Mr. Big Love (Mr. Big 2)

He wanted the Park Avenue three bedroom with the patio.

My instinct was to take the cheapest of the five apartments, but that wouldn’t be fair to Luke. He could afford it -- like he said, even with the outlay of the money, he'd still have a thousand times as much to invest in the new corporation.

"What do you think?" I asked, squeezing his hand as we drove along the streets back to the hotel. "Which one do you want?"

"No question. Park Avenue. The others feel like a letdown in comparison."

I nodded, finally agreeing. "We should look some more tomorrow. We shouldn't buy something so quickly."

"It'll be gone if we wait too long," Luke said. "This is Manhattan, not Portland. Besides, I'm not bargain shopping. I'm looking for a place I want to live in, and the Park Avenue apartment is somewhere I'd be happy to live."

"I'll leave it up to you," I said, smiling to myself, still feeling like I had to pinch myself that I was going to be living in such a nice apartment.

"It's not just up to me," he protested. "We're partners, Alexa. I mean that. It's not just lip service. We both have to be happy with the place."

"It's all your money," I said softly.

"What's mine is yours," he said with a smile. "The good, the bad, and the apartment."

I laughed.

"I love the Park Avenue apartment."

"Me, too. I'll talk to my banker and let Nathan know we like it."

I nodded and we drove the rest of the way in silence, both of us smiling.

For the past eight months, I'd been living on The Phoenix and while it was fantastic as catamarans go, it wasn't an apartment. My apartment with Candace was like a hovel in comparison, but the point was living with Candace. We were best buds and were living our dream of going to school in Manhattan.

This was my new life with Luke, and I had to accept that he was wealthy.

I'd be wealthy when I married him. Even with a pre-nup, I'd be living like the one percent.

Probably better.

The money didn't matter to me. I'd have been with Luke even if he wasn't the CEO who developed Chatter, and even if he wasn't Luke Marshall, the poor little rich boy whose parents were killed in a car accident when he was young.

I'd live with him in a small one-bedroom student apartment near Columbia if I had to.

Chapter Fourteen

Luke

I spoke with Rod Campbell, my banker, a friend of my adoptive father who helped me with financing Chatter, and who I now used for all my investment decisions. I told him about the apartment on Park Avenue and asked him to take a look at the listing and let me know what he thought. I said I was really serious about buying it, had the money and just wanted to know if it was a good investment.

"Do you love this place?" he asked.

"I love it. My fiancée loves it. We've looked at what's available with our specs, and it's the one we like best."

"I'll have my real estate guy look at it and let you know."

"How long will this take? I don't want to lose it."

"Later today," he said. "He'll get right on it."

"Thanks," I said. "I appreciate the quick turnaround."

"I know how hot the market is right now. No time to waste when you find something you like."