Her Cowboy Billionaire Butler

by Liz Isaacson

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  “Work on it, okay?” Wes leaned down and kissed her again, hoping she could feel how very real his feelings for her were. “And I’m buying you whatever I want for your birthday,” he said, his lips still touching hers. “But I will concede to no car, and no house.”

  “And no vacuum cleaner,” she added before claiming his lips again.

  He could live with that, and he could definitely feel how she felt about him when she kissed him.

  “Pull over here,” Bree said. “They’re looking at something up there.”

  Wes did what she said, because he’d missed the moose in Jackson Hole, and he wanted a legit wildlife sighting. He put the truck in park, cut the ignition, and got out. “What do you think it is?”

  “No idea,” she said. “People pull over for everything in Yellowstone.”

  “I hope we can see it,” he said, taking her hand in his. They’d packed quickly and hit the road within an hour after he’d agreed not to buy her a car, a house, or a vacuum cleaner for her birthday. The drive had been pleasant, without any tension even during the silent bouts.

  “It’s a bear,” she said, slowing for a moment. A couple was headed back to their car, and she asked, “It’s a bear, right?”

  “Three of them,” the man said. “Not too far away either.”

  “Three bears,” Wes said, in complete awe. Maybe if he’d spent more time in the mountains and canyons surrounding Denver, he wouldn’t feel so filled with wonder. But a wild animal to a CEO was someone who shows up in the office in jeans instead of a pair of pressed slacks.

  He was tall enough that he could see past a lot of the crowd, and sure enough, with just a few more steps, he could see what everyone had pulled over for. “There they are,” he said, pausing.

  “Let’s go a little closer,” she said. “I can’t see them yet.” They dodged through other people, going out to the right where they wouldn’t block anyone, and Bree paused too. “Oh, wow.”

  The three bears were probably a few hundred yards away, and at least four forest rangers stood at the front of the crowd to make sure no one got too close. One bear was standing, his head down, and the other two, smaller bears, were several feet away from the first.

  “Is it a mother and cubs?” Wes wondered. The smaller bears weren’t that much smaller, but if they’d been born in the springtime, they could still be cubs.

  “No idea,” Bree said, and her voice held wonder too. “They’re amazing, though.”

  The general attitude among the crowd was the same thing, and no one spoke in too loud of a voice or tried to get past the rangers. Wes and Bree stayed for a long time, until finally she said, “Should we go?”

  “Yeah,” Wes said, finally tearing his eyes from the trio of bears. “That was amazing.” Back in the truck, he added, “A real wild animal sighting. So exciting.” He grinned for all he was worth, and Bree laughed at him and took his hand in hers.

  “I like it when you get excited about simple things,” she said. “It reminds me that you’re just a little boy in a big body.”

  “Oh-ho,” he said, still chuckling. “Is that right?”

  “It’s just…you have a lot of money. You wouldn’t think that a few black bears would be that exciting. You could probably buy them as pets.”

  Wes glanced at her. “I would like a dog. Not a bear.”

  She shook her head, though her smile remained in place. “You know what I mean.”

  “Having money isn’t that exciting,” he said.

  “I would be excited about it.”

  “It wears off quickly.”

  “This will too.”

  “I don’t know,” Wes said, navigating them toward the inn. “That was pretty awesome. I got a lot of pictures, and I hope we see more wildlife while we’re here.”

  “I’m sure we will,” she said. “I looked it up, and they’ve had a ton of animals down where the public is this year.”

  “So hopefully, we’ll get lucky.” He didn’t care what she said—seeing the black bears was exciting. Of course, making his first billion had been too. But honestly, Wes had been given two billion to start with. Sure, he’d worked hard, but he’d never wondered if he’d have to go without. He’d never worked two jobs because he had to. He’d never really had to think that hard about how he’d pay for the things he needed—and everything he wanted too.

  So he could understand Bree’s point of view. He just hoped that one day—and one day soon—she’d stop thinking about his money as what defined him.

  He wanted to be more than that.

  He already was more than that. He glanced at her. Maybe she didn’t see that in him yet.

  What do I need to do to show her there’s more to me than a bank account? he asked the Lord. Help me provide for her what she needs, whether that’s money or something else.

  He kept the prayer going as he drove through the more crowded parts of Yellowstone National Park to get to the inn, stalling on one question he really wished God would answer for him.

  Do I love her?

  Will You please let me know if I’m in love with her the way she deserves to be loved?

  Wes had been in love before—or so he’d thought. He’d asked two women to marry him, and that certainly took some measure of love to think he could join himself to them for the rest of his life.

  In the end, he hadn’t been able to do that, and they’d broken up. He hadn’t mourned those break-ups for very long, so maybe he hadn’t truly been in love with Claire or Lauren.

  He tried to imagine his life without Bree in it, and everything seemed dull, sad, and gray. In fact, he’d lived through six months exactly like that, and he hadn’t enjoyed them all that much.

  So am I in love with her? he begged the Lord. And how will I know when I am?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Bree heard Wes’s alarm go off in the other room, and she rolled over in the very uncomfortable bed. The suite was in the original part of the inn, and had been built over a hundred years ago. She’d liked the charm of the old building, and they’d managed to find some good food in the adjoining restaurant.

  They were going on a hike this morning, and then driving around the park, hoping to run into a herd of bison or see an eagle soaring or something equally as wild. Wes’s words.

  Bree stayed in bed though she heard Wes get up. He groaned in the other room, and she stifled her giggle until he went into the bathroom. She probably should’ve warned him that anywhere they stayed near or in Yellowstone wouldn’t have a nice bed. She knew, because she’d rented the cabins around the park; she’d slept in a tent in one of the campgrounds; she’d even gone with her old floral friends once and they’d rented a condo about a half-hour from the park. Nothing was ever comfortable.

  Wes was probably used to the highest thread counts on his sheets too, with downy pillow tops on his king-sized mattresses.

  Bree knew she was being cruel and sarcastic, and a vein of regret ran through her. There was nothing wrong with wanting a nice bed to sleep in. Bree wanted one right now, and she groaned too when she sat up.

  Wes got ready fast, and he slid open the door separating the bedroom from the sitting area, where he’d moved her bed. “Hey, you’re up.” If she hadn’t heard him groan, she wouldn’t have known he hadn’t slept wonderfully. “I’m out of the bathroom, if you want to shower or anything.”

  “Sure,” she said.

  “I’m going to go find coffee and something to eat.” He picked up his wallet from the countertop that held a microwave and had a small sink in it. “You like cream and sugar, right?”

  “Yes, please,” she said, admiring him without the cowboy hat he usually wore on his head. He had less gray hair than Colton, and she found herself wanting to curl her fingers through it. She had before, when he’d taken off his hat to kiss her, but that somehow wasn’t enough.

  “And nothing with raisins.” He lifted his eyebrows at her as he reached for his cowboy
hat. Bree watched as he put it on, taking an extra moment to settle it just-so. “Did you want to come with me?”

  “No,” she said, blinking her way out of the trance she’d fallen into. “I’ll shower while you’re gone. Nothing with raisins.” She smiled at him, and Wes’s whole face softened. He swept one arm around her and leaned down to kiss her, his mouth already formed into a smile.

  Bree giggled against his lips and put both hands on his chest, turning her head as she laughed. He growled and dropped his lips to her neck, and Bree laughed harder. “Oh, go on,” she said, pushing him away. She couldn’t really get a man of Wes’s size to move, but he fell back a couple of steps anyway, laughing with her.

  He tipped his hat and stepped through the door, and Bree turned in a full circle, her heartbeat sprinting in her chest. That man made her feel more alive than any other, and with that realization came a heavy dose of fear.

  She collected her thoughts and reached for her bag before going into the bathroom. She showered and dressed and dried her hair before Wes returned. She had her mascara wand in her hand when the door opened, and he said, “I found some amazing apple fritters, sweetheart.”

  “Okay,” she called. “I’ll be right out.” She finished her minimal makeup quickly and zipped everything back into her bag. She took it with her into the sitting area, where she found Wes getting ready to push her bed back into the bedroom. “How’d you sleep?” she asked.

  He just groaned as he leaned his weight into the bed and moved it. The task done, he said, “I’ve slept in better beds.”

  Bree smiled at him. “So have I.”

  “So we won’t stay here again.”

  “I wouldn’t advise it.” She reached for the white pastry bag he’d brought back with him. “But these look amazing.” She pulled out the two apple fritters and then looked at the coffee cups. “Which one’s mine?”

  “The one that’s not half empty,” he said. “I’m gonna need more of that. I don’t think I slept for more than an hour last night.”

  “I heard you snoring,” she said. “You slept for longer than an hour.”

  “At a time,” he said. “I had to move so much.” He stretched his back. “Maybe we should just go back to Coral Canyon.”

  “Nope,” Bree said. “I have a good feeling about today, and we’re sticking to the plan.”

  “Fine.” Wes wore a smile when he looked at her again. They ate their breakfast and hauled their bags out to his truck. He set out on the main road, which wasn’t too busy yet because it was fairly early in the morning on a Sunday.

  “Oh, wow,” he said as they came up on a patch of fog. All at once, he hit the brakes, and Bree braced herself against the dashboard.

  “Buffalo,” she said in the next moment.

  Wes reached out and pressed a button that turned on his hazard lights, both of them flashing. “Hopefully no one will come up behind us and hit us.”

  Bree glanced in her rearview mirror, and another car had already joined them in the fog.

  “Buffalo in the mist,” he said as a whole herd of them crossed the road right in front of them. He rolled his window down, and then hers, and Bree could hear their snuffling as they breathed, their hooves on the pavement, and a groan from them every now and then.

  The moment felt made of magic, and like she and Wes were the only people on the earth in that moment, alone with these wild animals.

  She looked at him, and he looked at her, and she reached for his hand. Nothing was said, but so much communicated, and Bree felt absolute peace and comfort in that moment. Pure love flowed through her as well, and she let it cleanse out some of her self-doubt about why Wes was with her.

  He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her skin, and Bree looked out the window at the bison. “This is incredible,” she said.

  “I think you’re incredible,” Wes said. He released her hand and eased up on the brake, as the last of the buffalo crossed in front of them. They continued toward their hike, seeing a few elk but nothing more.

  Bree stayed inside her own mind, trying to figure out how she truly felt about Wes. He seemed genuine in everything he did, and she wanted to believe that he’d shown his real self to her.

  “Ready?” he asked, and she realized they’d reached their hike trailhead.

  “Yes.” She got out of the truck and opened the back door to get her backpack. They’d only bring one today, as it was a short hike—in to an overlook above a canyon in the park—and then back to the truck. “What do you want in this?”

  “Just water,” he said. “And my sunglasses.” He reached back into the truck for those and settled them on his face. He grinned, and though she couldn’t see his eyes, he was the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on.

  She stuck a couple of bottles of water in the backpack, made sure she had sunscreen, and her usual granola bars, just in case, and then joined him at the front of the truck. She wrapped her arm around his waist, and he looked down at her. “I sure do like you, Wes,” she said, almost a whisper.

  “Yeah?”

  She nudged him with her hip. “Obviously.”

  “Oh, I think sometimes it’s not that obvious to a man,” he said. They started down the trail, which was well-maintained and clear, and Wes added, “Tell me what you like about me.”

  “Oh, boy,” Bree said. “I didn’t think you lacked confidence.”

  “I don’t,” he said. “Except when it comes to you.”

  “What does that mean?” Bree walked behind Wes on the single-file trail, and she couldn’t see his face.

  “It means that you don’t make it easy for me to know how you feel. You don’t say it very often, and I don’t know. I like you too, and I’m trying to be the best version of me.”

  “Do you have a bad version?”

  “Everyone does,” he said. “I get mad sometimes.” He chuckled. “Heck, Colton used to call me Wesley the Wolf at work. I could, uh, be a little blunt during meetings.”

  “Oh, I can see that,” she said. “But you’re not hiding another girlfriend somewhere, right?”

  “Of course not.”

  “You don’t smoke or drink in secret.”

  “Nope.”

  “I know your real name,” she said. “You pay your own bills. You think my hair looks good short. So I think you’re pretty amazing.”

  “Those are some low expectations,” he said. “I want to be better than that.”

  “Wes, you already are.”

  He paused and turned around. “Okay, if that’s true, tell me what you like about me.”

  She searched his face, trying to find what he wanted from her. “I think you’re gorgeous,” she said, her mouth suddenly dry. “I think you’re smart. Funny. Personable. I think you’re kind, and faithful, and just wonderful.” She drew in a breath. “You must know how to work hard, though I haven’t seen you do more than carry a few suitcases, but you do that really well.”

  He finally smiled, and Bree relaxed a little bit. “You love your brothers and your parents. You have dreams you want to accomplish. I don’t know.” Bree looked out at the rock wall across the river from where they were hiking. “I like that you take care of me. That you’re concerned about me. That you want to spend time with me, doing things I like to do. I like your heart.”

  She needed to stop talking, and she pressed her lips together to force herself to do that. She couldn’t see Wes’s eyes because of those sunglasses, but she saw him take a deep breath and then reach for her.

  He kissed her then, and this was unlike any other kiss they’d shared. He demanded more from her, and she gave it to him willingly, hopefully saying even more than the words she’d already vocalized.

  “I’m falling in love with you,” he said huskily, pressing his forehead to hers. “I know that scares you. Heck, it scares me too. But I feel it, and I wanted to say it so you knew. Okay?”

  Bree nodded, breathing in the scent of him and trying not to spiral into a dark place. No one had ever tol
d her they loved her, and Bree didn’t know how to process something that heavy. That wonderful.

  “Okay.” Wes drew in another breath and stepped away, turning to continue down the trail. Bree could barely stand without him to hold onto, and she watched him take several steps without her, putting more and more distance between them.

  Then she looked up into the sky and whispered, “Dear Lord, help me to not mess this up.” She had a feeling the status of their relationship sat squarely on her shoulders, and she did not want to lose Wes. He was the single best thing in her life. “Please don’t let me ruin this. Guide me.”

  “Bree,” he called. “Come see this.”

  She looked back to where he stood several yards down the trail. “There’s an eagle over there.” He pointed around the bend she hadn’t reached yet, and she took off to go have another amazing experience with him.

  Days passed, as they were wont to do, and Bree woke a few mornings later in her bedroom in her cabin.

  Wednesday.

  Her birthday.

  Most people probably liked their birthdays. They looked forward to getting cards in the mail, and gifts from friends, and eating their favorite foods and lots of birthday cake.

  Bree usually did get a card, but she hadn’t seen anything from Vermont yet. Honestly, they made her guilt grow barbs and sting her for weeks after she opened the card and saw her mother’s slanted handwriting. One year, she’d lifted the fifty-dollar bill that had fallen from the card to her nose, and she’d smelled her father’s cologne.

  She’d burst into tears and called in sick at the lodge. Thankfully, she hadn’t had a roommate at the time; she hadn’t lived in the cabin where she lived now.

  Nerves ran through her, because she had a bigger audience now than she’d had a few years ago.

  Warmth ran through her as she lay in bed, and she finally swung her legs over the edge of the mattress and reached for her phone.

  She had one text message, and she wasn’t surprised that it was from Wes. Happy birthday, gorgeous! Can’t wait to see you tonight.