Page 198 of The Billion Heirs Boxed Set
“You married?” he asks.
“Engaged,” I say.
Why? Why did I just lie to him? I’m thirty-two years old, and I’m playing high school games. I need to stop it now. Right now.
I clear my throat. “That’s a lie. I’m not engaged.”
A little frown forms in his brow. “Oh?”
“I was engaged, but we broke it off a few months ago. I guess I’m still on auto-pilot with that answer.”
There. At least that’s the truth. Although my breakup with Tyler was nine months ago. Does that still count as only “a few months?” Close enough.
“Thank God,” he murmurs.
“How about you?” I ask, even though I know the answer. Besides, he’s not wearing a wedding ring, but that doesn’t mean much working on a ranch. “Married? Engaged?”
“Hell no.”
Even though I knew, a wave of relief sweeps through me when he says the words, and I berate myself for it. Chance doesn’t want me. He never did. He ended things abruptly all those years ago—the fucking day after I gave myself to him.
He was just like every other high school boy—only after one thing.
Some lessons are learned the hard way.
I gave him my virginity—something I can never get back. All these years later, though, I still don’t regret it. How can I? I’ve never found another man I wanted to give it to. Good thing, since I no longer have it to give.
He dumped me in a letter. A fucking letter!
And I still don’t regret it.
That’s how much I loved this man fifteen years ago. And looking at him now? The feelings inside me are whipping back around like a boomerang.
And I remember.
I remember that day at the spring…
Chance and I stand, facing each other, the whooshing of the waterfall splashing over the gray rock surrounding us like a protective bubble. He’s so tall, so full of muscle, and I love the scattering of chestnut hair across his powerful pecs. How can he be so much a man at eighteen?
Ranch work, he’s said so many times.
But still, I’m amazed.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen each other naked. We’ve gone nearly all the way on many occasions, but this time…
This time…we’re going to do it.
We’re going to make love.
We talked about waiting until prom night, but we decided yesterday that today will be the day. Here, by our spring.
The spring is on the edge of the Bridger property, and Chance swears no one else knows it’s here. It’s become our special spot, our magical place, and in my soul I almost feel like it’s ethereal, and that the tiny evergreens sprouting through the cracks in the rock belong to fairies.
Chance reaches toward me, trails a finger down my cheek, my shoulder, over the top of my breasts. “You’re so beautiful, Ave. You look like a goddess. A goddess of this spring.”
I close my eyes, breathe in the robust scent of the fresh air laced with wildflowers and moss. Then I open them, meet his burning gaze.
“Are you sure?” he asks.
