Page 83 of My Small Town Silver Fox Billionaire

“What do you mean?”

A sad frown falls on his face. “In the past, as I’ve told you, when I’ve dated women, they only cared about my money. Theydidn’t see me as human, but instead a credit card machine with a heartbeat.”

“But then why did you spend all that money to help the sanctuary?”

He touches my cheek, gently caressing it. “Because I know your end game isn’t to get money out of me. You like me for me. From the moment I told you of my wealth, you didn’t push me for money or shy away.”

He’s right. Sure, his being rich is a nice little additive, but it’s not everything.

“Probably because I don’t think money is everything,” I respond.

“It’s not, but a lot of women think it is,” he admits, sighing. “Maria didn’t seem to in the past, but when I met her again, she was a shell of the person I had known: an uninspiring woman, only caring about one thing, and one thing only.”

“Your bank account.”

He nods. “Correct. When I saw her again as a completely different person, I knew from that moment I couldn’t be with her again. You, however, are different. You care about me, and you show interest, even though I struggle with expressing my own feelings.”

“It’s hard to do,” I reply. “I’ve had my qualms about talking to others. When you left, I thought it was because I told you about my dreams.”

“No, it’s not that at all!” I retort. “I honestly love that, and it shows me that you have a good heart and a beautiful soul.”

He hugs me, and I hug him back. The words dripping from his lips just sound so right. I nuzzle his neck, nodding.

“I know, Sara. Your passion and drive have been a reason why I never gave up on you. I knew from the moment I screwed up that I had to make this right. Even if it meant that I had to makeexceptional efforts to change things, I wanted to show you that you matter to me in the best way possible.”

I nod, understanding what he’s saying. “You do too, Robert. And I’m sorry for distancing myself. It’s been a very chaotic past month, and frankly, I was so terribly hurt and lonely. My heart was broken, to be honest.”

“No, it’s fine. I get it, and I’m so sorry that what I did made you feel like that. Honestly, work tried to get me to go to Germany, but I refused to go,” I tell her.

My jaw drops.Germany? That’s, like, halfway across the world! What the heck are they doing out there?

“Why?”

“A colleague wanted to discuss a deal in Berlin. While flattered, I told him no.”

“You could’ve gone.”

He shakes his head and then stands up. As he gets off the rock, he extends his hand.

“If I left without telling you how I feel and apologizing, I don’t know what I would’ve done with myself. I just couldn’t go. I wouldn’t.”

I grip his hand and nod, the sparks flying between us as I slide off the rock.

“Yes, I don’t want to think about that either.”

We walk to the edge of the water. Robert takes off his shoes and steps in. I do the same, and as I step in, the waves tickle my feet. My toes sink into the sand as I stare out into the distance, as far as my eyes can see.

A sweet silence fills the space between us. I feel as if I should make some noise, but I don’t want to. The calmness of the moment, no matter how quiet it is, feels right. Robert takes a deep breath, breaking the silence as his hand caresses my waist.

“Sara, there is something else I want to give to you.”

“What do you mean? You’ve done so much, helping the sanctuary from falling into debt and all. What else could you possibly do?”

He fishes for something in his pocket and pulls it out.

“Just a little something.”

He hands me the envelope, and I open it. Inside is a check, more than I could ever dream of.

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