The Billionaire's Setup

by Marie Higgins

  They reached the library and they were all checked onto a computer. As Nolan searched for information about Victoria Carrigan, he kept switching his gaze to Nicole. She still acted strangely and kept glancing over her shoulder as if searching for someone. Perhaps he shouldn’t wait to talk to her about what happened at the bed and breakfast. As long as Bailey didn’t hear, she wouldn’t judge her cousin so harshly.

  He peeked at Bailey who appeared to be falling asleep at her computer, even though she kept waking herself up to continue her search. He moved his wheeled chair closer to Nicole’s computer. Her stare was glued to the computer, until he touched her arm and she jumped.

  Sighing, she touched her throat. “You startled me.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Have you found anything yet?” she asked him.

  “No. Have you?”

  “Nothin’.” She shook her head.

  He glanced over his shoulder at Bailey who hadn’t moved. Sliding his arm around Nicole’s shoulder, he leaned closer to her. “Will you tell me something?”

  She nodded. “What do you want to know?”

  “Back at the bed and breakfast, did you... see a ghost?” he lowered his voice.

  Her eyes widened. “Why, did you?”

  “No, but I wasn’t the one acting strangely, either.” He stroked her arm. “And even now while you’re sitting here, you’re still acting like someone is following you.”

  She chuckled softly. “Nobody is followin’ me.”

  “I’m glad to hear it, but now answer the first question I asked you.”

  She rolled her eyes and looked back at her computer screen. “What would make you think I was talkin’ to a ghost?”

  He tried not to grin. She didn’t realize she’d just told him what he wanted to know. “Nicole,” he whispered. “I didn’t say you were talking to a ghost – you did.”

  She snapped her head toward him and her eyes widened. The color in her face began to disappear.

  The panic on her expression was undeniable. She was worried about his reaction, he was sure. “Nicole,” he caressed her hand, “it’s okay if you were talking to a ghost. I won’t think you’re crazy. I promise.”

  She stared at his eyes for the longest time as her breathing increased. She then shifted her gaze toward Bailey for a moment, before returning her attention to him.

  “She’s hauntin’ me, Nolan,” she said softly. “She’s there at night and even in the mornin’ when I wake up. But it’s more than that. She’s... in my dreams.”

  Concern settled over him, especially when he could tell she was quite shaken by her ghost’s presence. “Who is it?”

  “Victoria Carrigan. She’s my third-great aunt.”

  “What does she want?” Nolan asked.

  She inhaled slowly and breathed out in the same rhythm. “She wants me to find out what happened to her. She doesn’t know why she died. She says she was gettin’ ready to go down the stairs to her weddin’, felt dizzy for a moment... but also thought she felt someone pushin’ her.” Nicole shrugged. “And that’s all she can remember.”

  “So, she thinks someone pushed her? She didn’t trip on her wedding gown?”

  Nicole shook her head. “The gowns that were popular durin’ those days only reached the woman’s ankles. There’s no way she could have tripped.”

  “Then it was murder.” Nolan nodded sharply, suddenly feeling like he needed to solve Victoria’s case. Excitement grew inside him, but he tried not to let Nicole see he was anxious about being a detective.

  “Victoria doesn’t know if it was murder or not. But... in my dreams it’s like watchin’ a movie. I can see her and everyone around her and I hear what they say.” She leaned closer to his ear. “Victoria’s staff hated her.”

  He always enjoyed a good mystery, and so far, this was turning out to be exactly why he’d wanted to go on a ghost tour to begin with. “Why?”

  “She was a snotty rich girl who looked down on her servants as if they were stupid. Victoria told me that the reason she has come into my life was because she doesn’t want me to end up like her. From what I gather, Victoria is tryin’ to warn me about what could happen when we make a lot of enemies.”

  Confusion filled him as he tried piecing together what she was saying. Something just didn’t add up in his mind. He narrowed his gaze on her. “Nicole? Are you rich?”

  The color in Nicole’s face drained a little more. Once more, her breathing accelerated.

  “Um,” she started to say but then paused. Shame washed over her expression and she frowned. “I – well, I sort of...”

  “Nicole!” Bailey called out. “Come see what I found. This is so good.”

  Nolan and Nicole quickly jumped out of their chairs and surrounded Bailey’s chair. It was hard to wrap his mind around what Bailey had found when his thoughts whirled with the possibility that Nicole could be rich. Then again, she owned her dead father’s business, so Nolan was sure she had some money. But if Victoria Carrigan was very wealthy, and Nicole was a distant relative... What were the odds?

  The girls’ laughter brought his mind back to the computer screen. Instead of seeing something about Nicole’s ghost, Bailey had found cartoonish ads about the government. He rolled his eyes. How could Bailey be serious if she didn’t even want to be here anyway?

  He glanced at the clock on the computer screen. Had they really been at the library four hours already? “Who is hungry for lunch?

  Bailey whipped her head around and grinned. “I am. Nicole wouldn’t let me finish breakfast.”

  Nicole nodded. “I reckon I’m a little hungry, too.”

  Nolan needed to take them someplace that could distract Bailey. He definitely didn’t want her around while he finished the conversation that was started with Nicole.

  He took hold of Nicole’s hand as they exited the building. Bailey followed behind, not looking at all tired now. “I saw this place inside the mall,” he began. “It has a food court and some places to shop.”

  “Shop?” Bailey’s voice lifted as she rushed to Nolan and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him. “That is the best idea you’ve had since I met you.”

  Within 15 minutes they were parked and picking out their food choices. Bailey was already scoping out the different stores to go shopping at. Thankfully, Nicole didn’t appear interested in shopping.

  Nolan had never seen a woman snarf her food down as fast as Bailey, but soon she was finished eating and throwing her trash away.

  “I’m going to head over to The Bon,” Bailey said. “I won’t be long.”

  “We’ll be right here or around this area,” Nicole told her cousin.

  Once Bailey was out of hearing range, Nolan scooted closer to Nicole and sliding his arm around her waist. “Tell me more about your dreams.”

  Nicole took a sip from her soda, set it on the table before turning toward him. “My dreams are about Victoria’s life leading up toward her weddin’ day. I’ve not had that dream, yet. I see Victoria and her fiancé, William. I also see the people who worked in the family manor and most of them hated her. In the dream I had this mornin’, she was very rude to the cook and two maids. When Victoria left the manor, the servants were talkin’ bad about her. The cook was askin’ where to get cyanide.”

  He gasped and straightened. “You heard the cook say that?”

  Nicole nodded. “As clear as if I was at the movie theater.”

  “Well, if Victoria was poisoned, that could definitely explain why she was dizzy and fell down the stairs.”

  “Wouldn’t they have done an autopsy?”

  “Not if the doctors or the family had reason to believe she died because she fell down the stairs and had broken her neck.”

  Nicole’s gaze moved in the direction Bailey had left. Silence filled the air between them, and the look of helplessness crossed Nicole’s pretty face. He took her hand in his.

  “I will help you,” he told her. “You don’t have to do this alone.
”

  The gratitude in her eyes melted his heart. She rubbed the palm of her hand softly on his chest.

  “But Nolan, how can you help me when you can’t see her?” She sighed. “This mornin’ at breakfast – the newspaper and juice spillin’ happened because of the pesky ghost that won’t leave me alone.”

  “Maybe,” he whispered, loving her warm touch, “if Victoria knows I’m helping she will show herself to me, too.”

  Nicole smiled. “Last night, when I left your room to make a phone call, she was there, telling me about how she died. She was the one I was talkin’ to, not one of the B&B’s housekeepers.”

  Now things were making sense to why she had been out in the hallway for so long. “I wonder if she was the one who had turned on my ceiling fan, because I know I’d turned it off.”

  “Possibly.”

  He leaned closer and brushed his lips across her cheek. “Now that I know the ghost likes to lurk in the bed and breakfast, I might have to take you somewhere else so that we can be alone.”

  “I’ve only seen her at the B&B and the cemetery. I think these are the only places she can go.” She shrugged. “Besides my dreams, of course.”

  He took her hand and brought it to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. “Then tonight we’ll find a different place where I can hold and kiss you.” He moved his lips to her neck.

  She shivered and released a throaty chuckle. “I doubt this is a good place to be affectionate.”

  “True. I don’t like people watching us.”

  “Come on,” Nicole said standing up, taking his hands and pulling him with her. “Let’s find Bailey and get out of here.”

  “Where do you want to go?” Nolan asked, draping his arm around her shoulders as he kept her by his side.

  “It doesn’t matter, as long as I’m with you.”

  He couldn’t agree with Nicole more than at this moment. However, where he really wanted to go was back to the library to find out who Victoria’s servants had been, especially the cook. If the cook had murdered Victoria, had the servant led an exemplary life in the years to follow? After all, once a criminal always a criminal...

  TWENTY-ONE

  Nicole felt closer to Nolan now that he knew the truth and didn’t think she was crazy. He continued to be lovey-dovey and cuddly with her for the rest of the day. For the haunted tours, the bus took them to Denver. She and Nolan sat on the back seat and held each other during their trip. He told her about living in Surprise, Arizona, and working in the winery, which she found fascinating.

  Although she figured him to be the billionaire, whenever she looked at him, all she saw was Nolan... the sweet man with the passionate kisses that made her dizzy. He also made her smile more than she’d ever done before.

  Nolan had a wonderful personality. He was funny in a teasing sort of way. She loved laughing at him or with him. Either way, she always ended up in his arms, so it was a win-win situation.

  As they walked through the different buildings, Nolan held her hand. She thought they made the perfect couple. In fact, she thought others had the same idea, because they keep staring at her and Nolan and smiling. Nicole didn’t think anyone would notice her for being one of Texas’ billionaires, only because she made sure not to let the paparazzi find her. Bailey, however, was a different matter altogether. That woman had her own paparazzi fan club – only because the woman organized it herself.

  In one of the shopping centers, the tour guide let them wander around for an hour. Everyone wanted to do a little shopping before returning back to Woodland Park. Bailey had found a few stores to browse, but all Nicole wanted to do was hold Nolan and be with him. She would really like him to tell her what his real name was. By now, Nicole figured him to be Thomas Powers even though Bailey hoped he was Aaron. But Nicole knew someone who had been engaged wouldn’t fall for another woman as fast as Nolan fell for her.

  If she could get him to confess his true worth, she would tell him about her billions, as well. However, she enjoyed pretending they were just two normal people falling in love.

  They walked slower as they passed the shops’ windows. One window had a beautiful display of jewelry... especially diamonds. Nicole was actually shocked that Bailey wasn’t in this store trying to find something that would show men how rich she was – or how rich her daddy was.

  Nolan was quiet for a minute as they stared at the diamond rings. Not that Nicole had even thought that Nolan might be the one, but what girl didn’t like to dream? And what normal girl didn’t like to think of what kind of engagement ring she’d like?

  “Have you ever been given a ring while in a serious relationship?” Nolan asked.

  Nicole thought back to all the men she’d dated, but she didn’t have to think long. Her relationships had never lasted long since she knew what the men really loved – which wasn’t her. “No. My serious relationships didn’t last long enough to think about rings. How about you?”

  “You haven’t?” Nolan pulled back, looking at her face. “You’re gorgeous, Nicole. How could no man see that you’re beautiful both inside and out and not want to keep you?”

  She smiled and leaned against him. He always said the sweetest things that made her heart bounce around like a teenager who’d consumed too much coffee in one sitting. “That’s what I was thinkin’ about you. Why hasn’t any woman realized how incredibly sexy you are?”

  Frowning, he shook his head. “Because I was always the friend, and they only had eyes on my best friend.”

  She shook her head. “Nolan, I don’t care how good-lookin’ your friend was, he couldn’t have been as wonderful as you. I think those women must have been blind.”

  He turned toward her and cupped her face. “Isn’t it funny how things turn out?”

  “Yes, I think it is... especially this trip. When I first thought about comin’ here to explore my dreams a little further, I never thought I would meet a man like you.”

  He kissed her lips briefly. “You are perfect, Nicole. I’ve never known anyone like you.”

  “I’m sure you’ve met plenty of women.” She smiled.

  “You’re one in a million... or billion.” He chuckled.

  There was only one reason he would say billion. He must be exactly what she thought. “I think you’re worth even more than that.”

  His eyebrows lifted. “You think I’m worth more than that?” He laughed. “Are you referring to money or charm?”

  “You’re definitely a winner when it comes to charm.”

  “Well, sadly enough, that’s all I have going for me, then.” He winked. “Besides, you can’t put a price on love. Right?”

  It struck her odd that he’d say it in such a way. In fact, he’d said something like that to her yesterday, too. Maybe he didn’t want her to guess what was in his bank account. She understood that feeling of distrust very well. “I couldn’t have said it any better.”

  He turned them away from the window and they strolled a little farther, holding hands. She leaned her head against his arm. If he didn’t want her to know about his income yet, what else should she ask him to get to know him better? From what Bailey had told her, Aaron Powers was an only child, and that he had a cousin – a couple of them, in fact. Bailey liked to keep Nicole up to date on the lives of billionaires.

  “Nolan? When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up, besides a ghost hunter?”

  Tilting back his head, he laughed. She smiled. He really had the most amazing laugh.

  “Where did that question come from?” He looked down at her.

  She shrugged. “I want to know everythin’ about you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s like I’ve found the very thing that has been missin’ from my life, and I want to make up for lost time.”

  His expression grew serious as he pulled her in a small alleyway between two buildings. He pressed her against the brick wall, and leaned into her.

  “Nicole, I think that’s a great
idea. But let’s start here for now.”

  When his mouth covered hers, she sighed heavily and slid her arms around his waist. All thoughts of getting to know his past dissolved from her mind, and all she could think about doing was letting this man’s passionate kisses melt her heart.

  “Nicole!” Bailey’s energetic voice was like a high-powered vacuum, sucking away Nicole’s passionate moment in a split-second.

  Nolan pulled away from Nicole, and she frowned. The warmth created by their bodies was gone and in its place – coldness and neglect. She wanted to strangle her cousin.

  “Nicole, there you are,” Bailey said, out of breath. “You’ll never guess what I just found?”

  Bunching her fists, Nicole silently counted to ten under her breath. It was really time to get rid of Bailey and send her back home. “What did you find?” Nicole’s voice was tight when she asked.

  Bailey clapped her hands. “Remember the pair of boots that I’ve been looking for since July?”

  Anger rose inside Nicole. “Boots?” Her voice grew higher. “You interrupted me and Nolan and our very steamy kiss just to tell me about... boots?”

  Bailey scowled. “Really, Nicole? You don’t have to get so upset. You told me you wanted this pair of boots, too.”

  Nicole recalled the boots her cousin was referring to, but they were in no way more important than kissing Nolan!

  “I just wish,” Nicole continued in a tight voice, “that for once in your life, you’d think of someone else – and their happiness – before yourself.”

  Huffing, Bailey rolled her eyes. “What has gotten you all riled?”

  “You!” Nicole folded her arms. “Bailey, I’m so tired of you thinking that your wants are more important than anyone else’s. I’ve had enough of your constant whining when you don’t get your way. And I’m extremely fed up with you thinkin’ that I want to do everythin’ you do.”

  Bailey’s face reddened as her jaw hardened. “You... are such a jerk! I’ve done nothing to make you treat me like this.” She turned her head and lifted her nose in the air. “I might as well go home.”