“The wreck was my fault. I
shouldn’t have been messing with my radio when the light turned
green. Let me get your truck.” He glanced at her out of the corner
of his eye to gauge her reaction.
“You can’t just buy me a
truck!” How many times did she have to tell him she wouldn’t accept
a truck from him?
“Why not?” His voice was
reasonable as he asked. “I saw a bracelet online I wanted to buy
you last night. It was thirty-two thousand dollars. I didn’t buy
it. I restrained myself, so I get to buy you something for less
than that. Do you think we could find you a decent truck for under
that?”
She laughed out loud at
his reasoning. “I think I’m just going to file with my insurance
company. I’ll have to pay a deductible, but then I won’t feel like
I’m selling myself to you.”
He shook his head. “I’m
richer than God. Let me spend some of the money my stock broker
keeps multiplying over and over. I’m not using it.
Please?”
“No way.” She sat back in
her seat, realizing the seat warmer was making her toasty warm.
“Where are we going for dinner?”
“A small Mexican place in
Dallas.”
She turned to him in
surprise. She’d thought he might take her to Denton or even Fort
Worth, but Dallas? Why drive so far? “Why? That’s a long drive for
a dinner!”
“There are a couple of
reasons. Number one, I want to spend time with you, and this gives
us more time together. Number two, I need to meet one of my
business partners for a quick meeting. It’s going to take ten
minutes, and he’s bringing a date, so it’s not just a business
dinner.” At least he hoped Justin would be bringing a date. He’d
forgotten to call him until he was pulling onto Amber’s property.
Hopefully he’d given his friend enough time to find
someone.
She made a face. “Did you
already have plans when I told you tonight was the only night that
would work for me?”
His answer was a shrug and
a goofy grin. “Maybe.”
“We could have found
another night!” Why hadn’t he just told her he was busy?
“It’s not a problem. I can
work around your schedule.” He paused for a minute. “You don’t feel
like going on a business trip with me this week, do
you?”
She opened her eyes wide
and stared at him in shock. “This week? So you want me to cancel
all my lessons for a week and just run off to who knows
where?”
“Why not? I can hire
someone to do your job for the week, or you can just cancel your
lessons.”
“I need the money, Cody. I
can’t just cancel the lessons.”
He stared straight ahead
watching the road. “When was the last time you took a
vacation?”
She sighed. “Just under
twelve years ago.”
“It’s time. Can you hire
someone to take your place for the week? Give them a set wage of
maybe fifteen an hour? Maybe one of your more experienced
students?”
She thought about that.
She did have one college age girl, Tanya, who had been with her
since she was ten. Tanya only kept seeing Amber so she could have
help shaving some seconds off her barrel race times. Tanya had even
offered to substitute for her when she needed it. “Maybe I do, but
I can’t just take off with no notice.”
He knew he was going to
keep trying. Maybe Justin could help him talk her into it. He
wanted to see her in a bikini on the beaches of Motu Tane. He and
his friends had been once, right after they’d made their first
billion. It was one of his favorite memories, and he desperately
wanted to share it with Amber.
They hit a few traffic
snags once they were in Dallas and pulled into the restaurant just
before seven. Justin had said he might be a few minutes late, so
they went ahead and went in without him. She slid into the booth
they were led to, and he slid in after her.
They’d been seated for
less than a minute and were still looking over the menu when two
people approached the table. The man was tall with dark hair. He
was a lot slimmer than Cody, but almost as good looking. The girl
was really tall and had dirty blond hair and green eyes. Her eyes
were startling they were so green.
The woman slid in across
from Amber and introduced herself as Sarah. The two men ignored
them while they decided what to eat, and Sarah asked, “How long
have you and Cody been seeing each other?”
“We’re not really seeing
each other. I’m giving him riding lessons.” Even as Amber said the
words, she knew they didn’t make much sense. The skeptical look on
Sarah’s face told her she was right.
“Oh, okay. Is that what
you do for a living?”
Amber nodded. “I usually
only teach children, but Cody insisted.” She didn’t mention the
triple pay.
Sarah sighed. “I think the
two of them have been too rich for too long. I don’t know about
Cody, but Justin thinks he has the right to tell everyone around
him what they’re going to do and just watch them fall in
line.”
“Sounds like Cody!” Or
like Cody would be if she let him. He didn’t seem as uptight as
Justin, but he was certainly a man used to getting his own
way.
“How did you two meet? Did
he just call and ask for lessons one day?” Sarah put her menu on
the table and gave Amber all her attention.
Amber blushed. “I rear
ended him last weekend.”
Sarah choked back a laugh.
“Really? So he hired you to teach him to ride a horse?”
“Weird, huh?” She gave
Sarah a baffled look.
Cody put down his menu and
took a sip of his iced tea. “You know, I’m sitting right here
listening to you, right?” He nodded toward Sarah in greeting, but
didn’t say anything to her.
Amber gave him a confused
look. “Well, it is weird. How many people insist someone who rear
ends them teaches them to ride a horse?”
And asks them to marry her?
“I’m a billionaire. I’m
supposed to be eccentric. Besides, it was time I bought a new
pick-up. It’s not like I’m upset I got rear ended or
anything.”
Amber looked at Sarah. “He
wanted to buy me a new truck too. I told him my insurance would fix
my old one. Weird. Just plain weird.” The baffled look on Amber’s
face reflected how Sarah had felt for the past week.
Justin grinned at Cody.
“Seems like she’s figured you out in just a week.” Justin winked at
Amber.
Cody folded his arms over
his chest and glared at his friend. “Yeah? Well, how did you meet
your date then?” He knew the answer would be bizarre, because
Justin never met women the normal way. The last woman Justin had
introduced him to had been the activities coordinator of his
grandmother’s nursing home.
Sarah shook her head. “Oh
we’re not dating! I’m his executive assistant.”
Cody looked at Justin.
“What happened to the hyper-organized Candice?” Candice had been
with the company since its inception. Justin wouldn’t let her go
would he?
“Maternity leave. She’s
taking a year off after the baby’s born, so I needed
someone.”
“I thought she was waiting
another month?”
Justin shrugged. “She said
she wanted to take off early.”
Cody knew there must be
more to the story than Justin was telling him, but he didn’t press
it, because he didn’t want Justin pushing him too hard about how
Amber came to be his date for the evening. They could rib each
other when the women weren’t around.
They placed their order,
and Amber and Sarah chatted quietly while the two men looked at
some charts. Amber surprised herself by inviting Sarah to the
ranch. She didn’t have a lot of time for friends, but there was
just something about the younger woman that drew her in.
Finally, Justin put the
charts into a briefcase and Cody stretched out, dropping his arm
around Amber’s shoulders. It was the first time he’d done anything
like that, and it scared Amber just how natural it felt. “Are y’all
done?” she asked.
“Yeah. He likes me to look
at his charts and see if I think they’re feasible before we knock
Steven over the head with them.”
Amber made a face. “Is
Steven the other guy who helped start your company?”
“Steven’s the programmer,”
Justin told her. “Without Steven, Cody would be an idea man with no
one to make his ideas work, and I’d be just some guy looking for a
good product to sell.”
“Yup. We owe it all to
Steven.”
Their food was served
then, and they were all quieter as they ate their meals. Amber had
gotten a huge plate of fajitas and was startled to see Sarah just
eating a bowl of enchilada soup. “Not hungry?”
Sarah shook her head. “I
have dinner with my family on Sundays. I just ate a couple of hours
ago.”
Amber wondered why she was
going on a dinner date right after eating, but she didn’t ask. She
was almost afraid of what the answer would be.
Once they were finished
eating, Cody turned to her.
“You’re going
on that business trip with me, right?” His voice was insistent and
his eyes were making her melt again as she met his.
Amber gave him a perplexed
look. “Why would I need to go on a business trip with you?” It made
no sense for her to just take off and spend a week with him. It was
tempting, but she didn’t think it was a good idea at
all.
“What if I decide to ride
a horse on the beach? I wouldn’t want to fall off.” He sighed
heavily. “Then I’d get hurt and you’d spend the rest of your life
feeling guilty that you didn’t come along, and it would be all your
fault I was hurt.”
Amber sighed. “That’s a
ridiculous reason, you know.” It was ridiculous, so why did she
want to go so badly?
He nodded. “I know.” He
rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “Will you go with
me?”
She shook her head. “I
really don’t think it’s a good idea. I’d have to cancel several
students, and it wouldn’t be fair to them.”
“When was the last time
you took a vacation? A real vacation. Not one where you’re trying
to buy more horses or doing anything but having fun.”
She shrugged. She’d
already told him that. Why was he asking again? “I think it was
before my father died.”
“You’re going. If I have
to kidnap you, you’re going. Cancel your students. You need a
break.” His tone of voice brooked no argument.
She thought about Tanya,
her college-aged student, who would be more than willing to not
only make a little money, but get in some practice teaching. She
was an education major. She didn’t answer, but watched the banter
around the table for a few minutes.
As they left the
restaurant, Sarah whispered,
“So, are you
going?”
“I guess so. I don’t know
why, but I’m going.” She paused. “Honestly I think it’s going to be
fun. I do need a break.”
Sarah hugged Amber. “I’m
glad you’re going.”
Amber grinned. “Me too.
It’ll be easier knowing I’ll at least know someone
there.”
“I guess I’ll see you
tomorrow night then.”
“Guess so.”
She got into Cody’s truck
with him, inhaling deeply of the new car smell that still permeated
the air. “I love the smell of new cars.”
He nodded. “Me too. I
figure when the smell wears off it’s almost time to buy a new
truck.”
She laughed. “I don’t
think I’ve had a new vehicle since I turned sixteen and my parents
bought me a little BMW.”
“BMW, huh? I bought my own
clunker pick-up when I was fifteen and fixed it up myself. Had it
running by the time I got my license.”
“So you weren’t always
crazy rich?”
He shook his head. “I went
to college on student loans and grants like everyone else. None of
us had any money until we started the company.” He paused for a
minute drumming his fingers on the steering wheel before he started
the truck. “So are you going with us?”
She sighed. “Yeah, I think
I am. But only if I can get Tanya to take over the other’s lessons.
I can’t just abandon all my students for a week. When will we be
back? And where are we going?”
“We’ll fly in Sunday
night.”
“And we’re going
where?”
He pulled the truck onto
the highway and headed back toward Corral City. “A private island
in the South Pacific.”
“Are you serious?” She
stared at him in surprise.
He nodded. “Pack for the
beach.”
“I’ll let you know in the
morning if I can arrange for a substitute.” She didn’t know why she
was even considering it other than the fact she desperately needed
a vacation. She was glad Sarah was going to be there. She liked
her, and it would make it easier to know someone other than Cody
while they were there. “This needs to count for the other two
dates. There’s no way you’re going to convince me that a week in
the South Pacific is only one date.”
He thought about it for a
minute. “So if you’re not convinced I can be respectful of you and
not try to run your life after the week, I can’t ask you out again,
right?”