by Alexa Davis
This unexpected love was the best thing that had ever happened to me, to the both of us – it had transformed us both in the best way possible.
If that wasn’t a sign that we were meant to be, then I had no idea what was!
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BILLIONAIRE COWBOY
By Alexa Davis
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Alexa Davis
Chapter One
Roy – Monday, Early May
I rested my hands on the steering wheel of my old, beat-up truck, the one I told people I kept around just to get around on my land, when actually I liked the way it felt. I whistled happily to myself. For some reason, today felt like it was going to be a good day. The May sun was shining, things on the farm were running smoothly, and my gorgeous black lab, Tank, was sitting calmly by my side, barking only every now and again at a passing squirrel.
It also helped that I was finally getting around to a job that I’d been meaning to do for ages, one that had been sitting in the back of my mind for what felt like forever, and I knew getting it done would be a massive load off. My land really needed a new barbwire fence around it. What I already had was growing shabby, and the way to start that job was to count the amount of fence posts that I needed. It was a dreary, but necessary job, one that I wanted to get done sooner rather than later.
“I know it’s boring now,” I muttered to my loyal pet. “But it’ll be worth it when it’s done; you can trust me on that one.” He barked once at me before turning his attention back to the scenery.
I had to admit, living in the small town of Florence, Oregon, could get a little lonely at times. Sure, I had many acquaintances, but the billions of dollars I had earned in my early twenties from my oil company had made me paranoid. I just never knew what people wanted from me, and that terrified me somewhat.
I’d been used on more than one occasion, which had made me wiser, but also a little lonelier. I missed having company I could trust, but I suppose that is the price you paid for having all the money in the world.
At least I had Tank to talk to…he kept me sane.
Oh…and Crystal.
As I pulled up to the entrance of my property, I saw her red Nissan sitting there staring at me, which made me feel a little happier. She was always there, no matter what. We had a certain agreement, one where we would hang out every now and again in a slightly more than friends way, but that was it. She didn’t want any more from me, just like I didn’t want any more from her, so it was perfect. We could both get the sense of companionship we so desperately needed, without any strings attached. Crystal was a divorcée with a young boy, so this worked for her just as it did me.
As she saw me pulling up, she slid out of the car, revealing those long, tanned legs beneath her denim mini skirt. Then I spotted her white tank top, covering up her amazing rack, her long bleached-blonde hair tumbling down her back, and those oversized, plump lips, which I was convinced that she’d had done. Every time I mentioned plastic surgery, she clammed up and denied it, but I didn’t quite believe her.
“How’s it going?” I called out in a bemused tone of voice, sending her a flirty smile. I might not have been expecting her today, but actually it was kinda nice that she was here. She was good for a laugh and some fun at any rate, which was enough to put me off my fence pole buying plans for the time being.
“I’m good, sweetie,” she grinned, popping a bubble with her chewing gum. “Bryan is at his dad’s for the night, so I thought I would come over and see ya.”
“Oh yeah? Why is that?” I moved closer to her, already feeling my body growing increasingly excited by the fact that we had at least a few hours of fun ahead of us.
I might have been with quite a few women in my time, particularly when I first got rich and felt like the world had fallen at my feet, but none of them had been as good as Crystal, purely because I knew I could trust her. She didn’t care about who I was and what I could offer her. She’d started hooking up with me before she realized, so I knew she didn’t have any end goal in mind. That helped me to relax.
“And why is that? What makes me so lucky?” I asked.
I brushed my hand slowly down her hip while she bit her lip in anticipation. “Because, silly, it’s your birthday. You are thirty-six today. That has to be worth celebrating, doesn’t it?”
“Huh?” I mumbled, feeling a little confused. Was it? I knew that I’d been a little distracted recently and that I hadn't exactly been keeping up with the dates, but it was my birthday? Sure, it might never have been a big deal to me, but you would think that I would at least know when it was. “It is?”
I started to walk towards the barn to put my tools away, with Crystal trailing close behind me. She wasn’t one to be put off with my funny moods; she was used to me by this point.
“So,” she continued happily, in that bubbly voice that usually filled me with so much joy. “I guessed you wouldn’t be doing anything to celebrate because you’re always here, so I figured why not bring you a red velvet cupcake for you to enjoy?”
“Seriously?” That cheered me up no end. “That’s my favorite.”
“I know,” she laughed lightly. “That’s why I got it for you, fool! So…what are all these tools for? What have you been doing today? It doesn’t exactly look like you’ve been having a nice, relaxing day so far.”
“I know, but I have needed a new fence for ages; I figured it was time to finally get that sorted.”
“You do need to replace it,” she agreed with me. “Anyone can get into your property with the broke-ass fence you have up now.”
“Yeah, it’s a pain.” Luckily, I didn’t see it as such a huge issue. I lived on the outskirts of the town anyway, not close enough for anyone to bother breaking in. Plus, I might have had a lot of money, but I didn’t have loads of amazing stuff. I didn’t see the point in spending my cash on materialistic stuff…not anymore. I did that at first, and it made me no happier. “I’ll get it done soon enough.”
As we walked towards the house with Tank by our sides, Crystal slipped her hand loosely into mine, proving just how comfortable she was with me. When we stepped inside and she pulled the cupcake from her bag, I became even happier that she was here.
“This is delicious,” I told her, shoving it into my mouth without even bothering to grab a plate. “Thank you for bringing it – you have managed to make the birthday that I didn’t even realize I was having.”
“It’s got to be more fun than working, right?” she giggled. “Although, I know you have a lot on your plate. How’s business?”
“It’s good, as far as I’m aware. I mean, things are great here, but Lewis, my finance manager, handles most of the oil business stuff nowadays. It pretty much runs itself without me. I just get the benefits, I suppose. I’ve all but handed everything over by this point.”
“Urgh, that sounds nice,” she told me quite seriously. “A lot more fun than working day shifts in the bar while your son is at school, anyway. Speaking of which…” I watched expectantly as she dove into her bag, pulling out a small package. “It isn’t much, but I got you a gift.”
“You really didn’t have to do that!” I exclaimed seriously. “You know I don’t ever want anything.”
“I know I didn’t; that’s why I did,” she smiled at me, making me feel a little warm and fuzzy inside. I didn’t love Crystal, and I knew I never would, but I was still glad that I had her in my life. She stopped me from going absolutely insane. “I hope you like it.”
I tore the paper off, wonderin
g what could be inside, and I quickly pulled out a small, delicate pocket watch. Its intricate detailing that had me stunned for a few seconds. “Wow, this is…this is something else.” I looked up at her, happiness shining from my eyes. “Thank you so much.”
“It was nothing,” she waved her hand dismissively at me. “I just saw it and thought you would love it. It just screams…you.” Then, she grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me roughly towards her, kissing me hard and passionately. “I had another idea for your birthday, too – one that I thought you might like even more.”
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” I panted into her mouth. I knew exactly where she was going with that, but I just wanted to tease her a little bit. I felt comfortable with this side of us: the physical side. Everything else, the gift giving, the kindness, it all felt a little too intimate and I was afraid that she didn’t remember how things stood with us.
“Come on,” she winked at me, pulling me towards the stairs. “Let’s get into the shower and find out.”
I followed along willingly, happy as both of us stripped on the way towards the bathroom with only one thing in mind. My cock was standing at attention, excited to be buried inside of her, and as soon as we jumped under the hot, streaming jets of water, we got right to it. I pushed my way into her, fucking her hard against the cold tiles. As our bodies got slick with water, we lost ourselves in the sensations.
“Fuck, Roy, you feel so good,” she called out as the pleasure started to grip hold of her. I wrapped my arms around her as she shuddered, flicking her nipple with my tongue, and soon the bliss was exploding from me, too. It left me flying higher than air for just a few moments and making me forget everything that had been troubling me.
This… This was exactly what I needed. A fun distraction with a woman I knew expected nothing from me. I honestly didn’t know what I would do without her.
“Come on,” I grabbed her wrist and yanked her from the shower, already starting to feel myself ready for round two. “Let’s go to bed. Next time, I want to take my time and kiss you all over.”
“Ooh, quick and needy to slow and passionate; I am a lucky girl,” Crystal joked, walking her naked, wet body confidently in front of me, swinging her hips as she went. She had no body hang ups, and that made her even sexier to me. She was just happy to be herself, to get what she wanted, and I found that very refreshing. Of course, I wished that I could find the one, that I could fall in love and have a relationship like a normal person, but I just couldn’t let my guard down enough to allow that to happen. I knew it would have to be a really special girl to encourage me to do that, and I just hadn't met her yet.
Maybe I would one day, but with another birthday passing and nothing changing, my hopes were falling lower every single day. Maybe this would be the way it was forever – me with a special friend until the day I died. It wasn’t ideal, but surely, it was better than nothing. It had to be better than being alone…
Chapter Two
June – Monday
“So, yeah, that’s the technique I use,” Jim Bob told me with a big grin on his face. I tried to match his expression, to look as happy as he was, but I couldn’t muster up the necessary enthusiasm to get excited about fish cleaning. Yes, this was a competition to do it the fastest, and yes, it was a big deal in that world, but to me, it was simply boring. It was one of the worst things that I’d ever had to write as a journalist, and knowing for a fact that no one would read it didn’t make it any easier.
“Well, thank you for that.” I shook his hand tentatively, trying to ignore the fish juices that were being spread across me, and I clicked the off button on my recorder. “I think I have everything I need. The story will be out in next week’s local paper.”
At least he was happy and excited about that. I hated the fact I was about to have my name against something so dull. The only problem was I had to pay my dues before any of the bigger papers would even look at me.
I knew that for a fact because I’d already tried applying to all of the national papers, and not one of them even bothered to respond. To them, I was nothing. I needed to have something to prove myself first. I needed a story that would put me on the map, that would make people stand up and pay attention to me.
However, in the small, boring fishing town of Florence, I couldn’t see that ever happening. I was in a vicious, never-ending cycle. It was so frustrating.
As I stood up, ready to leave, I managed to knock the table in my hurry and a whole pile of fish guts fell onto my pants. Everyone around me burst into laughter, which of course meant that I had to try and see the funny side, too, but my chuckles were mirthless because I felt like the moment symbolized everything that was wrong with my life. It was all going down the toilet and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to change that.
I left the building as quickly as I could and made my way to see my best friend, Hailey, the only person who could cheer me up at this moment with my mind all over the place. When Hailey and I grew up together and discussed our childhood dreams, I always told her that I wanted to take over the world. I wanted my writing to change lives, to impact our society, to make a difference, but in reality, I wasn’t getting anywhere.
Hailey, on the other hand, always wanted to make the world a better place in her own way.
She grew up in the foster care system and didn’t always have the best childhood, so her dream was to make the lives of other youths in a similar position much better…and that was exactly what she achieved. She ran a center with counselors and support for kids and teens with problems. It was also a great hangout place, too, with computer games and ping pong and stuff, giving youth a place to just be.
I was so proud of my friend for what she’d managed to do, but I couldn’t help feeling jealous, too. I wanted that for myself. I wanted to be where she was with my career.
She looked great, too, which made me even more insecure. She had a rocking body, with a cool, short haircut highlighting her amazing cheekbones and sparkling blue eyes that could get her out of any trouble. Next to her, with my soft curves and my sandy brown hair that never did anything that I wanted, I felt like I could easily fade into the background. Hailey was overtly sexy, whereas I was more…sweet looking, I guessed. And that didn’t always feel great.
“Hailey, you in?” I called as I swung the door to her apartment open. Neither of us ever bothered to knock anymore because we just felt that comfortable in one another’s homes.
“I’m in the kitchen!” she called out loudly. “You want anything to eat?”
“Yeah…everything you have. A change of clothes, too.”
As I wandered into the kitchen, and she smelt and saw the state of me, she burst into laughter. “Oh my God, what the hell happened to you? It looks like you’ve been in a fight with a fish.”
She tossed me a pair of navy blue sweatpants, which I pulled on quickly, glad to be free of that stink. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it!” I told her exasperatedly. “I had to cover the fucking fish cleaning competition. Who even reads this shit?” My temper came out now as it all started to spill past my lips. “I want something good to write, something juicy, something that will actually progress my career. I’m not getting anywhere with this!”
“Something will come up…” she trailed off with her reassurance when she saw the unimpressed expression on my face.
“I have been slogging away at this job for years now, ever since I left college, and for nothing. Nothing ever happens here!” I threw my hands above my head, wishing desperately that I could come up with a quick fix, something to get me where I needed to be right away. “I have focused only on this, completely ignoring other aspects of my life, and it’s done me nothing.”
“Well, I don’t know,” she joked playfully. “There was that time you were distracted by Baz.”
Urgh, Baz. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the mere mention of his name. He was a mistake that I didn’t even want to think about anymore. He blew into my life quickly when he mo
ved here to start a real estate agent business, and I fell quick and hard. I loved his dark, crew-cut hair, his deep, brown eyes, and the way he was very serious about everything.
In the end, though, that side of him made me weary. He didn’t seem to ever want to have any fun and that dragged me down with him. Hailey kept telling me that I’d changed and that I needed to break up with him, but I didn’t listen because I never wanted to hear it. I thought that he would change, and that as soon as we got enough money together to get our own place, things would get better…but of course, they never did.
Unluckily at the time – but looking back it was a good thing – his business failed and he had to move away. We didn’t even really have a discussion about breaking up; he just told me that he was going and that was that. I wasn’t even sad about it, which was the strange part. I just accepted it and moved on, vowing to never get with anyone ever again unless there was excitement there, unless there was any chemistry. That was massively lacking, and it got me nowhere.
“Yeah, all right, but you know what I’m saying.”
“At least it pays the bills.” She stroked my arm, trying to reassure me, but it still made me feel like shit about myself. “That has to be something. Some people don’t even know how to make a living.”
“I know.” My head fell into my hands as the crappiness of my life overwhelmed me. “But nothing ever happens here; there aren’t ever any crimes. How am I supposed to get a better job? How am I supposed to move on with my life? I just… I want to be known for something.”
“There are plenty of stories out there that get people noticed,” Hailey told me patiently. “It doesn’t have to be about crime and death. What about that piece that Kaz Schul wrote? About the twins walking for the first time? That certainly progressed her career.”