Chapter 10

Arthur was elated to see me the next day. It made me suspicious.

“Well, Anna, you really did it,” he said it with a brilliant white grin. “Mona Williams of Good Morning, Mona loved my new look, especially the pompadour.”

He ran his fingers through his hair. I wanted to smack him for messing with it, but I was too excited about the news to care.

“You’re kidding, right?” I just couldn’t believe that a look I had styled had been mentioned on a nationally syndicated TV show.

“No, I’m not. You did wonderfully, little fan girl. And I can’t wait to see what you have in mind for me today.”

I couldn’t stop smiling. It was hard to believe that I had wasted eight years running a household for someone like Bob when I could have been using my talents to make something of myself.

I sobered a bit. According to the oncologist, I only had about six months remaining to right that wrong. But I would value every moment of my existence that I had left.

• * *

If only my life at home were going as well as at work and the gym. The burst pipe had ruined my furniture and the apartment’s flooring. With no money to spare and both the settlement from my divorce and the compensation from my insurance still forthcoming, I was forced to live in a temporarily uninhabitable apartment.

Lily promised to come and help me move the most important undamaged items out of the apartment after I got off work. I didn’t know where I would be staying while the landlord fixed the apartment, but Lily and I would figure that out.

I had been left waiting for her for two hours when someone knocked at the door. Expecting it to be Lily, I rushed to answer it. My heart throbbed when I saw Barnett standing on the other side.

“Barnett, what are you doing here?” I asked.

God willing, we meet again.

“Hello to you too, Anna.”

I sighed. “Hello, Barnett. Where’s Lily?”

“She got a last-minute job flying to Iceland to shoot a travel vlog. She didn’t have time to tell you herself, so she asked me to come over.”

I cursed under my breath. “I really needed her help getting some stuff out of here.”

Barnett patted me on the shoulder. My breath caught in my throat.

“Don’t worry. Lily told me about the burst pipe. I’ll help you move whatever you need to.”

“Oh, thank you so much!” I moved over to let Barnett into the apartment. “I really appreciate your help.”

Barnett’s head swiveled like an owl’s as he took in the destroyed living room. A low whistle escaped his lips.

“Wow. You won’t kidding about the water damage.”

“No, no I was not.”

I noticed Barnett carrying something in his right hand.

“What’s that?”

Barnett looked down at his hand. “It’s a back support belt, to prevent back injuries while lifting. I brought it for you.”

Barnett handed the black Velcro belt to me. He removed his suit jacket to reveal a white shirt and black back support belt hugging his muscles tight. Slowly, he rolled his shirt cuffs up to expose his strong, toned arms.

I couldn’t resist stealing a few glances as I pretended to examine my back support belt. My mouth watered at the thought of those arm muscles wrapped around me as he put his jacket on me at the dinner party.

“Do you need help?” Barnett’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“What?” I asked.

“Do you need help with the belt?”

“Oh, yeah, that would be great.”

Barnett took the belt and stepped behind me. I felt the belt’s material press into my back as started to wrap the material around my midsection. My breath hitched, both from how closely Barnett stood to me and how tightly he adjusted the belt.

His arms wrapped around me as he Velcroed the belt into place. His minty breath rolled onto my neck. The hair of his arms tickled me where we touched, sending goosebumps across my skin.

We lingered in this embrace longer than was necessary. His hands brushed against mine. Whether by accident or by design, I couldn’t tell; I just let myself enjoy the moment as though it could last an eternity.

Then, all too soon, it ended.

“There, nice and tight,” he said, patting the side of the belt. “Let’s get to work.”

“Th-thank you.”

I showed him to the bedroom, where the most important of the important items were already packed in the driest bags and boxes I could find. Fortunately, I did not have too much that wasn’t still being handled in the divorce settlement, and so there wasn’t too much to move. Mostly clothes, some family heirlooms, my laptop and styling supplies, and the like.

“Let’s start in here. Then we can move to the bathroom and kitchen and finish in the living room.”

Barnett frowned. “This is all you have?”

“That wasn’t damaged in the flood or isn’t being held up in the settlement, yeah.”

I bent over and slung a couple bags over my shoulders. Barnett followed suit and picked up a couple boxes.

“I’m sorry about that.”

I shrugged as best as I could while carrying the bags. “It makes things easier in situations like this.”

“Still, you should be able to have a few creature comforts.”

I led the way outside, where I saw that Barnett had brought a black 2023 Ford F-250 and a U-Haul trailer. He really had thought of everything. I rushed to put my bags in the trailer, and Barnett did the same.

We walked shoulder-to-shoulder back to the apartment. I didn’t want to tell him the real reason why I didn’t want to have a lot of things, that I wouldn’t be around long enough to enjoy them, so silence fell between us as we continued to work.

I watched him as we both bent over to pick up more bags and boxes. My eyes roved from his tensing forearms to his clenching abs all the way to his flexing ass. I could feel sweat trickle down the side of my neck and roll down and beneath my heaving breasts.

I imagined grabbing his perfectly rounded ass in both my hands and squeezing hard—

No. No, I needed to clear these thoughts from my mind. He was my best friend’s uncle, and twelve years my senior, at that.

Besides, Barnett was married. I couldn’t afford to get myself wrapped up in some fantasy about a married billionaire, not after I just got away from a cheating husband myself. I wouldn’t do that to another woman.

I mentally slapped myself. Barnett wouldn’t want to be with me, anyway. Not when he has a woman like Julia to go home to.

Between the two of us, it’s no competition.

But then there’s Barnett and me, going back and forth in such close proximity, our bodies brushing against each other. My chest had touched his hand more than once as we had passed in the hall, and his ass had accidentally nudged against my pelvis as we bent down to pick up more boxes and bags.

And when I saw him staring at my sweaty chest, I had to admit that I looked pretty hot in the form-fitting T-shirt and jeans. Even the back support belt had molded my fat into curves that could make a man go wild.

No, I told myself firmly, there’s nothing between us.