My Bereaved Billionaire: A Clean Billionaire Romance (My Billionaire A-Z Book 2)

by Katie Evergreen

  “Oh! Liberty. You… you… came here for me?”

  She blinked hard against the day. Silhouetted in the iridescent sunlight was a figure she recognized so well.

  “Nate?” She hiccupped a sob.

  He held out his hand and she grabbed it like she was drowning at sea. He pulled her out of the car and into his warm embrace. Drawing her to his body, he put a hand under her chin and pulled her mouth up to his, kissing her lips so softly it tickled.

  “I thought you’d left?” she sobbed.

  “I did,” he said, and she saw tears in his eyes too. He was smiling, though, as bright as daybreak. “Well, I didn’t. I kind of did, but by the time I got to the airport I just couldn’t go through with it. I’ve been running from my problems for too long. It was time to face them, face the truth, however hard that may be. You’re here. I can’t believe you came all the way here for me.”

  He ran a hand through her hair, and a shiver rippled down her spine and sent tingles all the way to her toes.

  “I’m so sorry,” they said in unison.

  Their laughter broke through the air like birdsong. Nate wrapped both arms around her body and held her tighter. She could feel the strength in his arms, feel the wall of his body pressed against her, safe and reassuring. A warm sense of belonging flooded her from head to toe. He kissed her gently on the forehead, she felt the softness of his lips, the kindness of his gesture.

  “I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered.

  Liberty looked up at his face. His eyes were as red as hers.

  “I thought I’d hurt you,” she whispered back.

  Nate put his hands on her shoulders, leaning back so he could see her face. The way he was looking at her made her knees go weak.

  “Hurt me? You? Liberty you could never hurt me. I was the one who hurt you. I lied, and I didn’t mean to, and I will never, ever do it again. But, worse than that, you thought I’d betrayed you. That broke my heart. I thought you hated me.”

  “I thought you hated me,” Liberty laughed at the irony.

  He pulled her to him until their lips were almost touching.

  “I love you, Liberty Reynolds,” he said.

  Then he leaned forward and kissed her once more, holding her as though he would never let go.

  Epilogue

  One Year Later

  “This is bliss,” Liberty said, dangling her feet from the porch and nibbling the edges of one of her famous cookies.

  “Yep, pure bliss,” Nate agreed.

  He was lying on the revamped wooden decking, his head in Liberty’s lap. His shorts showed off his muscular legs, his sleeves rolled up past his swimmer’s biceps. Liberty’s golden summer dress matched her hair, and they both looked windswept and bronzed.

  Most of all, they both looked happy.

  “It’s just a shame dad isn’t here to enjoy it too,” she said, wistfully.

  A kingfisher darted past the porch and out toward the ocean path. Liberty stroked Nate’s hair mindlessly, watching as the beautiful bird flitted between the trees in a flash of blue. Nate entwined his fingers in her free hand, softly stroking her palm.

  “He’s only gone for a week,” he said. “He’ll be back, and you’ll be under each other’s feet again in no time.”

  They’d only just got back from Greater Norwich, where they’d dropped Bert off at a tour bus fully equipped to take him and five other wheelchair users for an adventure around a National Park. While he was gone, they were planning on putting the finishing touches to Pebble Cove to make it fully accessible for him.

  “I know,” she said, ruffling Nate’s dark curls. “It’s just not the same without him here.”

  “What’s that? Peaceful!” he joked, moving his head just in time to avoid a smack around the ears. He sat up and kissed her, tasting the tarragon on her lips. She smiled as she kissed him back, then yelped as he stole her cookie.

  Bert had been home from hospital for six months now. It hadn’t been easy for Liberty. Nate, who’d been spending every single free second he had in Little Norwich, had taken an extended leave from Forevercom and helped her settle her dad back home. They’d had his little annex kitted out for him before he’d been discharged. When he’d arrived home from hospital and seen the work they’d done—the pathway all the way from the front of the motel to his own door, the level flooring throughout, and a shower room fully equipped for him to be able to live independently—he’d started to cry. Of course, he had excused the tears away as allergies. Liberty, on the other hand, hadn’t been able to do the same for hers, which had been teeming down her face from sheer happiness.

  Nate had gone public with his story before he took the hiatus to help Liberty, telling the world about his fake wife. He had wanted to prove he was truly committed to her, and demonstrating that he was prepared to take the backlash from the public to allow their relationship to be out in the open seemed a good way to do it. As it happened, the whole community of Forevercom commended his celibacy for the good of his company. So many people had founded unbreakable relationships through the website that they had no bad words for the man who had facilitated their own happily ever afters.

  Nate couldn’t believe it. He was still waiting for a mob to show up at his door demanding punishment, but for now the only negative reaction he’d experienced was a scathing article written by the white haired journalist, Lauren, he’d come to blows with at the funeral at the motel, and nobody who mattered read her cheap paper anyway—not since she’d been demoted to a midweek supplement after hooking up with one of her sources.

  Liberty stretched up onto her feet and padded from the porch through to the hallway of Pebble Cove. The front desk was gone, and instead sunlight filtered through the windows and lit up the newly painted entrance. The carpet had been stripped and the floorboards sanded, the whole area had a new lease of light and airy life. Even the dark, dank staircase had been stripped back and repainted.

  The motel looked like a different building, and that’s because it was. It was no longer a motel. Bert had voiced his real opinions about running a motel, which Liberty could only half repeat to Nate for all the swearing. He had been doing it to pay the mortgage, not for his love of hospitality, which he had actually despised as much as Liberty had.

  No, it was no longer a motel. It was home.

  Nate followed Liberty through to the old function room, now empty of cardboard boxes and occupied by a beautiful mahogany desk. A new plaque on the door read Liberty Reynolds, Accountant. She quite liked working for herself, especially when it meant she could be at home to help her dad if he needed her. There were plenty of local businesses who were crying out for her help, especially during summer and holiday seasons.

  Nate wrapped Liberty up in his arms and kissed the back of her neck. They stood there in contented silence for a moment, happy to be in each other’s company, happy to lose themselves in the music of the waves through the open windows. Fred strolled past with his garden rake slung over his shoulder. He waved at the lovebirds, grinning. They waved back at the newly hired head gardener of Pebble Cove. Ginger had jumped at the chance to do an apprenticeship at Forevercom and hadn’t looked back. Liberty’s best friend Bronwyn had taken the girl under her wing, and Liberty was pretty sure she’d be vying for Tilly’s job soon enough.

  “Isn’t it funny how things work out,” she said, lifting Nate’s hand and bringing it to her lips.

  “It certainly is, my love.”

  He turned her around to face him, cupping her face in his hand and stroking her cheek with his thumb.

  “Who would have thought that I’d actually end up marrying someone from Little Norwich? It’s almost as though I wrote my own future.”

  He leant down and kissed her, barely touching her lips with his. Liberty smiled.

  “We’re not married.”

  Her lips brushed against his as she spoke.

  “Not yet,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

  About the Author

&n
bsp; Katie Evergreen loves writing romance novels, and drinking tea. Quite often she is doing both at the same time. She currently lives in England, where she dreams of bumping into her own billionaire. The MY BILLIONAIRE A-Z is her first series of novels, and she’d love to know what you think! Feel free to get in touch on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or at her website, katieevergreen.com. Thanks for reading! :-)

  Coming Soon!

  The next book in the My Billionaire A-Z series, MY CHRISTMAS BILLIONAIRE, will be out soon!

  Here’s the blurb, and read on for an exclusive look at the cover and the first chapter!

  And if you’d like to buy a copy, click here! :-)

  Merry Sinclair knows that Christmas should be the happiest time of the year, but ever since her boyfriend dumped her last Christmas Eve she hasn’t been able to enjoy the holiday season at all. What makes it worse is that she has to work in the famously festive Carroll’s Department Store over the holidays, and her ex keeps turning up with his new girlfriend. One night she speaks to the store Santa, asking for a better life, and she discovers that wishes really might come true.

  Christian Carroll hasn’t set foot inside his family’s store in five years, ever since he fell out with his father, Lewis. Now Lewis is on his death bed, the store is in trouble, and Christian is asked to save the family name—but only if he accepts an undercover job as a janitor to discover what’s going wrong. Christian is more interested in helping the sick and needy than spending the billions of dollars he is due to inherit, but when he bumps into the woman of his dreams he realizes this is going to be a Christmas to remember.

  A woman desperately seeking her happy ever after, who no longer believes in magic. A man whose loveless family ruined every single Christmas he can remember, who discovers that the holidays are about so much more than arguments. Love is a gift waiting for both of them beneath the famous Carroll’s Christmas tree—but only if they are brave enough to open it.

  The third book in the My Billionaire A-Z, a clean billionaire romance series, My Christmas Billionaire is guaranteed to put the magic back into the holiday season!

  1

  “Welcome to Christmas at Carroll’s! It’s the happiest time of year!”

  Merry Sinclair charged up her warmest smile, offering it to the young couple who walked through the door. She could see their relief as they caught the blast of hot air that blew down from the vent above, their cheeks glowing beneath their matching red pom-pommed reindeer hats. It was early December, and New York was in the grip of a fierce cold snap that was even now battering the streets with hail and sleet. It was already dark outside, and the department store was an island of light and warmth in the storm, with strings of lights in every window, and Bing Crosby’s smooth voice pouring from the speakers overhead.

  Carroll’s was one of the most famous department stores in the city, in the country even. And it was most famous for being the place to shop during the holidays. People streamed in from 5th Avenue from morning until night, from Halloween to New Year’s, marveling at the fifty-foot Douglas Fir that stood in the wide atrium, decked with over ten thousand fairy lights and a bedazzling golden star. It really was a sight to behold, and Merry had visited countless times over the years to marvel at the decorations and shop for Christmas bargains.

  Now, though, the sight of it was almost enough to bring her to tears.

  She realized the young couple were standing there waiting for her to say something, and she tried to make her smile even wider. It must have been too wide, though, because they started to edge away. Merry thrust a leaflet at them with one hand, using the other to nudge the itchy, oversized Christmas hat away from her eyes.

  “Don’t forget, if you spend over ten dollars you can get a free mince pie and hot drink in the restaurant,” she said. “There’s also a range of amazing Christmas essentials in our ground floor showroom.”

  “Um… thanks,” said the young woman, taking the leaflet between her thumb and forefinger like she’d been offered a moldy banana. They hurried away, and Merry sighed. It wasn’t fair. Ever since she’d been a kid she’d dreamed of working in a store like this at Christmas. Even now, at twenty-three, she should have loved the idea of it. But something had sucked the joy of the festive season right out of her, and the truth was she’d rather be anywhere else than here.

  No, not something. Someone.

  Merry growled, thinking of Adrian. Not only had he betrayed her, after a six-year relationship that had started when they were teenagers. Not only had he dumped her last Christmas Eve. He’d also ruined Christmas for her forever, and that was unforgiveable. All the lights, all the smiles, all the music—all they did now was remind her of him.

  “Stupid idiot!” she muttered under her breath. “I hate you.”

  “Whoa,” said a voice from her side. “I’m sorry, I’ll ask somebody else.”

  Merry swung around, her mouth open to apologize. The words didn’t make it up her throat, though, because the man who was standing there literally took her breath away. He was a little older than her, but there was a playful shine to his features that made him look even younger. His eyes were the color of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and just looking at them made her feel like she was melting. The sharp angles of his jaw were covered in dark stubble, and his brown hair was still perfectly styled despite the fact he’d just walked in from the wind and the sleet. He smiled at her politely and started to walk away.

  “Wait!” she blurted out. “I’m sorry!”

  He turned back to her, and she wasn’t sure if he smiled again or not because her hat slipped down over her eyes. She pushed it back up, managing to lose her grip on the leaflets she was holding. They fluttered down onto the floor like snowflakes.

  “Oh, darn!” she said. “Hang on.”

  She crouched down to retrieve the leaflets, noticing too late that the man was doing exactly the same thing. There was an audible clonk as their foreheads knocked together.

  “Ow!” she said, her hat slipping over her eyes again. This time she pulled it off, her copper-colored hair delighted to be free and flying everywhere. “I’m really sorry,” she said, blinking the tears from her eyes as she massaged her forehead. The man was standing up again too, rubbing a red patch between his eyes. “Are you okay?” she asked him.

  Fortunately, he smiled, wincing a little.

  “Christmas shopping is a lot more dangerous than I remember it being,” he said. “I’m sure this place used to be friendlier. First you say you hate me, then you try to knock me out!”

  “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t talking to you. I was thinking about… It doesn’t matter. Somebody else. I really didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “That’s some headbutt you have there,” he said. “They should have you working security.”

  She laughed, grateful that the man was being so kind. She was on thin ice in the store as it was, and knocking a customer’s teeth out wouldn’t exactly help her case with the management.

  “I’m going in again,” the man said, holding his hands up in warning. “I’m giving you plenty of notice this time.”

  He crouched down and scooped up the leaflets, handing them back to her.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I really appreciate it. Can I start over?”

  She peeled a leaflet loose and handed it back to him.

  “Free mince pie if you spend over ten bucks. A hot drink too. And there’s loads of Christmas specials in store.”

  The man laughed, glancing at the leaflet before tucking it into the inside pocket of his suit. He obviously had money to burn because it was a Brioni Vanquish—they stocked them upstairs in menswear for over $50,000. It looked a little small on him, the buttons straining against his impressive chest, the muscles of his arms causing the fabric to bulge. Merry felt her cheeks heat up again, and this time it had nothing to do with the embarrassment of accidentally headbutting him. She looked up at his face to see that he was gazing back at her, a blush creeping into h
is own features.

  “Oh, um, sorry,” she said. This was by far the most awkward encounter she’d ever had at work, and part of her wished the man would walk away so that she could stop making a fool of herself. But part of her didn’t want him to leave because she was enjoying his company. “Are you looking for anything in particular?” she asked, just to keep him talking.

  “No,” he said. “Not as such. This isn’t really a shopping trip.”

  “Oh,” she said, looking over her shoulder to the enormous tree that glittered in the middle of the atrium. “Just sightseeing? It’s well worth the trip. If you visit the restaurant on the tenth floor you can see all the Christmas lights of 5th Avenue too.”

  He nodded, and his smile wavered, as if there was something heavy weighing on his mind. For all his good looks and strength and money, he looked a little lost. She reached out automatically to touch his arm, but pulled back at the last second. Management frowned on any kind of contact between staff and customers. There was a sudden flurry of cold air and noise as the doors opened, a family walking in from outside. Three kids charged into the store, screaming, and Merry leaned past the man to hand a leaflet to their exasperated mother.

  “Free mince pies,” she said.

  The woman thanked her and ran off after her kids. When Merry turned her attention back to the man he seemed to have recovered.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s not you. It’s just all this.”

  “Yeah, it’s a little much, right?” she replied. “It’s been like this since the day after Halloween.”

  “Seriously?” he said. “It gets earlier every year.”

  “I know!” said Merry. “Soon it’s going to be Christmas all year round. Christmas Easter eggs, Christmas Thanksgiving. There will be no escape!”