Page 1 of The Billionaire's Baby
Chapter One
Springtime in New York was beautiful. Cherry blossoms in every possible shade of pink cascaded from trees as far as the eye could see, the air still held a hint of winter but the sun shone warmly and brightly, and one more thing: Springtime in New York brought tourists. Tons of them, flocking into the city to see the sights, stare up at the skyscrapers and shop their hearts out.
Adira was one of them and she felt such happiness that she wanted to throw her hat in the air like she’d seen on one of the American sitcoms. She’d saved for three years—three long years—working in the dress shop in Piccadilly Circle to get where she now stood. New York: The city that never sleeps. A fabulous place full of lights, sounds and smells she’d never experienced before. One little British girl in the middle of it all. She looked down at the address of her hotel on the screen of her phone. One very lost British girl.
She’d been walking for more than forty-five minutes and, of course, she’d managed to get lost. Mum always said I had the directional skills of a mole, she thought unhappily. I can take a cab or soldier on, she thought. I’ll give it one more go before I do that again.
Adira crossed the street. Within only two days of being there, she’d learned that trying to hail a cab in the city was murder and when they heard her accent, the ride always seemed to take longer and the price more. Bloody sods, she thought irritably. She walked down the sidewalk and turned. Okay, I’m on forty-second street and my hotel is right off Times Square. Oh, bugger, I give up. She said excuse me twice, but people were moving past so quickly they didn’t even seem to notice her.
She sighed loudly. She was starving, her feet hurt and she was lost. Finally, she saw someone stop in front of a store window. He was wearing an expensive-looking blue business suit. It was either ask him or get jipped on a cab. She was on a budget, so every penny counted.
“Pardon me. I was wondering if you could give me some help. I’m a bit lost,” Adira said.
Just standing next to the man she was dwarfed by his height and broad shoulders. But when he turned to face her, Adira forgot her words. The man in front of her was all kinds of sexy built into one really big package. His face was rugged and the smile on his face showed dimples. His warm honey-brown eyes and dark hair gave him an almost boyish kind of look. His skin was a wonderful light brown. She could tell he was Spanish. She shook her head as if to clear her wayward thoughts and he arched one well-groomed eyebrow at her.
“I’m sorry. Did you say you were lost?” His voice was like the smooth Caribbean rum her aunt had brought from the islands when she came to visit.
“Oh, yes. I’m trying to get to the Radisson off Times Square. I’ve been out taking in the sights and got a bit turned around,” Adira explained.
“You’re not too far away,” he said. “You have the most amazing voice.”
“Thank you, I suppose. Can you direct me?” God, she hoped he wasn’t some shyster trying to figure out if he could work a con on her. England had its fair share of bad areas and criminals. She was not naive.
“I’ll do even better. I’ll have my driver bring the car around and we’ll drive you there,” he said.
“Oy. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m not the sort to take rides from strange men,” Adira snapped. “My mother taught me better. And what do Americans call it? Stranger danger, I think. Yeah, I’ll have none of that.”
He laughed and it was a rich sound that was all too pleasant on the air. “Stranger danger. I haven’t heard that in forever. Let’s remedy that. My name is Favian Rivera and who are you?”
“Adira Potts from England.” She stuck out her hand and he enveloped it in his big warm one. Her hand tingled and he held on a bit longer than necessary until she pulled away. “So, since we got that out of the way, any chance you’ll be giving me directions?”
“I can do better than that. I’ll walk you,” Favian said.
Adira shook her head. “You don’t have to. The directions will be just fine.”
“Isn’t that how you got lost in the first place?” He raised his eyebrow again.
“Good point,” she murmured. “All right, you can walk me there, and I thank you very much.”
“Lord, if you keep talking like that, I may be the one doing the thanking,” he said.
Adira looked up at him curiously. “What?”
“Do you not know how amazing your voice is?” Favian said.
“It’s my every day old voice, love,” Adria patted his bicep. “Let’s go.”
