Page 66 of The Billionaire and the Runaway

I grin because I’m not going to do that.

“I’m not,” I reassure her.

She lets out a long breath. “Good.” Then she frowns. “But you were having financial issues.”

“Remember when I told you that my dad bought the farm and I decided to stay and run it when he retired?” I ask.

She nods.

“Well, my father might have designed Windpin processors,” I state.

Her frown deepens. “Wait, like the ones in all the computers?”

“That’d be the one,” I answer.

“Holy shitballs! Seriously? Wait…Oh my God! So you’re like…really, really rich?” she asks.

I laugh and Thor stirs from her excitement. “Uh, yeah. I guess I am. I mean, technically, it’s my father who is rich, but he did put aside a big chunk of change for me and my sister in a trust fund,” I state.

She frowns again. “So, you were never in financial trouble?”

I shake my head. “The farm was. The business was. Could I have bailed it out? Yes. But I wanted it to succeed on its own merit. I wanted to be a successful businessman.”

“That’s why you hired me?” she asks.

“Yes. But I recently found a way to make things profitable, if I need it,” I start.

“How?” she asks, her eyes searching mine.

“I think I know why your father wants this property,” I begin. She holds up a hand to stop me from continuing.

“It’s not my dad. It’s Kimberly, his girlfriend. Katia found some paperwork in my dad’s office. She had Dad rewriting his will. She tried to make him believe I was an ungrateful brat and I shouldn’t get any of his money. And she’s trying to marry him without a prenup and she wants a bunch of properties including this one. I couldn’t figure out what was going on, but then?—”

“Oil,” I finish her sentence.

She nods. “Yes! Katia and I started trying to figure it out a few days ago and I came across some survey records, and you have oil under this property, like, possibly a lot.”

“I know. I was wondering the same thing. I didn’t know it. She had a private company do some survey work on an adjoining farm. Walt Golden’s farm. Fortunately, I figured it out and bought it from him, with rent back so he could stay there. He was struggling too.”

“Wait? You bought his farm?” she asks.

“I did. And I reinvested in this one. Now that I know there’s money in the bank, so to speak, if I need it, I have capital to borrow against.”

“So you’re not going to drill?” she asks.

I shake my head. “No. Not if I don’t need to. This farm is a part of our community and I intend to keep it that way. We’ve been profitable for two months now, Ariana. And that’s all thanks to what you’ve done.”

She smiles. “Really?”

I squeeze her hand again. “Really. I’m so proud of you. And I’m so sorry I fucked up. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to take care of you. I should have been. And I’m sorry about whatever Kimberly is trying to do to ruin things with you and your dad.”

She sets Thor on a pillow and crawls as best she can into my lap. I wrap my arms around her.

“Please forgive me, baby. I’m all yours. I’m not afraid to fall in love with you anymore. I’m only afraid that it’s too late,” I admit, my eyes searching hers.

“Eric Windsor, for someone so smart, you are a really big idiot. I’m here to win you back,” she says with a laugh.

“You never lost me, little catastrophe. You were always mine and I was always yours,” I say as I lean forward and press my lips to hers. They are salty and I realize she’s crying.

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