“How many bedrooms does this place have?” she asked him curiously, trying not to sound too interested in the answer.
“Five, and we have a fairly large guest house that’s unoccupied” Ashton answered. “Would you like to stay here?”
Becca widened her eyes at him. “I’ll have to think about it—YES. Would you be offended though if I chose the guest house? I absolutely love it here, but we’re just starting out again and I think it’d be best to take things slow.”
He laughed. “I’ll let Alexa know you said yes. She kind of thought that you would. Do you want to go horseback riding with me? When’s the last time…?”
“Oh wow, not since I was about sixteen,” she replied honestly. “Yes, I would love to.”
He led her out to the field next to his ranch-style mansion and took his time introducing her to his horses. Becca decided that she liked the white horse with gray spots the most, so Ashton had the horse saddled up nicely for her along with the one he’d chosen and they carefully climbed aboard their steeds.
“Now, I don’t recommend going out past the fence,” he explained to her. “The ground is less level and the horse might get spooked and throw you.”
She held on tightly to the reigns and they rode along together. She felt the thrill of bouncing along atop a strong and strong-willed creature. “You spoil me,” she said to Ashton. “What did I ever do to deserve any of this?”
He shrugged a little bit, smiling at her. “You stuck by me even when I treated you poorly. You saved my dog. And most of all, you gave me a second chance instead of tossing me out like the miserable jerk I was.”
Becca laughed softly, unable to keep from smiling at him as they bobbed along side-by-side through his rolling property. There were cows out there in the grass and dirt as well, but they paid them no mind. “So what you’re saying is that it was a wise decision not to move on?”
Ashton thought about it and nodded his head. “Maybe not in all cases, but in this case, yes.”
They rode their horses for a while longer, until he received word from Alexa that Becca’s things were taken out of the tiny apartment and they were on their way to his ranch. She was amazed that after all of that drama and heartache, she was going to be right next to Ashton. She was determined not to leech off of him for too much longer, though. What she really needed to do was find herself a good job as a vet somewhere. The trouble was that none of the animal hospitals in the city seemed to be hiring, and she couldn’t exactly open a practice of her own.
Ashton didn’t pressure her into looking for employment, but that was likely because he still pictured himself as her knight in shining armor. Becca appreciated that sentiment, but she’d spent too long taking care of herself to be fully okay with that. A little pampering was fine, but she didn’t think she deserved to just sit around and do nothing all day.
Her things arrived at his guest house and Becca was happy to claim it as her own for the time being. She now had space for the furniture she’d brought along so it didn’t have to waste away in storage.
“Now it feels just a little bit more like home,” she told him with a smile. “Just don’t forget to start charging me rent as soon as I can pay it.”
It wasn’t very likely that Ashton was going to charge her rent, but at least she’d offered to pay. The good thing was that the house and property was so big, she wouldn’t exactly be giving up her independence. She wouldn’t even have to see Ashton there if she didn’t want to, but of course she did.
She didn’t know what life in New York had in store for her, but if she was going to be living with him at his ranch, then she knew she would be feeling more at home in no time.
Epilogue
It turned out that it didn’t take Becca too long to find a job. The trouble had been that none of the animal hospitals in the city were hiring, but it just so happened that the veterinarian that took care of Ashton’s horses was getting ready to retire and was in need of someone to take over his clinic. “I’d be happy to do it,” she told him. “I studied farm animal medicine in college.”
They made a deal and shook hands on it for added effect. The old vet would keep the business but she would be the veterinarian there. He would assist by paying the building’s bills and mortgage. Becca was thrilled simply to be working again. She finally felt like an adult again after so many weeks of feeling the regression settling in.
Every chance she got, she went out horseback riding with Ashton. Now that she was his veterinarian, she got to know his horses quite well and she made sure that they were always healthy and well taken care of. Ashton was quite happy to have her as his horse’ vet. He knew that they were in capable hands.
As she continued to adjust to city life, he took her to more restaurants and tourist spots like the Empire State Building and the Museum of Natural History. He even took her to a Broadway show, which she enjoyed but she didn’t think it was as captivating as Ellen’s Stardust Diner.
“Remember when I told you that I loved you?” she said to him one evening as they sat together on his front porch. “I told you that I never stopped loving you and you didn’t say anything back.”
She pouted at him a little bit.
“I love you too,” he said with a smile. “I’ve always loved you. That’s why I couldn’t come back here unless I brought you along with me. You’re the only piece of Meridian that I can’t live without.”
Becca rested her head on his shoulder. That was a good enough answer for her.
When Christmastime came around, rather than being in the city to witness the pomp and circumstance that went into a New York Christmas – and all of the extra tourists that came with it – Ashton decided that they should go home to Meridian and spend the holiday with their families. After all, he had promised that he would visit again, and it had been almost a year now.
He hoped that Skipper was okay. When they arrived at his parents’ house, one of the first things Ashton did was go check on his old dog. Skipper wagged his tail at him and gave his chin a lick, then he cuddled with Becca too.
“It looks like New York City has been treating you well,” his mother remarked. “You’ll probably be staying away from here a lot now too, right?”
Becca smiled and shook her head a little bit. “It’s not really the city that interests me so much as it’s Upstate New York. The city is so loud and frantic, but I spend most of my time taking care of the horses on Ash’s ranch.”
They had a wonderful time catching up over dinner and when it was time to go, Ashton invited them to come visit him once the warmer months of Spring arrived.
Becca couldn’t stop in Meridian without taking time to visit with her friends. They were overjoyed to see her again and they kept commenting on how happy she looked.
“You don’t really look like a city-slicker at all,” Erin said with a surprised laugh. “You look like you’ve been enjoying sunshine and fresh air.”
“That’s because I have,” she told her friends. “I’ve being really enjoying working outdoors on Ashton’s big ranch with the horses and cows. And being able to spend time with Ash as much as I do, makes it all the more special.”
“Wow,” Jaz said, whistling. “It sounds like you’ve got the best of both worlds now.”
It wasn’t difficult to leave the small Colorado town, but it was hard for Becca to say goodbye to her best friends again. Several months felt like several years when she’d spent so much time with them over the years. It was a big adjustment, not seeing them every day, but she was glad to be able to pester them in texts and emails back and forth.
When it was time to fly back to New York, Ashton was grateful to have Becca as his flying partner now. He didn’t have to go anywhere without her, as long as she wanted to come along. They made plans to visit Denver again as soon as it was springtime and the weather would be more hospitable. They made plans to visit Europe too, for a change of pace and for somewhere that Ashton hadn’t been to yet either. Alexa was more than happ
y to help them make plans, as long as he was smart about it and planned things so he wouldn’t have so many meetings for her to attend in his absence.
Becca had never thought that she could be as happy as she was now. She never thought that she’d get the chance to see so much of the world. Instead, she always sort of assumed that she’d live the rest of her life in Meridian. That wasn’t such a bad prospect, but now that she was together with Ashton again, she could see with clearer eyes that the world was a lot of fun to explore. She just needed the right person to explore it with.
She knew that her friends had always sort of scoffed at her for being so devoted to that boy who’d run off on her all those years ago. She knew now that there was nothing wrong with being faithful, as long as that faith was placed in the right person. Luckily for her, Ashton was exactly the right person for her all along.
* * *
Her Charming Billionaire Doctor
Billionaire Hearts Club
Chapter One
New York City
Wiping his sleeve against his forehead, Craig looked up at the clock on the wall. The workday was finally almost at an end. He took off his blue scrubs, handing them off to his nurse before straightening his tie and going into his office to check his patient schedule for the rest of the week. If he had a dollar for every facelift or tuck he’d been hired to perform this summer, he’d be a billionaire. Hey, he thought with a grin. That’s why I am a billionaire.
Plastic surgery wasn’t really his heart’s calling or anything. His father was a retired plastic surgeon and he’d expected Craig to follow in his footsteps, just like his brother Donnie had done. It paid extremely well and Craig was happy to be able to help people, even if he thought it was superficial at times. It was literally superficial, after all… And none of the people who came to him and went under the knife actually had any reason to alter their appearance. He supposed it was mainly a psychological thing for a lot of them. It wasn’t his job to look into why; it was his job to give his patients what they asked for. After years of training, he was a great sculptor of faces.
His brother Donnie was even greater at it, though he believed that came with age more than from innate talent. Donnie was three years older than Craig. He’d been in the plastic surgery game for over ten years, and he never once seemed to question the morals of the job. He enjoyed the lavish lifestyle that came along with it. Craig didn’t hang out with his brother very often – Donnie lived in New Jersey – but whenever he did, it was a thrilling time.
I wonder what mischief he’ll get up to this time, Craig thought as he shut off his computer and headed out of his office, ducking into his waiting car. It can’t be anything as crazy as the time we went to Atlantic City…
Now that he was safely ensconced in his limousine, he took his cell phone out of his suit pocket and checked to see if Donnie had sent him any texts. Sure enough, he had one and threw his head back in laughter after reading it over.
“I’m in town, Broseph. Do you want to grab dinner? You pick, I’ll pay.”
This was one thing Craig loved about spending time with his brother: he may have been frivolous and kind of crazy, but at least he was generous. Donnie didn’t boss Craig around or make him feel inferior like their father often did to both of them. He was much more laid back than their old man.
“LOL, sounds good man. There’s a really good Italian place I’ve been meaning to try called Antipasti,” Craig texted. “I’m heading home now.”
Memorial Day weekend wasn’t as flashy as some of the other long holiday breaks were, but it was a good enough excuse to relax for a while. As soon as his car pulled up to the front of his building, the chauffeur popped out and opened the door so Craig could climb out. “Thank you, Albert,” he said to the driver, giving him a nice tip before making his way inside and up the elevator to his penthouse that had one of the best views in the city.
He changed out of his work suit and into some dark jeans and a teal button-down with an outline of a gold tiger across the chest. His casual hanging out clothes were all designer. Just as soon as he sat down on his couch in his living room, the door buzzed, alerting him that his brother was downstairs. He stood back up again and stretched, cracking his neck and sighing with relief at the feeling. He headed back downstairs. Going out to eat dinner in his work clothes was something he would never do; it was difficult to feel like he was off work when he wore the same thing the rest of the night.
“Hey,” Craig said with a smile as he approached his brother. Donnie was standing outside of his sparkling black Rolls Royce, beaming as he came toward him. He opened his arms for a hug but as soon as Craig was embracing him, he turned it into a slight noogie as well.
“How’s it going, man?” Donnie asked him. The car’s driver carefully opened the passenger door and they got into the car. “It looks like life has been treating you well.”
“It has,” Craig agreed. “You’re looking well, too. Is that an Armani?”
Donnie glanced down at the navy blue suit he was wearing. “This one? Nah, this is Tom Ford. Only my best for you, my brother.”
Craig felt slightly under-dressed now, but he wasn’t going to comment on it at the risk of being mercilessly teased by his brother. They both looked sharp and that was what mattered. Their driver was wise in the ways of avoiding traffic in the city and he brought them to Antipasti in no time, assisting them out of the car at the front curb.
"This is my first time here, so please don't judge me if this ends up being a poor choice on my part," Craig said with a nervous chuckle as they went inside the restaurant.
"I’m not going to judge you. I’ve always admired your taste," Donnie replied, looking around and appearing to admire the atmosphere instead of sniffing at it. There were paintings on the wall, reproductions of some famous works around the host desk as well as some more creative imaginings around the rest of the dining room. Craig felt proud at least the décor was satisfying.
They were soon shown to a table in its own little vestibule.
"You made reservations," Craig noted once the host was gone.
"Yes," Donnie said. "I didn't want to miss out on a good table. It's been a while since I made a reservation for myself."
Craig laughed a bit. "Wouldn't want to get rusty at such a simple task."
They took their time looking over their menus. Everything looked so good; it was difficult to choose just one entrée but Craig didn’t want to order a bunch of things and then regret it later. He had the bad habit of overstuffing himself, a trait he’d had since he was a child. Now he was thirty-two, his body just didn’t handle it the same way.
When the waiter came, they had decided on their meals and a plethora of appetizers to share so they went ahead and ordered. “The food here looks so good. I wanted to try a little bit of everything from the menu,” he remarked once the waiter was gone again.
“Same!” Donnie said with a nod. “Maybe next time, we should come with a cooler so we can take away samples of everything.”
Their food arrived soon and they were preoccupied with eating. Craig also ordered a Fauxrangina and its fruitiness more than soothed. After a while of simply enjoying their food and each other’s company, he looked at Donnie with another friendly smile. “Do Mom and Dad know you’re in town yet? They’ll probably want to take you out for some lavish dinner as well.”
Donnie nodded as he sipped his Virgin Mary. “Mmm, yes,” he said, setting the drink back down on the table. “I told them I was coming, but they insisted I should take you out somewhere first. They said you’ve been buried in your work. Is that true?”
“Well, this time of year is always busy for me,” Craig pointed out. “Isn’t it for you? Everyone wants their body to look perfect for summer vacations. I had to turn some people away right before this weekend, which I felt bad about.”
“Ugh, imagine having to work on Memorial Day weekend. Or any weekend,” Donnie said. “The weekends are meant for living, otherwise why do we bu
st our behinds during the week, week after week?”
Craig seriously doubted Donnie busted his behind very often. Sure, being a surgeon meant a lot of standing and diligently working with one’s hands, but compared to a lot of other sorts of jobs, they had it easy. “It is definitely good to get a break every week. I don’t know how some people do it. But I can also understand why they need to. And thank goodness for the service workers, otherwise who would work in places like this?”
He looked at his brother, smug to have made a good point. As usual, Craig could see both sides of the argument. Donnie sipped his drink thoughtfully. “Mom and Dad also said you spend a lot of time at a club in town?”
“The Executive?” Craig asked with a wry smile. “They make it sound like I go clubbing every night. It’s not that kind of place. It’s a respectable men’s club for drinks and hors d’oeuvres and hanging out. There’s no loud music or dancing girls.”
Donnie snapped his fingers together in pretend disappointment, and then he gave a loud laugh. “I didn’t mention it because I want to go clubbing with you, Baby Brother. I only mentioned it because it sounds like Mom and Dad have been missing you.”
Craig raised his eyebrows. Missing him? But it wasn’t as if he wasn’t around. He saw his parents at least once a month. Wasn’t it normal for a young man who led a busy life and had his own interests? “I spend time with them often enough, I thought.”
They went back to focusing on their food, letting the awkwardness pass into pleasant silence. He had a feeling he was going to be visiting his parents once dinner was over, and he suspected they put Donnie up to this instead of it being purely his idea. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to visit his parents, though. They were good people, even if they did have a lot of opinions about what Craig should be doing with his life. They meant well, but it could be so aggravating at times, especially when he thought he was doing a good job. It often felt like the rug was being pulled out from under him when they talked to him and made little suggestions he hadn’t asked for.
Billionaire Hearts Club- The Complete Series Collection Page 12