Her Cowboy Billionaire Bodyguard

by Liz Isaacson

  Beau spotted Kent as soon as he reached the top of the stairs. The hallway in front of the hearing rooms and courtrooms was wide and long, but Kent was tall and seemed to have honed in on Beau too.

  He approached the man, not an ounce of worry in him. “Good morning, Mister Gulbrandsen,” he said, extending his hand.

  “You shaved,” Kent said by way of greeting, and he ignored the invitation to shake hands.

  “Yes,” Beau said evenly, noting that Kent had not taken the time to clean up his face that morning. He glanced at the clock, knowing they’d be allowed to enter the room in a couple of minutes. “Some of us do research on the judges we’re facing.”

  He gave Kent a wide smile, clapped the other man on the shoulder, and moved away. He didn’t need to be first in the room, but he liked to put on a good show as much as the next lawyer.

  When he was allowed entrance, he strode forward and took the table on his left, the judge’s right. He opened his briefcase and extracted the three folders he’d brought, mentally reviewing the pages and notes he had inside each one. He had them memorized because he’d gone over them so much, but still a flurry of nerves made their way through his stomach.

  At the table across the aisle, Kent sat alone, no lawyer present, a single file in front of him. He shifted and glanced at Beau several times, but Beau did not show a single sign of nerves or even so much as give Kent the satisfaction of looking at him.

  He did not sit, so he didn’t have to spring to his feet when the deputy came out from a door behind the stand and announced Judge Finley. Beau smiled at the man, received his acknowledgement, and then sat down.

  “Mister, uh, Gulbrandsen.” The judge looked up from his paperwork, his glasses perched on the end of his nose. “Why do you think you should get additional royalties from the sale of your ex-wife’s albums?”

  Though his complaint was right in the case, Beau looked at Kent for the answer too, hoping and praying he had a rebuttal for anything the other man came up with.

  “Your Honor.” Kent stood and buttoned his suit coat jacket. Beau was no fashionista, but he knew an expensive suit when he saw one. After all, Graham and Andrew spent thousands on their suits, and until this past year, so had Beau.

  And Kent’s suit had easily cost him at least two grand.

  “During the time I was married to Lily Everett, she wrote, recorded, and released two albums. I feel I have a part in the construction of those albums as I supported her during that time. Therefore, I feel like I should be monetarily compensated through the royalties those albums continue to accrue.”

  Accrue. Beau almost scoffed.

  “Your Honor.” Beau stood but left his jacket unbuttoned. “Miss Everett already paid a lump sum to ensure that Mister Gulbrandsen would not be able to fleece her for her royalties for years to come. Mister Gulbrandsen signed that document upon the finalization of their divorce, and he was indeed paid the amount agreed upon.” He had the paperwork should the judge need it, but he’d filed it with the court too, so Judge Finley should’ve already seen it.

  “And as for the ‘support’ Mister Gulbrandsen claims, he never did have a job during any of the five years he and Miss Everett were married. So any support he claims to have given her, whether that be emotional or physical or what have you, has been satisfied.” Beau stood calmly at his table, waiting for Kent to open the doors so Beau could slam them shut again.

  Judge Finley looked back at Kent, but he didn’t speak. He moved his feet, clearly unprepared for the hearing. True, they hadn’t had much time, but Beau had been preparing for this hearing for months.

  “It has been difficult to get work,” Kent tried, and Beau flipped open one of his folders.

  “And yet, the suit Mister Gulbrandsen is wearing in the court today was purchased eight days ago, at Levingston’s, a premier men’s wear shop here in Los Angeles.” Beau held up the single sheet of paper that had come through in his email yesterday morning. “And it was paid for with cash, in the amount of two thousand, two hundred thirty-four dollars and eighty-one cents.”

  The judge nodded to the deputy, who came forward to take the paper from Beau. Judge Finley took the paper from his deputy and peered at it. “Mister Gulbrandsen?”

  “That was a gift,” he said, his voice very much on the side of a lie.

  “And yet he can’t get his benefactors to help with the necessities of life? Shelter? Food?” Beau had receipts for some of those things too, should it come to that. But for now, he held them back. “He needs more money from a woman who has a restraining order against him? A woman who’s already paid him to stay out of her life.” He cut a glance at Kent, but didn’t allow his gaze to settle on the other man at all.

  Beau let his words hang in the air, debating if he should play all his cards now and get this hearing over with. He wasn’t exactly sure what else Kent would try to pull, though, so Beau waited.

  “My parents can’t pay for everything,” Kent said.

  “Then get a job,” Beau said.

  “Work is extraordinarily difficult to find,” the other man spat out.

  “Is it?” Beau flipped open his other folder. “I have a sworn statement from Benajamin Buchanan at Valley Pets, who offered you a full time job, with benefits, here. It says that Mister Gulbrandsen was hired on a Thursday in mid-November and was supposed to show up to work on Monday morning. He didn’t. Benjamin never heard nor saw him again.”

  Beau held the paper out as the deputy came forward again. “Keeping a job is probably extraordinarily hard to do when one doesn’t show up, I’ll give him that.”

  The judge examined the new paper Beau had presented, and just when Beau thought he might be finished, he launched into what he hoped was his closing argument.

  “It’s clear to me, Your Honor, that Mister Gulbrandsen simply wants to continue to live in the lap of luxury—Miss Everett’s luxury. He’s trying to fleece a celebrity, and he should not be allowed to do so. All of his other attempts at extending his alimony benefits have been declined, and he does not deserve, nor has he earned, another cent of Miss Everett’s money.”

  Judge Finley looked up from the paper about halfway through Beau’s soliloquy and looked at Kent. “Any last words before I rule?”

  “I—No, Your Honor.”

  “Very well.” He laid the paper on the bench in front of him. “Because of the evidence before me, and the rest of the documents in this case, I hereby rule in favor of the defendant. You’ve gotten your settlement, Mister Gulbrandsen. I see no reason to have your ex-wife continue to pay you for an extended period of time.” He picked up his gavel and pounded it once on the bench. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor,” Beau practically yelled up to the bench. He took his time gathering his papers together so Kent would have time to leave the courtroom first. He had no desire to see or talk to the man again.

  A smile formed on his face. He’d won.

  But his grin faded just as quickly when he realized he had no one to celebrate with.

  Beau boarded a plane on Christmas Eve morning, his attention out the window as they took off and headed for Wyoming. He hated that he didn’t have someone to go home to, hated that he’d emailed Lily and hadn’t heard back from her, hated as the landscape below came into view and it was all snow and grime and gray skies.

  Celia would be at the lodge, cooking up a storm for the family dinner that night. Beau had bought gifts and he’d even wrapped them before he’d left for California. He had not decorated the tree, and the thought of doing it made him angry for a reason he couldn’t name.

  Oh, yes he could. He knew it was because of Lily and how they’d planned to decorate the tree together.

  “You’ve got to get over her,” he muttered to himself as he walked through the busy airport, people completing or beginning the holiday travel. He checked his email when he got to his SUV, but Lily still hadn’t responded to his message that he’d won her last case.

  Frustration coiled
within his chest. “She said she’d check this email address,” he said, tossing his phone onto the passenger seat. Why wasn’t she checking it? She couldn’t say thank you to him for saving her thousands of dollars?

  He put the SUV in gear and got going. He’d send her a bill when he got back to the lodge. Be done. Focus on his horses and maybe grow out his beard again.

  No matter what, he wouldn’t be falling in love with his next client, because he was seriously considering giving up the whole bodyguard lawyer career.

  Twenty-Two

  Lily shook her head. “I’m not sure about this.”

  “Too bad,” Vi singsonged. “You already have the ticket. Rose is getting the car.”

  But Lily hadn’t packed yet. She’d gone along with writing a love song for Beau. She thought maybe she’d get her songwriting mojo back if she did. Maybe she’d be able to take some of the random lyrics she’d collected over the past year and make them into something new for the meeting with their producers after the New Year.

  “What if he won’t answer the door?” Lily wrung her hands, the sound of a car door slamming in the distance making her jumpy.

  “He will.” Vi smiled at her. “You’ve been here for a couple of weeks, and you’re miserable. Go see him.”

  Lily hadn’t even been able to check her email, fearing Beau would’ve solved her case and she’d have no reason to contact him.

  “Maybe I should start with a text,” she said as Rose came through the front door.

  “Are we going or what? You’ll miss your flight.”

  “I haven’t packed,” Lily said, earning a glare from Vi and a blank stare from Rose. Then her youngest sister threw her head back and laughed.

  “Stop it,” Lily said.

  “You have a credit card,” Rose said, coming over to Lily and linking her arm through Lily’s elbow. “You’re getting on that flight, and you’re going to go talk to this Beau Whittaker.”

  “I don’t know….” Lily resisted walking when Rose started toward the door. She wasn’t sure why, but a storm raged in her whole soul.

  “You’re in love with him,” Rose said. “It’s actually really cute, but I’m tired of listening to you cry at night.”

  “I do not cry at night,” Lily said, slipping her arm away from Rose. At least she hadn’t in the last week or so.

  “I don’t think you were ever this interested in Kent, and you married him,” Vi said, walking ahead of them and opening the door. “I agree with Rose. You’re going if I have to stuff you on the plane in the baggage hold.”

  Lily looked back and forth between her sisters. It had been a beautiful couple of weeks with them, and she did want to meet with the producers and start work on a new album.

  “We still need to talk about the schedule,” she said. They’d spoken about a lot of things—if Lily could work in Wyoming and just fly to Nashville for important meetings or to record. If they could Skype brainstorming sessions. If her sisters could come to the lodge sometimes.

  Of course, all of their if’s assumed that Beau would even accept Lily’s apology and want to get back together. She wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t, but her heart wailed at the idea of being without him.

  “We can talk anytime.” Vi gestured out the door. “You just need to be back for the meeting,” she added. “It’s January eleventh.”

  Lily knew when the meeting was. “I should at least take my notebook with the songs in it.” She turned back and dashed into the music room, where an assortment of instruments waited for the girls to work their magic.

  She grabbed the notebook covered in glow-in-the-dark star stickers from a music stand near the piano and tucked it into her purse. When she returned to the foyer, she grabbed Vi in a tight hug. “Thanks, Vi.”

  Facing Rose, she said, “All right, Rose. Let’s get to the airport.”

  Her younger sisters both whooped, and Lily couldn’t help the warm smile that spread across her face.

  Her blood turned icier and icier with every mile and every minute that passed. Before she knew it, her plane was taking off and then touching down, and she had no choice but to get off. She was the last one, and the flight attendant stopped her just before she exited.

  “Excuse me,” she said in a definite Tennessee drawl. “Are you Lily Everett?”

  Lily put on the smile she saved for her fans. “I sure am.”

  The woman beamed and glanced at her co-worker. “I loved your last album.”

  “Oh, thank you.” Lily grinned at her. “Thank you so much. My sisters will love to hear it.” She managed to get off the plane then, and she navigated through the small airport to the car rental.

  Only an hour to go, she thought, her stomach doing cartwheels at the thought of coming face-to-face with Beau Whittaker. She’d made this drive once before, and it hadn’t been easy then.

  But then, he didn’t know who she was. Then, she’d held all the power. Then, she hadn’t been in love with the bearded cowboy who somehow knew every fact about every case in the country.

  She wondered if he’d kept the tree and managed to get it decorated. She thought about what he’d been doing all this time and whether or not he was any closer to closing out her last case.

  The miles rolled by under her tires, and before she knew it, she pulled into the parking lot at Whiskey Mountain Lodge. It wasn’t so late in the day that all the lights should be on at the lodge, but they were. They lit up the stained glass window from the inside, and Lily smiled at the work she’d done. At the memories she had of this place.

  She had no idea what to say to Beau. She probably needed to start with something like, “I’m sorry,” and “Will you forgive me?” but she hadn’t had a hard conversation like that in a long, long time. Maybe ever.

  As she got out of the car and approached the front door, she noted that while there were a lot of lights on inside the lodge, there didn’t seem to be any cars in the lot. So Celia and Bree weren’t here. Beau still could be, and being alone with him in the huge house didn’t settle Lily’s nerves.

  She climbed the steps, stood in front of the door, and slicked her hands down the front of her thighs. “Now,” she whispered to herself. “Do it now.”

  She rang the doorbell and listened to it chime inside the lodge. But nothing stirred, not even Daisy, and that dog never could sit still when someone came to the lodge.

  Lily glanced behind her as if Beau would come walking up that way. Of course he didn’t. No one did, and suddenly all this wide open land, holding tons and tons of snow, unsettled her. She couldn’t stay out here alone.

  Just as she was about to either get in the lodge somehow or return to her car, another vehicle pulled into the lot. Lily’s heart fired out extra beats every other second until she realized it was Bree.

  She breathed, trying to tame her adrenaline and regulate her pulse. She lifted her hand in greeting to Bree and went down the steps to greet her friend.

  “Hey,” she said as Bree straightened from the driver’s seat.

  “Lily.” She bounced over to her and held her in a tight hug. “What are you doing here?” She held Lily at arm’s length and peered into her eyes.

  “I came to…I just wanted to talk to Beau.”

  Bree dropped her hands and turned back to her car, something strange crossing her face that Lily couldn’t get more than a glimpse of. “He’s not here right now.”

  “Oh.” Disappointment cut through Lily. “Do you know when he’ll be back?” She could get coffee in town, wait a spell, and then talk to him. She didn’t want to go through another night where she hadn’t at least spoken to him.

  “He’s gone to California,” she said. “Yesterday morning. He had a hearing today. This morning, actually.” She popped the trunk and pointed. “You want to help?”

  Lily stepped over to the car, needing answers. If she had to carry in groceries to get them, so be it. “A hearing?” She gathered two paper bags into her arms and made to step with Bree toward the lodge.
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  “For his last case,” Bree said, taking the steps carefully and going through the unlocked front door. “Your case. He’s flying home in the morning, just in time for the family dinner.” She traipsed through the living room and into the kitchen, Lily right behind her.

  “My case?” she repeated. “I haven’t heard from him.”

  “He probably just wanted to wait and see if he’d won or not.” Bree wouldn’t look directly at her, and Lily realized her sudden departure from Whiskey Mountain Lodge had made life difficult for more than just her and Beau.

  “How has he been?” Lily asked as she set her bags on the counter.

  Bree did meet her eye then. “He’s…about what you would expect.” She nodded a few times and headed back for the door.

  When Lily passed the Christmas tree this time, she realized that it was not decorated. Christmas Eve was tomorrow. “Bree,” she called after the woman. “Are you guys still doing the tree lighting?”

  Bree didn’t break her stride or look back as she went down the steps. “I honestly don’t know. Beau hasn’t called it off, and these are only half of the groceries. Celia’s bringing the other half.” She exhaled heavily, and Lily got moving to help her bring in all the food from her trunk.

  “The tree’s not decorated,” Lily pointed out, though Bree obviously knew.

  “Right.”

  “You guys won’t do it?”

  “Beau’s been…moody about the tree. Celia and I agreed not to touch it. None of the other brothers come up here, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow night.”

  Lily started unpacking the groceries, everything from sour cream and butter, to lentils and coconut oil. “Do you think he’d mind if I decorated the tree? I saw the boxes of ornaments out there.”

  Bree stopped working. “Are you planning to stay for the holidays then?”

  “I was considering it,” Lily said coolly. “Unless Beau’s already hired another client and my room isn’t available.”