Page 85 of Her Billionaire Bargain (Kensington Square)

“Why?”

He leaned over and braced his hands on the arms of my chair. “Because I’ve seen your work. I know how much this all matters to you. You take everything so seriously and want to do your best, Shelby. I’d have to be a fool not to understand how important this is to you. But there’s just one problem.” He leaned down into my space. “And I’m only just now realizing how huge it is.”

EIGHTEEN

I neededto show Shelby what the problem was, not tell her.

Namely that I wanted her to redesign my house for a life I didn’t have yet. One I wanted to build with my designer and her daughter.

Holy fuck. I expected the sky to split with lightning anytime now.

But for this all to happen, she needed to know who I truly was down deep. And whom I was becoming.

Which was why we were on the road to my parents’ place in the middle of the day with no warning.

Forget warning. I hadn’t even realized what I’d been hoping for with my house redesign until I’d taken in the utter hopelessness in Shelby’s eyes and realized all at once what my house was missing most.

“I thought you could just, you know, figure out the design thing as you went. There are things I like, of course, but I’m not super wedded to anything. Honestly, I should have just stayed in my apartment. I bought that place for all the wrong reasons. Maybe I should just sell it and start over fresh.”

Shelby stared at me from the passenger seat with wide eyes. “What?”

“Just rambling. Pay me no mind. I do this stuff.” I gestured wildly. “Normally, when I’m caught in my head, I go for a long bike ride around Byer’s Pass. I ride up and down the hills and curves until all my muscles are aching, and the only thing I can think about is a cold beer, a hot shower, and TV to veg out. But I haven’t done that lately so my mind’s spinning in about one hundred directions. And then there’s you. And Berry. All new territory for me, never mind work. That’s also new. Not the mechanics of it, just that the firm is all on my shoulders.”

She clutched her hands in her lap and let me meander verbally. And I appreciated her listening more than I could ever say.

“But it’s not about paint or new furniture or getting those godawful statues off the shelves in the library. I should’ve told my father to shove his ideas. Gold leaf? What the actual hell? I wanted a home, not a museum. But I couldn’t build a real home from just stuff. Somehow I just didn’t get that until right now, today, in your office.”

“No. That’s too true,” Shelby said quietly, pushing back her wild hair as the wind sent it flying. It was a beautiful late spring day, all sun and warm breezes, and she looked good enough to devour in her prim skirt and frilly blouse. She started to tie up her hair with the pink band she snapped off her wrist, and I stopped her with a quick squeeze of her neck. “Can you leave it down until we get there?”

Her brows pinched together but she gave a quick nod. “Sure.”

Instead of continuing with my ramble, I turned up the radio on the oldies station and took the scenic route to my parents’ home on the edge of Kensington Square. Their place was high in the hills and while the view wasn’t as pretty when the leaves were all green, rather than the rainbow of hues they took on in the fall, the cloudless blue sky was definitely something to see.

Shelby shocked me by singing along softly, slipping off her heels and wiggling her bare toes. I laughed and joined her by yanking off my tie and tossing it into her lap. She used it as a kind of flag out the window, waving it in the wind as the car picked up speed on the final hill before we reached my parents’ huge ranch house with its circular drive and endless number of flowers and plants.

“My mom’s pride and joy,” I explained as the car rolled past them to a stop just before the three-car garage.

Dad’s car wasn’t in his spot, but my mom’s was. Though Dad was now retired, he didn’t actually spend much time at home. I imagined he had quite the schedule visiting his girlfriends.

“Oh, yeah, you said she was big into plants.” Shelby unclicked her seat belt and dropped my looped tie around the gear shift before slipping her heels back on. “Um, I didn’t know I’d be meeting your parents today.”

“Me either. Life is full of surprises.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “If she mentions you just wanting me for sex, just roll with it. A tiny misunderstanding from the other day. Mostly Isis’s fault.” As Shelby gaped at me, I shrugged. “Our moms are best friends. Have been for years. They love to get together and talk about how I’m screwing up my life now.”

“That is a complete mischaracterization and you know it.” My mom circled around from the backyard with soil on her chin and dusting the edge of her open yellow button-down shirt. It matched her yellow shorts and T-shirt, both also dusted with dirt. She brushed off her hands and smoothed a hand over her neat light brown bob. “Sorry, I was in the dirt.”

“I am stunned. Hi, Mom.” I rounded the car, opened Shelby’s door, then leaned in to give my mother a hug. “Sorry I’ve been out of touch.”

“You’ve been busy lately.” My mom made a show of looking in the backseat of the convertible before she wheezed out a sigh. “Where’s the kid, dammit?”

“Berry’s in school.” Shelby glanced at her watch. “Not for much longer though. I have to pick her up in under an hour. This day didn’t go as planned,” she added in a near whisper, moving into my side. “But at least you finally signed the damn papers.”

“I did, but that was never in danger.”

“What wasn’t?” my mom asked.

“Shelby’s been concerned that because we’re dating, I wouldn’t still want to renovate my house.” Little did she know that meeting her had completely altered my design plans.

And my entire life.

---