Dropping The Ball: A New Year’s Billionaire Romance

by Weston Parker

  Someone started chanting her name, and it spread through the place like wildfire. Until I heard it from above and not only through the speakers anymore.

  Jules appeared next to us, bouncing around as he clapped his hands and laughed. “That was the best thing I’ve seen this year. Finally, finally, that asshole has been put back in his place.”

  Clearly, he was thrilled but I didn’t think he could be more thrilled than me. I spun her around and kissed the dazed look off her face, taking her hand in mine and stroking her knuckles. When she didn’t wince or move her hand out of my grip, I knew she hadn’t hurt herself in the process.

  We moved fast after that. Nathan was hauled away while spouting curses and insults, the security guards escorting him not doing him any favors.

  Jules led the way through the corridors to the hotel we were watching the ball drop from, someone handing us glasses of champagne when we walked onto the enclosed balcony. Billy, Tani, Bart, and Rylee’s parents were already there.

  They swarmed around us, congratulating Rylee and pulling her into hugs. When the count started, she turned back to me with excitement shining bright in her eyes. The incident with Nathan was clearly forgotten for now.

  There was no doubt we needed to talk about it, especially since we now knew he had been responsible for the most serious threats all along, but I didn’t want to waste the last few minutes of the year that had seen us reunited talking about him.

  “There’s something I want to ask you before it’s officially the new year,” I said, snaking one arm around her hips.

  “Ten,” the chanting started from below. She molded her body to mine, holding her champagne in one hand and the other coming to my chest, right over my heart.

  “Oh yeah?” she asked. “What’s that?”

  “Be mine. Forever.” I watched as her brows swept up in surprise, but then she gave me a gorgeous, radiant smile.

  “Absolutely, but no dropping the ball.” Her laughter was cut off by my mouth on hers, and we rang in the new year kissing each other like it was the world and not only the year that was ending.

  Epilogue

  RYLEE

  My parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary party was being held at our house in Conroe. Carter and I flew out to spend the weekend with them and met Billy at the airport. It had only been a month since we’d last seen him on New Year’s Day, but time had flown by.

  Wicked had opened and the show was sold out every night. So far, there hadn’t been another incident with my legs. I had started to relax about it, knowing that even if I collapsed, people would now understand. Obviously, I didn’t want it to happen but I’d found a strange peace after coming clean on New Year’s Eve.

  The doctors, my team, and even the cast were all keeping a close eye on me. The other performers had become an unexpected but incredible support structure, standing with me every step of the way. They’d all been bombarded with questions of my condition by the press in every interview we did, and I’d been surprised at the level of compassion and understanding they’d shown.

  The fervor had finally started dying down, the dust was settling, and I’d come out the other side relatively unscathed. There had been reporters who had kept digging and others who were still trying to catch me in a lie. Some had been downright rude and others asked questions that were so personal and insensitive that all I’d been able to do was gape at them.

  Without Nathan leading the charge, however, it felt like people were mostly happy to leave me be. Once his trial started—if it started and he didn’t cut some kind of deal—I was sure some of the drama would start up again. But until then, it seemed like the worst was behind us.

  The prick was being brought up on a laundry list of charges for everything he’d done, including breaking and entering, trespassing, and harassment. I couldn’t wait for him to get what was coming to him, but I was also just happy he was out of our lives.

  On that front, there had been no more threats, and I was getting used to being able to walk down the street without feeling like I was being watched again. I’d even popped out to the store by myself earlier, and no one, not even Carter or my parents, had had a coronary about it.

  It had been a liberating moment, and I’d celebrated by treating myself to a walk through the whole store instead of just grabbing the extra basil my mother needed for one of the dishes she was making. Our house was packed with family and friends, so I figured no one would even notice if I stayed away the extra ten minutes to meander around the shop by myself.

  I’d been wrong, though. Carter had noticed and was leaning against the wall on the porch when I’d gotten back. Although he was still my bodyguard, he was also technically off duty this weekend. He was here strictly in his capacity as my boyfriend. It’d still taken some convincing to get him to let me go without him, but I’d pointed out that this was Conroe and not New York and also that boyfriends weren’t stitched to their girlfriends’ hips the way guards were stitched to their clients’.

  Since all had been quiet since Nathan’s outburst at New Year’s and his subsequent arrest, he’d eventually conceded. It didn’t mean he hadn’t worried, but we also needed to learn how to navigate our relationship without him being my twenty-four-seven guard.

  We were living together now because we wanted to, as opposed to it being because of a contract. Carter’s duties as my guard now only included public events and similar functions. He’d gone back to being assigned other jobs when he wasn’t with me, but I knew Bart was keeping them short and sweet so he wouldn’t need to spend nights away from home.

  The more I got to know Carter’s boss and best friend, the more I liked the guy. He and Tani were still dancing around each other, but I hadn’t given up hope yet. They were spending more time together than ever, and he’d even taken to inviting Cash to do stuff with them over weekends.

  Whenever I asked, Tani still insisted they were “just friends.” I’d reminded her that friends could turn into lovers, but she laughed me off every time. I didn’t miss the look in her eyes when she spoke about him, though. There were definitely feelings there that were a lot more than friendly. He might be a friend to her, but she also wanted to kiss him, and hump him, and do all sorts of things that friends didn’t typically do together.

  Time would tell, but I was staying positive.

  A pair of strong arms wrapped around me. Carter’s touch and masculine scent made me relax into his hard chest even before I’d turned around. “What are you smiling about?”

  “Bart and Tani,” I said, leaning my head back on his shoulder and looking up at him. “I’m shipping them so hard.”

  He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the exposed curve of my neck. “I know, baby. So am I, but they need to figure things out on their own.”

  I sighed. “I just wish they’d hurry up and figure it out already. The waiting is killing me.”

  Billy snorted, appearing at my side. Or maybe he’d been there all along. I’d been so lost in thought that I hadn’t paid much attention to who else was in the kitchen with me for the last few minutes. I also hadn’t chopped up any of the tomatoes on the board in front of me.

  Oops.

  “They’ve only known each other for a few months. You two, on the other hand, took twenty fucking years to get together. You might actually be old and gray before they eventually come around.”

  Carter laughed and held me closer. “That was completely different and you know it. Besides, no one was watching us as closely as we’re all watching them.”

  “Maybe I should’ve been keeping a closer eye on you two,” my brother said, but there was amusement in his tone.

  “How do you think you’d have managed that all the way from Nashville?” I asked, grinning as I finally sliced through my fist tomato. “Unless you’re thinking about moving to New York?”

  He shook his head so hard and fast that I was pretty sure he was in danger of sustaining a brain injury. “Nope. You guys can have that place all to yourselv
es. I’m perfectly happy where I am, thank you very much.”

  “Are you, though?” I asked, cocking my head and glancing at him from the corner of my eye, watching his expression carefully.

  Billy was always so vague when we asked about his life in Nashville. I still didn’t even know what was going on with him there or what had happened to make him say those things to Carter and me that he had.

  He rolled his eyes at me when he saw me watching him. “Yes, Matchmaking Inspector Rylee. I am happy there. In fact, I might just have someone to bring home with me when we come for Thanksgiving.”

  Carter reached out with one hand to clap him on the shoulder. “That’s great news, man. I’m happy for you.”

  “I thought for sure that would be my line for today,” my brother said. Then his eyes flew wide open and he cleared his throat. “For our parents, I mean. I’m happy for our parents.”

  Carter suddenly wasn’t even breathing behind me, only exhaling again when I felt him nodding against my hair. “Your parents. Of course. We’re all happy for them. I really am happy for you too, though.”

  “Yeah.” Billy dropped the knife he’d been using to chop potatoes and made some excuse about needing to check something with my mother before practically running out of the kitchen.

  I frowned as he retreated from us. “That was weird.”

  “What?” Even Carter sounded distracted. “Oh, Billy? Yeah, a little. He’s probably got a lot on his mind. If he’s thinking about this girl he wants to bring home for Thanksgiving, he’s probably just a little preoccupied.”

  “Rylee, darling!” our neighbor Mrs. Birch cried as she walked into the kitchen. “It’s so good to see you. Congratulations on your new show. Your mother assured me you’re as wonderful as ever.”

  Carter finally let go of me and murmured that he was going to see if my dad needed any help at the grill. Mrs. Birch chatted to me for a few minutes, eventually getting to the question every older person who’d known you when you were a kid always asked. “So, when are you going to be starting a family? I heard you and Carter are officially an item now.”

  Item? I smiled. “We are an item, but I don’t think we’re going to be trying to start a family for at least a couple of years.”

  She sighed heavily as if this were some kind of personal slight against her. “I can’t wait to have little ones running around again. Do you think you’ll move back here when you do finally have them?”

  I wondered if she realized how inappropriate it was to assume Carter and I even wanted children. We did. We’d actually already discussed it, but someone really needed to speak to the generation before us about asking questions that had the potential to slice someone’s heart in half.

  “No, ma’am,” I said politely. We had a party to get ready for. Now wasn’t the time to educate her on all the reasons why not to ask every damn young woman that question. “I’m sure that if and when we have children, we’ll bring them to visit often. Our lives and careers are in New York. I doubt we’ll move back.”

  “Have you got any wedding plans yet?” she asked, and I mentally slapped a palm over my face.

  “No, ma’am. We don’t yet.” My heart went all aflutter at the thought of marrying Carter, though. He hadn’t made a secret of the fact that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He’d also said that he’d waited long enough and I’d agreed, proud of us for continuing to be totally honest with one another.

  We’d even looked at a few rings together, and I had a definite favorite, but we hadn’t picked one out just yet. A shiver of excitement ran through me. We had another appointment with the jeweler next week. Maybe as soon as next weekend, I’d be wearing the symbol of his love and devotion to me on my left hand.

  I’d considered asking him instead, but he’d insisted on wanting to do things the traditional way. Maybe he’d even ask my father this weekend.

  Eeeeek!

  I couldn’t wait to say yes to him, to really promise him my forever. It might seem to others like it was way too soon for us to be talking about taking our relationship to that next level, but we were ready. We’d known each other for so long that some—Mrs. Demming, for example—thought we had moved so slowly that even snails would’ve beat us four times over by now.

  Mrs. Birch talked to me for another couple of minutes, and I got the distinct impression she was trying to think of things to keep me here for a while longer, asking about the show and whether I planned to keep performing despite my illness—absolutely—before going to find my parents.

  Turning back to the pile of tomatoes I needed to get through, I suddenly realized there was no one left in the kitchen. Just a moment ago, it’d been buzzing with activity, and now I was completely alone. There was enough food to feed an army covering the counters, but everyone who had been helping with the preparation, including Mrs. Demming and three of Carter’s sisters-in-law, were suddenly gone.

  What the…

  Although the party hadn’t officially started yet, most of the guests had already arrived. They were all my parents’ closest friends, the people who I had grown up in front of. Carter’s family rounded out the mix.

  Everyone had arrived early, insisting on pitching in to help. And yet, I was now the only one left.

  Shaking my head at my pile of tomatoes, I went out to see what was going on. Sounds of laughter and talking came from our backyard. Seems everyone’s decided to get the party started.

  I shrugged as I followed the sound. There was more than enough time to get the rest of the food ready later, I supposed.

  When I walked out onto the grass, Billy was the first to notice me. He shoved Carter’s shoulder with his own, tipping the open end of his beer bottle at me.

  I paused in the door, wondering what that was about. Then things got even weirder. One by one as people noticed me, they turned to face Carter. The chatter died down, and Tucker even shushed the kids where he was standing with them at a bouncy house we’d rented for the occasion.

  Carter slowly turned to face me, withdrawing his hand from his pocket and clutching something in it. Frowning and wondering what the heck was up with everyone, I took a few more steps forward before slamming to a stop when he started lowering himself down on one knee.

  My heartrate spiked until I was sure the organ had sprouted wings and was trying to fly right out of my chest. I pressed a hand over it, but it did nothing to calm it.

  Carter’s dark eyes were locked on mine, a smile spreading across his face as he opened his palm. In the center of it was a velvet ring box. Flipping it open, he revealed the ring that had been my favorite when we went to look at them.

  My jaw dropped. “When did you get that?”

  “Ordered it the same day we saw it.” He lifted it higher, the rectangular diamond in the middle of a plain golden band glinting in the late-afternoon sun. “I saw the look on your face when you saw it. It was the right one.”

  “You’re the only right one that matters,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “I’d have married you with a stalk of grass tied around my finger.”

  “Now she tells me,” he said, and several people chuckled before he went on. Our mothers stood off to one side of him with their arms around each other, our fathers standing on either side of them with their arms slung over their wives’ shoulders. “I haven’t got a long, drawn-out speech planned. As all of you know, I prefer to keep things to the point.”

  He tugged at the collar of his T-shirt, his eyes filling with love when he looked at me again. “Be my wife, Rylee. My bride. My forever. Please?”

  Tears gathered in my eyes, and I let them flow freely as I closed the distance between us at a run. “Everyone was in on this together, weren’t they?”

  He nodded but didn’t say anything. Still holding the ring up, he watched me fall to my own knees with wide eyes.

  I laughed, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him while murmuring my answer against his lips. “Not fair, but yes, Carter. Of course I’ll
marry you.”

  And hopefully, we’ll live happily ever after. God only knew there was nothing I wanted more.

  The End

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  About the Author

  Hey there. I'm Weston.

  Have we met? No? Well, it’s time to end that tragedy.

  I'm a former firefighter/EMS guy who's picked up the proverbial pen and started writing bad boy romance stories. I co-write with my sister, Ali Parker, but live in Texas with my wife, my two little boys, a dog, and a turtle.

  Yep. A turtle. You read that right. Don’t be jealous.

  You're going to find Billionaires, Bad Boys, Military Guys, and loads of sexiness. Something for everyone hopefully. I'd love to connect with you. Check out the links below and come find me.

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  Copyright © 2020 by Weston Parker

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