The Billionaire of Bluebonnet(13)

And then you leave. So cut and dry. So simple.

So businesslike. What they’d done last night was anything but businesslike. Could she be around him if all he wanted was a live-in pig maid? Why did that hurt her heart so much? She shook her head. “My friends are expecting me in Dallas.”

He glanced back down at his BlackBerry again, typing. “Do you have a job there?”

She swallowed. “Not yet.”

“I’ll pay you twenty grand for two weeks of your time.”

Her jaw dropped.

At her silence, he glanced up again. “Thirty?”

“Thirty’s good,” she squeaked. “Just to show you how to care for a pig?”

A slow, devastating smile suddenly curved his hard mouth. “I’d be lying if I said I only had the pig in mind.”

A warm flush heated her cheeks. She bit her lip, not wanting to giggle like a schoolgirl. Or seem too eager. Instead, she pointed out, “This is sounding awfully a lot like a Pretty Woman arrangement. I don’t know if I approve.”

“It’s just for two weeks,” he told her. “And if you want it to be purely business, it can be.” His tone grew crisp and efficient. Oh no. He was retreating to businessman mode. She’d screwed this up.

Her dream man was asking her to spend two weeks with him for a crazy amount of money, and here she was messing it up.

Risa suddenly pushed forward and brushed aside his BlackBerry. Before he could comment on that, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hard, fierce kiss. His tongue gave hers a possessive stroke in response before she broke the kiss, letting her know that he was very much interested in her. “I want this to be more than business,” she told him. “Don’t misunderstand me.”

And that smile curved his mouth again. “Good.”

* * *

With her bags packed, Risa harnessed Gregory and clipped on his leash, determined to take him for one last walk before they left Bluebonnet behind for Houston.

Her motive wasn’t entirely altruistic, of course. She needed time to gather her thoughts and clear her mind. Being around Travis was heady, and she wanted to make sure she just wasn’t intoxicated with her fantasy of him.

Gregory was excited about the walk, prancing and snorting down the sidewalk. Risa deliberately ignored the sleek, black sedan in the driveway—she didn’t want to gawk at it like a rube—as they left the old Victorian house and turned down the street. Pearl had lived two blocks away from Main Street in tiny Bluebonnet, and that was their destination today. Risa had a few people she wanted to say good-bye to . . . and to talk with. Just in case she was losing her mind.

After all, not every woman was offered thirty thousand dollars for two weeks of simply taking care of a pig. Was she crazy to jump on it? Wouldn’t she be crazy not to?

The pig’s hooves clicked on the sidewalk, his little tail swishing, and she smiled at the sight of him. He was such a good pig. Well mannered, smart, not a biter. She was glad she was going to get to spend a little more time with him and his new owner. She wanted Travis to love Gregory as much as she did, and as much as Pearl had. How could you not love such a sweet animal?

Lost in thought, Risa waved a greeting to passersby as they strolled down the street. Gregory was well known to people in these parts, and she smiled politely when children would come up to pet him, as they always did. Everyone loved seeing the spotted pink and gray pig, and it just further reinforced her decision. She’d go to Houston and make sure that Travis didn’t abandon Gregory as soon as her back was turned. If he needed two weeks to fall in love with the pig, by golly, she’d make it happen. Then, when she left them behind, she could be confident that both would be happy with their new circumstance. She owed Pearl’s memory no less.

As she passed by the only hair salon in Bluebonnet, she paused thoughtfully, looking into the glass at her reflection. Her hair was a tumble around her head, her eyebrows were dark, unsculpted slashes. She looked down at her nails, noticing they were ragged from where she’d been biting them during the past week due to anxiety over her situation.

Inside the salon, a hand waved and the door clanged open a moment later. A tall, perfectly made-up blonde in a pale tank top and matching white capris tucked a magazine under her arm. “Hey, honey,” Beth Ann cried out. “I was wondering if we were going to see you before you left us for Dallas!”

Risa hugged her friend on the sidewalk, gesturing at the pig. “I was giving Gregory here a walk before I leave. He doesn’t travel well.”

Beth Ann gave a little hop, her heeled sandals clicking on the pavement. “Oh mercy, did you meet that billionaire Pearl said was her nephew? Was he gorgeous?”