Billionaires in New York Boxed Set: Billionaires in the City Books 1-3 by Laura Burton (learn to read books .TXT) 📕

him with a wink and picked up the bottom of her gown as she walked up the steps to her apartment.

“I’ll call you?” Edward repeated to himself in an angry whisper. “You sound like an idiot.” Struck by a sudden thought he pushed open his door and bolted out of the car.

“Hey,” he shouted, leaning against the car roof and resting his weight on his forearms. Catherine swiveled on the spot, her gown swished and shimmered in the dim lights and her beautiful brows were raised expectantly. Edward swallowed. “If Calvin gives you anymore trouble…” he trailed off with the most earnest look he could muster.

I’ll beat the lights out of him. He added to himself. Catherine stood simply. She held her purse with her delicate hands and stared at him. A warmth spread across his chest as he watched her lips curve upward appreciatively. She bobbed her head in acknowledgement.

“I know. You were my hero tonight. Thank you.”

Her gentle response made Edward giddy. He wanted to dash to the bottom of the steps, fall to his knees and burst out into song, singing “I will be your hero.”

He resisted but pictured it in his mind and smirked. If he really did that, Catherine would surely run for her door.

He planted his hand against his beating heart and moved to get back into the car when Catherine’s voice made him stop.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” she asked. Edward froze. He could hardly believe his ears.

“Tomorrow?” he repeated hesitantly. Catherine descended the steps and looked around the deserted street before walking round the front of the car to join Edward, who had remained immobile. Twice now, she had run away from him. Now she was coming to him, willingly. His mouth grew dry. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and stuffed his other in his pocket.

“Tomorrow is erm… laundry day,” he said lamely. He was trying to come up with a lie. Normal people have a laundry day, he figured. Catherine snorted.

“Laundry day?” she asked incredulously. “Is that a code word for something?”

Edward was beginning to sweat. He shifted his weight and chuckled with a shrug.

“What are you thinking?”

“Well, I wondered… seeing as you’ve never been to an art exhibition––”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” Edward asked, hardly daring to believe his luck. A flush of color rose to Catherine’s cheeks before she replied.

“No,” she said in a strangled voice. “I feel like I owe you, you’ve saved me twice now and I’ve not been very nice to you. I’m sorry for that.”

Edward shook his head.

“Are you kidding? You’ve been very gracious. I’m a bumbling fool.”

Catherine threw her head back and gave the most musical laugh Edward had ever heard. He wanted to study stand-up comedy and tell her endless jokes just so he could hear her laugh all day. Every day.

“Bumbling fool? You’re so British. I love it.” She took a step forward and rested her hand on his bare arm. The touch sent bolts of electricity through him. It was as if all of his atoms were now fully charged batteries. He was buzzing.

“Anyway, you were saying?” he asked, trying and failing to act nonchalant. Catherine matched his expression of false seriousness, on the edge of breaking into more laughter.

“It’s not as fun to go to these things alone. Would you like to come with me to the animal exhibit tomorrow afternoon? I can send you the details.”

“Nothing would make me happier. Besides, the laundry can wait,” Edward replied taking her soft hands in his. She creased over tittering.

“You’re so funny.”

Edward nodded with satisfaction. She thought he was funny, and suddenly––just like that––everything was right in the world.

“She called you a hero?” Sam asked in surprise. Edward grinned smugly. He had returned to Sam’s apartment, his new pretend home, and Sam – who had been setting up the stage for his show – followed him upstairs, keen to know how things were going with Edward’s crusade.

Edward decided the less Sam knew, the better. So, he concocted a lie and explained that Catherine fell unwell and he had to take her home. Which was partly true, anyway. Catherine did seem pale after her unfortunate encounter with Calvin.

No wonder she was not excited by the idea of getting into a relationship. Things were still raw for her and the idea of trying again with another man, was understandably not filling her with excitement.

But something changed. She had been running away from Edward at every opportunity, but right at the end, when she could have dashed up the steps and disappeared behind the door forever, she stopped. Turned to him and asked him out. The memory of her glinting eyes and dimpled cheek had his stomach doing somersaults. The sensation reminded him that he had barely eaten.

He pulled a face as he eyed the pitiful contents of Sam’s fridge; a drawer full of rotten vegetables, a stick of butter and a huge tub of mayo.

“This place is filthy, and you’ve got no food in,” he said, slamming the fridge door. He rubbed against the ache in his stomach and scowled at Sam, who shrugged back, unfazed.

“That’s because not all of us have a housekeeper,” he shot back as he crossed the dark room and picked up a drink.

“You’re going to have to order your own groceries for the next 7 days. Oh, how will you survive?”

Edward knew that Sam Ardent was not short on cash. Sam was known to keep his cards to his chest about money. Edward was never quite sure how many zeros he had in his bank balance but there was one thing he knew for sure: Sam was frugal. Most of the time at least. If he was at an event or having dinner with his colleagues, then he put his money where his mouth was. But behind closed doors, he bought the cheapest brand of toilet paper and switched off the lights in his apartment, except for the room