page1 (1/2)

PROLOGUE

“Can’t you transfer to Texas A&M, Anita?” Billy held me close and kissedhole was conveniently absent of people that day It seemed like the S to find the hidden swi around in Asheville, but right then it was just us I kissed hiain That ache that said, “This is it This is hi”

But that ache… well, lust isn’t everything There was real life to consider

“I can’t My faranny is in Greenville, and she’s already hoppin’ e My life is for my family, Billy Hell, ould your family say about me?” I already knew the answer to that question We’d skirted around that topic way too otten the point I was dae I had Korean and African and Irish all wrapped up in one beautiful person, and I wasn’t about to waste my time on a white boy whose fa me that they weren’t like that, but I knew better

Billy blushed deeply He avoided talking about his family, especially his daddy My fa out onthe talk of the town… and not in a good way Billy had often told me that his parents only wanted him to associate with the rich kids at school, and eventually they ht not like a girl who had grown up dirt poor — and on top of that, I was a dancea woe

All that information told me that this relationship wasn’t worth the effort It told me that Billy wasn’t the one, no matter what my body had to say about the matter

Billy ran his fingers down my neck and over the thin black strap of er under the strap and brushed his knuckles over my bare, wet skin as we bobbed in the water He brushed just slightly against h ical thought

“Billy, don’t You knoe can’t be together”

“I don’t know that,” he said, reaching around and unhooking hed, listening to the echo off of the rocks My voice filled the cove, and right then it all felt like it was there for us and only us Anita and Billy The frivolous dance major and the farmer on an internship for the summer in Asheville That one su away to the Midwest We’d have a faroats, and I’d learn how to anic farive free tours to all of the local elementary school I’d teach dance lessons out of the refinished barn, and we’d be happy and far away from anyone who could hurt us “Think about the farm We could run away We could run away today,” he said

I letthe touch of his firers on ain, and Billy would be gone that nextAs much as my body ached for his… as much as that vision played over and over in my mind, none of that was real We were from two very different places, and his family would never accept mine And hell, Texas was half a world away

Billys wrapped around him He trailed his lips overline ofthat need deep inside my core

“Not here, Billy Joe,” I whispered

“Why not, pretty girl? What do we have to lose?” I smiled broadly and let hi andus There was no one around to hear us, after all None of it seeht Billy would slip out of my life just as casually as he’d fallen into it, and that I’d never think of hiain

How very wrong I was

He heldo on to his cowboy life far away from me, and I would studiously avoid his eether

But he would never leave my mind

Eight years later, he was the ht of every tiht of whenever one of the sexy aveevents He was the one I wanted to call when I broke eles Ballet… the moment all ht out his number, and I never found him on Facebook

And here I was at twenty-seven, a self-proclaimed spinster I accepted that no one would coht then I was content to work forlove for everyone else I put on a bright ss that no one else would take My two-bedroom ranch in Sun Valley was filled with their war for

I didn’t kno all of that was about to change It was all soined

CHAPTER ONE

“Anita, get over here!” I sighed deeply, glancing over atsix et up from her desk I watched as she picked up her cell phone Her entire face lit up, and I kneas Josh I couldn’t help but let a smile cross my own face I’d known it was real from the very start My sister and her billionaire It was like a strange fairytale coave et over here We’ve got another big client on the hook”

I rolled my eyes Ever since Josh, one of California’s most famous billionaires, had , we’d hadup out the door It seemed that everyone wanted love these days, and MDM was the place to get it I supposed that was good for business, and as good for business was good for e commission

boost — and with that extra bit of cash, I could start the dance studio I’d longed for since I’d broken eles Ballet — that was a dreao — but it was the art form I loved and the path I kneas meant to follow I hopped up and made my way over to Eleni’s desk

“Okay, okay, lazy pregnant lady, what’s the deal?” I leaned against Eleni’s desk and smiled as she patted her baby bump She wasn’t ready to find out the baby’s sex, but even then, I kneould be a girl Even if I wasn’t meant to find the man of my dreams and have my own children, I could spoil my niece rotten That baby ht about it

Eleni absently patted her belly bu inside of ht of Josh and his incredible attraction to Eleni, especially during her pregnancy I wondered if my life ever would be like that, if it even could be

"It says here that he's another billionaire he earned his first billion by buying out an oil refinery during the recession and selling it in 2013 He's also now president of a gas and oil pipeline company" Eleni paused and looked back over her notes "It's crazy how soet their ood business sense"