Read Online Kiki's Millionaire by Patricia Green - Free Book Online Page B

mouth. “We’re friends, okay? But—“
    “No buts. Are you moving in with Maddie?”
    The other girl squeaked and dropped a book.
    “No. Maddie lives with her sister and they don’t have
room for me. I’m putting my stuff in storage, and staying somewhere else.”
    Jim took her arm again. He wanted to shake her, but
resisted. “Where, damnit!”
    She had the grace to look uncomfortable. “The Union
Mission Women’s Shelter.”
    A homeless shelter? His Kiki? He dropped her arm and
took a step back, both mentally and physically, as he tried to look at the
situation rationally. It was true that homeless shelters did great work. He donated
to several charities which provided shelters. And, he didn’t think the people
who used those shelters were inferior, just people down on their luck. But he
would never, ever let a friend of his fall into such straits. Kiki was not down
on her luck; she had him!
    “No.”
    “What do you mean, ‘no’?” She frowned at him and
straightened her shoulders. “I can’t stay here. It’s a perfectly good
solution.”
    “No.”
    “Look, Jim, you can say no all you want, but that’s
not going to change my mind.” She picked up a pile of books again and started
arranging them in a box.
    Frustration welled up in him like a dust devil on
parched soil. “Let me put you up in a hotel. Or, I’ll loan you the money to
stay here until August.”
    “Now it’s my turn to say no.”
    “Just a loan, Kiki. You can pay me back when you’re on
your feet again.” He stepped closer, then felt guilty for trying to use his
size to intimidate her into cooperating. He rubbed a hand over his face, the
stubble there making a gritty sound. She wasn’t intimidated anyway.
    “I don’t borrow money from friends.” She looked up
from her box. “Not even rich friends.”
    Maddie chose that moment to speak up. “Kiki, you know
it might be a good idea—“
    “No!”
    The other girl dropped her eyes and emptied her
armload into a box, then turned and went to the cupboard for whatever was still
there.
    “Maddie’s right, Kiki. It’s a good idea to take what
I’m offering. No strings attached.”
    “You always attach strings, Jim. That’s how we’ve gone
on all our dates.”
    She got him on that one. But this was different. “I
mean it, Kiki. After our one remaining date, I won’t ask you again. If there
are more dates, it’ll only be because you ask for them. I just want to help
you.”
    She worried her lower lip, thinking. “That’s a kind
offer, Jim, but even if you didn’t ask for payment, I’d still have to say no. I
don’t want to be beholden to you. I don’t want to owe anyone anything.”
    “Argh! Kiki, you’re being unreasonable!”
    Kneeling down on the floor, she began to arrange the
books in the box, not meeting his eyes, her shoulders squared and a stubborn
set to her jaw.
    It was hopeless. He began to take off his suit coat.
He wanted to throttle her, to shake some sense into her, to spank the livin’
daylights out of her and teach her not to be stubborn to her own detriment. But
he couldn’t spank her with her friend there. He didn’t want to humiliate her.
So, he lost this battle. The war had not ceased, however.
    Jim began to stack up the boxes full of books in a
corner.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Helping, Kiki. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
    “Oh. You don’t have to-”
    His look cut her off and for that he was grateful.
He’d had enough struggles for one day.
    “When are the movers going to arrive?”
    “You’re looking at ‘em.”
    Jim was incredulous. These two little women intended
to move all these fifty-pound boxes of books all on their own? It was so Kiki.
“I suppose you won’t let me get you a moving company to do this.”
    It was her turn to give him a look.
    “I thought as much. Well, did you borrow a pick-up
truck or something?”
    “Maddie has a mini-van.”
    “Kiki, at that rate, you’ll be at this for days. I
have a