Priceless: Contemporary Billionaire Romance Novel Read Free

he seized her hand.
    “Thank
you. I’ll take it.”
    Maribel
glanced down at his firm grasp.  It was strong, but warm, and it released her
with regret.  She mechanically moved to the register to prepare a gift box and
ring up the sale.  She attempted to remove the necklace herself, but her
fingers fumbled.  She was trembling.  It was hard to give up being the center
of his attention, despite the fact that she knew the whole time he was simply
using her to remind him of another woman.
    When
she returned to the counter, she noted the intimacy between them had disappeared. 
Braxton-Worth’s eyes were now steely grey.  He slid his black credit card
across the glass countertop.  He did not wait for her to recite the final
amount.  Everything was back to business.  Maribel understood.  She charged his
card and watched him scroll his sweeping signature across the receipt, then handed
over the petite shopping bag, and watched as he nodded curtly and disappeared
out the revolving doors of the Grand Lobby and into the bleak cold of the winter
night.
    Crystal
suddenly rushed over to Maribel. “Oh my God, you just made a sale to Miles
Braxton-Worth.  What did he buy?  How much did it cost?”
    Maribel
heard her, but did not respond.  It was the most expensive sale that Maribel
had made all year; her commission would easily be more than she had made all
week.  And yet, she still felt sad—even dejected—deep inside.  She couldn’t
stop thinking about his eyes and the way they had settled upon her, as if she
was truly as unique and special as the necklace.  She watched regretfully as
the revolving doors came to a halt.  Sometimes, it was better to remain
Cinderella, the quiet modest maiden, than to be granted the opportunity to
attend the ball with the Prince and enjoy it—for only a brief fleeting moment.
     
    * * * *
     
    It
was nine fifteen when Maribel finally clocked out of her shift at the
department store.  There were only a few other girls on the floor: Crystal was
folding and re-folding the sweaters.  Samantha was re-stocking the cosmetic
testers.  Roberta was re-organizing the shoe displays. When the final lingering
customers finished their purchases and exited the store, Thomas, the assistant
store manager, locked the revolving doors and killed the instrumental shopping
music.
     “Happy
Valentine’s Day weekend, girls,” Thomas called out with sing-song glee.  “Kick
off those heels and let’s zip through closing so we can get the hell outta
here.” 
    “My
thoughts exactly,” Roberta cried out.
    “Amen
and hallelujah,” Crystal rejoined. 
    Suddenly,
the signature boom-boom-boom base of one of Thomas’s many favorite hip hop
artists filled the Grand Lobby.  The girls smarted off with sassy expressions
of relief, threw up their hands, and grooved to the beat.  Thomas uncorked a
contraband bottle of champagne.  Everyone screamed with delight.  Soon, they
would be home, relaxing for the night, until they had to return tomorrow
afternoon and do it all over again.  But for now, there was only hip hop, free
liquor, and freewheeling jubilation.
    Maribel
smiled to herself and carefully locked up all her jewelry cases.  She tapped
her ladybug slippers to the heavy boom-boom-boom of the music, and
accepted a paper daisy cup filled with champagne. Thomas pulled Crystal away
from the sweaters, and together, they danced and mouthed the rap song’s swear
words to the stores security cameras.  They tried to wrangle in Maribel, but she
escaped behind her register.  She sipped from her champagne, and watched her
co-workers living it up in the Grand Lobby of the department store, and smiled.  Perhaps it wasn’t so bad, after all, she thought, not being a
princess invited to the ball .

Chapter Two
     
    When
Maribel left the department store, it was almost ten o’clock.  She walked out
with Thomas and Crystal, and they all screamed when a gust of wind chilled them
to the bone.  Maribel