Million Dollar Christmas Bride - Holly Rayner Page 0,18

to take a blood pressure, pulse rate, and oxygen saturation reading for each of the residents.

“I know,” Nicky said. “I’m procrastinating and doing Sudoku instead.”

“Don’t let Gail catch you.”

“She’s off tonight.”

“Lucky you!” Bianca said. It was always a treat when the bossy night manager called out for a shift. She went on, “Hey, I have a favor to ask you. Do you think you could cover for me this Saturday night?”

“This Saturday… let’s see… That should work. Actually, it would be a good excuse to get out of bowling with my brother and sister-in-law. They beat me and Mike every time, and Mike always gets all riled up about it. Why? What are you doing?”

“I was invited to a charity dinner at the Heritage Manor,” Bianca said. The sentence sounded surreal coming from her lips. She rarely even went out for fast food, let alone out to fancy, overpriced dinner parties.

Nicky laughed and then paused. “Wait a minute—you’re kidding, right? What are you really doing? Is your mom sick or something?”

Usually, when Bianca looked around for work coverage, it was due to some issue or another with her mom’s health.

“No, Mom’s doing okay,” Bianca said. “Besides being stuck in a nursing home and dealing with a paralyzed left side, that is. No emergencies, though.”

“Wait… so you’re serious about going to the Heritage Manor? Isn’t that one of those fancy private estates out by Blue Valley Acres?”

“I’m serious,” Bianca said. She and Peaches reached the end of the block. Though it was the place where they usually turned around during evening walks, Bianca turned left and continued down the sidewalk. Peaches trotted along happily at her side, apparently excited that their starlit walk was going to extend farther than usual.

“To be honest, I’m not really sure where it is,” Bianca said. “I’ve never been there.”

“But now you’re going to go to a charity event there? Who invited you?”

“A guy I met,” Bianca explained.

“Oooh,” Nicky said, with obvious excitement. “You mean the hot guy you met when you were late for work?”

“The one I rear-ended.” Bianca giggled.

“No way,” Nicky said. “I can’t believe this! You said you thought he was a movie star or something. Is he?”

“No… but he is really wealthy, and he needs a date to this charity dinner thing. I said I’d go.” She let her explanation stop there, because she wasn’t sure how to put the details of Jackson’s request into words.

She could feel a pang of embarrassment still lingering in her chest, due to the turn of events that the evening had taken. She’d felt so blissfully flattered by Jackson’s attention early on in the evening, but that warm feeling had shattered when Jackson had laid out his proposal.

“That’s incredible!” Nicky said, still trying to whisper but clearly having a hard time keeping her excitement under control. “Details, please.”

Bianca pinched her lips together. She wasn’t sure what to say.

“Come on,” Nicky pressed. “You’ve got to fill me in. What’s the deal with this guy? Are you interested in him?”

Bianca passed a yard that contained an arrangement of blow-up holiday figures. A six-foot-tall Santa waved a green-mittened hand, reindeer bobbed up and down in the light breeze, and a round snowman that was lit up with a spotlight grinned a coal-toothed greeting out to the sidewalk.

Nicky stayed silent, and Bianca knew she wouldn’t be let off of the hook until she put her feelings for Jackson into words.

“He’s a good guy,” she said. “Intriguing… quick-witted… super funny. He’s got a laid-back, easy-going personality, but beneath it I can tell how smart and sharp he is. And oh, man, is he handsome. But I don’t think he’s interested in a relationship. He asked me out because he needs help with this family thing he’s working on.”

“You mean like an illness? Are you going to take care of one of his family members? That would be such a cushy job.”

“No, it’s a temporary thing.” Bianca knew she was being cryptic, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to go into detail about her arrangement with Jackson.

It felt wrong.

“You mean it’s temporary as in you’re just going to go to this charity function with him?” Nicky said. She sounded confused, and Bianca didn’t blame her. The whole thing sounded very strange—because it was strange.

It barely made sense to Bianca. She knew she couldn’t frame it in a way that would make sense to Nicky.

“Right,” Bianca said. “Just Saturday night.”

“I don’t get it,” Nicky said, “but whatever. I’m happy for you.