Free The Billionaire Next Door by Jessica Bird Page A

regular cleaning—hell, you could have eaten off the floor or the counters. But there was nothing around, no decorations, no extra appliances. Just the basics.
     
    He thought of his own kitchen back in Manhattan with its Viking stove and its granite countertops and its wine fridge and its matching toaster and mixer and espresso machines. None of which he’d ever used.
     
    “Would you like to wait to do the chairs?” she prompted, making him realize he’d been standing stock-still and saying nothing.
     
    “Nah, let’s do them now.”
     
    Two joint trips up and down and everything was set up in the middle of her kitchen. As Lizzie eased one of the chairs into the table, her hands lingered on its back. The furniture was well used, but she treated it as if it were precious.
     
    “Thank you,” she said. “I’ve always eaten on the couch. Now I have a real table.”
     
    Sean rubbed his chest again. How she shamed him with her pleasure at this gift that meant nothing to him.
     
    “You’re welcome,” he replied, aware he’d made up his mind. “Good night, Lizzie. Sleep well.”
     
    As he headed out of the kitchen, he glanced down the hall and saw into one of the bedrooms. It was empty, just four walls and a bare floor. He was willing to bet she only had a bed for herself.
     
    He walked even faster toward the exit.
     
    “Sean?”
     
    He paused with his hand on the door and didn’t look back. “Yeah?”
     
    As she hesitated, he guessed she was surprised he wasn’t putting a move on her.
     
    “Ah…thank you again for dinner. That was very generous.”
     
    Generous? The night before, he’d spent seventeen hundred dollars hosting two people at the Congress Club in Manhattan. But sure as hell, he’d enjoyed the dinner with her in Little Italy so much more.
     
    She cleared her throat. “Maybe I can pay you back sometime.”
     
    Now he glanced over his shoulder at her. Standing across the room from him, she was lovely in the way of a summer afternoon. Warm. Inviting. Something you missed during winter.
     
    “Don’t worry about it,” he said and turned away.
     
    As he closed the door behind himself, he knew if she’d been any other woman he would have stayed. But Lizzie Bond deserved better than a quick roll. And that was all he had in him.
     

     
***
     

  Chapter Six
     
    Lizzie watched Sean walk out her door and wondered yet again if she hadn’t read him wrong. She’d been convinced he was going to kiss her, especially after he’d put his arm around her while they’d left the restaurant. She’d even figured that moving the table was just an excuse for him to come into her apartment.
     
    But maybe she’d let her own attraction to him color her interpretation of his actions.
     
    She sucked at dating. Or whatever tonight was.
     
    As she locked her door, she listened to his heavy footsteps going up the stairs and then moving around above her. All things considered, it was probably better for the night to end like this. She could see herself getting attached to him and getting hurt.
     
    It still was a letdown though.
     
    Unsettled and vaguely depressed, she took a quick shower, turned the temperature to low on the AC unit and got into bed.
     
    The lightning came hours later, flashing on the other side of the Venetian blinds, startling her out of sleep. As her heart rate slowed, she listened for the thunder, and after a long pause, a crack dissolved into a bass rumble.
     
    She reached for the remote to the AC and shut the thing off so she could hear better. She’d always loved storms, especially the—
     
    What was that?
     
    She frowned and looked at the ceiling. An odd noise was coming from upstairs, some kind of…Well, she didn’t know what that was. She sat up, as if that would help her ears do their job, and held her breath.
     
    There it was again. A low, uneven sound.
     
    Slipping from bed, she walked out into her living room and got really quiet as she absorbed the