I wonder if this is how Helen always felt – overwhelmed with ideas and possibilities, she thought. She wanted to mention it to Doug but she didn’t want to make it seem like she was constantly ribbing him about his mother. Now everything was so calm with the older woman, so it was silly to bring up old issues. She thought it might be nice, actually, to invite Mrs. Crofton and her sister Beatrice over to see her new place as well – and June. But first things first, she had to get everything in order or she would never feel confident enough to let anyone else see her new place.
“You have a lot of CDs,” Doug pointed out as he opened yet another boxful of them. “Do you even have a CD player?”
“Of course I do,” Paige said. “It’s in one of these other boxes. Otherwise, obviously, I’d sell them… But I love my music collection.”
“Aww, I love that you’re a nerd,” he teased her.
She mimed throwing a CD like a Frisbee at him. The boxes bore her entire life, even the embarrassing parts of it, and the parts she was working on changing. Instead of feeling embarrassed to let Doug see more into her life, she felt overjoyed and free.
Epilogue
Several months flew by for Doug and Paige. After all of the stress with his mom and aunt, things had finally turned around at Stony Creek Ranch. Now that his mom was retired, things were running a lot smoother, no offense to her. Thankfully, because she was relaxing now instead of being in the midst of all of the bickering, his mom hadn’t had any other health problems. She sent him pictures of herself reading book or enjoying quiet days on the ranch house’s front porch so he would have proof of her relaxation. He was highly amused that she actually took photos of herself reading after the one offhand joke.
He and Paige spent quite a lot of time at each other’s houses, helping to decorate and add more personal touches to each of them. Doug had never really been into decorating, he preferred construction, but he was enjoying the way Paige’s eyes lit up whenever she found something new for either of their new homes. And her taste wasn’t cheesy like he thought some ladies’ could be. She loved bold colors and humorous artworks, mainly involving animals.
Paige made good on her promise to have a housewarming party once everything was actually assembled to her liking there. Most of her loved ones had seen it by then, but it was nice to be able to relax and show off the finished product. Now her friends knew they could come and have sleepovers with her, too, and she looked forward to it. The house might become awfully lonely otherwise, though she didn’t actually spend much time there during the week.
Finally, Doug’s work was going to take him elsewhere. He didn’t want to leave the ranch. Okay, he didn’t want to leave Paige at the ranch.
“I’ve got some business to tend to in New York coming up,” he told her. “Do you want to come along with me?”
She beamed at him, indicating to him that he didn’t need to ask twice. “I’d love to!” she enthused. “Should I do anything there while you’re working? Would you like me to help you?”
He thought about it, and though the help would have been nice, he really just wanted her to be able to enjoy herself and the new experiences of the city. “You can help me a little, but I mostly want you to come do fun things when I’m not working.”
“I can do that,” she said to him with a nod. “I am not opposed to doing fun things.”
She texted her friends as soon as she was by herself that night. “EEE, Doug invited me to go to NYC with him! He wants to take me to do fun things when he’s not busy working. So it’s like a half business trip, but half fun trip. :D”
She wouldn’t even mind being left to her own devices, though she knew she was too chicken to leave the hotel when she was by herself. There was way more stuff to do in New York than she would ever be able to do in this first trip, but she knew as long as she was dating Doug, there’d be plenty of other opportunities. While he was gone, she would happily stay and enjoy the surely five-star accommodations of the hotel while he was off getting work done. His billionaire status didn’t often hit her, but it really did now that she was going to spend several days in the big, glitzy city with him.
She didn’t even know what to pack, so she decided to bring along just about one of each type of outfit. She also didn’t know the sorts of things Doug had planned, so she brought lots of fancier outfits so she could at least be overdressed at times instead of being underdressed for anything. Paige was going to be on the arm of a famous venue developer, so she didn’t want to commit any faux pas, no matter how minor.
“You worry too much,” her friends texted her. “Just be yourself and whoever you meet will love you.”
Paige wasn’t so sure. She had plenty of anxiety backing her up on the idea that she could be embarrassingly dorky sometimes. I’m going to be meeting his fancy New York friends, too, she thought as she packed her suitcase to the gills. I especially don’t want to embarrass myself or Doug in front of them.
Taking the private jet into JFK Airport was quite pleasant, unsurprisingly, and then they were whisked off into their fancy hotel. Paige had her own room, with a king-sized bed. She thought it was insane that she was given so much when she was just a simple girl from Texas. “I thought I’d have to work much longer before I’d be able to stay in places like this,” she joked.
“I say you’ve earned it,” Doug replied with a smile. “Now get some rest while I’m gone. We’re going to have a nice dinner tonight. And tomorrow evening, you’ll meet my friends.”
He sounded so excited. He was so excited. Finally he was the one with a new girlfriend to show off. In a respectful sort of way, of course. He made sure his suit was nice and not wrinkled from the flight and then he stepped into a waiting limo out front, going off to his meetings about the dude ranch he was set to fully open in about a month.
Stony Creek Ranch was so successful that the demand for more ranches just like it was at an all-time high. Doug was proud of himself for being there right at the forefront of this new fad. He didn’t even want to call it a fad, because those could often be short-lived and he intended his ranches to be as big as Hilton hotels.
Doug could sometimes have lofty goals, but he believed in himself, which was how he’d gotten so successful in the first place.
His meetings lasted, altogether, about five hours. Then he returned to his hotel room, exhausted but emboldened. He was making great headway so he could feel free to let his employees in New York handle things from there. He was grateful his trip to NYC didn’t have to be nothing but meetings, because that wasn’t any fun. He took a shower and changed into some dark blue jeans and a fashionable white button-up shirt with a gold tiger stitched into the fabric. It was an embroidery shirt. He’d told himself he’d never wear something like it, but then it caught his eye at the store.
Doug left his room and went to Paige’s door, giving it a light knock. Then a harder knock. “Are you awake? Sorry to bother you, but don’t you want to explore some of the city with me?”
She opened the door and stood there in a gorgeous purple dress. It fell to just past her knees, showing off the fine slopes of her calves. She paired it with some black heels with little buckles at the ankles.
Paige smiled at him. “Hello,” she said.
He looked like she’d knocked the wind out of him, which meant she’d made the right choice in dresses. And she had more where that came from. “You look beautiful,” he stammered. “I mean, of course, you always look beautiful.”
She laughed softly, blushing in that way he adored. “You look very handsome as well. You always do.”
Doug offered his arm to her and she gladly took it. They walked down the hall to the elevator and then out to the waiting limo which was going to take them to their destination so she wouldn’t have to walk in those heels. Paige was very grateful for that.
They explored Central Park together, taking in all of the statues and mosaics, even stopping to listen to a few musicians. Then they had dinner at Sardi’s and played a
game where they had to tell each other which celebrity they looked the most like based on the photos on the walls.
“Robert Redford,” she said to him without even having to think about it for very long. “Definitely. Your hair is darker, though. But I can overlook that.”
Doug was quite honored by the compliment. He’d been expecting her to say someone a bit more unusual looking like Stan Laurel or something. He considered himself a handsome guy, but it didn’t mean he expected everyone else to think so. He’d never even thought he looked like Robert Redford before, but now he thought about it, she was right.
“Your turn,” she pressed with a grin. She could tell he was deeply flattered because he got all pensive and smiley after she told him her thoughts.
He looked around the room. “No one here is as beautiful as you,” he said after a time, hoping she wouldn’t think it was a cop out. He just genuinely didn’t think any of the actresses on the walls were as gorgeous as she was.
She gave him a look, but she would believe him… He was probably the only person she would let say something like that and not question their sanity or their laziness. “You’re too kind,” she said to him, taking his hand on the tabletop and squeezing it gently.
The following morning, he had a few more meetings but they were brief and more laid back. He headed back to the hotel around noon and picked her up in his limo to go do some more exploring. They checked out the shops along 5th Avenue and she wanted one of everything. “I wish we had breakfast to eat here,” she said outside of Tiffany’s. Just then, their driver found them and handed Doug a bag of bagels from a nearby bakery, so they were able to have breakfast at Tiffany’s for real.
They went back to their hotel when it got towards evening so they could change into their outfits for hors d’oeuvres and drinks at The Executive, the social club where Doug hung out with his friends whenever he was in town. Paige was very nervous to meet them, but she was bolstered by him telling her every outfit she showed him looked perfect on her. In the end, she wore a lovely little black dress with the buckled black heels and a matching black clutch.
“You can never go wrong with a black dress,” she told him, as if it might be the first time Doug ever heard that.
They got into another limo and rode off to the place he’d been telling her about. It was located in yet another chic-looking, tall building. Gently, he ushered Paige inside and found his friends in no time, sitting at their usual table.
All of his friends stood up as they approached. They smiled delightedly at Paige. “Paige, this is Tim, Ashton, and Craig,” he introduced. “Everyone, this is Paige Lancaster. The one I’ve told you about.”
There was a wink in his voice.
She didn’t know what it meant, but she liked it. “How do you do?” she said to them, shaking each of their hands. As she sat and chatted with them over mocktails and hors d’oeuvres, Paige realized she would have no problem at all with hanging out with these guys again. Each one of them was suave and clearly fabulously wealthy, but they were also kind and funny, and very welcoming for her.
Doug knew he was going to have a lot of work ahead in New York. It was going to be good to get away from everything back home and focus on a new venture, but he wasn’t looking forward to having to leave Paige alone all the time. Now he knew he wouldn’t have to.
And maybe next time could be a family trip with Devon as well.
He certainly hoped by now he could consider Paige to be a part of his family.
* * *
Preview Of The Cowboy’s Match
Pretendr Dating App Series
Chapter One
Dallas, Texas
“Ready,” Trent proclaimed, lowering the front hood of his bright tomato red truck before jumping back into the front seat. He revved the engine and peeled out.
“Woo hoo!” his friend Austin trilled, racing alongside him in his own truck – a black beauty with flames painted on.
“Don’t get excited,” Wes shouted over all of the engine noise. “Y’all know I’m going to beat you.”
The three friends had been drag racing each other in their trucks practically ever since they learned how to drive. Trent couldn’t pinpoint exactly how it had all started, but he figured that it belonged in the broad ‘boys will be boys’ category.
Sure enough, Wes reached the makeshift finish line before him, with Austin trailing in third place. Their races pretty much always ended this way, but they still always found it fun. It was a certain form of comradery that their parents in particular would never understand. “Wanna go get some burgers?” Wes asked, grinning triumphantly.
“You know I can never say no to a proposition like that,” Trent said with a grin back at his friend. It may have bothered him that Wes always found a way to beat him at drag racing, but at least Wes also always invited him and Austin out for burgers afterward.
After hanging out with his friends, eating tasty burgers for a few hours, Trent headed back home to the ranch where he lived with his parents. He looked at the time on the dashboard. “Aw, heck, they’re going to be annoyed about this. I had no idea how late it’d gotten.”
He often lost track of time when he was out having fun with his friends. Such a thing might have been okay when he was in high school, but he was in his early thirties now; he didn’t think his mom thought it was cute anymore. So he did what he thought any sensible person would do in his situation. He floored it.
The flashing red and blue lights appeared in his rear-view mirror almost instantaneously.
“Man,” Trent complained under his breath, dutifully pulling over to the side of the road.
A police officer got out of the parked patrol car and came strolling up to Trent’s window. Trent rolled it down so they could chat. “License and registration, please.”
He gave the officer the requested documents and then the officer looked over them, making sure to match them with Trent’s face and the model of his car.
“Were you aware of how fast you were going back there?” the officer asked in a calm but authoritative tone.
Trent nodded. “Yes, sir. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry I wasn’t more careful, officer.”
He didn’t think that sweet-talking was really going to get him out of trouble, but he figured that it was worth a try. The policeman took the paperwork back to his patrol car so he could look Trent up in the system. This was normally the part where he would get let off with a warning, but he had a feeling that this time, that might not happen. He had quite a stack of offenses at this point. He wasn’t going to be let off so easily every time, as much as he wanted to believe that. He’d been raised to understand that he was fortunate but that didn’t mean that he was entitled.
He hung his head a bit while he waited an uncomfortably long amount of time for the officer to look over everything. Trent knew that he didn’t have anything outstanding, but he had been caught speeding with his buddies more than a few times, and he also knew that his parking record wasn’t impeccable.
Finally, the officer returned to the open window of his car. He handed the license and registration back to Trent. “Looks like this wasn’t your first joyride,” the officer stated. “I’m afraid I’m gonna have to ticket you for this one.” He wrote something down on his pad of paper and then tore off the ticket, handing it over to Trent.
Looking down at the slip of paper in his hand, Trent did his best to not audibly gulp. $226.10?! His parents were going to kill him. He wasn’t going to ask them to pay it off, of course, but still. They kept tabs on him, since he worked and lived on their ranch. They weren’t going to be pleased about this.
He was polite to the police officer and he made his way back along the road towards home, making sure to drive slower both because of the speed limit and also because he wasn’t looking forward to confronting his parents. He had no idea what he was going to say to them. He couldn’t keep something like this a secret. He already knew that he wasn’t the most well-behaved son, so lying wo
uld only make his case worse.
As soon as he got to the ranch and parked his truck in the garage, Trent walked inside the house as quietly and as calmly as he could. The goal is to move into my own house on this land, but I can’t exactly build that if I’m spending all of my money on speeding tickets and new tires all the time. He knew that it wasn’t all that odd for a guy his age to be living at home with his parents – especially a guy who lived on his parents’ ranch – but he still felt quite deflated. He’d had such a grand time with his friends. It didn’t seem fair that his great day had to end this way.
They’re just going to lecture me like they always do, he thought, collapsing onto the couch in the living room. They seem to forget that I’m not a kid anymore. I can pack up and leave any time I want to.
But he didn’t know where he would go or what he would do. It was just an empty threat.
“Oh, there you are,” his mother said as she strolled into the room and found him sitting there. She had an expression on her face that was difficult to read. His father was close behind, looking tired as usual.
“We were wondering where you’d gone,” Trent’s father said. “We need to discuss some things with you.”
That was an alarming sentence. Trent knew that his parents were planning things behind his back – things that concerned him – and he’d been nervous about it. They didn’t used to be so secretive. Now they kind of kept away from him. He’d assumed for some time that it was simply because he was an adult now and they were giving him his space… But now he wondered if he’d been wrong to read into it. “Sure thing, Pop,” he said as calmly as he could, sitting up straight on the couch so there was plenty of room for his parents to join him there.
“It probably won’t come as a surprise to you that we’ve been thinking about retiring,” Trent’s mother said once she and his father were seated. “We’ve owned and operated this ranch for nearly forty years now. We’re ready to relax and have someone else take it over…”
Billionaire Hearts Club- The Complete Series Collection Page 35
