“You aren’t going anywhere. You’re going to stay here and face him.”
“But what do I do?”
Charlotte shrugged. “I don’t know. It depends, doesn’t it?”
“On what?”
Meeting her in the middle of the room, Charlotte hugged her tightly again. “On whether or not you guys love each other enough to forgive. But, hey, one thing first.”
“What?” Jill pulled back to look at her wise friend.
“You might want to go do a makeup check.”
Jill reached up with both hands and rubbed under her eyes. Her fingers came away black, but before she could move, the door opened and Blake came in.
“Too late,” Charlotte said with way more humor in her voice than Jill thought the situation deserved.
But then she looked up and met Blake’s eyes, and all other thoughts fled.
“Can I talk to Jill?” Blake asked Charlotte. “Alone?”
Nodding, Charlotte left the room quietly with nothing but a knowing look thrown Jill’s way. Jill stood still, a whirlwind of emotions. “I was determined to never see you again.”
His somber mouth tightened. “I don’t blame you.” He stepped closer, but kept some distance between them. “I couldn’t let you go without begging for your forgiveness. I only waited long enough to get my legal team on top of the situation with Trevor before coming after you.”
“How could you believe I was capable of such duplicity?”
“I don’t know that I ever believed it. Not really. My instincts were screaming that Ivey was wrong, but then Rick heard it too. And you had been so secretive about Trevor. I felt as if my legs had been knocked out from under me. I’m sorry. I handled it all wrong.”
“You know what hurt me the most? When you cooperated with my father’s attempts to bump me off this job.” She thought she’d drained the well of her tears, but she was wrong. She could no longer see Blake’s features through the glimmer in her eyes, but she could see his familiar form standing so close she could almost reach out and touch him. Taking a deep breath to control the weakness in her voice, she said, “You knew how hard I worked to make that report.”
“I just wanted to keep you from actually going through with it. Jill, look at it from my perspective. After seeing what my own mother was capable of, fighting for years to undo the damage she’d done, I didn’t know how to cope with going through it again with the woman I love. If only I’d stepped back and thought through it better, I would have—”
“Wait.” Jill’s voice shook and her heart raced. Did you say the woman you love?”
His unwavering gaze sharpened. “Yes, I did, but you should hear that from a man who deserves you.”
Jill pressed her hand over her mouth. The tears running down her cheeks spilled hot across her fingers. Then, wiping her cheeks, she said, “No. No. I’m hurt and angry, but I know it’s more my fault than yours. If I had just told you everything from the beginning, none of this would have happened.”
“No, but you were right. I wouldn’t have been able to stand back and let you bait a criminal into exposing himself. Especially not one who lusted after you the way Trevor did.”
“I was always afraid you might pop him in the nose sometime.”
“He’s lucky I didn’t do a lot worse than that.”
Jill stepped closer to him. She couldn’t help it. “Blake, what are we doing? I’m so afraid this proves we shouldn’t be together, but that kills me. I love you, too.”
“Then what the blazes are we doing?” In less than a heartbeat, Blake closed the distance between them and gripped her shoulders. “Jill, we failed our first test, but that doesn’t mean this is over. Not unless you say it is. Please don’t say it is.”
Awash in hope, Jill clenched her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. She felt his hands run soothingly up and down her back and only then realized how much she was trembling. This man—this driven, strong, incredible man—wanted her. Surely her heart was too small to contain such joy.
“Jill, sweetheart, I can’t see your face.”
Laughing, she leaned back and looked up at him. “But I’m a mess.”
“Yes, but still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. I know there’s a lot for us to figure out, but nothing else in my life makes sense anymore if you aren’t part of it. And if you’ll let me, I intend to bind myself to you in every way possible—with wedding rings and children and titles and deeds and bank accounts—”
“And muffins and hot tubs?”
Blake burst out laughing. “As many as you want.”
Her fingers tightened on his shirt. “What about Hayden?”
“Are you kidding? You two didn’t start off well, but she loves you. Having your help will save me from turning grey before she graduates next year.”
“Sounds like there’s only one more thing I could ask then. Will you teach me to ride a horse?
Jill thought she’d never seen such a blaze of attraction in any man’s eyes.
“That’s it.”
Without another word, Blake swept her up into a kiss that at once soothed and promised and set her afire. She clung to him, taking all he offered, and hungered for more. But when his kisses slowed, melting into sweet tenderness, she rose on her toes, giving in return, until Blake pushed back, his eyes so intense, she blinked under their fire.
“You keep kissing me like that, Blake McDaniel, and I might have to come back to Texas sometime soon.”
Growling softly, Blake shook his head. “You’re coming back now, and once we get there, I’m burning that blasted suitcase of yours.”
“What in the world for?”
“Because you won’t need it anymore. You’ll be home.”
Jill smiled as a rush of love radiated through her. “That sounds amazing. But you might want to wait till we get back from our honeymoon.”
“No way. You won’t need much for that trip. Take a smaller bag. Now, no more talking. It’s distracting me from my task.”
“Which is?”
“Proving how much I adore you.”
Epilogue
Blake’s boots were covered in mud, so he took them off on the back porch so he didn’t track it through the house. He’d promised Jill he would only be gone a few minutes after they’d arrived at the ranch, but of course, once he went out to check on things at the stable, that promise had gone up in smoke.
They’d been married a few months, but this was only their second trip to the ranch as man and wife. He wasn’t about to spend it mucking about in the pastures. He was going to shower, then spend the rest of the day with Jill doing whatever she wanted to do—though he did have certain hopes in that direction.
As he passed through the kitchen, Hayden looked up from the sandwich she was making. “Have you seen Jill? She said she was going to watch a movie with me.”
Blake still hadn’t gotten over how close Jill and Hayden had become over the last few months. Of course, neither of them had ever had a sister before. The only problem he had now was getting Jill alone in the little spare time they had away from business.
“If I see her, I’ll remind her.” Maybe.
“Thanks, but I’m going to start without her.”
“Do that.”
He walked into the master bedroom, and stopped short at the sight of Jill sitting cross-legged on the bed with tears running down her face. “What the blazes?”
Gasping, she looked up from something she held in her hand. “It’s time.”
“Time for what?” Blake was lost.
“To make decisions. About what I want and what I’m doing.”
“I’ll volunteer for both of those.”
She laughed, but only briefly as her thoughts turned back to whatever was on her mind. “I need to figure out what I’m doing with my career. I’ve been so happy since we’ve been married, free from the pressure I felt working for my dad. I love helping you manage your businesses and finding ways to improve them, but…
“But what? You know I’ll support you in anything you want to do.”
She held out a white plastic stick to him. He took it automatically but his brain felt frozen. A pregnancy test? With his heart beating like thunder, he looked down and saw the words, “Not Pregnant” spelled out in black, digital letters.
He looked at Jill, hoping desperately to figure out what he was supposed to think or say. Though he felt disappointed, he had no idea what she felt. He did know that holding her was probably the best thing he could offer right then. Forgetting about the mud splattered on his clothes, he sat down and pulled her to him. She began sobbing, so he rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head, willing to be her rock as long as she needed him to be.
After a moment, when her crying subsided, he said, “Talk to me sweetie. We’ve been using protection from the beginning. You wanted time to figure out what you wanted.”
She sat back. “I know, but I was a week late so I started wondering. It wasn’t till the test came back negative that I realized how much I was hoping to be pregnant.”
Blakes heart warmed. He understood now. “You know I want to have kids. If you want them too, let’s go for it. He kissed her lips. “In fact, we can start trying right now.”
Jill smiled but held him back with two hands on his chest. “But how do I balance being a mother and having a career?”
“We’ll figure it out, I promise. You know how busy I am, but I’m determined to be a better parent than I ever had. And whatever you decide, I know you will be too.”
“But what if I decide I don’t want a career anymore? Or what if I decide I do?”
Rubbing her arms, Blake said, “Dreams change. And then they change again. The only way to be happy in this life is to be true to your heart.”
Jill leaned forward and kissed him. “You’re the best. I love you.”
“Love you, too, sweetheart. So much so that I’m going to forgive you for nearly giving me a heart attack. Next time you decide to pee on a stick, can you give me some warning?”
“No problem. Next time you come inside with mud on your clothes, can you take them off before you get on the bed?”
Blake laughed. “You’ve been telling me to take off my clothes since the day we met.”
“Just because it was so hot that day and you were wearing a suitcoat.”
“And now you’re at it again. Don’t worry though, I intend to support you in anything—having a career, having a baby… Heck, we can have a whole pack of kids if you want them. But if what you want right now is for me to take my muddy clothes off, I guess I’ll just have to man up and keep my word.”
Jill threw a pillow at his head with impressive aim, but he wasn’t fooled. She was as happy to build this life together as he was.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my family, as always, for their love and support.
Thanks to my critique partners, Amy Meyer, Victorine Lieske, and Judy Corry.
I love working with all of you and staying up late with you, and podcasting with you. (Even though my phone pings a lot.) Also, thanks for another great cover, Victorine!
To my incredible Beta Readers, Editors, and Proof Readers, you are the best ever!
Arielle Bailey
Christina Tarbet
Jessica Randall
Cara Seger
Sara Cardon
Mindy Strunk
Alisha Merrick
Mariah K. Porter
Courtney Willis
Lisa Mussi
Amberly Lucas
Kathleen Brebes
Cheree Myatt
Ruth Ann Lingwall
Kaitlyn Schnobrich
Elizabeth McCay
Amy Klaus
Judy Corry (Doing double duty!)
Thank you for reading my book. Please consider leaving a review!
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I’m looking forward to bringing you the rest of this series!
The Trust of a Billionaire will be available May 10th 2018!
Also Available, The Trouble with Billionaires
Book 1 in the Southern Billionaires Romance Series
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For information about Michelle Pennington’s other titles, sign up for her newsletter, go to:
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Michelle Pennington spends her days quoting movies with her husband, making messes faster than her four kids. Michelle writes clean Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary Adult Romance, Fantasy, and Regency Romance. The genre might change, but her characters will always be falling in love. Michelle is an active contributor in the LDS and Clean Fiction writing communities. She is blessed to have the support of her family and amazing friends on this crazy journey, as well as the constant company of the characters who live in her imagination.
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