Page 30 of Her Bachelor Cowboy Billionaire

“I like that. Blue Boy, it is. Shall we look at the filly? I hate naming them, so you’re saving me the trouble.”

“Yes, I want to see her. I wish we could go in. I’d love to make friends with the mama’s and their babies.”

“The next mare is June Bug. She’s the gentlest mare I have. Come on inside, she’ll let you pet her and maybe her little filly will come over to you, too.” He opened the gate and then closed it behind them.

Jessica walked slowly over to June Bug. “Hello, girl. How are you today? Will you let me pet you?” She reached out and petted her neck, then scratched her ears and down the front of her head. “You are such a pretty girl. Yes, you are. Do you think your baby will let me touch her?” She continued the ministrations and petting her neck. Then she wrapped her arms around the horse’s neck and hugged her.

She felt a little push on her hip and looked down. The baby was nudging her with her nose.

Jessica chuckled and slowly got to her knees in front of the little buckskin filly. She didn’t look anything like her mama, so Jessica figured she must take after her sire. She reached over, gently petted her neck and worked her way up to her ears and forelock. Then she smoothed her hand down the baby’s muzzle and back up to scratch her ears. “You are so soft, so special.” She whispered so as not to frighten the baby.

After a bit, the filly backed away, found her mother and began to nurse.

She stood and walked over to Roark. “She’s beautiful. They both are.”

He bent his knees to look at her straight in the face. “Are those tears I see in your eyes?”

“Yes, but you aren’t supposed to notice. I get a little choked up when I see babies of any kind.”

“I’ll have to remember that and not take you to see James. He’s my youngest brother, and he has twin sons who are just three months old.”

“Oh, I would love to meet your brother and his family.”

Roark laughed. “You just want to hold a baby. I know you. You just can’t resist.”

She smiled and turned to watch the young filly.

Roark put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a little squeeze. “If you still want to ride today, we need to get going.”

“I do. Let’s go back to the house so I can get on the appropriate clothes.” She looked back at the mama and filly before she practically ran back to the house.

Roark only had to walk a little faster to keep up with her because his strides were so long. He opened one of the front double doors. Twelve small window pane like features carved into each door. When she got close, she saw the scroll work that surrounded each of the little doors. They were beautiful and opened into a foyer. The stair case was directly in front of them. The living room was to the left.

Two sofas, facing each other over a rectangular coffee table, were upholstered with beige suede. They both had massive cushions on the seat and back. She was afraid she’d sink into the sofa and never be able to get up from it. Large brown leather recliners, one on either end of a sofa, faced the biggest TV screen she’d ever seen. She bet it was ninety inches. It would be like being in a theater. Of course, the recliners were facing the TV.

All that was besides the conversation pit. An indoor fire pit with three two-by-fours forming a counter for drinks and food surrounding it was in the center of the sunken living room. The pit was square with three over stuffed seats along each side.

“Do you like football?” She pointed at the screen.

“I better. I own a team.”

Jessica’s eyes widened, and she felt herself blush. “Oh, I guess you do like it. Otherwise, why own a team?”

“Because they are money makers. With the exceptions of the charities I support, I don’t do anything that doesn’t make money.”

“Interesting.”Is making money all he’s interested in?

“Honey.” He took her by the shoulders and turned her so she looked at him. “I wouldn’t be where I am if I had companies that didn’t make money. My shareholders wouldn’t be happy and wouldn’t support new ventures.”

She looked into his emerald eyes. “I understand. I guess I don’t think that way.”

“Don’t you? You write books. Would you keep writing, if your books didn’t make money? You have a way to make a living, but if your books aren’t doing that for you, you would have to quit, right?”

“You’re right. I couldn’t afford to keep writing for a living.”

“Exactly my point. Let’s go upstairs and we can both change clothes. Then you can meet Sunny and we’ll take a ride. There’s a pretty little place I’d like to show you.”

She grinned and ran for the stairs directly in front of her, just outside the living room.