Page 43 of Billionaire Unreachable: Wyatt

Hell yes, I wanted her here. I wouldn’t have insisted that she stay if I didn’t. It wasn’t completely out of concern for her safety anymore, either.

Somehow, I’d also gotten used to her being here,andI actually liked it.

Granted, it was torture because my balls were blue, but I didn’t want her to leave. Christ! I must have masochistic tendencies that I never knew about before her.

I didn’t crave my solitude anymore.

I also didn’t mind Cujo being here, either, or the fact that the damn dog was snoring loudly on a bed in the living room right now. She was well-behaved and not nearly as needy since Shelby had gotten here.

The two females in my home had turned my world upside down, but I wasn’t exactly complaining about it.

In fact, I didn’t want to even think about Shelby going anywhere. My home would be much too quiet, and my hellion canine would probably go into a temper tantrum over the loss.

“Yes, I want you to stay.” Amazingly, those words hadn’t really been all that hard to say.

She sent me a genuine smile that made my gut ache.

“Then I’ll stay for a while since I haven’t found another place with a kitchen that will work for me yet,” she said gently. “Maybe until after I get back from Montana?”

Okay, that would work…for now. I could convince her to stay longer once she got back from that annual picnic in Montana.

“I’m sure you got an invite to the picnic,” she mused.

I nodded. “I did. I always do, but I’ve never been able to make it. It’s at a really busy time of the year for Durand Industries. All of the fall collections are usually coming out around that time. I’d like to go, but I have some important meetings that week that have been scheduled for months. There are some executives flying in from around the world. I can’t get there for the picnic, but I’ll come pick you up so I can see Kaleb and his family.”

“I’d love that, and I know my family would love to see you, too,” she said with a happy sigh. “Kaleb is sending his jet to come pick me up for the trip there.”

I looked at the contented expression on her face, my chest tight.

Fuck!What in the hell was wrong with me?

I downed half my whiskey in one gulp, and went to sit beside her at the breakfast bar.

I was slightly alarmed that I’d automatically poured her a glass of wine that she liked without even thinking about that action. I set it on the breakfast bar and pushed it toward her.

I wasn’t sure when it had become my mission to make sure that I anticipated Shelby’s wants or needs, but that was another damn compulsion I couldn’t seem to control.

“Can I ask you a question?” she queried hesitantly as she closed her laptop and then took a sip of her wine.

I sent her a wary glance. She was normally never shy about asking anything she wanted. “What?”

“You said that someone duped you once. I was just wondering what happened. I’m assuming it was a female.”

“It was,” I replied reluctantly. It was part of my history that I rarely talked about with anyone.

“Tell me,” she cajoled softly. “You know about every stupid thing I did in my past. I’m certainly never going to judge. Or is it still painful?”

It wasn’t.

Not anymore.

But the effects of that experience had probably helped shape my views on life and romance.

Since Shelby had always been open with me, I answered, “It was a long time ago. While I was still in the military. Her name was Simone. We were together for several years. They say it’s always hard for a special forces guy to keep a girlfriend because our missions can be long and frequent. Sometimes we’re gone more than we’re at our assigned base in the States. I thought I’d beat those odds. That I’d found a woman who really cared because she’d put up with my absences for years. I was planning on proposing to her once I returned from a particularly long op. Hell, I even had the ring in my pocket when I got home. I came home from that deployment and found her in our bed with one of my friends, which explained why she was so patient all the time. She had at least one backup guy when I wasn’t around.”

I heard Shelby gasp before she said angrily. “She was a fool. God, I’m so sorry she hurt you, Wyatt. You must have really loved her if you were together that long.”

I shrugged. “I thought I did. I thought she felt the same, but when she realized I was never going to take her back, she told me it was all about my money. We had a really nice place off base, I gave her a nicer vehicle than I had myself, and she had access to my money and my cards to buy anything she wanted. Shopping was her favorite hobby, but I figured she deserved whatever she wanted since I was gone more than I was home. When I told her to move out, she said she’d enjoyed spending my money, but that she could never love a cold bastard like me.”

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