Page 83 of The Billionaire Land Baron

“Jake,” she said, stopping a few steps away from him on the dock.

“Shelby,” he said, and then his smile won out over the other emotions. He looked like he wanted to hug her, and she wanted that too, but she kept her distance and he did too. “Is this City?”

She looked down, where her dog was still nuzzling Jake, begging to be scratched. “What do you think? He seems to like you fine, but I’m not sure he’s a great judge of character.”

“Oh, I don’t know. He chose you, didn’t he?” He continued to smile, but Shelby held back. There was so much between them still. He seemed to sense this and gestured to the bench. “Want to sit?”

Shelby nodded and sat down on an edge of the bench. Jake sat on the other end, leaving room between them. City took up the space between their legs, looking out over the water where T-Ball hovered nearby, one black eye fixed on them. The sun was starting to go down over the trees to their left, lighting up the water with red and gold. The summer insects warmed up for the nighttime performance. Shelby sat on her hands. It was too hard otherwise not to reach for him.

“I have so many questions,” Shelby said.

“Where do you want to start? I’ll answer anything.”

“Where’s my house? Where’s my Daddy? Why are you here?”

Jake sighed. “I had hoped that things would be a little further along here, but I underestimated how slow things move in Lucky.”

“What things? What are you talking about?”

Jake stretched an arm out across the back of the bench. Since they were sitting on opposite sides, his fingers just grazed her shoulder. “A lot has happened in the past week or so. I need to tell you about it, but I have to say a few things first. I know I put this in a text, but here it is in person: I’m sorry, Shelby. I’m sorry that the deal I was making included this land. I didn’t know when I met you. And then when I did, it had already happened. I should have said something, but couldn’t figure out how. I was selfish and scared. I thought you’d hate me and I didn’t want to lose you. Will you forgive me for that?”

Shelby nodded, not looking at him. She was afraid if she did, she might cry. “Yes. Thank you. I’m glad you’re here. I didn’t want to stop talking to you. Even if I was mad.”

“I should have chased after you when you left L’Auberge. I mean, I did come after you right then, but I couldn’t find you. And then I thought maybe I’d talk to you the next day, but when I came back, I saw you with Matt and thought you and Matt…well…”

“You thought I got together with Matt?”

“Well, you were driving away in his truck with the Airstream behind. I was confused, but it looked like something more than it was.”

“Oh,” she said. She hadn’t thought of that when she saw him that day. She was just upset he didn’t come after her and didn’t think of any of the possible reasons why. There was silence between them for a few minutes before Jake started talking again.

“I bought this place back from the mayor. So, it’s yours.”

Her head snapped toward him. “You what?”

He gazed at her, warmth radiating through his blue eyes. “I know that it’s kind of a big gift.”

She couldn’t speak, still reeling from this.

“I know it’s a lot. Will you listen for a few minutes? And then if you still want to argue or say no, I’ll respect that.”

“Okay. Start talking.”

“I need you to understand. Even though McClure jacked up the price, classy man that he is, it was still nothing to me. Nothing. I know I told you I have money. I don’t like to talk about it much because people get the wrong idea or they try to take advantage or it just makes them uncomfortable. But I have more than a lot of money. When Xan and I took the company public last year, we both made over a billion dollars. I could have bought your house a hundred times over and not have had it make a dent. I’m not trying to brag. I just want you to know.”

Shelby swallowed. The amount of money he was talking about didn’t seem real to her. She felt torn. Yes, she wanted her place. But it still made her feel like she owed him.

“I can’t pay you back.”

“I don’t expect you to. I don’t want you to. Please, Shelby. Let me give you this back. It was yours anyway.”

“And the mayor just let you buy it back?”

“Well. Like I said, he jacked up the price. And tried to get me to marry Daisy again.”

Shelby’s mouth fell open. Jake smiled. “I told him that he was too late. I had my eye on marrying someone else.”

She closed her mouth with a snap and looked out over the water. She felt a flush in her cheeks. Usually he was the one doing all the blushing. Jake stared intently at her, but she couldn’t return the gaze. Not with what he was saying.

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