The Billionaire's Christmas Cinderella

by Carol Marinelli

  She was nice.

  Moral.

  The sort you would trust your baby to.

  And for Abe she had made this hellish night so much better.

  ‘Do you ever get asked to stay on?’ Abe asked.

  ‘All the time.’ Naomi nodded and then took the last bit of her pizza and he waited, watching the column of her pale throat as she swallowed, before asking another question.

  ‘And do you ever consider it?’

  ‘Never.’

  ‘Ever?’ he checked, for she sounded so adamant.

  ‘Never, ever.’

  ‘Why not?’

  She looked into the fire and wondered how to answer him. Naomi never told her employers her real reason for declining.

  She would never even consider staying on. In fact, it was stipulated in the terms of her employment that a permanent nanny be signed to take over before Naomi commenced her role. And should that fall through, it was specified that an agency be used, for she would not be extending her contract.

  No matter how wonderful the terms or the family.

  Actually, because of just that.

  ‘Why don’t you stay in one place?’ he asked again, and now he did probe, because suddenly Abe really wanted to know some more about her.

  ‘I guess because I’ve never stayed in one place for very long. We do what we’re used to, I suppose. Revert to type...’

  But he shook his head at her excuses.

  Abe wasn’t buying it.

  ‘Why?’ he asked again.

  He was brilliant at maths, but she didn’t add up.

  Abe wasn’t one for sitting talking by a fire, but she’d made him feel at ease, she made the place feel like a home, yet she chose not to have one for herself.

  ‘You want to know why?’ She looked at him then, blue eyes on black as they held the other’s gaze.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Because I’d fall in love with the family,’ Naomi said. ‘And then one day it would be time for me to leave.’

  Her blue eyes were serious, and there was no trace of tears, which told him this was no revelation, she had known this about herself for a very long while.

  Naomi twisted his heart in a way no one else could, and a hell of a lot had tried.

  She twisted a heart that Abe hadn’t even known he had.

  He wanted to reach for her.

  It was as instinctive as that.

  And he wanted to chase her loneliness away in the only way he knew how.

  Abe looked down at her full lips, all shiny from the food they had shared, and he wondered about her pepperoni kisses and just laying her down and taking her by the fire.

  He wouldn’t.

  Not just because he had a conscience.

  Abe had long thought his conscience had been severed along with the umbilical cord.

  No, he wouldn’t make a move because there was something so rare about tonight.

  Something he didn’t want to jeopardise.

  And there was nothing he wanted her to regret.

  Naomi felt the burn of his gaze and she felt the shift in the atmosphere.

  The way he first held her eyes and then the lowering of them as they took in her mouth had her body prickling with sudden awareness.

  Naomi had never encountered a moment such as this.

  Just for a second, when rational thought was suspended, she wanted to know the feel of his mouth, and there was a sense of certainty that if he leant forward a fraction, then so too would she.

  There was silence, save for the hiss and occasional spit from the fire and the tick of a clock on the mantel, yet she could hear the roar of blood in her ears and she almost closed her eyes in anticipation of bliss.

  But Abe did not move forward. Instead, she watched as he looked away and reached for his drink, and so inexperienced was she that Naomi was certain she’d misread things.

  Jet lag, cognac, and an absolute dearth of knowledge about men told Naomi that she’d been imagining things, and had come very close to looking a fool. She blushed as she pictured herself sitting, eyes closed, and waiting for a kiss that would never come. Embarrassed, she told herself that if she was having fantasies about a playboy wanting her, then it really was time for bed.

  ‘I ought to get some sleep,’ Naomi said. ‘I’ve got a load of sightseeing planned for tomorrow.’

  She stood and re-fastened the tie on her robe then reached for the box. ‘Leave it,’ he said, because if she bent down to retrieve it, he might just pull her in.

  ‘’Night, Abe.’

  ‘’Night.’

  She made her way up the staircase and found her door, holding it together until in she was in the bedroom. But once there she sat on the bed and, head in hands, Naomi moaned.

  Not because she’d foolishly thought he’d been about to kiss her. She could easily talk herself down from that—he was surely one of New York’s most eligible bachelors, and there was no way he’d be interested in her.

  No, it was because of how she felt.

  In the space of an hour Naomi knew she had developed a king-sized crush on Abe and that was something she didn’t want or need. Not just because she was here to work and nothing must get in the way of that, but because she was scared of being hurt.

  Naomi guarded her heart with the same ferocity that she guarded her tiny charges.

  There had been no dates, no romance in her life.

  Her career took care of that, and she was grateful for it, especially on a night such as this.

  She simply refused to open herself up to potential hurt.

  CHAPTER THREE

  ABE.

  Naomi knew exactly where she was the very second that she awoke, and her first thought was about last night.

  It was as if, in the hours since they had said goodnight, Abe Devereux had not left her mind.

  Of course, she had surely left his.

  She had overslept and it was after nine. No doubt he was at work now and not even thinking of their lazy fireside conversation on her very first night in New York.

  Naomi was, though.

  She’d heard of the Devereuxes before Merida had met Ethan. She had worked with a prominent family in London who’d had dealings with them. Now that she thought on it, Abe’s name had been bandied about at the time. And not fondly. He was the gatekeeper to the Devereuxes. The one you had to get past if you wanted a deal to go through.

  And when it came to women, his reputation had been equally formidable.

  That was all she knew.

  When she’d been trying to work out the dynamics of family, in order to best help her friend, Naomi had tended to skim past the articles on Abe.

  Still, she recalled enough to know that that it wasn’t just a case of lock up your daughters when Abe Devereux was around.

  Lock up your wife too.

  And possibly the nanny!

  He had no scruples, that much she knew.

  Determined not to dwell on him, Naomi reached for her phone and looked at the weather forecast.

  Snow, with more snow to come.

  It would have been so much easier to lie under the covers for a while longer but Naomi was very used to forcing herself out of bed and did so today. Her hair she left down and didn’t worry about make-up. She rarely did. There wasn’t much point when working with babies. She decided on black jeans and a huge silver-grey jumper as well as black boots, which she pulled on while sitting on her bed. Naomi topped it all off with her less-than-substantial jacket. Before heading out she would add a woolly hat along with her scarf, but for now she carried them down the stairs and headed into the kitchen.

  And then nearly dropped them when she saw Abe sitting on a breakfast stool, drinking coffee and reading on his tablet.

  ‘Morning.’ Barb smiled. �
�How did you sleep?’

  ‘Very well,’ Naomi said. ‘In fact, I overslept.’

  ‘You’re not the only one,’ Barb said, and she glanced over at Abe, who didn’t look up. ‘You got a pizza in the night, I see. You could have called me for something to eat if you were hungry. Come and sit down and have some breakfast...’ And then she must have remembered that Naomi was actually a guest. ‘Or take a seat in the dining room and—’

  ‘I don’t eat breakfast,’ Naomi said quickly.

  That was a complete lie.

  Naomi loved breakfast and the first café she saw she was finding a bagel, but she was a touch flustered by Abe’s presence and trying not to show it. She hadn’t expected to see him, and certainly, if he’d still been here, she hadn’t expected him to be sitting in the kitchen. ‘I’m actually heading out.’

  She kept reminding herself there was nothing to be flustered about.

  Except, far from relaxed, as she had been last night, the sight and scent of him, freshly showered, with damp hair and all clean shaven, was doing the oddest thing to her heart rate. She felt like a teenager.

  An awkward one at that.

  And Barb would not let her go.

  ‘You’re not leaving this house without a coffee at least,’ Barb said, as she poured her one from the pot. ‘Cream?’

  ‘Just black, please.’

  As Barb poured she chatted to Abe and it became clear he’d been updating her on Jobe. ‘Is there anything I can make for him?’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ he said, only glancing up from his tablet. ‘I’ll let you know, but really he’s not eating much.’

  ‘Ginger’s good for nausea,’ Barb said, and then turned her attention to Naomi. ‘So, what are your plans for today? I sure hope you’re not going out in just that jacket.’

  ‘I’m buying a coat,’ Naomi again explained. ‘I’m heading to a department store first.’

  ‘I’ll call Bernard to drive you.’

  ‘There’s no need.’ Naomi shook her head. ‘I really want to walk. The baby may well be home tomorrow or the day after that so I want to see as much as I can today. I can give you a hand tonight with the tree, though...’

  ‘A hand?’ Barb checked. ‘I shan’t be decorating it...’ She laughed at the very thought. ‘We’ll leave that to the experts. You just enjoy your day and don’t worry about us.’

  Abe carried on reading as Barb and Naomi chatted and it would seem she had rather high expectations of all she could cram in today.

  Especially on foot.

  ‘I want to see the tree at the Rockefeller Center, and I want to see the window displays...’ She reeled things off as Abe sat there, reading. ‘I really wanted to see feed the squirrels in Central Park but they’ll be hibernating—oh, and I want to walk over Brooklyn Bridge.’

  ‘Today?’ Barb checked.

  ‘Well, not all of it today,’ Naomi said. ‘I’ll have to get a map and plot it out. I’m useless at following directions on my phone.’

  ‘I’ve got one somewhere.’

  As Barb bustled off to find it she was left with Abe, and Naomi had to remind herself there was nothing to feel awkward about.

  She just did.

  The air felt a little warmer, so much so that as she pulled on her hat she decided the scarf could wait until she was at the front door.

  And then, without looking up, Abe spoke.

  ‘Squirrels don’t hibernate.’

  It took a moment to register he was commenting on her conversation with Barb.

  ‘I think you’ll find that they do,’ Naomi said, and now he looked up, those gorgeous black eyes meeting hers.

  ‘And I’m certain you’ll find that they don’t.’

  There was a small stand-off.

  Abe watched her lips open to argue, but he was more than sure he was right. ‘You can apologise to me tonight once you’ve found out I’m right.’

  Two things in that statement surprised Abe.

  That he could be bothered to debate the hibernation habits of squirrels.

  And that he was already thinking about tonight.

  Especially when she gave up arguing and a smile spread over her lips.

  ‘So I can feed them?’ Naomi checked, nerves forgotten now, for he made conversation so easy and despite his officious tone he simply made her smile.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What should I get?’

  ‘Get?’

  ‘For them to eat?’

  ‘You can buy nuts there.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Hot ones. Fit for human consumption.’

  ‘Yum,’ Naomi said. ‘But first I need to head to Macy’s for my coat.’

  ‘There are stores other than Macy’s.’

  ‘No, it has to be that one.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘So that when I’m asked where I got my gorgeous coat, I won’t sound pretentious by saying New York. I’ll just say Macy’s, but they’ll know.’

  ‘I see.’ He didn’t. ‘If you can wait five minutes, I’m leaving. I can have my driver drop you there.’

  ‘But I want to walk.’

  She had no idea the size of the place, Abe thought. ‘Walk once you have a coat.’

  Naomi knew she should say no to his offer, just as she had with Barb.

  And that she should keep as much distance as possible between them and remind herself to shield her heart, because this crush on Abe was blowing up in her chest like a bouncy castle inflating. And, yes, away from him she was wary, but when they spoke, when he looked right at her all the warnings tumbled away and she just fell into conversation with him, forgot that she was usually awkward around men, and she forgot too to feel big and clumsy.

  The rules Naomi generally lived by did not seem to apply when she was with Abe.

  ‘Okay,’ she conceded with a smile. ‘While you’re there, you could get something for Ava.’

  ‘I’ve already given the baby a present and...’ He halted. Abe had been about to point out that his driver would be taking her to Macy’s after he’d been dropped off at work, but now that he thought about it a couple of hours off sounded appealing. Khalid was expecting him to call and, Abe decided, a well-timed unexplained absence might be in order to remind the Sheikh who was boss!

  He drained his coffee. ‘Come on, then.’

  * * *

  As they were driven, it was nice to take a familiar route with someone who was so excited by everything. Even tiny things like overhead traffic lights got a mention. ‘It looks just like I’d imagined it but better,’ Naomi said.

  ‘It looks just like it always does,’ Abe said, but he did pull his eyes away from his tablet and stopped scrolling through the mountain of emails that had accumulated overnight and stared out at the city he loved.

  The horses and carriages were all lined up, and the streets were bustling.

  ‘I fell asleep on the way from the airport,’ Naomi explained, ‘so I didn’t see anything yesterday.’

  And now he regretted not going yesterday to meet her and sending a car instead.

  Abe didn’t do regret, yet for a second there he did. Not that she let him linger in it—Naomi had far too many questions.

  ‘Have you done your Christmas shopping?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t do all that.’

  ‘What, you do it online?’

  ‘No, I don’t do it online. I just don’t do Christmas. Well, there’s the Christmas Eve ball and I give Jessica, my PA, a weekend away, but that’s about it.’

  She was appalled. ‘What about your father? Surely you get him a present?’

  ‘What could he possibly need?’ Abe asked, but as she opened her mouth he got there first. ‘I’ll think of something.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘What do you want for Christ
mas?’ Naomi asked.

  ‘Peace and quiet,’ Abe said, and, to her credit, she laughed. ‘We’re here.’

  So they were.

  ‘You couldn’t have walked it,’ he pointed out as they pulled up at the iconic store.

  ‘I could have,’ Naomi insisted as she got out of the car. ‘I’ll walk back instead.’ She stood and looked up at the magnificent building, dressed for Christmas with red and green bows. People were already crowded at the windows, looking at the displays. ‘Oh, my goodness. I can’t believe I’m really here.’

  ‘Your coat awaits.’

  Abe had on his own coat.

  It was a long black woollen one worn over his suit, but once they had agreed where to meet and Naomi had wandered off, Abe saw that he was being noticed and decided that a wool hat of his own might be in order. He didn’t want to be constantly recognised all day, or for his sightseeing trip to be captured on someone’s phone just to be sold to the papers and all the palaver that would cause.

  And, yes, he was taking the day off, and called Jessica as he took the escalator.

  ‘What should I say to Khalid?’ Jessica responded, clearly perplexed, because there was not a single Devereux in the office today, and that hadn’t happened in all the time she’d been there.

  ‘That I’m unavailable,’ Abe clipped.

  ‘Felicia and her entourage are here for you,’ Jessica said. ‘To measure you for next season as well as the Devereux Ball.’

  Abe wasn’t listening. For the first time in what felt like for ever his mind wasn’t on work. In fact, his eyes were drawn to the most ridiculous, huge, pink bear with big black eyes, as black as Ava’s would undoubtedly be someday.

  ‘Sort it,’ Abe said, and rang off.

  He thought of what Naomi had said, about the type of uncle he wanted to be. It had never entered his mind he might be the uncle-bearing-teddy-bears type. But if you couldn’t buy a giant pink bear for your one-day-old niece, who could you buy one for?

  And that was how she next saw him.

  Naomi was wearing the most gorgeous new red coat and held a large bag containing things pink. Pink sleepsuits, a pink blanket and also a little sleepsuit in a bright cherry red, the same shade as her coat. She was standing happily watching the world go by as she mentally planned the rest of her day, but then she saw Abe, standing on the escalator, wearing a black hat and holding a huge pink bear. He wasn’t smiling. Instead, he looked moody and scowling, and on seeing him her first thought was, Help!