Page 188 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

“I may have been doing some snooping. For you, I swear! Asking him if he knew whether Carter found a woman or not.” Maggie slid her hand over the arm of the couch. “He told me pretty much everything I already knew, and then dropped that bombshell.”

“Maggie, please be careful,” I begged. “Please don’t accidentally reveal anything about me to them.”

“I won’t.” She paused, forehead furrowed. “But what’s so awful about Carter finding out who you are? He’s clearly interested in you. Andyouclearly have some sort of interest in him, or else you wouldn’t care so much.”

“He’s been so nice to me and it was great to dance with him at the party.”

“If spending time with him would make you happy, why not go for it?”

“Have you seen this house?” I exclaimed, gesturing around with wild sweeping motions. “It might take everything I’ve got, but Carter can spit and make enough money doing so to buy it. If he knows who I am, how I live, all the things I don’t have—”

Maggie held up her hand to stop me. “Let me get this straight. You’re afraid of this guy getting to know you because he might get to know you?”

“I know it sounds crazy.” I stared at my hands.

“More than sounds crazy, it is crazy! I think if Carter wanted some crazy-rich debutante wife, he could find one. But he’s not looking for that.” Maggie sighed. “I won’t tell either of them. I’m just going to say that I think you should give this a chance, give Carter a chance. You are not the mess that you inherited.”

Overcome with emotion, I got up and hugged her tight. She stroked my hair. I let my head rest on her shoulder and whispered, “Thank you. Thank you for never leaving me.”

Maggie pulled me in closer. “You can rest assured that I, at least, will always be here for you.”

CHAPTER11

CARTER

Iheaded into Effervesce the following day, but the cute girl with Cinderella’s laugh never made an appearance.

“She must have the day off,” Brian murmured to me. “We’ll have to come back the next day.”

I spent all that night tossing and turning, reluctantly entertaining thoughts that melded and morphed into dreams. Maybe she had quit. I didn’t know why she would quit, unless she had already been planning to. Could she be in the back, avoiding me? I was convinced that was it. I had been much too forward, especially with the huge tip thing. I’d scared her off.

The next morning, Brian arrived to my penthouse and picked me up and we drove once more to the coffee shop my life suddenly seemed to revolve around. Brian nudged me and pointed through the window. I peered past him. The girl, the potential Cinderella, tended to a long line of customers while another two baristas behind the counter filled out the drink orders.

“That’s her,” I whispered.

“How can you tell?”

A good question. She had her face hidden beneath a wide-brimmed hat, all her hair presumably piled up under it, pinned into place. She also had her glasses on, letting them sag low over her nose. With every customer now, in stark contrast to her previous behavior, she only gave infrequent glances while taking their order and handing back change.

But it was her. Her height, her stature, the set of her shoulders and the sway of her hip when she bumped the register closed. “I just can.”

“Geez, you’ve been watching this girl enough to have her measurements memorized or something? In lawyer terms, we call that stalking.”

I scowled at Brian. “I danced with her, okay? I can just feel it. If you aren’t going to be helpful…”

Brian scratched the bridge of his nose and grinned. “You think I’m letting you go it alone, you have another thing coming. I’m your ESA, remember?”

“My what?” I frowned.

“Your Emotional Support Assistant.”

My patience started to wear thin. “If you aren’t going to help, you can go wait in the car. I’m way too nervous to deal with you.”

“I’m nervous, too. For you. My joking is just a coping mechanism, don’t worry. You should try it.” Brian moved past me and opened the door.

I swore a little. The workers were too occupied to pay attention to two men standing outside the window, evidently checking out the menu. Going in would put us on their radar. Thanks to Brian, I couldn’t back out without drawing even more attention to us.

I pushed past him, my pulse thundering, making my veins throb.

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