headed for the city, Leni feeling totally out of place in her worn jacket and jeans. Though Christmas decorations in shop windows, on streetlights and clinging to parking meters gave the area a familiar feel, she had never seen so many buildings in such a small place.

But she didn’t mention it. She didn’t want to be attracted to Nick or to mistrust him. But, unfortunately, she felt both things, and mistrust trumped attraction. She wouldn’t say anything around him that she didn’t have to.

When they pulled up to a building so tall that she couldn’t see the top of it, Nick said, “Our first appointment... Your lawyer.”

“My lawyer?”

“The lawyer for the estate.”

She gasped. “I’m in jeans! You should have told me I’d be meeting him this afternoon. I thought I was only flying here today!”

“You’re fine. You’re a blue-collar woman who’s just been told she might be a billionaire. You don’t have to put on airs.”

“Lucky thing, since I hadn’t given a thought to trying that.”

The driver opened the back door. Nick climbed out first and extended his hand to help her exit the limo.

Light snow fell around him, and he pulled her out into it. The shiny white flakes collecting on his dark hair reminded her of seeing him getting out of the SUV and walking to the diner, huddled against the falling snow. All the feelings from the day before came tumbling back. Her attraction. Their small talk. Laughing together.

Close enough to kiss him, she fought the magnetic pull that tried to lure her in, but it was her mistrust that fluttered away. Before she’d known who he was, she’d told Nick about needing to move to Topeka and he’d told her that his family owned a money management firm and he’d had a rebellious streak.

They’d formed a connection and she felt it again, as clearly as if they were still in the diner.

She stepped back, trying to get rid of it and the fears that rushed at her when she realized where she was and why. It didn’t work. All her worries tumbled out, even as the sense of connection to Nick held on.

“All I can think about is being embarrassed or scared when it’s announced that I’m an heir. Doing something stupid, making a fool of myself—”

He stopped her by putting his hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eye. “You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. And as for being scared, from the couple of hours I’ve known you, I can tell you’re strong. You can do this.”

His dark eyes had sharpened with a strength that sent a shot of attraction from her chest to her toes. This was the Nick she’d made a connection with. The nice guy. The guy she’d liked.

She had to swallow before she could say, “Okay.”

He took her elbow and directed her toward the building. She swore heat from his touch seeped through her worn leather jacket and to her skin. She didn’t know what it was about him that seemed to draw her in, but whatever it was, it was powerful.

A tiny part of her whispered that her feelings were right. That she could trust him. That she should trust him.

She really wanted to believe that, especially walking up to a building with so many floors jutting up to the sky she couldn’t count them, fancy pillars carved into the exterior walls and a sophisticated medallion resting over the entry like a royal crest.

When they reached the revolving door, her knees wobbled and she was grateful for Nick’s hand at her elbow. He released her when they stepped into a lobby with marble floors and red and white poinsettias scattered about. No plastic wreaths. No gaudy ornaments. No blinking lights. Just tasteful flowers. And twenty or thirty people dressed as sophisticatedly as Nick.

Her thoughts scrambled again. He only touched her when she needed help, barely spoke, had ignored her on the plane. He might be the guy from the diner, but he wasn’t always nice. He had a job to do—get her to New York—and he was doing it.

She had to stop imagining good things about him.

They walked past a bank of elevators to another row hidden around a corner. These elevators had keypads and Nick had to punch in a series of numbers on the third one for the doors to open.

A man in a power suit came out of the second elevator, followed by a woman in a pencil skirt and silky blouse, visible because her fancy wool coat was unbuttoned. Like people on a mission, they bounded around the corner and off to parts unknown.

She sucked in a long breath, straightened her old jacket and smoothed her hand along the high collar of her turtleneck, hoping it looked newer than it was. Because, man, she was seriously underdressed.

When they stepped out of the elevator into an office, she didn’t just think it. She knew it. A wall of glass behind the desk displayed a view of Manhattan that made her breath stutter. The buildings looked close enough to touch. And with so much glass surrounding the room she felt like she was walking on air.

A short, slender woman opened the door on the far left and peeked inside. “Hey, Nick. Could you come into my office for a second?”

Nick glanced at Leni and she forced a smile. “I’m fine. Maybe I’ll go over to the window and try to see inside the office across the street.”

Nick stifled a laugh, but just barely. Leni had to be the most naturally funny, most open person he’d ever met. He couldn’t help comforting her when she’d admitted how afraid she was, but he’d kept his solace short and simple. Because in another ten minutes, he’d be back on that elevator, heading for his own office. His favor for his friend completed. His sanity restored.

He followed Danny’s assistant, Mary Catherine, into her office. She pointed at the phone on her desk. “I have Mr. Manelli on the line.”

Confusion stopped him where he was. “On the line? He was supposed to be here waiting for us.”

She skirted her desk and headed for the hallway. “Why don’t you let him explain?”

When she was gone, Nick picked up the receiver of the desk phone and said, “Where the hell are you?”

“Stuck in court. Remember the trial I told you I would be getting a continuance on? The reason I needed you to be the one to retrieve Elenore Long instead of me? Well, the judge didn’t go for the continuance. I’m stuck here.”

“Stuck there?”

“The judge thinks there’s no reason to postpone a trial that won’t last more than a few days. It’s corporate stuff. Everybody’s prepared to the max. It will take a day or two to get through it.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because we can’t let Elenore Long sit alone in a hotel room this afternoon, tonight and all day tomorrow.”

“Danny, I agreed to do this favor for you mostly because Mark was my friend and I knew how he felt about his kids’ safety. But that was it.”

“That was all I needed when I called you on Saturday, but through no fault of mine, things changed. That’s life. You remember life? If something can go wrong, it usually does.”

Understanding that a little better than Danny knew, Nick blew his breath out on a frustrated sigh. “What about Jace? He’s the bodyguard. He should be with her. Not me.”

“Jace had an emergency come up. He and most of his men are on their way to El Salvador.”

He gaped at the phone. “El Salvador!”

“Yep. So, we’re down to you. You know all the information about the identity of the heirs and potential heirs has to be kept as quiet as possible. The fewer people who know, the less chance someone will accidentally slip a name to their wife or girlfriend. Besides, you’re the most closed-mouthed person I know.”

“I’m not a bodyguard!”

“You don’t need to be. As long as no one knows who she is, she’s just another New York tourist.”

“And what the hell do I do with her for the next day...or two?”

Danny’s voice lifted with hope. “Anything you want. New York’s a big city. As long as you stay away from talking about the estate, you could very easily entertain her for a week.”

“A week!”

“Tops. I swear.”

Nick squeezed his eyes shut. “You owe me.”

“Big time,” Danny agreed.

As his friend gave him the name of the hotel he’d booked for Leni, Nick looked through the glass separating Mary Catherine’s office and Danny’s. Leni stood by the wall of windows staring at the Manhattan skyline, obviously a fish out of water.

And she’d already admitted to being afraid.

He passed his hand down his face. The part of him that wanted to help her was the part he wanted to squelch, destroy, kick so far out of town he wouldn’t even think about being attracted to her anymore. He’d planned on doing the eviction tonight with a bottle of scotch and four hours of work. Danny and Jace weren’t the only ones with commitments.

Danny sighed. “Look, get her settled in the hotel and take her for a nice dinner.”

Nick blew his breath out in exasperation. “I’m serious about this costing you one big, fat favor.”

Danny laughed. “Why? Does she look like Mark?”

“No, I’m guessing she got the cocktail waitress’s genes.”

Danny guffawed. “That good, huh?”

Nick gazed longingly at Leni again. “Better.”

“Okay. I’ve got to go. The judge is back from recess. And I swear I will end this trial as quickly as possible.”

As Danny hung up, Nick took a long, slow breath. He didn’t want to spend any more time with a woman he was already attracted to. Work was his life now. Besides, she was way too nice for him. Innocent. Sweet. He wasn’t any of those. Still, he was helping Danny because Mark had been his friend. He resisted women all the time. This one would be no different.

He walked into Danny’s office and straight to the private elevator. “Let’s go.”

Leni scrambled after him. “Where?”

“The lawyer is stuck in a trial. I’m taking you to your hotel and then to dinner.”

They stepped into the elevator. “I can’t go to dinner with you.”

He peered at her. “You’re ditching me?”

“No. I’m just not going out with someone dressed like you,” she said, pointing at his black suit and charcoal-gray overcoat. “When I look like this.” She motioned down the front of her jacket.

“We can buy you a dress before we go to the hotel. In fact, we can get you anything you want. There’s a slush fund for vetting potential heirs. It’s there to get you anything you need while you’re in the city.”

She gaped at him. “I’m not letting you buy me clothes.” Though she almost wished she could. Her old jeans and jacket firmly announced her as someone not from Manhattan. Which made her stick out in the crowd milling about in the building lobby. The people who’d seen her walking out of the private elevator for a lawyer’s office probably thought she was a petty thief.

“I can’t pay you back if I’m not an heir.”

“I told you, there’s a slush fund. You’re in New York at the estate’s request. While you’re here it’s our responsibility to get you anything and everything you need. No paybacks. It’s part of the process. We’ll be putting the exact same amount of money into slush accounts for all potential heirs.”

“You might have to pay for the hotel and the limo, but you’re not buying me clothes.”

A muscle in his jaw jumped as he motioned to the revolving door. “Fine.”

She could see she’d aggravated him, but she didn’t care. She walked through the door, out into the snow and into the limo again. They took a short ride and exited the limo onto the busiest street Leni had ever seen. The jumbotron, lights and videos were the familiar backdrop of an early morning news show.

She reverently whispered. “Times Square.”

Nick pointed to the right. “Your hotel is this way.”

The only hotel she saw to the right was way down the street. She glanced back at the limo. “We’re walking?”

“Traffic was backed up at the hotel entry. It’s not far.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“You want to get back into the limo and wait out the line?”

Not really. Cool air massaged her warm face. The noise of Times Square and the crowded street took her attention away from Mark Hinton and money and the handsome guy walking with her who seemed to have gone from annoyed to angry. No sense poking the bear.

“Yeah. Walking’s good.” Shoving her hands into her jacket pockets, she peered around again. “I like seeing everything.”

He pointed across the street. “My office is in that building there.”

Gray brick with black slate accents. Long, thin windows. A doorman.

“Wow.” She fought the question that automatically rose as she shuffled along beside him, but it bubbled out anyway. “What’s it like to work here?” She gestured around her. “In all of this noise and people?”

“Our windows are soundproof.”

She laughed. “Seriously? You know what I mean. You saw where I live. There are about fifteen hundred people in our entire town, and I’ll bet there are three thousand on this street with us now. You can’t know everybody. How do you decide who to trust?”

He peeked at her. “Reputation.”

She skipped twice to catch up with his long strides. “Reputation? If you don’t know someone, how do you know their reputation?”

He shrugged. “I always know somebody who knows somebody who knows them. And, if they are high enough in a corporate structure, there will be things written about them.”

“Written about them?”

“In professional journals, but I do search the internet sometimes to find out things about them.”

“Did you research me?”

He gave her the side-eye. “That was Danny’s job.”

“This Danny—the lawyer—is pretty important?”

“His firm is handling the Hinton estate. He’s the boss. Any mistakes are on him.”

Things began to fall in to place for Leni. Nick never lied to her, but she was beginning to understand why getting a complete answer out of him was close to impossible. She was the problem.

“Like mistakes you make with me?”

He stopped walking and studied her for a few seconds before he said, “Yes.”

That ill-timed thrill ran through her again, and she knew why he’d stopped walking, why he was still looking at her. Their initial conversation at the diner had been flirty and fun and she wasn’t a thirteen-year-old girl wondering in the boy next door liked her. She knew the signs. But he’d had to squelch those feelings. Because of the estate? Because of not wanting to make mistakes?

“You aren’t allowed to get too chummy with me, are you?”

“No.”

“And the reason you keep acting all stuffy is because we sort of already did make friends in the diner?”

“Yes. And that’s wrong.” He shook his head. “You’re funny and you have a warmth about you that’s very appealing. But there are things in my life that prevent me from even considering a relationship, and you could potentially be inheriting tons of money which will completely change your life. You shouldn’t want to get involved with me any more than I want to get involved with you. Which means we shouldn’t even try to get to know each other.”

She’d thought the same thing herself. Except her thinking had run along the lines of not being able to trust him. And hadn’t she already figured out he had secrets? Though, it did intrigue her that he’d admit there were things in his life that prevented him from even considering a relationship. That had to mean there was more to his backing off than keeping his professional distance. Which was good to know. A woman who had been a little girl in foster care, wishing her next set of parents would love her enough to adopt her, didn’t need to be wondering why he ran hot and cold with her or why he sometimes downright ignored her. Insecurities like that ran deep and popped up when she least expected, but his explanation tamed them.

She was glad she’d asked. Knowing would keep her from worrying every time he clammed up or ignored her. “Okay.”

A laugh burst from him. “Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay. See how easy that was? You told me the whole story and now I understand all the weird things you’ve done since you realized who I was.”

“I didn’t do any weird things.”

She raised her left eyebrow as she gave him an “Oh, really?” expression.

“Name one.”

“Well, when we met, you talked a lot. Once you found out I was the person you were looking for, you barely said anything. In the diner, you were also kind of funny.”

He laughed again. “I was funny?”

“Not hysterical but...” She shrugged. “You know. Silly?”

“My parents would not believe you if you told them that.” He turned and started walking again.

She raced to catch up with him. “Which means I have to tell them. If only because they’ll get a chuckle out of it.”

“You’ll probably never meet them.”

She sighed. He was back to being careful again. She understood, but if they were stuck together for the rest of the day and he didn’t talk, their time together would be insufferably boring.

“Are we really going out for dinner tonight?”

“Yes. One thing about New York City, there are a million wonderful restaurants I can take you to.”

She glanced down at her worn jeans. She did have one dress packed. She’d planned on using it for the meeting with the lawyer, though. “Just don’t get too fancy.”

“Maybe we should go look for a dress?”

“I don’t take charity.”

“There’s an entire slush fund at your disposal. That’s not charity.”

“You see things your way. I see them mine.”

“Look, the bottom line is I don’t want any attention being called to you. Neither does Danny. Dressing to fit in is a good idea.” He pointed ahead of them. “There’s a shop a few blocks down. It’s where I get my mom’s Christmas and birthday gifts. I’m going to have Danny set up an account for you. That way, after tonight, if you feel like you want a dress or shoes or something, you can get what you want or what you feel you need while you’re here. No pressure.”

“You want me to shop where you get your mom’s clothes?” She laughed. “No thanks.”

He sighed. “It’s a nice place. It’s got things for younger people, too.”

“If you expect me to shop there, it better.”

“It does.”

She quelled the flutter in her stomach. She longed to look like the woman wearing the pencil skirt and silky blouse...but she also didn’t have any money. Didn’t have anywhere to wear something like that when she got home. Buying pretty things would be a waste. A waste of the money of a man who had hurt her. Money she didn’t want—except to help her dad. She was only here on the chance she was an heir and she could help her parents. They were the ones who’d plucked her out of the system and saved her. She didn’t need fancy clothes. Especially if she wasn’t an heir.

“But don’t get your hopes up. I’m not going shopping.”

“You never know.”

“I know.”

“No. You don’t.”

She shook her head. For a guy who wasn’t supposed to talk to her, he never seemed to let her get the last word.