Boxed Set: Books & Billionaires Read online

  Copyright © 2015 Nikki Steele

  Published by NightVision Publishing

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book uses the American spelling of most common words.

  Edition 1.0.7

  The box set of Books & Billionaires is an Erotic Romance. It contains strong, explicit, smoking hot sex scenes. It collects books 1-4 (the complete series) of the Books & Billionaires short erotic romance series.

  1. By the Book

  2. By the Letter

  3. By the Sea

  4. By the Way

  Author’s Note

  Further Reading

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  BOOK 1:

  By the Book

  A Librarian in a small town, Clara’s heart broke three years ago. Now she lives in a world of books and rules to ensure it never happens again.

  The only part of her still free is her imagination, living out the fantasies in her head that she can never have in real life.

  But her safe life changes when a mysterious stranger takes shelter from a storm in her library. Stuck together for the night, will he be able to break down her walls? And if he does, what will be the consequences?

  CHAPTER ONE

  “My library book is overdue,” growled the tall, ripped man before me. His biceps flexed, straining against his tailored shirt as he clasped his collar, ripping it open. Rippled, perfect chest and abs were revealed underneath. “Perhaps we can think of some other way for me to pay my fines.”

  On some level, I knew this was a daydream. I’d always had them; little scenarios that played out in my mind whenever I was alone, little voice overs to the conversation I was really having when in company. I wasn’t crazy; it was just, when you looked more like War and Peace than Reader’s Digest, opportunities for fun were limited. Sometimes you had to make your own.

  Lately the daydreams had been growing… sexier. A byproduct perhaps of the fact that my birthday was fast approaching and, once again, I had no-one but my collection of paperbacks to share it with.

  I visualized my man with slightly bigger biceps. Ooh yes, that was it. Now where was I? His book was overdue.

  “But it’s the rules,” I breathed. “How else will you pay the fine?”

  I imagined his hands going down to his belt. I could see it in my head; knew what was waiting underneath.

  “Go on,” he said.” You know you want to. Right here in the library.”

  Was it getting hot in here? “What do you have in mind?”

  He gently pulled the books I had been holding from suddenly lifeless fingers. “Let me help you stack the shelves.”

  “Make sure they’re in order,” I growled. “Or I might be forced to spank you.”

  “Hello? Anyone here?” My daydream was interrupted by a call from the front of the library.

  Seriously? This was the good part. He never got the hang of the Dewey Decimal system.

  I sighed, then got to my feet from where I’d been stacking books among the shelves. “We’re closing.” Not a single soul all day—not even a phone call—and then this.

  “Hello?” the voice was persistent.

  “We’re closing!” I called, louder. I started to walk toward the front counter. “You’ll have to come back-”

  I stopped. “Oh.” My throat was suddenly dry. I had to clear it before I could speak. “How can I help you?”

  The stranger was slightly taller than me, well-built in an expensive suit; face clean shaven, but hair tousled. Gorgeous in that tall, dark and very handsome ‘just walked off a photoshoot’ sort of way. I did a brief double take, closing my eyes and then opening them to make sure I wasn’t still dreaming.

  Nope, this was real. Snow was melting off his shoulders and starting to pool on my freshly vacuumed floor. Wet carpet was not a fantasy I had ever entertained.

  He seemed overly pleased to see me. “I’m wondering if I can borrow your landline – my cell isn’t working, what with the storm outside.”

  “You don’t want to borrow a book?”

  He looked at me, confused. “No, thank you. I think there are more important things to be concerned about right now.”

  “Oh.” I hadn’t been outside all day. Must be one heck of a storm. I walked to the phone and picked it up, holding it out. “No long distance calls please, and I’ll ask that you be quick, we’re closing and my boyfriend will be here any minute now. He’s a footballer, just so you know.”

  He raised an eyebrow, but took the phone with a gracious nod. “Thank you.”

  I walked down to collect my cart while the stranger made his call. To my thoughts, the library was a little like Mary Poppins’ handbag: larger on the inside than it looked, and you just never knew what you might find once you dipped your hand within.

  We’d been shoehorned into an old, grey, concrete building on the grounds of the local park, and shared our space with a community café at the front; the library accessible via a long corridor down one side lined with generic ‘reading is fun’ posters.

  I loved it—it was my own little world of castles and kings, mysteries and mayhem. I could lose myself in these walls; escape my one room apartment with its TV dinners, and get paid to do it.

  When I heard the stranger leave I made my way forward to lock the front door.

  Didn’t even say goodbye. That was handsome guys for you—nothing like the Prince Charming of my childhood novels… or my dreams.

  “Until tomorrow, my love.”

  “Oh please, you don’t really mean that.”

  “I do. Now that I know you’re here, I’ll be back every day. We won’t make eye contact—we don’t want the others to get suspicious—but I’ll scribble notes to you in the margins of your favorite book.”

  I switched out the lights as I imagined the conversation playing out in my mind.

  “Then one day you’ll pick the book up and I’ll be there, and our eyes will meet and-”

  The front door burst open and I screamed, jarred out of my daydream by a figure clothed in black and white, snow swirling around his feet like a ghostly aura.

  Books and handbag launched from my hands.

  “Son of a biscuit, you startled me!”

  Belatedly I recognized the outline before me. The stranger from before was back.

  He chuckled. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  The warm laugh set me instantly at ease. “Is everything okay? Can I help you?”

  “Yes actually, you can,” the stranger replied. “I’m hoping you’ll let me go home with you.”

  Was I daydreaming again? It was always like that: my mind saying the things I was too afraid to say out loud, doing the things the rules I had built around myself wouldn’t let me do.

  But this had been out loud. I couldn’t be daydreaming!

  “I’m sorry?” I said. “Could you repeat that please?”

  He only then realized what he had said. “Oh. Oh my God, no. I’m so sorry—not like that. I meant, can I get a lift home with you? And your boyfriend?”

  A little spark died. “Boyfriend?”

  “The one who’s coming to pick you up. I assume he’s organized a snowplow or something?”

  “Oh. Yes… that.” My hand went to the back of my neck. “Well you see…” It occurred to me that I still had no idea why this man had come back. “What are you doing here anyway?”

  “Oh. The phone didn’t work. I thought I’d try tic
king over the Copter again, but everything’s dead.”

  “Copter? As in Helicopter?”

  “Yes. The cold must have sapped the battery. Hell of a blizzard out there.”

  “Blizzard?” I was struggling to keep up with the conversation.

  “Yes—thought I could fly over it.” He laughed. “Proved me wrong! The Park was the only place I could land.”

  I held my hands up. “Wait, you landed a helicopter in the park outside the library. And there’s a blizzard?”

  He looked at me, face screwed up. “You didn’t know?”

  “Know what?”

  “When was the last time you went outside?”

  “This morning. I’ve been here all day. Why?”

  He burst into sudden laughter. “Oh you are in for the shock of your life.” He seized my hand and a shiver went up me; whether from his touch or the strange turn of the conversation, I didn’t know. “Follow me.”

  He opened the library door. I followed.

  There was a white glow at the end of the corridor. It had been snowing, I remembered that from when I drove to work this morning. But it couldn’t have gotten that bad-

  I stopped. “Well freeze my ears and call me an ice-block.” The glass door at the front was a shoulder high wall of white, broken only by a narrow channel through the middle that was fast filling from above. “Is that… snow?”

  “Afraid so.”

  I strode to the entrance, reaching for the door handle.

  “I wouldn’t-”

  Too late, I heard his advice. As soon as I turned the knob, the door flung backward. Icy cold wind hit me like a hammer, knocking me off my feet. I yelped as I raised an arm to my face, protecting it from the snow that swirled around me, icy flakes stinging with the force of the blizzard that carried them.

  A shadow leapt to my side, throwing its weight against the door until suddenly the noise and the wind stopped. It reached down to help me to my feet.

  Gingerly I got up. Nice move, dumbass.

  The stranger looked at me with concern. “Are you okay?”

  I flushed. “Nothing hurt except my pride.”

  He laughed; a kind sound. “And that can be our secret if you want it to be.”

  My feet crunched on quickly melting snow as I moved to the door, this time pressing my face against the glass. Wind had piled a huge drift up against the door, but it still looked like more than two feet had fallen since this morning. “How can this be?”

  “They’re calling it the blizzard of the century. Highest snowfall recorded this year, and it’s still falling. Or at least, that’s what the reports said before I was forced to land.”

  His hand went to a ring on the index finger of his right hand. “I made a promise to someone. It was… well, it was worth the risk to keep it.”

  My heart melted, just a little. What I wouldn’t give to have a man like that. “I’m sorry,” I said. “For what it’s worth.”

  “Well I might still make it, if I can get a lift with you?” The question hung in the air between us.

  “Oh. That… Yes, well I didn’t anticipate so much snow.”

  Maybe if I pretended for a while, I wouldn’t have to actually admit that I didn’t have a boyfriend— that it was all just a fantasy that lived in my head. “I don’t think he’s an option.”

  His hand went to his ring once more, rubbing it absently. “Damn.”

  “Perhaps we can walk out? You know, clear a way to a car?”

  He walked to the doors, wiping a patch of frost with a well-tailored sleeve wide enough for us both to look through. “‘See out there?” He pointed at a shape in the gathering darkness.

  “Is that… your helicopter?”

  He nodded. “We don’t want to be out at night in this, trust me. We wouldn’t last five minutes.”

  “So… we wait out the storm?”

  “I guess so.”

  This was happening faster than even my imagination could have moved. Wait out the storm? We were spending the night together.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “I’m Booker.” He held out his hand.

  “Clara.” I giggled, hating myself even as I did it. Giggling? Seriously? Who giggled these days? I did apparently—at least when I got nervous. I reached out and took his hand tentatively, much more aware of how warm and real it was, now that I knew we were stuck here together. “Um, pleased to meet you.” We stood by the counter in awkward silence for several moments.

  “I guess we’re spending the night together.”

  In my mind I ripped all my clothes off, growling like a cheetah. In reality, I raised an eyebrow. “Just as long as you don’t get any funny ideas.”

  He raised his own eyebrow in return. “Such as?”

  Ripping all my clothes off. Throwing me against a bookcase and making love to me. Anything you want.

  “I’ve seen Day after Tomorrow. We will not be burning books if it gets cold.”

  He let out a laugh, then reached out to place his hand on my arm. “A librarian with a sense of humor—I like that.”

  I pulled away more sharply than I’d intended. “Yes. Well you can like, but you can’t touch. That’s the rules.”

  His hand fell. “Sorry, my bad. Your boyfriend, of course.”

  It would be better if I didn’t correct him. I stayed silent.

  “So,” his gaze swept around the library as he popped himself onto the counter, “anything I should know?”

  I winced. “Well you’re not allowed to sit on countertops, for a start. Totally against library regulations.”

  He grinned, making no move to get down. “Do you always follow the rules?”

  “Yes.” I crossed my arms. “Now do you mind? You’re breaking about 20 of them right now.”

  He jumped down spritely. “Sure, sorry. I’m just… more of a free spirit, that’s all.” He clapped his hands together. “Okay, I guess our first priorities should be food and warmth. Any food around here?”

  I shook my head. “Regulations—no food on premises.”

  “Okay…” he said, thinking. “How about water fountains?”

  I shook my head again and his hand went to the back of his neck. “I guess we can always melt snow if we have to.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Not that I’m allowed to burn any books to melt it.”

  Was he playing with me? I wasn’t sure, but I shot him a look just in case. “Very funny, Mister.”

  He laughed. “Just joking. But it’s going to get really cold if the central heating gives out. Do we have any fire blankets? Newspapers?”

  I brightened. “Actually, I might have something better.” I disappeared under the counter, returning awkwardly with a huge box labelled Lost Property on one side.

  He reached across, taking the weight with ease. “What do we have here?”

  “The box that time forgot,” I said. “Put it on the ground, let’s see what we can find.”

  He placed the box as directed, then sat beside it, rifling through the contents. I joined him.

  “Hey, check it out!” he said, laughing. He pulled out a hot pink scarf and wrapped it around his neck. “What do you think, my color?”

  I stifled a giggle. “Suits your skin tone. What else is there? I haven’t looked for a while.”

  He quickly began to pull items out of the box. “Teddy bear, non-library book, car keys… wait, how the hell did this person get home?”

  Now I really did burst out laughing. “I’ve got this sudden mental picture of someone driving a car Fred Flintstone style, with their feet hanging out the bottom.”

  Booker laughed but then stopped suddenly, his eyes alighting on an object he had spied. He snatched it up with a grin. “I think this is for you, ma’am.” He pulled out a plastic bag that contained goggles and a teeny, tiny swimming costume.

  I picked up the goggles, dangling them off one finger. “I’ll wear these if you wear the costume?”

  He laughed. “Sorry, it’s a matching set. That would be cheating.�
��

  “Oh really?” I said, seizing the box and dragging it toward me. I fished inside quickly. “Well then this, sir, is for you!” With a flourish, I presented him a plastic tiara.

  He placed it on his head and then posed. “What do you think?”

  “Very handsome!”

  “It’s just a shame there is no matching wand,” he said, pulling a sad face. “Because if I had one, maybe I could magic up…” He fished inside the box blindly. “This!”

  I cocked my head to the side, observing the plain white top he’d pulled out. “Really? That’s the best you could come up with?”

  “Hmm… that was disappointing. I was hoping for something better.” He threw it toward me.

  I held it against my body and then laughed. The fabric was thin, with a plunging neckline. “Only disappointing if I don’t try it on—my boobs would look great in this!”

  His head snapped up. “Did I hear that right?”

  “Sorry. The inner voice just slipped out. It does that sometimes.”

  “Any chance you’d model it anyway?”

  I flushed bright pink. “Let’s keep looking Mister. It’s cold out, remember?”

  He grinned, and suddenly my heart went all aflutter. “I know. That’s why I suggested it!”

  * * *

  Half an hour later we were both decked out in rejects from the lost property box.

  Booker had dressed me in mismatched gloves, a cowboy hat and the type of sweater everyone receives from their grandma at least once in their life. I couldn’t really blame that last item for being left at the library.

  I’d dressed Booker in a pink scarf, black leather purse, orange sarong and leg warmers. He’d worn it all with good humor, even the ‘I’m with stupid’ t-shirt that had an arrow pointing straight down. I wasn’t sure how warm it would make us, but it sure had been a fun way to pass the time.

  “Maybe we leave this stuff here until we get cold enough to use it,” Booker said once we’d reached the end of the box. He stepped behind a bookshelf again to change.