Her Last Billionaire Boyfriend

by Liz Isaacson

  Everyone paired up immediately, and it was like they’d had a ranch meeting about it, because she was left out…and so was Carson.

  She glanced around, panic pounding through her as he turned in a slow circle, finally realizing that she would be the one hanging on his arm as they walked down the aisle. As he came closer, her heart flapped around in her chest as if it had grown wings.

  “Looks like we’re together,” he drawled in that sexy voice he possessed.

  In that moment, Adele realized she’d made a grave mistake. She’d suspected it before, but it was easy to push aside, behind the countless orders and the ever-present exhaustion.

  But she knew now that she’d made the biggest mistake of her life when she’d given up Carson Chatworth.

  Chapter 24

  Carson kept waiting for Adele to say something, finally sighing when she continued to stare at him. He fell in step beside her, wishing this wedding was over already. Or maybe he didn’t wish that. Maybe he wanted the nuptials to be stalled, so he’d have time to talk to Adele, make her understand how miserable he was without her.

  And honestly, she didn’t look all that happy either. Sure, she was as beautiful as ever. Sexy in a way that reached right into his stomach and pulled.

  He offered her his arm, and still she stared at him. “I’ll see if someone will switch,” he muttered, and she practically threw her hand through his arm. A shockwave of desire hit him, and he had a very real feeling that he was going to say things he’d regret later.

  He only had a moment to decide if he cared or not.

  Nope, came to his mind, so he leaned down and grazed his lips along her hairline. “I miss you so, so much.”

  I miss you wasn’t the same as I love you, but he felt like he’d said those three little words anyway. His throat had never been drier.

  “Are you happy in New York City?” he asked next, almost desperate to know. He’d been praying for her happiness for months now, and he couldn’t bear to think that God had ignored him once again.

  Adele looked up at him, fear in her eyes.

  “Are you going to say anything?” he asked next, sensing it was almost time to begin. Then they’d walk down the aisle and separate. She’d disappear from his life again, as easily as smoke lifted into the air.

  Of course she wasn’t. Frustration filled him, and he swallowed to try to get it to stay dormant. He didn’t want to ruin things for Hudson and Scarlett.

  “Forget it,” he whispered, looking away.

  “No,” she said, whipping his attention back to her. “No, I’m not all that happy in New York City.” She swallowed but kept going. “I miss you terribly.”

  Hope soared through Carson. “I’m in love with you, Adele,” he whispered just as the wedding march started and the couples in front of him and Adele started walking.

  Her hand on his arm tightened, but he couldn’t suck back in the words. He also couldn’t stall the wedding without ruining it or taking the attention from where it rightfully belonged. So he stepped down the gravel lane that served as a wedding aisle, the trees towering overhead as silent sentinels.

  At the altar, Adele held onto him for an extra heartbeat and then moved to the left with the other bridesmaids. Carson went right, but he didn’t take his eyes from her. Had she heard him? Maybe she’d tightened her hand on his arm so she wouldn’t fall on the uneven ground while wearing heels.

  The ceremony was lovely and when Scarlett and Hudson kissed, he cheered along with everyone else. The party moved into the barn, and Carson got jostled in the crowd. He couldn’t get over to Adele before he entered the barn to soft, party music.

  Lights hung in the loft, and soft, white Christmas lights filled the rafters and were wound around the poles. The floor had been swept clean, and several long tables held refreshments near the back wall.

  Scarlett and Hudson started to dance, and Carson scanned the space for Adele. He had to find her, and the need was so strong, it felt like he was suffocating.

  The song ended, and Hudson stepped over to a microphone in the corner. “Thank you all for being here,” he said, his voice coming from the speakers hanging up high. An idea came to Carson’s mind, and he didn’t dwell on it.

  He acted instead, moving swiftly through the crowd until he was only feet from the microphone too. Hudson said a few more things, and then he motioned for Scarlett to come forward and say something.

  Carson caught her eye, and an entire conversation happened in that single breath. She nodded once, her permission for him to steal her spotlight for just a moment.

  So he darted forward and gripped the microphone with both hands, as if he was strangling a snake. “Hey,” he said, his voice louder than he’d anticipated. He backed up a couple of inches. “I just wanted to add my congratulations to Hudson and Scarlett.” He glanced at both of them, his nerves almost out of courage.

  “And I wanted to let Adele Woodruff know that I’m not all that happy in Shiloh Ridge either. I mean, it’s fine, but it’s nothing like what we have here. This is a great ranch.” He drew in a breath to tame his quivering emotions. “And I want to come back here, but I simply can’t do it without you, Adele.”

  The crowd parted, showing the curvy, beautiful woman in blue that he knew he couldn’t live without. Tears streamed down her face, and Carson left the microphone and strode toward her.

  “Don’t cry,” he murmured when he reached her. He took her face in his hands and wiped her tears. “Please don’t cry.”

  “It’s a wedding,” she said. “People cry.”

  Carson felt like crying himself, but the party around him continued. Scarlett spoke into the microphone, and people started getting food from the tables in the back.

  “Can you please say something?” he asked. He’d said so much, and he wasn’t sure if she was crying because he’d embarrassed her or for some other reason.

  “I’m in love with you, too,” she said. “And I’d love for you to be my billionaire boyfriend again.” She tipped up onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. “My last billionaire boyfriend.”

  Carson kissed her, sure he was dreaming. Then his mind caught up to his emotions, and he pulled away. “Did you just propose to me?” he asked, chuckling.

  “Well, if you don’t want the job.” Her eyes twinkled as she shrugged one shoulder.

  “Oh, I want the job.” He leaned down and kissed her again, feeling more complete after only a few minutes with her in his arms than he had in over eight months.

  Thank you, Lord, he prayed. Thank you so much for answering my prayers.

  Carson returned to Shiloh Ridge, a bounce in his step that everyone could see. It wasn’t like he was trying to hide it, and he had to talk to Bear and let him know he’d be leaving the farm.

  The snow had finally all melted, and Carson was ready for sunnier skies by the time he’d finished up his last day on the dairy farm and packed up everything he owned. Again. He was so tired of packing and driving to a new ranch, and he hoped that Last Chance Ranch would be his final destination.

  He’d toyed with buying a place of his own, but he’d decided he didn’t want the responsibility. He just wanted to get up and go to work, especially if that work included watching Adele do yoga in a pair of stretchy pants. He just wanted the time to spend with Adele. Build a family with her. Make a life together.

  He wasn’t exactly sure what her schedule was that day, but she should’ve left New York City yesterday. She’d said she’d call him when she was back in California, but she hadn’t. He’d woken to a text that said, It was so late I didn’t call. But I’m here. Going to sleep forever.

  So he hadn’t called her back. While they’d danced at the wedding, she’d confessed to him that she’d never been so tired, and she couldn’t wait to return to a slower pace of life.

  Carson had been surprised by that, because Adele seemed to fill her time with busy things, even when she didn’t have to. The cooking, the editing, the videos. She’d told him she
wanted to take the control over those back, and that she’d thought having more money to make the videos “better” would be a good thing.

  He’d told her that money made some things easier, but it didn’t make everything better. Now, he was just trying to figure out how he could ask her to marry him, and how he was going to live on that ranch with her without being able to go home to her at night, and where they might live once they did get married.

  She hadn’t brought up any of those things either, and he’d followed her lead. Number one, he’d seen how busy she was in New York City, and that was before the restaurant had even opened. He couldn’t imagine what her life was like now.

  “I think that’s it,” he said to Bear, who’d been helping him carry boxes to the truck. “Thank you so much, Bear.”

  “Come back anytime,” the man said as they shook hands. “You’re a good cowboy, Carson.”

  “Thanks, Bear.” He smiled into the sun, got behind the wheel, and drove as fast as he dared. He wouldn’t be able to make the trip to California in one day, but it would be three before he’d pull into Last Chance Ranch again, and that moment couldn’t come fast enough.

  Thankfully, he had Ted and Tony to keep him company, yowl along with him as he sang the lyrics to his favorite country songs, and sleep against his back in the uncomfortable hotel rooms.

  He finally rumbled up the road, the sight of that quirky robot mailbox bringing an instant smile to his face. His arms had been bent so they were in front of his see-through chest cavity, and he held a sign that said, “Welcome home, Carson!” in bright red, hand-drawn letters.

  “Look at that, guys,” he said to the dogs, and while they wore grins on their canine faces, he didn’t think it was because of the sign.

  Scarlett had said he could have his old cabin back, and he turned down the first road he came to on the ranch. He knew instantly that something was afoot, because the road was lined with goats of all sizes. They’d been tied to stakes in the ground and carefully positioned.

  He slowed and rolled down his windows. The scent of this place filled his nose, and it was wonderful and familiar, like freshly mowed grass and spring sunshine. Scarlett and Hudson sat in the back of his truck, and they waved him down the road.

  Cache stood at the back of the truck, and he waved too. Carson turned and pulled into his driveway, already laughing when he got out of the truck and brought his backpack with him. Everyone was there to greet him, a whole party of people sitting on the front steps of his cabin. People he knew from the last time he’d been here. People he didn’t.

  It didn’t matter. If you came to Last Chance Ranch, you became family. The sight of Adele smiling at him made Carson’s heart pinch, and he crossed the lawn to her and swept her off her feet as they both laughed.

  “You’re something else, you know that?” he asked.

  “Yeah, well, hold onto your hat, cowboy,” she said as he set her on her feet. “We’re just getting started.”

  Chapter 25

  Someone had definitely shoved loaded cannons down Adele’s throat, and they were all firing. She hated how Carson made her so tongue-tied, especially since they’d started getting along. She’d had no problem yelling at him to get away from her cabin and move his truck so she could back out of her parking space at the grocery store.

  “There’s more?” Carson asked.

  “So much more.” Adele smiled through her nerves and laced her fingers through Carson’s. “Now, I know you like everything to be nice and neat, but well, I may have done a little extraneous decorating for your welcome home party.”

  “Oh, boy,” Carson said, walking slowly with her toward the steps. They went past everyone there, all of whom wore goofy grins on their faces. Adele had made Hudson, Cache, and Scarlett stay the furthest away, because none of them had a good enough poker face. As it was, Carson knew something was going on.

  “The goat line-up was impressive,” he said. “Did you do that?”

  “I thought of it, but Amber executed it. You should see her with the goats. It’s like they speak the same language.” Adele shook her head. “She’s agreed to give us goat yoga back as long as she can keep visiting them.”

  “I don’t see how that’s a problem,” he said. “How do you feel about learning to horseback ride?”

  Adele’s first reaction was to say no, but she shrugged one shoulder instead. “If you insist. Do they have ladders to help me get on the horse?” Because she knew she couldn’t heave herself into a saddle. It looked easy, but Adele knew it wasn’t.

  They reached the door, and her pulse skipped and leaped inside her chest. She put her palm flat against the wood and said, “Okay, here we go.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment, drew in a deep breath, and twisted the doorknob. She stepped inside just far enough to give Carson room to follow her. The balloons she’d driven to town to get drifted in the breeze from the open windows, and the scent of sugar and chocolate and coffee filled the small space.

  “Welcome home, cowboy,” she said. “I made all the food, and I don’t think there’s anything better than balloons.”

  “There’s not,” he said, gazing around. “Tony and Ted are going to hate you though. They’re terrified of balloons.” He laughed, the sound full of joy and love. “This is great, Adele.”

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  Other people entered the house, and Adele felt her opportunity slipping away. They’d take the brownies and pour the coffee, and her voice would fade into the chatter a party produced.

  Scarlett came inside, and she said, “You better ask him before Dave steals him away.”

  Adele wiped her hands down the front of her jeans and stepped over to the kitchen counter, where Carson was already engrossed in a conversation with Dave. He stood a few feet from the jewelry box she’d placed right next to the cupcake tower, and he hadn’t even noticed it.

  She picked up the box and said in the loudest voice she could muster, “I just have one more thing to say.”

  Everyone looked at her, and Adele almost bolted for the back door. Instead, she moved right in front of Carson and held out the ring box. “I love you, and I was hoping—”

  “Wait, wait,” he said, backing up into the counter. “What is this?” He glanced around, but Adele didn’t need to. Everyone’s face seemed to be engrained in her mind’s eye.

  Horror filled her. “This is me asking you to marry me.”

  “No, no.” Carson laughed, and Adele prayed for the floor to open up and swallow her whole.

  “No?” She cocked her hip, some of her Southern fire flaring to life. “So you lure me back—?”

  “You can’t ask me to marry you,” he said, striding over to the couch where he’d deposited his backpack. He unzipped one pocket and then the next, Adele glancing around at the others in the cabin. Scarlett caught her eye and lifted her eyebrows as if to say, What’s he doing?

  But Adele didn’t know.

  “Ah, here it is.” He pulled something out of the bag and faced her again. “I wasn’t sure when I’d be using this, and I was hoping to have a speech prepared.” He swallowed and glanced around. “But you started it.” He brought his hand out from behind his back and produced a ring box. “I bought this in Colorado, because I was hoping you and I, well, will you marry me?”

  Adele stared at the diamond in the box, and it was definitely the cut, size, and clarity a billionaire would procure for the woman he loved. Her heart beat like a strobe in her chest, and she pressed one hand over it.

  “Carson.”

  “That’s not a yes.”

  “You already told me no,” she said.

  “No,” he said. “I didn’t want you to ask me.” He took another step toward her, that huge diamond still between them. “I wanted to ask you.”

  “Well, you got what you wanted.”

  “Not yet.” He shook the ring box.

  Adele looked at it, and then him, and then leaned over to really study the ring. Teasing
him was so much fun, especially when his blue eyes darkened.

  She sighed. “Oh, all right. I’ll marry you.”

  “Yeah?” The hope and light in his face made her smile.

  “Yeah.” Adele laughed and threw herself into Carson’s arms. She loved the spicy, warm scent of him, the way he held her so close to him, like he couldn’t get her near enough.

  He laughed with her, then stepped back and slid the ring on her finger, and grinned as he lifted her hand up for everyone to see. “She said yes!”

  A cheer went up, and Adele’s face heated as he tucked her against his side. “Now, I saw cupcakes over there that look suspiciously close to that video you posted last week, and I think there are peanut butter cups inside them. Can we have one of those now?”

  The whole ranch boasted navy blue, silver, red, and green. A single poinsettia bloom hung from every fence post, and Prime held silver bells in his outstretched hands. Garland hung between the flowers, and once again, the horse barn had more Christmas lights than probably all the trees in LA.

  Because Adele and Carson were getting married today.

  She currently sat in the saddle of a black and white horse, the air chilly as the sun rose into the sky. The gray gave way to orange and gold and then blue. The silence between her, the sky, and Carson was the most wonderful thing in the world, and she wanted to hold onto it forever.

  But they headed back to the stables, brushed down the horses, and put them in the pasture. Carson swept his arm around her waist and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. Even through the straw hat she wore everywhere, she felt the heat from his mouth.

  “I can’t wait to marry you,” he said.

  “Only a couple more hours now.” She smiled up at him. “I can’t wait to get to Portugal.”

  “It’ll be warmer than here,” he said.