Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 53417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
The door closes and the place is silent. She’s all by herself, petite and gorgeous. And seemingly nervous.
The way she spoke on the phone says she needs something, and it’s likely on her boyfriend’s behalf, too.
Her husband’s.
Whoever he is.
The flush in her cheeks and her wide eyes are all the confirmation I need that she recognizes me, too. Her breathing quickens.
It takes great effort to keep my gaze on her eyes and not lower it. That’s...not a thought I should ever have about a woman who lives here with someone else. A woman who hasn’t been thinking about me as I have her, I’m sure.
I have the thought anyway. What the hell can anybody expect me to do? She’s gorgeous, and she needs something.
And, from the look on her face, she’s glad to see me.
She shakes her head, recovering. “Oh! We’ve met before. Or…I saw you in the elevator before.”
I flash her an even and professional smile, and she smiles back in response, looking even lovelier than she did before. Then I offer her my hand. “Graham Maxwell.”
She takes it, her hand feeling small and delicate in mine, but her touch is electric. It’s exactly as it was when I brushed against her in the elevator. I shouldn’t have felt anything.
“Maddie.” She looks down at our hands and swallows, then drops her hand. “Please. Come in. Can I offer you anything to drink?”
“I think we’d better cut to the chase.” Because if I have to stand here with her, looking at her, drinking her in, I’m going to do something foolish. “On the phone, you said you had an…urgent problem to discuss.”
Her blush gets deeper and that color on her…fate is tempting me to be a lesser man. “Let’s sit down. Is that okay?”
She could ask me for anything right now, and fiancé or not, husband or not, I’d give it to her. I can’t explain why. I just know that it would feel absolutely right. “Lead the way.”
She takes me through the apartment. It’s done in understated neutrals with pops of color in the furniture and throw pillows. Maddie gestures toward a sitting area by the picture window in the living room. From here, we can see a long stretch of the city. It’s an expensive view, and it’s worth every penny. She lowers herself gracefully into a loveseat. I take an armchair across from her.
Maddie watches me.
“The emergency,” I prompt.
She sits up straight, her chin coming up like she’s about to go into battle. “Right. Yes. First, I wanted to apologize for the inconvenience. I know you’re very busy.”
“It’s nothing. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it. There’s no reason I should feel this drawn to a woman who’s already taken. I need to get the hell out of here as quickly as I can. She’s nothing but a temptress.
“I’d like to speak to you about the rent.”
That’s…not what I expected her to say.
“The rent for this apartment?”
“I’m sure, in a place like this…” She bites at her lip, fumbling for her next words. “I know you’re probably not the one people come to about problems like this, but it’s the weekend. I was up all night.”
She sure as hell doesn’t look like she was up all night. Maddie Cunnigham looks like she floated down from a cloud in heaven after a perfect night’s sleep. The only sign that anything’s wrong is the worry in her eyes.
“What’s the problem with the rent?” I ask.
“I can’t pay it. I can’t pay all of it. This is my home, it’s the only thing I have right now, and I can’t quite cover the rent for this month.”
Her breath comes shorter, and it all makes sense, how urgent she was on the phone.
“Your husband can’t cover it?”
She twists her hands together, and I let mine curl into loose fists. I’m not going to touch her. I swear, I’m not going to touch her.
“He wasn’t my husband, actually,” she says. “He was my fiancé, but he’s not anymore. We’re over. He left.”
Is that right?
“Without leaving enough money to cover the rent? The kind of people who live in this building have second homes in Europe.”
Maddie looks at me, her eyes painfully hopeful. “He was that kind of person. He was going to be, anyway, but I’m not. I hope you know that this isn’t a long-term problem. I have a plan to fix it, I just need more time because I wasn’t prepared for this. If I go to him, I’m sure he’ll simply end the lease, and there’s nothing around here that I can afford and that’s available. I’ve been off the market for a couple of years, so it’s taking me longer than I thought to find a job.”
“Off the market?” Fuck my cock hardens in an instant. The fuck is wrong with me?