Page 38 of Her Wild Cowboy Billionaire

Travis sat with his arm around Willow’s shoulders. “I don’t, but I keep them at a stable as close to the house as I could get. When I discovered I couldn’t keep them at the house, I almost didn’t buy it, but I found the stable and ended up buying it at the same time I bought the house.”

Eyes wide, “You own the stable? Can we go riding when we come to visit? Are there any good places to ride down there?”

Travis looked at Willow before answering. “Yes, there are plenty of nice places to ride. I’ll take you on a tour. I’ll even insist that your mom come, too.”

“Do we have to take her? She’s no fun.”

Travis barked out a laugh. He turned to Willow. “So what’ll it be, Mom? Will you be a fun mom or a no fun mom?”

She tried to hold her mad face, keeping her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth in a flat line, but she couldn’t do it. Soon she was laughing. “Okay, I’ll go riding with you. When is this supposed to happen? I called about school and it starts in mid-August. That just seems so early, but I suppose they have it worked out.”

“Tomorrow,” said Mindy.

Willow crossed her legs and clasped her hands around her knee. Then she shook her head. “No, not tomorrow. We have things to do in our condo. We haven’t been there for over two months and everything must be cleaned and dusted to get ready for us to inhabit it. The refrigerator needs to be cleaned and stocked, so we have something to eat.”

“But Mom, you can’t cook and we eat mostly takeout, anyway.”

“Nonetheless, there are items we need from the grocery store.”

Mindy pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. Then she walked back to her seat in a huff.

Travis turned and smiled. “She’s hard to say no to, isn’t she?”

Willow chuckled. “You have no idea. She’s always a good kid, and I hate having to tell her no when she probably deserves what she’s asking for. But sometimes I need to. I need for her to realize some things come before others.”

“Like cleaning before riding.”

She turned toward Travis. “Yes, like cleaning before riding. Thank you for not trying to solve the problem so she could ride. I know you wanted to. You could swoop in like a knight in shining armor and have hired someone to come clean our home, but you didn’t. Thank you.”

“I wanted to, you know. It would be so easy to indulge her.”

“Sometimes indulging is great, but she must learn the basics of how to take care of herself. And learning to clean and cook is part of the growth she needs to continue to learn.”

“I understand, but I hope you also understand that I need to indulge her sometimes. I have the money and the connections to make life easier for both of you. Let me do it...sometimes.”

“If, and I say if not when, we get married, I understand your need to be her knight and there are times for indulging her.”

He leaned over and rested a hand on her knee as she sat next to him. “She’s not the only one I want to spoil. You deserve it as much or more than she does. You’re a great mom, and you’ll always be that for her. Let me be a great dad, not just a stepdad, someone who is married to her mother, but a real dad.”

Willow’s heart melted to hear him say he wanted to be Mindy’s dad. She’d hoped he would feel that way.

“Now, when do you want me to go see Kelly?”

He leaned back but kept his hand on her knee. “Let me call her and let her know you’re coming. I want her to give you something spectacular. I want every person there to know the beautiful woman who’s going to be my wife.”

She lifted an index finger and shook it back and forth. “Don’t put the cart before the horse. This is just the first of our dates.”

His eyes brightened when she said dates.

She laughed. “And I don’t sleep with my beaux on the first date.”

He frowned. “Darn. I thought we’d be moving along faster than that, but I will have to learn to be patient.”

“Yes, you will.” And so will I because I’d like nothing better than to make love with you.

The following day, Willow wore old, ratty shorts and a t-shirt that had definitely seen better days. She was cleaning the inside of her bedroom windows when she saw Travis pull up in front of the building. He drove a cherry-red Mustang convertible.

She looked down at herself and groaned. Nothing she could do about it now, so she put down the roll of paper towels and hurried downstairs to open the door.