Over the next couple of weeks, I go to the ranch every couple of days to check on Lucy and the other animals. Tyler has said hello in passing, but he hasn’t been overly friendly either. Our friendship is now strained.

Liam walks into the barn as I’m looking over Lucy.

“How’s she doing today?” he asks, standing in front of the work bench, looking over his shoulder at me.

“She’s doing really well. She’s getting enough vitamins and minerals, plenty of exercise and rest. She seems really happy.”

I walk out of her stall and close the gate. When I turn around, he’s facing me as he leans against the work bench. “Have you changed you mind yet?”

I crack a smile, seeing him dirty and sweaty from working on the ranch all day—sexy. “Changed my mind about what exactly?”

“Coming here to work full-time. I’ll make it worth your while.” He grins.

A giggle slips past my lips. “Oh yeah? How’s that?” I grab my bag and pull it on my shoulder.

“Name your price. I’ll pay you anything you want. Want my car? It’s yours.”

I smile and shake my head. “It’s not about the money, Liam. It’s about being happy. And I’m happy running my own practice right now.”

He takes a deep breath that makes his chest visibly rise and fall dramatically. “Alright.”

Instead of sticking around to talk, I pull my bag higher on my shoulder and start toward the door.

“Ves?” he calls out from behind me.

“Yes?” I spin back around.

He stands up and slowly walks toward me. With every step he takes, my heart pounds harder and my breathing quickens.

“Would you mind staying a little longer?”

“Um, no. I guess not. Is there another animal that needs to be checked out?” I look around the barn like there may be a line.

“Follow me,” he demands, walking past me.

I turn around and follow him out of the door and across the gravel driveway. He opens the door to the house and leads me through to the kitchen in the back. With him being a billionaire, I would have thought this house would resemble a mansion on the inside, but it’s warm and homey. The dark, hardwood floors are clean and shining with the sunlight that’s streaming through the window, and the wood paneling walls match the floor perfectly. Even though the outside of the cabin has been re-done, the inside has been kept original—everything but the kitchen that holds all the top of the line appliances, granite countertops, and gray tile backsplash.

“Have a seat,” he says, motioning toward the table in the corner as he rounds the island and bends down.

I take a seat like I am asked to and watch as he pops back up with a bottle of wine. He takes down two glasses and brings the items back to the table. He pulls the cork from the bottle and fills both glasses before handing one over.

“What’s this?” I ask, lifting the glass to my lips and taking a sip.

He does the same, then shrugs as he takes the chair next to me. “I just realized that you’ve been here for a few months now and I still don’t know anything about you. I thought it was time.” His blue eyes shine as they lock on mine.

“Oh, okay. What do you want to know?”

He leans back in his chair and looks me over, his eyes locking on mine then traveling downward, lingering a bit longer on my chest. “How did you get to where you are now?”

I take another sip of wine and think about where to begin. “Well, I’ve always had a love for animals. I used to bring home wounded animals to nurse back to health. By the time I was ten, I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian. So, that’s when I started getting serious about school. I graduated at the top of my class, went to college, then came back home and worked any job I could, to get the money to open my animal hospital. We just opened a few months ago, but it’s always been my dream. I have plans of hiring more employees and hopefully opening more clinics across the state in the future.”

“That’s very interesting. I’m happy that you’ve done so well for yourself. Not many people can take a dream and turn it into reality. I’m very envious of you.”

I feel my brows lift with surprise as my lips turn up into a smile. “You’re envious of me?”

He smiles wide, a genuine smile that causes his eyes to light up. “Why is that so hard to believe?”

I lift my hand and motion toward him. “You’re the billionaire. I’m just someone that plays doctor on animals,” I joke.

He shakes his head and diverts his eyes. “I never wanted this life.”

I straighten my shoulders and back. “What did you want to do? And why are you living the way you are if you never wanted it?”

He finishes off his glass of wine and pours another, topping mine off. “I grew up wealthy. The oil company has been in my dad’s family for generations. This place,” he motions toward the house and the ranch with his eyes. “It’s been in my mom’s family for just as long. My mom left when her and Dad got together, and they lived the way my dad’s family always has—wealthy.”

“Awe, so it was like two people from opposite sides of the tracks.”

He snickers. “Exactly. She was born and raised on a ranch, barely making ends meet, and my dad, he grew up in a mansion, surrounded by priceless things and going to private school.”

“How’d they meet?” For some reason, I’m caught up in his story, in the idea of two completely different people finding happiness together.

“My mom got a job as a secretary at the company. My dad walked in one day and saw her. The rest is history.” He picks up his glass and takes a sip. “He said that he knew she was the one the moment his eyes landed on hers.”

“That’s sweet. So you got the ranch from your mom’s side and the oil company from your dad’s? What did you want to do?”

“My parents, they traveled a lot for work and took lavish, month-long vacations. They cared more about work and money than family. So when they’d travel, I was brought here with my grandpa. He basically raised me. He taught me how to work the ranch, and when he passed away, it all became mine.” He looks around the kitchen. “I was only eighteen when he passed, so after I graduated high school, I came here and started working for myself. My parents were completely appalled. My mom couldn’t figure out why I liked it so much after everything she did to get away from it. But I had happy memories here.” He softly runs the tips of his fingers around the rim of his glass, causing it to almost whistle. “They let me be. They said if I was happy, they were happy. But then, one day their plane crashed, and nobody survived. The company was left to me, and it was either sell a company that had been in my family for generations or step up and run it. So, as you see, I did what I had to do to keep what was rightfully mine.”

I nod, understanding. “So, why are you back now?”

“The company is basically running itself now. I’ve hired on a board and they handle any problem that arises, allowing me a little more time to do what I want to do. I will only have to go back occasionally to touch base and sign-off on things. But for the future, I hope to spend more time here like I’ve always wanted to.”

I smile and lift my glass. “I hope you get your dream, Liam.”

He grins and shrugs one shoulder while lifting his glass to his lips. “I’m used to getting what I want.”

There’s a long silence while we both sit, quietly drinking our wine. Suddenly he breaks the silence. “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” He leans forward, putting him even closer to me, and it makes my skin break out in goosebumps.

“Sure,” I agree.

“The other day when I arrived and caught you almost running to your car, did I miss something? Did something happen between you and Tyler?”

I take a deep breath, averting my eyes to my nearly empty glass of wine. “Tyler and I went on a date a while back. It wasn’t anything serious, it was a just as friends.” I tip the glass and finish it off, and he refills it. “We had a lot of fun. He took me to dinner and then out for drinks and dancing. I told him I wasn’t looking for a relationship. That I didn’t have time for it with work. And he agreed to keep things casual. But the day you’re talking about, we went for a walk and he kissed me.” I shake my head and roll my eyes. “It pissed me off because he knew that I wanted to keep things casual between us. So, what you saw, was me running away from him.”

His brows furrow together as he leans back and looks me over. “Really? You and Tyler?”

I laugh. “We’re just friends—now strained friends because he couldn’t keep his word.”

“Did you reject him because of your lack of time or because you didn’t like him as anything more than a friend?”

My heart pounds hard in my chest and my palms begin to sweat. My stomach feels like it’s tied in knots.

“I could very easily carry on a relationship with him. He’s funny, sweet, we seem to have the same interests, and we had fun together. But he’s not what I want, and I don’t know why.” I shrug. “I just know deep inside that he’s not the one. So, there’s no point in pretending.”

His eyes seem to darken as he leans in a bit closer. “What do you want, Ves?”

I feel like this is the moment of truth. I could lean forward and kiss him, finally taste how sweet his lips are, or I could walk away, not letting him know that, for some reason, he’s what I want.

I open my mouth, still not sure of what choice I’m going to make, but suddenly, the choice is no longer mine. Tyler walks in the back door, causing the screen door to slam close and us to jump back, further away from one another.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He comes to a stop as his dark eyes focus on mine. “I didn’t realize anyone was in here.” He walks to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of water, pausing just long enough to look at the two of us sitting at the table with an open bottle of wine. His eyes flash from Liam, to the wine, and then to me. He tears them away and turns to leave without another word, leaving us alone yet again. But the spell has been broken.