Billionaire's Second Chance

I caught up and joined her. “Yeah, I guess so.”

We walked in silence. She stopped in front of Grayson’s and looked at me.

“What?” I asked her, my tone light and teasing. “If you want a picture with me, you can just ask.”

She smiled. “I have a lot from high school. I like thinking about that time, Austin. I don’t need one of you now. Thanks for lunch. Thanks for…everything.”

“I think that you should thank Gus for lunch, not me,” I said.

She shrugged. “Thank you for these,” Rebecca said as she held up the flowers. “They’ll look great on my station.”

I told her goodbye one last time and watched her walk inside. I made the short walk to the car and got inside before starting the engine. The heat took a minute, and I sat to wait as I thought about Rebecca. I remembered the day we met.

She was at the end of her sophomore year, and we had a pep rally. Rebecca grew up here, but I’d never noticed her before. I was so self-absorbed in my goals and friends, but that day, it was like a spotlight shined on her.

She was gorgeous. When she glanced at me, I knew I was done for. We talked the following week, and I asked her out. By the time we started the next year of school, the two of us were a couple. I lost myself in those great memories as I drove home. We spent summers at the drive-in, the creek, and the diner, with friends or just the two of us. We were always laughing, and I knew that I could be myself with her.

Too bad that version of me thought more about college in New York, followed by a career. I didn’t know then how many regrets I would have about leaving her behind. I didn’t see that I hurt her every time I talked about my future, but I saw that now.

I saw a lot of things now that I’d already fucked up. I had a life in New York that I’d worked too hard to build for me to come back here. I wouldn’t have the connections here nor the success.

I drove back to my parents’ house and looked the town over as I drove. Seeing everyone so excited for my career and treating me like a celebrity felt good, but I was no longer a part of this town. I had a life elsewhere, and while I would enjoy the time here, I also knew I had to leave eventually. I wanted more than anything to bring my parents and Rebecca with me, but they’d made their choice every single time that I asked them to join me.

I knew that today, Rebecca still wouldn’t come with me. We had no future. I swallowed the lump in my throat. She was the only woman I ever loved. More than likely, Rebecca was the only woman I would ever love, based on the last decade of my life. I still had my work at home waiting for me and my success, which would never go away if I kept pushing myself. Hell, even if it did, I was a billionaire and could do anything I wanted in my life.

Mom was cooking a roast when I arrived home. She took one look at my face and walked over to me. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, just tired. I spent a lot of time with Seth and his dad, catching up. The weather got rough a few times.” I shrugged and went to get a bottle of water from the fridge.

I focused on contacting Preston to see what was going on with the deal. It was the one thing that I felt like I had control over, and my soul craved it, needing something to work out. I felt disappointed in today, even though I’d gone to see Rebecca with no real expectations.

I sure as hell didn’t expect the line about her wanting to marry me. She never told me that before now. I thought she used to love me in some way, but marriage never crossed my mind. The idea of staying here to settle down seemed crazy back when I could only think about getting away, and I thought that Rebecca would come with me.

I thought that I was worth it to her.

We had a quiet dinner before I excused myself to go upstairs. I was in the middle of a text conversation with Preston, needing to know every detail of what was happening. At this point, I’d welcome having to leave to deal with things so I could forget all about North Reed. I had my laptop open, looking at numbers as we moved to chat online with some of the staff and tried to figure out what to do.

I fell asleep hours later to find myself dreaming of the last time that Rebecca and I made love, way out in the country under the night sky. Nothing since then had felt as good. No woman ever felt like she did.

Chapter Ten

Rebecca

I was finishing my shift at the salon when my cell phone rang at my station. I looked at the screen to see that it was my sister calling. I picked it up and headed to the back corner of the room since there were a couple of customers getting cuts now that the weather cleared up a bit.

“Hi, Kim,” I said, leaning against the wall. “Is everything all right?”

“My car won’t start. Brad told me the battery was getting old, but I thought I had some time. Can you take me home? I have wine!”

I laughed softly. After my day, I needed some wine. I’d felt off ever since lunch and even before that.

I never meant to confess about my stupid dreams of marriage to Austin. He seemed to recover fine, and we enjoyed lunch, but a part of me felt empty once I was back at work again. I knew my teenage girl dreams would never happen now. I knew that I still had feelings for Austin, but they were pointless.

“Of course, I can take you home. I’m done here for the day.”

“Good,” Kim said. “You can tell me all about lunch in the car.”

I rolled my eyes. “Stupid small town,” I muttered.