Shelter With A Billionaire

I quickly moved closer, pretending to admire a mannequin wearing a red dress as I listened to their conversation. 

"—Sucks that you lost your stuff; did you back up your computer files on the cloud?" The kid asked.

"Totally, but, uh, I have no clue on working that thing." Millie said.

He nodded, eyes trailing at the blue dress with floral pattern she wore; it fit her perfectly. "I could help with that." 

I grimaced at his husky tone and also at the price tag of the mannequin dress. 

I was pretty sure Millie knew how to restore files from the cloud, or at least make Jay do it for her. 

"Really? Thanks, Ross," she squeaked. "I thought I saw your bike in the parking lot, Harley?"

"Yup," Ross answered. 

Ross the boy Daphne had a crush on! 

Who also rode a Harley motorcycle? 

Double ruh-roh

An image of Millie riding behind him towards the sunset made me nervous. Using the power of adulthood, I leapt next to Millie in two strides.

"Sorry to interrupt, but uh, Mil, the sales rep thinks you've stayed too long wearing this dress." I whispered to her.

She widened her eyes and nodded. "Oh."

I glared at Ross. "Excuse us—"

"Who's this?" Ross asked.

Millie sighed. "This is the home's director."

Ross nodded knowingly, his blue eyes hinted with mischief. "The one who blew up the house?"

I bristled. "Get back to work, Ross; those overpriced TVs won't sell themselves."

I spun Millie around as we headed for the changing room.

"Seriously, Chris, we were only talking." Millie gritted her teeth as a pair of women walked past us holding clothes. 

"Yeah, and next thing you know, he's taking you for a test drive on the back of his motorcycle to Vegas." I replied with folded arms.

Millie's eyes flared. "Vegas? You know what? I'm literally not getting into this right now."

She stepped into a stall and slammed it shut, right as Daphne stepped out holding a hanger with a pale yellow sweater on it.

"Who's going to Vegas?" She asked me.

I bit my lower lip. "Nobody, come on, we better check out. I think Helen's getting bored with H&M." 

Daphne glanced from Millie's stall to me, narrowing her eyes behind her glasses.

Damn, I hope she's not getting that weird twin telepathy. 

Daphne knocked on the stall door and stepped inside. I shut my eyes. Yeah, she definitely got it.

I walked out of the changing room, giving them some space. Why did I mention Vegas anyway?

Helen bumped into me on the way out. "Oh, there you are, Carla." She said,

"It's Christine," I emphasized on the pronunciation.

"How about some underwear shopping?" She suggested.

Five minutes later, as we strolled into Victoria's Secret, I trailed behind Helen, glancing at the displayed garments on mannequins.

But I gasped upon the prices of sheer black lace pants. It was ridiculous to think we were splurging Mike's gold American Express on stuff like this. The bags I carried were getting heavy. 

"Might as well do some of my own; a girl never has too much," Helen said to me, and I widened my eyes as she picked up a handful of matching bras and pants, enough to feed us for a month.

I texted Tommy to know how they were doing. He sent back a photo of them eating at the food court with a stoic Slingshot raising his hand to hide his face while eating a hotdog, while Noah gave the camera a flip-off and Jay held a peace sign. 

Men never had to go through this kind of stuff. 

Two hours later, we met up at the parking lot, Slingshot loaded up the trunk, and the girls talked excitedly about what they got.

Unfortunately, red lace pants fell out of one of Helen's shopping bags while Slingshot was loading up the trunk.

"Whoops, better not lose this," Helen held up like a flag. Slingshot didn't even react to the scene. 

Beth planted a palm on her face with disbelief. Thank goodness Kimiko was already in the van. 

I withheld a sigh while a shitass grin spread on Noah's face. 

"Amen," Noah rasped and grunted when I tossed my bags in his face.

"Come on, help Slingshot put these in the trunk!" I barked.

When Slingshot dropped us off at the house, Helen waved at us like the Queen and then left.

"I don't know about you, but it feels nice knowing I can buy stuff for free," Beth spoke as we hurled our bags to the porch.

I glared at Beth."Yeah, there's nothing like being humble either."

She pressed her lips together guiltily.

I stepped in next to Noah. "Hey Noah."

"What?" He looked at me. "Please don't talk about the panties thing."

I grimaced. "No? Could you make tres leches for dessert tonight?"

That was pretty much the only thing Noah knew how to cook, besides scrambled eggs and throwing a box of Mac and cheese into the microwave.

Noah scowled at me. "No!"

Jay, who was listening in, smirked at Noah as he walked past us on the stairs.

"Come on, we want to make a good impression on Mr. Russo and maybe blindside him, like the fact that you have to report for community service this weekend," I poked his shoulder blade. 

Noah shut his eyes as if suddenly remembering his ordeal. "Fine, just this one time."

I signed a "Thank you."

He rolled his eyes and marched upstairs. 

* * * * * * * *

Mike pulled his BMW into the driveway, the weight of the day's stress slowly lifting off his shoulders. He was looking forward to a quiet evening at home—or not.

He had eight new roommates to have dinner with. 

Earlier, he'd gotten notifications. The American Express app showed a lot of charges from a few stores, including Victoria's Secret. He lifted a brow and for a second wondered what Christine got for herself.

Mike shifted against the bulge forming in his pants while picturing her in lace, but he shook the image off. Focus, Mike. 

But he winced at the total amount. Helen had certainly taken his 'treat them to something nice' instruction to heart. 

A small smile played on his lips as he remembered Christine's likely reaction to the shopping spree. It was worth it, he thought. The kids had been through enough; they deserved some happiness.