The Billionaire’s Second Chance: A Small Town Romance

by Weston Parker

  Curling up on the couch, which I counted as a win since it wasn’t my bed, I draped a sunshine-yellow throw blanket over my legs and sighed. “Okay, maybe it’s not all my fault, but it’s at least a little on me. I let myself believe there was something more going on between us than just a ploy to get Angelina back. It was stupid.”

  Jessie sliced into a package of bacon with so much gusto that I wondered if she was imagining the plastic was her brother’s balls. I knew I kind of was.

  “I feel terrible. This was all my idea and you have to believe me when I say I had no idea it would backfire so badly.”

  She scowled at the pan she banged down on the stove. “I can’t believe he forgave her. I really thought he had a stronger backbone than that.”

  “Can you really blame him? I saw her in Traverse City. She’s beautiful, among the other adjectives I could use to describe her.”

  “I don’t care if she’s got perky boobs or if her vagina is made of pure gold and comes with glitter.” I flinched, really not wanting a mental image of any of her lady parts, but Jessie didn’t notice. She was too busy abusing kitchenware and taking her frustrations out on the food. “What she did was wrong, and she’s not right for him anyway.”

  “He’s giving her a second chance. It sucks, but those aren’t unheard of. Don’t get me wrong, I am not and will not ever defend him, but obviously, she’s what he wants regardless of what anyone else thinks is right for him.”

  “All he sees are those pretty eyes and the long legs. That girl isn’t done hurting him yet. Not by a long shot. It just makes it a million times worse that we dragged you into it, and now you’re hurt again.”

  The bacon started sizzling in the pan, and she walked over to collapse on the other end of the couch. “I’m so, so sorry. I know it can never be enough and I know it doesn’t make you hurt any less, but I should’ve known better.”

  “Don’t blame yourself, Jess.” I reached out to touch her arm, wrapping my fingers around it to give her a squeeze before pulling back again. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I know you wouldn’t have suggested the whole thing if you suspected there was any chance this would happen. You double and triple-checked with me that I didn’t have feelings for him anymore before you told me about the plan, remember?”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t come over here for you to make me feel better.” Her usually vibrant eyes were dull today, like emeralds covered in an ancient layer of dust. “I really thought he and Angelina were done for good.”

  Looking at my friend, I realized there was a lot more going on than what she was saying. “What else? I know you didn’t come here for me to make you feel better, but just humor me for a minute. It couldn’t make me feel any worse, and I’d like to know.”

  She sagged into the couch, pulling one of the cushions onto her lap and holding on to it for dear life. “He’s the only family I’ve got left, you know? I wanted to help him by either saving his career or convincing him that he was happier here. At home. With his family and his real friends.”

  “Isn’t he happy in LA?” I frowned, replaying all the conversations we’d had about the city. “He seems to have found a lot of friends there. His life definitely sounds like it’s really exciting there.”

  “That’s just the thing.” She wiped her tears away with her palms, looking about as miserable as I felt. “Those people, most of them anyway, aren’t real friends to him, and it might sound exciting with all the traveling and whatnot, but I’m worried about him.”

  I thought back to the expression he’d worn every time he talked about LA and his life there. I’d thought I was imagining things, but maybe not. “I think I understand why. There does seem to be a darkness that comes over him when he talks about it.”

  “I’ve watched my brother fade away over the years, becoming less and less like himself. I thought if anyone could save him, it would be you. I just never considered the harm he could do to you as my best friend and not his ex-girlfriend before I leaped at my stupid engagement idea.”

  “It wasn’t stupid, Jess. You were trying to help both of us. I’m the only one who was stupid here. I tried so hard not to fall for him again, but I’ve realized I never fell out of love with him. It wasn’t so much falling for him again as it was that my feelings were just—I don’t know—on ice for the time being.”

  She scooted closer and wrapped her arm around me, resting her head on top of mine when I laid it down on her shoulder. “I’m sorry we hurt you. If I ever come up with anything like that again, just kick me and tell me no.”

  A smile broke out across my face for the first time since last night. It might not have been that long for some people, but it was for me. “I won’t kick you, but I will say no. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  We sat in amicable silence for a few minutes until she got up to turn the bacon and start on some more food. I kept my gaze on the closed curtains, watching as they fluttered in the breeze. Whatever she was cooking was starting to fill my apartment with delicious smells. I still wasn’t hungry, but if anything was going to convince me to eat, it would be Jessie’s cooking.

  “At least the one good thing is that the media isn’t painting you as a homewrecker. I know you were worried about that.”

  I jumped a little in my seat. “What? How do you know? Is it out there already?”

  “Yep.” She stabbed at a frying tomato with a fork. “That cheating witch gave her first interview right after you left last night.”

  “What are they saying?” My throat was suddenly drier than the desert. I hadn’t even thought about the ramifications from the press yet.

  “The media and all of William’s fans are talking about the blonde who stole his heart after Angelina cheated on him.” She smiled softly. “Most of them are actually rooting for you. William didn’t look too happy at her side during her first interview last night, which is only fueling the rumor fire.”

  A stone formed in the pit of my stomach. “Is that all?”

  She shook her head. “There are pictures of your hand online with a ring on it. It’s got the whole of Hollywood in a tizz. Angelina has given a few interviews during the course of this morning where she denies there was ever an engagement, but a picture speaks a thousand words, and there’s more than one of them out there.”

  “What is William saying?” I could hardly force his name out.

  “Producer William Kent and his team have yet to speak on the matter,” she said, pitching her voice an octave higher to impersonate some reporter. “Speculation is rife.”

  “Rife, huh? How long does it usually take for rife speculation to die down?” If I ever saw another reporter, I was sprinting in the opposite direction.

  I’d already gotten my heart broken. I wasn’t going to let them drag me through the mud or keep me in the public eye any longer than I had to be there.

  Jessie flipped the bacon one last time before piling our plates high with it, eggs, fried tomatoes, and treats from Charlie’s bakery. She set mine down on the coffee table, watching me until I snagged a piece of bacon and took a tiny nibble of it.

  “It depends. I don’t think there’s a set period of time. I think they just stick with one thing until something else crops up. None of this was your fault, though. They won’t paint it like it was.”

  I wasn’t so sure, but there was no point trying to predict the direction this would go. Jessie crossed her legs on the couch with her plate on her lap and turned to face me.

  “I came here to comfort you, so hit me with it. What’s going on in that big, lovable brain of yours?”

  “Mostly, I’m just furious with myself,” I admitted, feeling the emotion churn in my stomach like it had a life of its own. “I never should’ve trusted him, and I really never should’ve slept with him.”

  “Slept with him?” Jessie’s mouth dropped open. Thankfully, she’d already swallowed her food but that was little consolation when she was looking at me like that. “He did this to you after you slept w
ith him? I’m going to kill him. What is wrong with him? I swear that godforsaken city and woman have morally bankrupted him.”

  I wiped more tears away, adding my cheeks to the list of body parts that were getting sore. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but I do know what’s wrong with me. All the feelings I used to have for him are back full force, and so is the pain of losing him all over again.”

  Last time, at least I’d found comfort in the fact that I’d done it for him. It’d been a small consolation, but it’d been something at least. I didn’t have that this time, and I had no idea how I was supposed to come to terms with losing him without it.

  Chapter 31

  WILLIAM

  Angelina was waiting for me in the back of a luxury town car. She’d refused to come to the island with me when I went to fetch my shit. Apparently, the idea of taking a ferry that was open to the public didn’t appeal to her.

  When I refused to charter a plane just to take us over for me to collect my belongings, she’d insisted on waiting on the mainland. I thought the whole thing was ridiculous, but I didn’t have it in me to argue about it.

  It didn’t really matter in the greater scheme of things anyway. If we ever came back here once we were married, I’d charter the fucking plane. For now, I just wanted to get my stuff and leave.

  Jessie wouldn’t stop glowering at me, and yet she’d tagged along to say goodbye. I knew she’d have spoken to Anna by now, but if she had, she didn’t mention it.

  I was dying to ask her how she was doing, but I bit my tongue and clenched my fists. I’d lost the right to know, and I needed to get used to it. If I didn’t want to fuck Anna around anymore, which I didn’t, I had to let her go. That was what I was doing.

  Putting that whole shitshow behind me. I was going back to Malibu—my chosen home—and getting back to my goddamn life. This brief interlude and foray into the fantasy land of my past was over.

  The car Angelina had hired was a gleaming black monstrosity the likes of which I hadn’t even known was for rent in this city, but she never ceased to surprise me. When it came to ensuring her comfort, there was nothing that woman wouldn’t do.

  Which was why she was perfect for me.

  Despite my recent delusions, Angelina and I were cut from the same cloth. She’d cheated on me, so I’d cooked up some elaborate scheme and fucked my ex to get back at her.

  Except that wasn’t what happened.

  I shut down that part of my brain real damn fast. I couldn’t think about this any other way, or I wasn’t going to get in that car and get my ass away from here. Just like Anna wanted.

  Jessie rolled her eyes when she saw the car, then pulled me aside after I’d loaded up my bags. Her gaze was filled with pain when it met mine, her voice low and furious. She kept shooting lethal glances at Angelina, who—probably best for the sake of her own health—had decided to remain in the car.

  I wasn’t even sure if she’d seen us getting back yet. Her phone was pressed to her ear, her red lips moving at the speed of light as she spoke into it.

  “Please don’t leave, Will,” Jessie said, taking one of my hands and holding it in both of hers. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Because I live in LA now. I’m engaged to a woman who also lives there, and I need to go back with her.”

  “Why?” A deep frown knitted her dark eyebrows together, her head shaking as if she was having trouble believing what she was hearing. “You’re turning your back on a woman who actually loves you, and for what? An actress who loves what you can do for her and the attention you get her but doesn’t even know you?”

  “Who, exactly, is it that you think actually loves me?” I lifted my brows pointedly, lowering my chin as I stared her down. “Anna?”

  “Yes, Anna. You idiot.” She smacked my bicep. “She loves you and you’re leaving her again. Is LA really worth losing the love of your life?”

  “Anna doesn’t love me.” I snorted derisively, even though I instantly hated myself for it. I closed my eyes and released a deep breath before opening them again. “Look, Jess, I know you always dreamed about Anna becoming your sister if we ended up getting married, but it’s just not going to happen, okay?”

  “If you would just stop being a total dickhead for one minute, you’d realize that she does love you and that you’re throwing it away for nothing. This isn’t about her becoming my sister. Although to be fair, I’d definitely rather have her than Hollywood Barbie in that car, but most of all, I want both of you to be happy.”

  “I am happy,” I said, but I sure didn’t feel it right now. Once we get back to LA, everything will go back to normal. I was happy with Angelina and I will be again.

  “You have fun lying to yourself, but you can’t lie to me,” she snapped. “Anna loves you and I know you love her too. You’ll never be as happy without her as you are when you’re with her.”

  “Anna doesn’t love me,” I repeated. “She might think she does, but there’s just no way that she can. We spent, what, two and a half weeks together? That’s not enough time to love someone. She was shocked and insulted by what Angelina said. That’s all this is.”

  “No, it’s not.” Jessie crossed her arms tightly over her chest and leveled a glare at me that might’ve made other men quiver in their boots. “You’re an even bigger idiot than I thought if you really believe that. She never stopped loving you, Will.”

  “Bullshit. It’s been twelve years, Jess. I hate to break it to you, but she doesn’t even really know me anymore, never mind know me well enough to love me.”

  “And you called bullshit on what I said?” She lifted her hands and planted them on my shoulders, shaking me lightly like she was hoping it might knock some sense into me. “Because what you just said is absolute horseshit then. She knows you better than anyone else. The real you. Not this cheap-ass Hollywood fake version of you.”

  “Well, then there’s something else I should probably break to you. This cheap-ass Hollywood version of me is the real me now. Anna got over me leaving once. She’ll do it again. You need to do the same.”

  “She never got over you leaving, doofus.” Jessie rolled those expressive eyes of hers again. “She never stopped loving you. It just stopped hurting so badly that you were gone and she got on with her life.”

  “It’s too late, Jess.” I put my hands over hers on my shoulders, curling my fingers underneath hers and holding them tight. “Anna and I had our chance. It was great, and I’ll never forget her, but it’s over. All I did by coming back here was to cause more hurt than I ever had a right to. She’s better off without me here.”

  That was the conclusion I’d come to while tossing and turning in my bed last night. The sooner I left, the better it would be for Anna. If I tried talking to her, I’d only end up making it worse. I wasn’t sticking around, so nothing I could say would ease the pain I’d caused her.

  “That’s not true for her, and it’s not true for me either. If you really leave here again, you’ll break her heart for good. Just stay, Willy. Talk to her. Please?”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I swallowed hard, trying not to feel the pain radiating from my sister’s eyes all the way down to my bones. God, being back here hurts.

  I hadn’t felt as much as I had in the last few weeks since I’d left here, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to feel so much again for at least another twelve years. Everything was just too intense, too up close and personal. It was better in LA, where a certain level of aloofness and numbness were expected, revered even.

  “I don’t belong here anymore, Jessie.” I just hoped she could see that I really meant it. “You do, and Anna does, but I don’t. I belong in Los Angeles, with Angelina.”

  “You’re full of shit.” She cuffed me upside the head after wrenching her hands free from my gentle grasp. “You’re just choosing the easy way out so you don’t have to face your mistakes.”

  “Think what you will, little sis. I’ve still gotta go.” Without waiting
for her to protest or push me away, I enveloped her lean body in the tightest hug I could. I didn’t know when I’d see her again, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be soon.

  She wasn’t going to forgive me for leaving here easily this time, nor was she going to let me forget that she thought Anna loved me and that I was breaking her heart. I left anyway, regardless of how much it hurt me to do it.

  As I slid into the backseat with Angelina, she ended her call and flashed me a bright smile before dropping her gaze to her screen. “Are you finally ready to leave yet? God, that took forever. Oh, Sophie wants a photo of me. Here, would you take one?”

  She handed over her phone without waiting for my reply. She fluffed her hair and touched up her lipstick before she rolled down her window and lifted her hands until they were about an inch away from her face.

  “I think this is going to be a good one. This place is so quaint. Maybe we should stop and get some shots of us in your hometown for our social accounts.”

  “This isn’t my hometown. The island is.” I turned to face it as the car pulled away from the ferry terminal. Somewhere over there, Anna could be looking out of her window wondering if I was on my way to run to her in some grand romantic gesture like in the movies.

  I doubted she expected it of me, but if Jessie was right—

  “Hello? Earth to William.” Angelina snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Who cares if this is your actual hometown? It’s the island right off this city, right? That’s close enough.”

  I opened my mouth and put my fist in it, biting my knuckles to keep from getting into another argument with her. We just needed to put all this behind us. In the past, we’d had a lot of fun together. I was sure we could get there again.

  “Are you going to take that picture before my hair gets messed up in the wind?” she asked, sounding truly annoyed before giggling delightedly about something. “I’m so glad I have you back to take these for me. My socials have really suffered without you, baby. You know all my best angles.”