Her First Love Billionaire

by Taylor Hart

  “Why couldn’t he stay in the future?”

  Ivan shrugged. “I don’t know all the details on how to bend time. Maybe you can ask Steven Pear one day.”

  Damon grunted. Even though he’d worked his way up social circles due to his money, Steven Pear was way out of his league. “Right.”

  “It appears that his wife is now living in the past.” Ivan quirked a smile. “Although you could make an argument that it’s the present, or even the future. It depends on how you look at it. There have been whole campaigns of people trying to prove it, and Mr. Pear squelches anything that comes out on the internet. Now it’s all rumors and legends.”

  “Interesting.”

  “I think you and I should figure this out, friend.”

  Damon was starting to understand. “Why do you want to change time?”

  Ivan was quiet for a moment. “Maybe you’re not the only one who has a past he’d like to change.”

  The truth hit Damon upside the head like a sucker punch. He didn’t know that much about Ivan’s past either. A new respect for his friend dawned on him. “You constantly surprise me.”

  Ivan cocked an eyebrow and lifted his vodka. “And all this time you thought we were working on information algorithms.”

  Damon had thought those algorithms would be implemented into tracking terrorists for the government. “Interesting.”

  Ivan laughed louder, drawing attention from the rest of the table.

  Luckily, the emcee tapped the microphone on the stage. “Thank you for coming tonight. This is an important night for the hospital, and the governor wanted all of you to be here to celebrate. After all, you have all made this night possible. But—” The emcee grinned. “—it’s also doubly important because the governor has an important announcement.”

  The room fell silent, and Damon watched the governor stroll onstage. The man was like a television personality in looks. Dark hair, taller than most. He had a wide smile, and Damon had heard that he was good in the negotiating room and a dangerous man to cross.

  Ivan leaned forward, whispering, “That man wants us to work with him on a project. I got an email from him last week.”

  Damon didn’t like the man, not really. Sure, maybe they were both billionaires, but that guy—he was trust fund money. Daddy had earned it all for him long ago, and now he just got to flaunt it around as governor. “Hmm. Heard he has a nasty temper.”

  Ivan grunted. “The man is on the cutting edge of energy development, and that is a company we want to work with.”

  The governor took the microphone and nodded at the emcee. “Thank you, Tommy. I want to thank all of you for coming out to raise money for the Texas Primary Children’s Hospital. This fundraiser is focused on building a cardiac wing that will revolutionize medical care for babies. Thank you.”

  Everyone applauded, even Damon. He had only bought tickets to the dinner, but he could stand to have another tax write-off; a cardiac wing for children wouldn’t be a bad donation.

  “And I would also like to have the woman I’ve been dating for a couple of months come up.”

  Damon’s brow furrowed. Why would the governor do that?

  “This woman has meant the world to me, and I will have you know that I would have done this fundraiser even if she wasn’t the woman leading the project.”

  The crowd laughed politely.

  The governor continued, his eyes fixed on a woman in a silver dress. “I can’t say that working with her hasn’t changed my life.”

  Damon’s mouth went dry. “No,” he breathed out, adding his slow claps to the applause.

  He’d know that red hair anywhere. It was the red hair he’d been so nervous to run his hand through all those years ago when they’d stared up at the stars and lain on the dock, talking about everything they wanted to be.

  “Ladies and gentleman, Madison Knight.”

  The room exploded into more applause. Damon felt his breath hitch like he’d been punched in the gut. She was thin—ultra-thin, he noted—as she moved to the governor’s side in her silver dress and high heels. Her hair tumbled down the length of her slender back.

  “When I met Ms. Knight, I thought she was attractive.” The governor took her hand tenderly. “And I quickly learned that there is a crazy generous, determined fireball beneath that ethereal face.”

  Damon’s heart thudded in his chest, and he felt like he might puke.

  The governor dropped to his knee and held out a ring box.

  A little gasp came out of Madison. Her hand flew to her mouth.

  Damon wanted to jump up, to yell out something, but all he could think about was that stupid check he’d accepted from her father.

  “Madison, will you marry me?” the governor asked into the microphone.

  She nodded, and Damon thought he heard a yes.

  The governor dropped the microphone and shot to his feet, pulling her in and kissing her.

  The audience stood to applaud again—all except Damon.

  Ivan glanced at him, but he probably didn’t suspect anything because Damon had been in a cranky mood anyway. “Who is that?”

  As Damon watched the woman from that summer celebrating in another man’s arms, he knew he had to talk to her. “That’s my past.”

  Chapter 3

  Madison, That Summer

  At sunset, Madison stood by the gate of the tennis court, watching the wildly handsome and dangerous guy with the scar go about his work. She still held her racquet, though by now she knew her friend Engrid wasn’t going to show. It was just as well; the guy was busy sweeping the debris away.

  Madison didn’t go in, just watched him. She couldn’t stop thinking about this guy. It’d been a week since that first day when she’d touched his face—not because she was trying to make a point to Troy, though she had made a point. Troy had been rude, and part of her had felt compelled to … what? Defend this guy from Troy? No, it had been pure need, desire, that had drawn her to him. Her hand had reached for him long before her brain had caught up.

  She’d been unsettled for a week, trying not to watch him or notice him. She kept checking the towel stand every time she walked past it on her way to the dining area or her friends’ rooms. And when they would randomly catch each other’s eyes, it felt like maybe he’d been looking for her, too.

  Now, as she stood by the tennis courts, she tried not to stare at him, but it was tough. She wondered what it would be like to kiss a guy like him, not like she’d had that much experience. Just stupid Troy last summer right before they’d had to go home. Over the past week, he’d been trying to get another kiss. She’d simply refused, and now she made sure to distance herself from him.

  This guy couldn’t be that old, could he? She wasn’t sure how old he was. He looked like that in-between age guys start having in high school or college; she wasn’t sure. For a few more minutes, she just gazed at him, and the sun sank farther in the sky.

  She checked her watch. Engrid obviously wasn’t coming. It’d been her whole idea to play tennis tonight, but she might have snuck off with Josh, one of the other guys in their group. Madison had noticed they’d been talking an awful lot lately, about Edgar Allen Poe, of all things. Boring! But that was Engrid, always reading a book or quoting something that Madison knew she should get, but didn’t until Engrid explained it.

  Abruptly, the guy quit sweeping and turned, walking quickly toward her—well, toward the entrance. His eyes were fixed on her. “Hey,” she managed to say.

  When he got to the gate, he paused, not saying anything.

  Her heart felt like a caged bird trying to break out of her chest. His blond hair was longer and messy around his face, with a mixture of light and dark highlights; together with his scar, it made him look like some rockin’ band guy. His eyes were a fierce movie-star blue, though it was more than that. They had an intensity to them that made her stomach flutter. It’d been the same intensity she’d seen when she’d put her hand on his scar.

  “Excu
se me,” he said quietly.

  She jumped a little and scooted aside; she hadn’t realized she was blocking his way. “Sorry.”

  He went through the gate, and she watched as he went to a little shed to put the broom away. Then he brought back a bag and moved past her again, not meeting her eyes. “Your boyfriend meeting you?” he asked

  Something about the way he said the word boyfriend put her on alert, like he was jealous. “Troy isn’t my boyfriend.”

  “Does he know that?” He smirked and turned to walk to the other side of the tennis courts.

  Annoyed by his question, she found herself following him. “Yes, he knows that. I mean … I don’t want him as a boyfriend.”

  The guy stopped at a bin filled with balls and started scooping them into the bag. “Hmm.”

  She didn’t like his tone. “Who are you to judge?”

  “I’m nobody. Obviously, I’m just the help.”

  The way he said that struck her. How it must feel for him, doing all this work when she and her friends were having all the fun? “I’m sorry.”

  He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “For what?”

  She shrugged. “That you’re stuck working when I’m here to have fun.”

  He snorted. “I’m grateful for this job. My cousin, Frankie, got me this job.”

  This guy was rough around the edges, but sincere. She didn’t know why, but she asked, “Did you really get that scar from your father?” She’d kept coming back to it over the past few nights. What could have happened to him?

  His face darkened as he finished piling the balls into the bag. He turned to her and searched her eyes. “Why do you look like you’re going to cry?”

  She blinked and cursed her too-easy-to-cry ways. “I’m not,” she denied, frantically blinking.

  “Are too.” He seemed to be sizing her up. “You’re about to turn on the waterworks.”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’ve always been this way. I hate it, okay? Do you know how much I hate that I can’t hide my feelings?” Humiliated, she turned away from him, putting a hand to her chest and sucking in a breath. “Why are you being a jerk?”

  He sighed. “I … I shouldn’t have … ah.” He moved past her, walking back toward the gate to get out.

  “Hey, I was talking to you.”

  He shook his head and chuckled. “You shouldn’t be.”

  But she couldn’t stop herself from following him. She followed him to the shed, not liking that he was telling her what to do. “Hey, I can talk to you if I want.”

  He quickly put the balls away, then rearranged some stuff and shut the shed, placing a lock on it.

  Feeling justified in demanding answers, she waited.

  He turned to face her.

  Once again, her heart fluttered when their eyes met. “You are being rude.”

  This made him pause. The side of his lip turned up, and then he headed off. “If you want to know the answer to your question, meet me down at the boat dock at midnight. I’ll tell you all about it if you come.”

  His challenge made her pulse race even faster, but she thought of her parents. “I can’t. My parents won’t let me.”

  He turned, walking backward for a couple of steps. “Then I guess you’ll never know the story, will you?”

  Chapter 4

  Madison, Present Day

  Madison stood on the veranda of the governor’s mansion, staring down at the large piece of glass on her finger. Herbert had taken her by surprise when he’d asked her to marry him up on that stage. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure if she was happy about it or not. Manners told her to accept in the middle of a public fundraiser and give it back later, but … Months ago, she’d witnessed a severely beaten man on the street next to the dinner they’d attended together. She remembered what Herbert had whispered to her: “Don’t worry. He deserved it.”

  Herbert wasn’t a man to be trifled with, even though there was no denying how kind he was to her and her mother. Her thoughts went to the check he’d given her all those months ago. She hadn’t wanted to take it, only doing so for her mother’s sake, and she’d sworn she would pay the money back. Was that what this was? She held the ring up and stared at it in the moonlight. Two carat? Was marrying him the payment?

  A wave of nausea rolled through her, and she reached out and grasped the railing. She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath as guilt surged inside of her. Herbert wouldn’t even be thinking that. He was so … good. And she knew he loved her.

  Did she love him?

  A different face flashed into her mind. Damon. She’d never quit loving him; she’d cried herself to sleep over way too many times.

  Had he come to Texas as he’d claimed he would all those years ago? Not that they would even be in the same city in this huge state. Her mother had not understood last year when she’d insisted on taking the fundraising job at the hospital in Houston. All she’d told her mother was that it was a great opportunity.

  She released a long breath and let the cool air soothe her. She stared up at the stars. “Orion’s Belt,” she muttered, a smile playing on her lips. Quickly, she pulled her mind back to right now, to the ring on her finger and the agreement she’d just made to be the governor’s wife. It would please her parents. Well, her father would have been pleased about if he were alive. She had purposefully not checked her texts, because she knew her mother would be bombarding her phone with them.

  Madison missed her father, but a large part of that was because he could take care of her mother. By the time she’d discovered her mother had lost all the money, it had been too late and her mother had been sick. Wincing, she sucked in a breath and tried to push those thoughts out of her mind. It did no good to dwell on things she couldn’t change.

  Her phone buzzed, and she saw it was her mother. She might as well deal with it now. “Hello.”

  “Sweetheart, you have just put yourself in a position to secure our financial future forever.”

  She pictured her mother’s smug expression, saw her propped up on her bed in Madison’s guest room. With a spike of anger, she said, “Mom, don’t. I just didn’t know how to turn him down.”

  “Turn him down?” her mother shouted.

  Madison tugged the phone away, distancing herself from the noise.

  “Madison! Madison, put the phone back to your ear.”

  She exhaled and put it back. “Yes.”

  “No way, Madison. You cannot turn him down. You can’t do that to us.”

  She hesitated, not wanting to have this fight right now. Madison could picture her mother pinching the bridge of her nose. “Mom, I have to go.”

  “He’ll be good to you. He’ll take care of you.”

  “Stop, Mom. I’m hanging up now.”

  “Wait!”

  She sighed. “What?”

  “I was just wondering if you’ve been feeling okay? You seem tired.”

  Worry pulsed through her. Did her mother suspect her secret? “I’m fine. Bye, Mom.” She pushed end and held her phone in her trembling hand. Dang, she couldn’t deal with her mother finding out. She closed her eyes. Her mother would be constantly in her ear, and she knew Mom would tell Herbert if she knew. The two of them had been close since Mom had gotten the transplant.

  Her phone buzzed with a text from her best friend, Engrid.

  Why is my phone blowing up, and why did your mother just send me this clip of you getting proposed to?

  She snickered. Yes, this was typical Engrid. They’d been friends nearly their whole lives.

  Crazy, right?

  Engrid responded by calling her.

  Madison smiled ruefully. “Hey.”

  “Seriously, why didn’t I have advance warning that this was coming?” Engrid demanded.

  “I didn’t know.” Madison laughed, happy to hear from her friend. Engrid had worked hard to get this shot at Oxford, studying with the best in archaic languages. Sure, she was a complete nerd, but Madison loved her so much.

&n
bsp; For a moment, Engrid was quiet. “Well, are you happy?”

  “Of cou-rse.” Her voice cracked a bit.

  Engrid sighed. “You still think about that summer, don’t you?”

  Madison couldn’t deny it to Engrid—Engrid knew her too well—so she opted to ignore the question. “I think you’ll really love Herbert.”

  “Madi …”

  Emotion surged into Madison’s throat, and she hated that her best friend could be on the other side of the world and still see through her. “He’s amazing.” Her voice, as usual, betrayed that she was on the verge of crying. Her eyes fluttered as she thought of all the hours in her mother’s hospital room the past year when Herbert had been there, playing chess with her, reading to her. And then he’d written a check and refused to talk about it. It still bothered her that he would just pay the bills off for them, but he had saved her from total financial ruin.

  “You okay?” Engrid asked. Engrid wouldn’t push right now, but Madison knew eventually she would.

  Madison sucked in a stabilizing breath. “Yeah, I’m good. I miss you. Come back soon.” That was the truth.

  “I got the feeling he kind of creeped you out sometimes. Do you still feel that way?”

  “He got my mom a liver transplant, remember?”

  “Does that mean you have to marry him? Wait, did you sign something in blood?”

  “Stop.”

  “No, I won’t stop.”

  “My mother might not even be alive right now if it weren’t for Herbert. You know I couldn’t afford all the treatment she needed.”

  Engrid let out a long breath. “Mad-i-son.” She always spoke that way when she wanted to emphasize a point. “You never asked him to pay those hospital bills, right?”

  “Of course not.” Madison held to the banister, wondering what to do. Engrid was her best friend, had been her best friend forever—she had to tell her. “I’m pregnant, Eng.”

  A long string of curse words followed.

  “Engrid,” Madison said. “Stop. He doesn’t even know yet.”