Page 29 of Trapped with the Billionaire

I climbed down from the bed and padded into the bathroom.

Following Echo out to the kitchen, I found the note.

Nicole,

Hope you slept well.

Lock up when you leave, and give the key to my doorman, Oliver, downstairs. He’ll call you a car to get you to your place. Take care of your cousin first, phone second, and don’t worry about the house. I’m arranging to have your door and windows fixed today by Patterson Construction. Call me tonight to let me know how your day went.

Juice and Advil just in case.

Josh

Thinking of you

and tiramisu

I smiled at the sweetness of his note before washing down the pain tablets with the juice he’d left me. Good looking, rich,andthoughtful. Josh was ticking all the boxes.

After dressing, I leashed up Echo and was out after carefully locking Josh’s palace behind me.

Downstairs, I found an elderly man with the right name on his uniform. “Oliver?”

He beamed me a wide smile. “Ah, you must be Miss Nicole,” he said with a British accent. “Mr. Benson told me to expect the most beautiful woman in all the town.”

The Advil hadn’t taken effect yet, and it hurt a little to laugh. “He’s too kind.”

“A kinder man you’ll not meet.”

I handed over the key. “To his unit.”

He took it and pulled a doggie treat from his pocket. “May I?” he asked, gesturing to Echo.

“He’d love it. May I walk him on the lawn out front before I leave?” I had no idea what the protocol was in this part of town. Maybe certain stretches of greenery were off limits.

“Certainly. I’ll fetch the car for you.”

“I can take a cab,” I objected.

Oliver shook his head. “Oh, that won’t do, Miss Nicole. Mr. Benson sent his car service for you. It would be my job if I let you leave any other way.”

“We can’t have that.” I contained my laugh. Even from a distance, Josh was controlling.

“Thank you, miss.” Oliver pulled out his phone. “I do need this job.”

On the drive home, I looked out the town car’s window and lamented having woken up alone. Last night was more than a little fuzzy. But Josh had gotten called back to LA four days early, so he probably had an early meeting to get to. Not being able to remember what he’d said last night didn’t help.

Sandy was not going to believe this. I’d slept with the man without sleeping with him. She’d call me a liar, or a dumbass, or worse.

I wished I could remember more about last night. The headache was only half my problem. I went into his room, and we cuddled… Remembering that warmed me all the way through. I didn’t think I’d said anything ridiculous. Fingers crossed he still considered me a rational adult.

* * *

An hour and a half later,Echo and I were back at Casa di Rossi. I was showered and waiting for the coffee machine to finish pouring my first cup of java.

Even though it wouldn’t shut or lock properly, the door appeared closed from the street. The broken windows, however, looked worse in the morning light than they had last night.

After eating, Echo was now just a yellow lump in his bed, watching me. The message light on the phone on the far counter blinked annoyingly. Marketing calls for sure—nobody else used the landline anymore. Except I was due to hear from my dentist about whether insurance would cover replacing a filling that had been giving me trouble.

---