Cinderella's Billion-Dollar Christmas

“Forgot my briefcase,” he explained, trying not to stumble over his words. “I kept it on the plane, thinking we’d be leaving yesterday.”

She smiled in acknowledgment and his heart went from pitter-patter to a drum solo in one breath.

Stifling a groan, he headed to the rear of the cabin again, eager to return to New York to lose these crazy feelings he had around her. Part of it had to be surprise over how pretty she was. Mark Hinton wasn’t even a five on a scale of one to ten, but apparently Leni’s mother had been a twelve.

The other part was just plain attraction. Serious lust. Something biological that sprang up before he could control it.

So, it was wrong.

Had to be.

He didn’t get out-of-control feelings and he sure as hell never let emotions rule him.

A movement in the front caught his attention and he peeked up to see Leni get out of her seat to put her purse in the overhead bin. Her head fell back as she reached up, sending all that thick, shiny hair bouncing.

This time he allowed himself an internal groan.

This was crazy.

For the first time since Danny had laid down the rules for Nick’s trip to retrieve Leni, he was glad he’d been ordered to keep his distance from her. Because whatever he was feeling, he didn’t want it. He had priorities, a company to run, parents to keep happy. He couldn’t afford the weakness of a hellishly strong attraction.

He put his head down and went to work and didn’t look up until hours later when the jet began to descend. Choosing not to go up to the overhead bin again, he secured his briefcase under his seat, fastened his seat belt and waited for the jet to slide onto the ground, relieved that he only had a little over an hour more in her company. He would leave her with Danny and never look back.

CHAPTER THREE (#u2de63b97-2cba-514a-a9eb-cc7e79600a6c)

GIVEN THE TIME difference between Kansas and New York, it was almost three o’clock when they landed in New York. Leni had eaten a fabulous lunch, served by Marie, prepared by a chef hiding somewhere in the back. Leni hadn’t seen her luggage since climbing into the SUV in Mannington, but she suspected someone had handled it. Nick had said to settle in and get comfortable with luxury...but, come on. A chef who had flown from New York to Mannington and from Mannington back to New York, just to make lunch? On a jet? For her?

It boggled the mind.

They boarded a limo and headed for the city, Leni feeling totally out of place in her worn jacket and jeans. Though Christmas decorations in shop windows, on streetlights and clinging to parking meters gave the area a familiar feel, she had never seen so many buildings in such a small place.

But she didn’t mention it. She didn’t want to be attracted to Nick or to mistrust him. But, unfortunately, she felt both things, and mistrust trumped attraction. She wouldn’t say anything around him that she didn’t have to.

When they pulled up to a building so tall that she couldn’t see the top of it, Nick said, “Our first appointment... Your lawyer.”

“My lawyer?”

“The lawyer for the estate.”

She gasped. “I’m in jeans! You should have told me I’d be meeting him this afternoon. I thought I was only flying here today!”

“You’re fine. You’re a blue-collar woman who’s just been told she might be a billionaire. You don’t have to put on airs.”

“Lucky thing, since I hadn’t given a thought to trying that.”

The driver opened the back door. Nick climbed out first and extended his hand to help her exit the limo.

Light snow fell around him, and he pulled her out into it. The shiny white flakes collecting on his dark hair reminded her of seeing him getting out of the SUV and walking to the diner, huddled against the falling snow. All the feelings from the day before came tumbling back. Her attraction. Their small talk. Laughing together.

Close enough to kiss him, she fought the magnetic pull that tried to lure her in, but it was her mistrust that fluttered away. Before she’d known who he was, she’d told Nick about needing to move to Topeka and he’d told her that his family owned a money management firm and he’d had a rebellious streak.

They’d formed a connection and she felt it again, as clearly as if they were still in the diner.

She stepped back, trying to get rid of it and the fears that rushed at her when she realized where she was and why. It didn’t work. All her worries tumbled out, even as the sense of connection to Nick held on.

“All I can think about is being embarrassed or scared when it’s announced that I’m an heir. Doing something stupid, making a fool of myself—”

He stopped her by putting his hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eye. “You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. And as for being scared, from the couple of hours I’ve known you, I can tell you’re strong. You can do this.”

His dark eyes had sharpened with a strength that sent a shot of attraction from her chest to her toes. This was the Nick she’d made a connection with. The nice guy. The guy she’d liked.

She had to swallow before she could say, “Okay.”

He took her elbow and directed her toward the building. She swore heat from his touch seeped through her worn leather jacket and to her skin. She didn’t know what it was about him that seemed to draw her in, but whatever it was, it was powerful.

A tiny part of her whispered that her feelings were right. That she could trust him. That she should trust him.

She really wanted to believe that, especially walking up to a building with so many floors jutting up to the sky she couldn’t count them, fancy pillars carved into the exterior walls and a sophisticated medallion resting over the entry like a royal crest.

When they reached the revolving door, her knees wobbled and she was grateful for Nick’s hand at her elbow. He released her when they stepped into a lobby with marble floors and red and white poinsettias scattered about. No plastic wreaths. No gaudy ornaments. No blinking lights. Just tasteful flowers. And twenty or thirty people dressed as sophisticatedly as Nick.

Her thoughts scrambled again. He only touched her when she needed help, barely spoke, had ignored her on the plane. He might be the guy from the diner, but he wasn’t always nice. He had a job to do—get her to New York—and he was doing it.

She had to stop imagining good things about him.

They walked past a bank of elevators to another row hidden around a corner. These elevators had keypads and Nick had to punch in a series of numbers on the third one for the doors to open.

A man in a power suit came out of the second elevator, followed by a woman in a pencil skirt and silky blouse, visible because her fancy wool coat was unbuttoned. Like people on a mission, they bounded around the corner and off to parts unknown.

She sucked in a long breath, straightened her old jacket and smoothed her hand along the high collar of her turtleneck, hoping it looked newer than it was. Because, man, she was seriously underdressed.

When they stepped out of the elevator into an office, she didn’t just think it. She knew it. A wall of glass behind the desk displayed a view of Manhattan that made her breath stutter. The buildings looked close enough to touch. And with so much glass surrounding the room she felt like she was walking on air.

A short, slender woman opened the door on the far left and peeked inside. “Hey, Nick. Could you come into my office for a second?”

Nick glanced at Leni and she forced a smile. “I’m fine. Maybe I’ll go over to the window and try to see inside the office across the street.”

Nick stifled a laugh, but just barely. Leni had to be the most naturally funny, most open person he’d ever met. He couldn’t help comforting her when she’d admitted how afraid she was, but he’d kept his solace short and simple. Because in another ten minutes, he’d be back on that elevator, heading for his own office. His favor for his friend completed. His sanity restored.

He followed Danny’s assistant, Mary Catherine, into her office. She pointed at the phone on her desk. “I have Mr. Manelli on the line.”

Confusion stopped him where he was. “On the line? He was supposed to be here waiting for us.”

She skirted her desk and headed for the hallway. “Why don’t you let him explain?”

When she was gone, Nick picked up the receiver of the desk phone and said, “Where the hell are you?”

“Stuck in court. Remember the trial I told you I would be getting a continuance on? The reason I needed you to be the one to retrieve Elenore Long instead of me? Well, the judge didn’t go for the continuance. I’m stuck here.”