It didn’t matter that she hadn’t wanted to kiss him, Julian thought as he walked to his room. No, that’s not right. She had wanted to kiss him, but there was Caleb. It was too soon. Everything was coming together as he wanted. She’d confronted Caleb and ended things, and most importantly, she’d called him when she was upset and had no place to go.

Now, he had work to do. He had done some preliminary research when he found out about the cheating, but now he put things into place, calling on his various friends and business partners throughout the city to get done what he needed. He could have called Aiden and gotten him to do these things, but he enjoyed doing them, knowing it was all for Leah.

First, was the apartment. She needed a place to stay. As much as he’d love to just have her move in, she’d never go for that, and he couldn’t push something that fast. But he could get her a new place. So he did. One of the nicest apartments in the city. Fully furnished, of course. He didn’t know what all she’d brought with her to Caleb’s, but this way, she wouldn’t have to worry about getting it back.

He bought her a new car. Not that anything was wrong with her current one. Except that it was old, had some rust spots, and wasn’t very safe. A nice new car, nothing too extravagant because she wouldn’t want that. A Lexus sedan for now, and he would buy her whatever she wanted in the future.

The easiest thing to set up was a new expense account. He moved over a huge sum of money and had a new card rush ordered so that Aiden could pick it up first thing in the morning and bring it over. She would need some cash, too, and he had plenty of that in his safe. This way, she could quit that crappy job at the coffee place and not worry about a thing. She could go shopping, get new clothes, a new phone, whatever she needed to start a new life away from Caleb.

He emailed his friend, Billy. They’d been in contact about Leah earlier that week, but now he pulled the trigger. “Let’s set up an interview this week,” he wrote.

He was excited about that one. Billy Mason was one of the top fashion designers in the country, let alone the city. Having an interview with him would be huge for anyone, but especially for Leah, who adored his designs, according to her browsing history, and who had gone to school to do the position she would now be interviewing for.

He could barely sleep that night, but when he woke, he had everything set up and waiting for her, including a hot breakfast and coffee. When she came downstairs, he got up to greet her.

“Hungry?” he asked.

She looked at the table, which was covered in plates of eggs, bacon, pancakes, French toast. “I am now.” She filled a plate and sat down.

He was bubbling over with excitement at all the things he wanted to tell her. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so good about doing something for someone. She made him feel alive again, and feel good about doing good.

“I have things to tell you,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

She looked wary. “What?”

“These are all good things.”

She swallowed and set down her fork to listen.

“No, keep eating, please.” He took another bite himself. “I know you need a place to stay, and I figured you wouldn’t want to stay here forever. So, I got you a place.”

“Umm. Okay? What do you mean?”

“I rented an apartment for you to stay in as long as you need it.”

“Julian, I—”

“No.” He held up his hand. “I was the one partially responsible for bringing this all about. I need to do this to not feel guilty for ruining your relationship.”

“You didn’t.”

“But I was the one to point it out. So, I’m going to do this for you. I also have a new car here for you to drive so you don’t have to worry about that old thing breaking down.”

“No way.” She put her fork down again. “I’m not driving one of your cars.”

“No, you’re not. It’s in your name. It’s your car.”

“Julian!”

“And while we’re at it. Here.” He handed her an envelope with a few thousand in cash and her new debit card, tied to the expense account he had set up last night.

She took the envelope hesitantly. When she opened it, she threw it back down. “Please don’t do all this. I don’t want this from you. I have a job, I can survive just fine. I’ll call one of my friends and sleep on their couch. And my car is fine. I—”

“Oh, your job. That’s right. That reminds me.”

She shut her mouth and gave him a suspicious look.

“You have a degree in fashion design, right?”

“Yes.”

“So, tell me why you were using that degree in a coffee shop.”

“I wasn’t using it. Obviously.”

“Then why work there?”

She shrugged. “Caleb worked there. It was easy. I could spend more time with him.”

“So instead of pursuing your dream career, you worked at a coffee shop to be close to him.”

“At first, it was temporary. They really needed help, so I helped out, but then…” She pushed around some eggs on her plate and didn’t meet his eyes.

“You just stayed?”

“Caleb wanted me to stay. He said if I got a fancy job in the city, I’ve leave him behind. I’d become someone else.”

“Someone else? The person you are went to school for four years, earned a 4.0 GPA, and spent countless hours designing clothing lines. That’s who you are. You became someone else for Caleb.”

He saw her throat move and thought she might be crying.

“I have a friend in the fashion design world. His name is Billy, and he said he’d be willing to give you an interview at his company.”

She looked up and blinked, sending a tear down her cheek. “Billy?”

“Billy Mason. Have you heard of him?”

Her mouth popped open and she gaped at him. “Billy Mason?! You’re friends with Billy Mason!”

“I am.”

“Wait, wait.” She put her palms flat on the table and breathed hard. “Are you telling me you got me an interview to work at Billy Mason Designs?”

“No.”

Her face fell.

“I got you an interview with Billy himself.”

She breathed hard again, shaking her head. “No, no, no,” she repeated over and over. “Julian, this…”

“Is exactly what you always wanted?”

“No. Yes, I mean. I don’t know.” She shook her head and let out a growl of frustration. “That is my dream job. But all this… An apartment, a car, money, and this interview? It’s too much.”

“It’s simple. Here’s how it works. I have tons of money. More money than I know what to do with. I care you about you. You need help. You just had a horrible break up with your boyfriend, so you need a place to live, you need a car that you can rely on, you need money to buy a new outfit for this interview. And if you get the job, you’ll need a lot more money to buy a wardrobe worthy of a fashion designer, you’ll need an apartment big enough to sketch and work in, and you can’t drive up on the Billy Mason lot in that old junker. Unless you’re going for that whole poor Bohemian look, which I don’t really think fits with the Billy Mason brand, but I don’t know that much about fashion. Maybe I’m wrong. The point is. Friends do whatever they can to help out their friends when they’re in need. It just so happens you’re in a lot of need, and I have the means to give you a lot of help.”

She stared at him for a long time. Then she stood.