by Eliza Boyd
It wasn’t that he needed something better than this. He hadn’t been born into a wealthy family. His father had worked hard, selling inventions with nothing but grit and a will to succeed. Then one of them became an international bestseller and his bank account exploded. Once one product had taken off, a few more did, and before he knew it, his dad had become richer than he could have imagined.
Now, that money was in his hands. But it hadn’t changed him. He just wanted Nicole to want more from her life. More than a diner where the thing she liked best on the menu was a vegan burger. That didn’t bode well.
He wasn’t going to get an option though. The moment they sat at a booth with gum stuck to the sides, she ordered two of them from the waitress, who tucked her pen and her order pad back into her apron and sauntered away.
“I promise you’ll like it,” Nicole insisted from her side of the table.
He leaned back in his seat, resting an arm on the back of the booth. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t.”
She raised a knowing eyebrow in his direction. “I can see that look on your face. You don’t think you’re going to like it.”
“A hundred text messages about my daughter and you think you know me?” he teased.
Playfully, she scoffed. “Please. I’m your fiancée,” she said, sarcasm dripping over the words as she waggled her ring finger in the air, his mother’s ring facing him. “I know all there is to know about one Evan Charleston, father of a seven-year-old genius and billionaire of Cherry Hills Village.” She ended her little speech with a wink.
His lips tipped up before he could help himself. She was really cute when she thought she knew everything. She didn’t, but that didn’t matter. It was fun to see her think she did.
Evan said, “Okay, so I guess some of those texts were about me.” Then he leaned forward and clasped his hands, daring to rest his forearms on the tabletop. “But you know, none of them were about you.”
She furrowed her brow as the waitress brought them ice water in plastic cups. Circling her hands around her glass, she shrugged a shoulder and said, “So? This wasn’t about me. This was about you and your daughter.”
“Yeah, but what if she’d asked us personal questions, like what we liked to do on the weekend?”
This time, she shrugged both shoulders while sipping her water. “I would have handled it like I handled the honeymoon question.”
“You did answer that rather fast,” he replied, remembering how quick she’d been at the draw. It was like that answer had been on the tip of her tongue. She’d barely stopped to think about it. “That’s not a common honeymoon spot. So why Belize?”
Her body went still for a moment. When she unfroze, she quietly said, “That’s from the past life I don’t want to discuss.”
Evan filed that information away. He was curious, to be sure. But he had his secrets too. And this woman had helped him out when he’d needed it the most. Now, he wanted her to have what she wanted. He couldn’t find her a husband, but he could still hope she got the honeymoon of her dreams.
“Well, thank you,” he said, relaxing into his side of the booth again. “I couldn’t have done that without you. If Hadley gets in, I owe you one.”
She waved a dismissive hand, lounging back in her seat. “You are already doing more than enough.”
“Oh yeah.” He dug into his pocket to remove his phone. “Let me transfer that money to your account now.”
Now that he’d gotten to know her a little better—insomuch that he knew she liked vegan burgers and worked at a bank—it felt weird to pay her. Not that he wouldn’t honor his commitment, but everything in his life came down to money. Dollars and cents.
Everyone thought that having money made life easier, but it’d only complicated his. Sure, it made it possible for him to hire someone to pretend to be his betrothed, but he wouldn’t have had to do that if he’d be able to trust that anyone he dated wanted him and not his money. His dad’s money. He wouldn’t have needed it if it hadn’t been able to afford the school in the first place. Jude’s daughter was there on a scholarship—at least that’s what Jude thought. But Evan might not have been so lucky if he hadn’t been able to pay the sky-high tuition costs in the first place.
Having money wasn’t everything it was cracked out to be.
But he had to remember that it’d brought him to her. If he hadn’t had the money to pay for Hadley’s school, he wouldn’t have needed the favor. Thus, he would have knocked her tray over and gotten her fired without being able to fix it. So this was yet another good thing his father’s money could do for the world.
Once she’d given him her banking information and he’d transferred more money than she was expecting into her account, the burgers arrived. Evan was pleasantly surprised by the way it looked when the waitress set it in front of him. But he still didn’t have high hopes for the taste. Gingerly, he picked it up, staring at it like it might jump at him.
Nicole, on the other hand, took a huge bite and moaned over how good it was. Then she squeezed some ketchup onto her plate from the bottle on their table and dunked a fry into it before looking up at him. “There’s nothing to be scared of. It’s not going to bite you back.” She smirked at him and then popped the fry into her mouth.
He released a deep breath before giving it a here goes nothing try. On the first bite, the muscles in his face relaxed. Then his eyebrows shot up as he met her gaze. He was stunned at how much it tasted like a real burger.
“I told ya.” She bit into hers again, a dab of mustard staying behind on her cheek.
It was cute to him, but it caused him to choke a bit on his burger.
“What?” she asked, setting hers down.
He pointed at her face once he’d swallowed his food. “You have some mustard right there.”
Instead of being embarrassed by it like many of the women he’d been introduced to over the years, she wiped it off and marched on with the conversation—which was just another checkmark on the list of reasons why he wanted to get to know her better. She was fascinating to watch. “So, once Hadley is attending that school, what’s next?”
“For Hadley?” he asked.
She shook her head, dipping another fry into her ketchup. “No, for you.”
Evan had been so focused on his daughter and getting her into that school that he hadn’t thought about it yet. He’d been investing his father’s money, working hard to choose the right avenues to make his money grow so he could be with her full time. Nothing else was on his radar until he could check this off the list. “I’m not sure yet. What about you?”
Nicole pursed her lips, holding what was left of her burger right in front of them. “I should probably know, but I don’t. The job search hasn’t been going all that well.”
“You still need a second job?” He scooped up a couple of fries.
Nodding, she said, “Yeah. The money you just sent me won’t last forever. Things are really expensive when the patient might not ever not be a patient.” Then her shoulders fell, and she set the rest of her burger on her plate before using a napkin to wipe her hands. She tossed that onto her plate and pushed it away.
Quietly, Evan asked, “How long have you been taking care of him?” He wasn’t sure if he should ask, but he wanted to dip his toe into the water and find out.
After a short burst of a sigh, she said, “Two years. A long two years,” brushing her bangs from her face and looking over his shoulder. Then she caught his gaze. “I really shouldn’t complain. He’s my father. And he got hurt. It wasn’t his fault. Of course I should take care of him, but…”
“It’s not easy,” he finished for her.
The way he’d said it must have resonated with her. As the waitress left the check, Nicole said, “You too?”
With his own napkin, he wiped his mouth. Then he dug into his pocket to get some cash for the bill. Once he’d fished some from his wallet, he put it back. “He passed three years ago, but it was difficult to watch him go like th
at.”
She reached across the table, touching his arm with a sympathetic hand. “I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve had time to work through it. I did move me and my daughter in with him and my mom to help take care of him. When I found out that my dad had left most of his money to me, I decided to stay with my mom to take care of her too.”
“Is she sick too?” Nicole asked, genuine curiosity shining in her eyes.
Evan shook his head. “No, she’s healthy as a horse, actually. She’ll outlive me. Maybe even Hadley.”
“Good,” she replied. But then her mouth curled upward as she leaned back in the booth. “So what you’re saying is I’m fake-engaged to a man who still lives at home with his mom?” She made a tsk noise with her tongue and folded her hands over her chest. “Figures.”
Laughter bubbled up from his chest. “Were fake-engaged to a man who still lives with his mom. You are free from that burden now.”
He meant the words to be lighthearted, to poke fun at the situation. But she didn’t laugh the way he’d expected her to. In fact, her eyes appeared shuttered, like she wasn’t amused but was purposely hiding the emotion she was really feeling. When he played the words back in his head, he felt a pinch in his heart. She was free. She never had to see him again. Perhaps he wouldn’t see her again, either.
The pinch turned into more of a painful sting when she twisted his mom’s ring off her finger and slid it across the table to him.
“That’s yours,” she said. Then she stood from the table. “Thanks for dinner. And it was a pleasure doing business with you.” Sticking her hand out in front of him, she waited for him to shake it.
He did, slipping his hand in hers. Her skin was warm, soft, and comforting in a basic way. It wasn’t the first time they’d shaken hands, and a part of him hoped it wouldn’t be the last. But their deal was done and he had to let her go—figuratively and literally.
“I’ll mail the clothes back. Text me your address,” she said, slipping the purse over her shoulder. She hovered for a moment, silent. Then she spoke, her tone choppy and more emotional than he’d heard her be that day. “And I hope Hadley gets into that school. That it was worth the money.”
As she left, he watched her go. Her hips swayed effortlessly as her even gait took her far away from him. With her shoulders squared and her chin held high, she exuded the confidence of a woman in a much different situation. One who wouldn’t have had to accept the offer he’d given her.
But she was. And he liked that about her. That she was funny and honest. That she accepted help when she needed it. That she didn’t treat him differently because he had money. That she’d honored her commitment and allowed him to honor his. And at least he had an excuse to text her. Getting those clothes back from her would be a selfish thing because the last thing he wanted was to see her wear an outfit to pretend to be something she wasn’t again.
And he absolutely wanted to see her again.
Ten minutes later, after he’d tried so hard to clear his mind and remind himself that he needed to stay focused on his work and his daughter, he left the diner with an affinity for vegan burgers.
And one for a certain woman with expressive eyes and the power to break his heart.
6
“Was dinner okay?” Nicole asked her dad.
He’d barely touched his plate, and she wondered if it had anything to do with the random assortment of things she’d had to cook to make their food stretch until she could get her car back. Ubering for groceries made them even more expensive.
“It was fine, ladybug. Thanks. Just not that hungry tonight,” he told her gently.
“Do you need anything else, Dad?” she asked on her way out of his room, his dinner plate in her hand. She had to get back to her job search now that she was home after work. Her dad hadn’t noticed that she hadn’t been going to her other job because he was usually sleeping in bed before she left. Which was good because he even hadn’t known she’d had another job. She hadn’t wanted him to stress about it. But her bank account would notice. “More water?”
Sitting up in his bed, he shook his head. “No. But I want to talk to you.” With his hand, he gestured for her to come sit next to him.
Uh oh. Maybe he had noticed.
On her way to his bed, she set his plate on the dresser. Then she smoothed his comforter down and took a seat, careful not to move his leg. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing, ladybug. I just don’t see you enough.” He patted her knee. “You’re always rushing off to work. If you have a few minutes, your dear old dad would like to see your face when it’s not a blur.”
She forced a smile at his joke, but it really wasn’t funny. Yes, she was gone a lot. Luckily, with a wheelchair, he could do most of the things he needed to do. The basic stuff: get to the bathroom, the fridge, and his recliner. But with more regular physical therapy, he could get stronger to be on his own. With proper care, he wouldn’t have gotten an infection that had cost him part of his leg. And with stronger medication, he’d feel up to doing more each day.
Instead, he was mostly bed-bound, chair-bound, or accidentally on the floor, unable to get up. She’d come home and found him that way more times than she wanted to admit, but she simply couldn’t be there all the time and pay the bills. The little she did make paid for the once-a-week physical therapy that wasn’t doing nearly enough for him. If she could afford a nurse to be there and work with him on exercises to get him strong again, she would. But, for now, this would have to be enough.
“Well, someone has to take care of you,” she said playfully, taking his hand in hers. “Might as well be the daughter you gave life to.”
“Aww, honey,” he said, a rough rasp to his voice. He squeezed her fingers, shaking her hand. “You know I want better things for you, right? This shouldn’t be your life.”
“It’s okay, Dad. You’d do the same for me.” Nicole had to turn her head away to will the tears back before he saw them pop up. She grabbed for the TV remote as an excuse and put it on the nightstand. “So, what happened on Judge Judy today?”
As her dad dove into a small claims court case about a stolen engagement ring, her thoughts drifted off to the one she’d been wearing twenty-four hours ago. The one she’d given back to Evan after their dinner the night before.
He’d liked that vegan burger. She’d known he would. A smirk graced her lips as she thought about it.
“Have you seen that episode?” her dad asked. “I couldn’t believe they actually wanted to admit that story on TV.” He chuckled, putting his free hand on his chest.
“No, I don’t think so,” she replied absently, staring the headboard, which was a blur in front of her.
He shook her hand again, trying to get her attention. “What’s new with you, huh? How’s the bank? Is everyone treating you okay?”
“Yeah, Dad.” She made her voice soft, covering his hand with her other one. “Everything’s fine. The people are great.”
He narrowed his eyes at his daughter. “Then what’s going on with you, ladybug? You’re quieter than normal, which is saying something.”
After a deep inhale, Nicole sighed. She couldn’t tell him about losing her job. She couldn’t tell him about meeting Evan, either. She’d met him at that other job. And she’d continued to see him because she needed to make the money up from losing that other job. The one he’d cost her. It was too complicated a story to lie about to her dad, but telling him that nothing was going on was a lie too.
The last thing she wanted was for him to be worried about her. Not with what he’d been dealing with. He already had enough guilt over what she’d given up to take care of him. But her rough patch had nothing on his lost leg. She couldn’t do that to him.
“Just busy,” she said, opting for a vague version of the truth. “But everything will be fine.”
She wasn’t sure how much she believed that, but she didn’t need to. Her dad did.
It reminded
her to check her bank account though. Everything would be fine if Evan had estimated how much her job had been worth correctly. At least until she got another one. For now, a few thousand would suffice. But when she pulled her phone from her pocket and logged into her bank account, the four digits had turned into seven.
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she shot to her feet. She’d never seen fifty grand in her bank account before, and she couldn’t imagine why he’d thought she’d needed that much for one meeting. The job at the bar had netted maybe seven grand when all was said and done. Add that to her thirty-grand-a-year bank job and she was barely getting by when all of her father’s medical expenses and care were taken into account. Now, she had nearly double her yearly salary sitting in an account with her name on it.
The tears she’d almost cried before sprang back into her eyes.
“See?” her dad said. “Everything isn’t okay. You’re about to cry. What’s up, ladybug?”
“Excuse me.” She held up one finger, her gaze aimed firmly at her phone. “I have to make a call.”
With her head down, she left his room. Once Evan’s phone number was on her screen, she clicked the button to call him. Then she waited the three excruciatingly long rings it took him to answer the phone.
“Are you insane?” she spit out before he could finish his greeting. It was a whisper-shout though so her dad couldn’t hear. “That’s way too much money, Evan. I barely did anything to warrant that many zeroes.”
After a short pause, his voice came down the line. “You done now?” he chuckled.
“Probably not!” she squeaked in reply. Then she slumped against the wall, her back hitting it before her head fell against it. “Honestly. What am I supposed to do with that money? That’s way more than I would have earned in the few weeks it’ll take me to find something else to make it up.”
“And that’s fine. I told you before: I’m thankful for your help. Hadley has a real shot at going to the school she wants to go to now. That’s invaluable to me.”
