Page 15 of The Thing About My Secret Billionaire
“Was there like a piercing pain in your heart where Cupid’s arrow hit you?” She barely manages to stifle a giggle.
“Cupid can fuck right off.” I pick up my comb and run it through the messy bits of hair that have fallen from my ponytail.
“Oh, come on. It’s been, what, a year and a half since Bastard Brandon? And it’s not like you’d have to have a relationship with this guy. You’re only there for a couple ofmonths. You could just enjoy Mr. Hot and Deep while you have him. You know, love the one you’re with.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I literally just met him. He could have a wife and ten kids somewhere as far as I know.” I pluck a tissue from the box and lean closer to the mirror to wipe off a smudge under my eye from the cursory mascara application I did this morning. “Anyway, I need to apply myself one hundred percent to making the sanctuary solvent for when Grandpa comes home. And that’s going to take every effort of every brain cell I have. I’m not going to get distracted by handsome strangers who show up on the doorstep. And I’m very particularly not going to get involved with one whose help I can’t afford to lose if it went horribly wrong.”
“Right, so it’s not that you don’twantto,” she says.
“That’s not what I sa?—”
“Yeah, okay. When will you see him again?” Paige asks.
“As soon as Thelma’s off his bedding.”
“Excuse me?”
“He’s staying here.”
“What? Like in the house with you? Have you looked him up? Made sure he’s not being hunted in seven states for something heinous?”
“Jesus, Paige. One minute you’re telling me to have a roll in the hay with him for a couple of months, the next he’s topping the America’s Most Wanted list.” I lean my cheek closer to the mirror. Yup, skin is definitely brighter. “And wasn’t it only an hour or so ago that you told me I should start trusting my own judgment again?”
She raises a good point, though. I should do some research on this guy. For some reason when he asked if he could stay, my gut told me it would beperfectly fine and completely normal to agree to share my kitchen and bathroom with him.
But, thinking about it now that I’m not under the spell of thosedeepbrown eyes, that was definitely a bit hasty and not anything I would ever normally do. The only thing I’m ever usually hasty about is agreeing to doughnuts from the bakery next door to the Chicago office building that Paige is sitting in.
But Miller just seemed so…right, that for the first time in a very long time I didn’t find a single reason to be apprehensive about a man I just met.
My instinct told me it might actually be fun to have another human around the place. And something about him made me not question that instinct.
“Why does he need somewhere to stay?” Paige’s voice drips with suspicion. “Is he jobless? Homeless? What’s his deal?”
“I think he’s actually loaded. He has the haircut of someone who’s loaded.”
“Yeah, Zac Ephron’s, apparently.”
“He said he’s in investments and is digital-nomading for a while. He’s from Boston but looking for somewhere new to settle.”
“Or he’s changed his identity to remain untraceable by the five elderly women he charmed, married, and fleeced on his grifting travels.”
“If he was looking for someone to fleece for cash he would not set his sights on someone who lives in this place.” I glance up at the crack in the bedroom ceiling that I’m sure has gotten longer since the last time I was here. “And anyway, I’m desperate for another pair of hands and he’s the only one who’s shown even the slightest bit of interest. Would I usually say yes tosomething like this? Nope. But he’s not offering just a couple of hours a week like volunteers usually do, he’s offering full time. And I need full time. And he really does seem fine.”
I pick up the little pot of lip balm and squeeze the phone against my shoulder so I can rub some on my lips.
“Okay.” She sighs. “Since you’re the person who didn’t even trust that the bug spray guy who showed up at work wearing something fit for a trip to the moon, carrying a canister with a giant spray gun, and who’d just gotten out of a van with Bug Busters written on the side, was the actual bug spray guy until he showed you his license, I guess I’ll have to trust your instincts.”
“I get that it seems weird. And you’re right, I don’t think I’ve ever had an instinctive reaction to someone like this before. Like they’re just a good person who’s doing everything for the right reasons, and are solid and trustworthy.”
Paige’s mouth drops open and her hands fly to her cheeks. “Is this one of thosewhen you know, you knowmoments? Like those stories people tell of seeing someone across a room for the first time and before they’ve even spoken to them they know they’ll marry them?”
My stomach wobbles at the suggestion. “Stop it.”
“Tell me your future husband’s name and I’ll look him up.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” I sigh. “But if you insist on checking him out, he’s Miller McSweeney.” I drag the magnifying mirror standing on the dresser closer to me to check if that spot on my chin has disappeared. “And the reason he needs somewhere to stay is because the van he was traveling in was stolen. He’s had to replace everything. He showed up wearing brand newgear, boots and a work jacket from brands that are anything but cheap. So he definitely has cash.”
“Hmmm. Really?” Paige sounds skeptical again as she taps on her keyboard. And to be honest, if this were the other way around, I would think that was odd too, and that she was being way too trusting. “But, if you think he’s for real, you should definitely jump on him. Blow the cobwebs away. Get back on the bike and all that. It would certainly be the cherry on top of your rural sabbatical.”
