The Billionaire Cowboy's Carolina Girl (Contemporary BWWM Romance) by Mia Caldwell Page A

 

    “Why not, pretty girl? What do we have to lose?” I smiled broadly and let him kiss me and touch me under the water. I cried out, gasping and moaning, the echoes of my voice surrounding us. There was no one around to hear us, after all. None of it seemed real that day, and I thought it wasn’t. I thought Billy would slip out of my life just as casually as he’d fallen into it, and that I’d never think of him again.

    How very wrong I was.  

    He held my hand at the airport that next morning, kissing me before he turned and walked to his gate. He’d go on to his cowboy life far away from me, and I would studiously avoid his emails and phone calls until he just stopped calling altogether.  

    But he would never leave my mind.

    Eight years later, he was the man I thought of every time I met a date from Match. He was the one I thought of whenever one of the sexy millionaires gave me the side eye at one of the Million Dollar Matchmaking events. He was the one I wanted to call when I broke my foot the month after I was accepted in the Los Angeles Ballet… the moment all my dreams shattered into a thousand pieces. But I hadn’t sought 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 compare to him, at least not right then. I was content to work for my sister’s matchmaking service, finding love for everyone else. I put on a bright smile for the world and rescued stray cats and dogs that no one else would take. My two-bedroom ranch in Sun Valley was filled with their warmth and love, but it was never quite what I was looking for.

    I didn’t know how all of that was about to change. It was all something I never could have imagined.

CHAPTER ONE

    “Anita, get over here!” I sighed deeply, glancing over at my sister’s desk. She was always calling me over these days. Between planning her wedding and being six months pregnant, she didn’t have much energy to get up from her desk. I watched as she picked up her cell phone. Her entire face lit up, and I knew it was 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 come true. She put the phone down again and gave me a look. “Nita, seriously! You’ve got to get 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 met his match at Million Dollar Matchmaking, we’d had men lining up 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 what was good for business was good for me too. It meant I might be able to get a huge commission boost — and with that extra bit of cash, I could start the dance studio I’d longed for since I’d broken my foot. It wasn’t the Los Angeles Ballet — that was a dream I’d lost years ago — but it was the art form I loved and the path I knew I was 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 knew it would 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 made me smile madly every time I thought about it.  

    Eleni absently patted her belly bump. I wondered what it would feel like to have a life growing inside of me — someone to cherish and love forever. I thought 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