Page 16 of Saved By the Billionaire

She waits by the doorway as I prepare two cups of cocoa. We move to the living room and settle on the couch, placing our cups full of steaming cocoa on the round table. Outside, the horns of vehicles and the occasional shouting puncture the silence and stillness of the spring evening.

“Never thought I’d miss New York. The noise. The excitement.” She smiles. “Good to be back.”

“Good to have you back.” I sip some cocoa. “A lot happened when you were gone.”

“Tell me about it. Is there any…” She hesitates, clearing her throat. “… any lucky man now?”

“Not yet.” I laugh for a while, then pause. “Although … I had a man over last week.”

Her eyes widen. “What? Who?”

“It’s a funny story. RememberFishin’4Love?”

She raises a brow. “The dating app?”

“Yup.” I nod solemnly. “I finally met a match, and we set a date.”

Her eyes gleam. “That’s awesome! So, what happened?”

“I thought Trevor was awesome too at first, but I got a huge reality check when we went on our first andlastdate.” Cringing, I take another sip of hot cocoa. “Dude was a misogynist, a narcissist, and a slob.”

She giggles, almost choking on her cocoa. “He was so bad you had to get a dictionary just to describe how bad he was. So? If he was that bad, why invite him over?”

“Thing is, I didn’t. He wanted to follow me, and things got weird, but then another man – an older man – swooped in and… saved me.”

She leans closer, her eyes glinting. “Who was that?”

“I’ll get to that. We went to a bar and drank a little. He’s very handsome, so I did a bit of flirting. He drove me home, and I invited him in.” I giggle as Abbie’s jaw drops. “One thing led to another, and we had sex. This is where it gets crazy.”

“What happened? Did he leave without a word the next day?”

“Worse. I found out that he’s–” I groan. “– My new boss.”

Abbie gasps, before bursting into laughter. Of course, she’d laugh. Who wouldn’t? I join in the laughter, but with more restraint.

“He’s your new boss? How? You hadn’t seen him before?” she asks, still laughing.

“No. That’s the thing. He’s the man that just took over our company. When I found out, I felt like shit. The worst thing is, I’ve seen him in the office now and I’m still trying to evade him.”

“You know you can’t evade him for long. What are you going to do?”

“Honestly, that’s a question I don’t have an answer to.” I slump on the couch. “Looks like we’re two unlucky women when it comes to men.”

Abbie sighs. “You’re right about that.”

I pat her knee, “We’ll be fine, Abbie. Now, let’s go make some dinner!”

Later, as I settle in my bed, my conversation with Abbie runs like a loop in my mind. When I said we’re both unlucky, I never imagined how true the statement is. For Abbie, it’s a recurring nightmare. She’s had her heart broken one too many times.

I sigh. I better go check on her. She looks so thin I fear she’s not eating well again. Hopefully, the worst has passed for her.

I enter her room, opening the door with care. She's already in bed, her chest heaving. Something catches my attention. There’s leftover spaghetti and meatloaf on her plate. Judging from the amount of food, it looks like she ate very little. My heart drops to my stomach.

The nightmare has returned.

Chapter Six

Maverick

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