The Billionaire Swap novel · Chapter 2 of 16

Chapter 2: Sixth Floor

Stuart brings Abigail home to a walk-up and hands her his last $3,000, and in the night she hears him say he only needs the city to think he's finished.

Nobody at Rosa's said a word.

Meredith's phone was still pointed at Stuart's face.

The Drummond cousins stared at their plates.

Stuart's jaw went tight, but he didn't move.

I cut a new slice of cake and held it out to Trey on a paper plate.

"Thanks for coming," I said. "It's lemon."

Trey looked at the plate.

Then he looked at me.

"Your sister's weird," he told Meredith.

"She's always been like that," Meredith said. "Come on. This place smells like garlic."

Trey took the plate anyway.

He dropped it in the trash can by the door on his way out.

They left laughing.

The door swung shut behind them.

Rosa came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands, and looked at the two of us.

"You want me to spit in their food next time?"

"They won't come back," I said.

Stuart's shoulders came down.

"Sorry," he said. "That was for me, not you."

"It was for the cake," I said. "And he missed out."

We finished the cake. We shook everyone's hand. We collected four cards with small checks inside.

Then Stuart picked up my two suitcases.

"Let's go home."

Home.

I had never lived anywhere that was mine.

His apartment was on the far west side, on the sixth floor, with no elevator.

He carried both suitcases up every flight.

I walked behind him up the stairs.

At the fourth landing he looked back.

"I'm sorry. I know this isn't what you're used to."

"I'm used to a room over a garage," I said. "This has stairs. It's an upgrade."

He smiled and unlocked the door.

It was small. One bedroom, a kitchen you could touch both sides of, a sofa, a table for two.

It was very clean.

The curtains were ironed.

There were fresh sheets folded on the bed and a jar of daisies on the table.

"I cleaned yesterday," he said. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't know what you'd like."

"I like it," I said.

I did.

He set my suitcases down in the bedroom.

Then he took a folded stack of bills from his inside pocket and pressed them into my hand.

"This is three thousand dollars. It's all I have."

The bills were old, but someone had flattened every one of them.

They were warm from his chest.

"I start driving for QuickDrop tomorrow. I'll bring home more. You won't go without."

I looked at the money.

Then I folded his fingers back over it.

"Keep it. You're the one out on the road. What if the van breaks down?"

He didn't take his hand away.

"You're not angry?"

"About what?"

"About me." He said it plainly. "About all of this."

"You have a roof. You have a stove. You ironed the curtains."

I shrugged.

"That's plenty."

His face softened.

He opened his mouth, then shut it again.

"You're really something, Abigail," he said at last.

I figured he meant I was easy to please.

I am.

He made dinner.

Noodles in broth, with two fried eggs on top, one for each of us.

"I'm not much of a cook," he warned.

"It's good."

It was.

It tasted like somebody had made it on purpose, for me.

I couldn't remember the last time that happened.

After dinner he washed the dishes and wouldn't let me dry.

I sat on the sofa and watched his back while he worked.

His shoulders were broad under his white shirt.

His sleeves were rolled to the elbow.

I decided that I didn't mind looking at him at all.

At bedtime he took a pillow and a blanket from the closet.

"I'll take the sofa."

"The bed's big enough for two."

I meant it. I only meant sleeping.

He went a little red anyway.

"Let's wait until you know me better," he said.

So I lay in his bed alone, and he lay on a sofa four inches too short for him.

Through the half-open door I could see his feet hanging off the end.

I fell asleep smiling.

I woke up at two in the morning because I was thirsty.

The sofa was empty.

The balcony door was cracked open, and cold air came in with his voice.

He was on the phone, speaking low.

"No. Don't touch it. Not yet."

A pause.

"I know what Hatcher said at the wedding. Let him say it."

I stood still in the dark hallway.

"Let the whole city think I'm finished," my husband said. "Right up until the auction."

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