Page 37 of Billionaire Unbroken - Asher
“I like it, too,” she answered softly.
“Then spend more time with me,” I said in what I hoped was a persuasive voice. “I have a private jet in Billings. We can visit your mom in Texas whenever you want. We can try new food anywhere you want.”
She laughed. “You never get out of your office.”
“I’d make time,” I said seriously. “Part of the reason Cole and I sold our tech company was to explore more of our hobbies and give ourselves more leisure time. I work because it’s what I’ve always done, but I can get an assistant. I just haven’t really needed one since I moved to Montana.”
“I hope I’ll be working more in the future,” she answered hesitantly. “I had a career before my life fell apart, Asher.”
My muscles tensed because I knew she was going to share something personal with me.
It was humbling to know that she was starting to trust me enough to share some of her old life.
“But?” I prompted.
“But it crashed and burned when my whole life fell apart. I was an illustrator of children’s books. I studied art in college, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. It took me a while to establish myself and earn a reputation. I was just getting to the point where my work was in high demand. I was starting to make good money. When everything changed, I couldn’t get my creativity back. I lost my reputation for being reliable. I couldn’t produce the same quality of work that I did before. I’m starting all over again, and I think I’m doing good work now, but I have to get over that reliability hurdle and prove myself to successful authors again. I’m turning in good projects to the few people who have taken a chance, but I can’t rebuild things overnight. I work in the evenings and weekends at trying to salvage my old career. I loved my job, Asher. I want to believe I can be successful again.”
Hell, this was probably the last thing I’d expected her to share.
My gut ached at the thought of Sierra losing everything because of a traumatic event.
“The talent is still there,” I encouraged. “There’s no reason that you can’t go back to doing what you love.”
“I’m hoping the more work I do, the more that I’ll get noticed again,” she said. “Once people in the business realize that I’m consistently putting out good work, I think I’ll get more projects.”
“I’d love to see your work,” I told her.
“I can show it to you,” she said excitedly. “I have a website with some of my portfolio.”
I wanted to pull out my damn phone and bring up that website right now, but I didn’t.
“We’ll do it later. After we order dessert,” I said, reminding her that we still had food to try out. “Since you’ll be staying with me, we’ll have time when we get home.”
She let out an exasperated breath. “Asher, I really should go back to my apartment—”
“Not happening,” I rumbled. “Not negotiable. We’ll go pick up whatever I missed tomorrow, but you’re not staying there again. It’s not safe and it can’t possibly be good for your creativity.”
“I use your ranch for creativity,” she shared. “That spot by the river is going to end up in an illustration someday. I try not to think about my surroundings when I’m illustrating.”
“It will be much easier not to think about that dump when you’re not living there anymore,” I informed her. “For now, you can take the suite next to mine.”
“Has anyone ever told you how stubborn you are?” she questioned in a frustrated tone.
“All the time,” I told her flatly. “It’s one of my better traits, because it made my career. I couldn’t have become as successful as I am today without that stubbornness. Give it up, Sierra. You’re staying with me.”
She shot me an irritated look and then started to yawn.
“You’re tired,” I said, feeling like a jerk because I’d almost forgotten that she was still right in the middle of her migraine hangover. “Should we take that pie to go?”
I’d read up on migraines a little while she was sleeping, and I knew she was going to be wiped out for a while.
“Would you mind?” she asked hesitantly.
Just the fact that she’d asked meant that she was exhausted and ready to go.
I motioned to Charlie and asked for the check and our huckleberry pie to go.
If Sierra needed to curl up and sleep, I was going to make sure she got into a comfortable bed as soon as possible.
