One Night With a Billionaire (Novella): The Perfect Man Read Online Free PDF

in
Paris
. Who took a nap when they could be exploring a city they’d wanted to visit forever? And how fabulous if they could have a guide who looked like Drew Eldridge?
    He gazed at her. “You must really be looking forward to calling home.”
    “Why?”
    “Your eyes got all sparkly just now.”
    “I wasn’t thinking about that.”
    “Oh?”
    She couldn’t very well admit that he’d been responsible for a good part of that sparkle. “It just hit me. I’m in Paris. To heck with sleep. If my money’s arrived at Western Union, I’d love to go to the Louvre, although I’m not sure if I could get a ticket this late in the day. Even if the money’s not there yet, I could walk along the Seine, and through the Tuileries Garden, and . . .” Then she remembered that she’d interrupted his work. “But I don’t expect you to go. You helped me this morning instead, so you probably have work to do this afternoon. I’ll be fine on my own.”
    “I’m sure you would be fine and dandy.”
    And that statement was the biggest gift he could have given her. A lesser man would have reminded her that on her own she’d managed to get mugged. But the thing was, and this almost made her laugh, she had nothing left to lose. She wouldn’t be a target because she wouldn’t be carrying anything of value, except maybe a little bit of money if Western Union came through.
    He continued to study her. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather take a nice long nap?”
    “I thought I would, but now I’m excited again. Sleeping in the car was probably like a power nap. Now I want to get out there and make the most of my time here. Besides, all the guidebooks tell you to stay up until bedtime to get over jet lag.”
    He nodded. “That’s a fact. It helps if you can, but not everybody’s built that way. How about lettin’ me come along? I didn’t get my art fix today.”
    “You can spare the time?”
    “I won’t promise not to take any phone calls, but if you can put up with that, I can spare the time.”
    “Then I’d love to have you come.” She was secretly relieved that he’d invited himself along. Although she’d sounded brave and self-sufficient, her recent experience had made her a little nervous about setting off on her own. “But please know that I intend to pay my own way. If the money hasn’t arrived, I’ll gratefully accept a temporary loan, and I’ll be reimbursing you the minute I get some money.”
    He started to say something, but stopped and cleared his throat. “All right.”
    She’d bet anything he’d wanted to tell her to forget paying him back. But he’d recognized that she had her pride and needed to stand on her own feet, financially. Swallowing his argument was the second biggest gift he could give her.
    “Take the phone up to your room so y’all can have a private conversation. You can bring it back down after you’ve showered and changed.”
    She hesitated, torn between making off with his phone when he probably needed to have it, and thinking of the info she could share with Astrid if he was out of earshot. “All right. I won’t be long.” Turning, she hurried down the hall.
    “Take the elevator,” he called after her.
    “I like the stairs,” she hollered back. Then she wondered if hollering was appropriate in a house with museum-quality furnishings and live-in servants. Oh, well. She was a gym-shoe-wearing Texas girl, not a sophisticated French woman. So far, Drew hadn’t seemed to mind.
    The minute she got to her bedroom, she closed the door. Then she dialed Astrid’s number and walked over to the window that looked out on a quaint residential street lined with buildings much like this one. Window boxes filled with flowers brightened the view, and a man wearing a beret rode past on a bicycle. Yes, she had to get out there. Paris was waiting.
    Astrid answered on the third ring, but she sounded suspicious. That’s when Melanie remembered that the readout would seem really strange