The Billionaire Falls (Billionaire Bachelors - Book Three) (5 page)

“I need to get some sleep,” Lucas finally said and then waggled his eyes at Amy. Emily could feel the slight blush returning to her face. She knew he really wanted to get his wife alone. Jessica and Alex soon followed them and suddenly Emily found herself alone with Mark.

The fire had died down to mainly embers and it was barely light enough to see his shadowed face. “I better get some sleep,” she said and forced a yawn out. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to sleep for a while, being so wound up.

Mark placed his hand on her arm when she tried to get up. She sat there, not knowing what to say.

“Emily I’m really sorry about what happened in the pool. Seriously, I don’t usually grab women and make out with them in front of my whole family,” he said while running his hand through his messed up hair.

Her hand was itching to smooth his hair back into place but she managed to tuck both hands under her thighs. “It’s no problem. It’s not like I wasn’t a willing participant but I’m sorry too. Honestly I don’t usually do that myself,” she said, still a bit horrified with herself.

“Okay we’re both sorry,” he said and then smiled. The man should be registered as a lethal weapon so women could be forewarned.

“So we’re friends right?” he asked her.

“Yes, of course,” she replied, finally feeling the pressure in her chest start to ease.

“Good,” he said. “Want to see something really cool?” he asked.

“Sure.”

He grabbed her hand and started leading her towards the barn. She figured he would let go but he kept holding on and she didn’t have the will power to pull away. She’d noticed his entire family were all touchy feely people, so she told herself not to read too much into the gesture.

“My favorite mare is about to give birth. There’s nothing more miraculous and beautiful as that,” he told her excitedly.

Emily found herself eager to see the new foal. They got to the barn and heard some pained noises. Emily looked up in concern, “is she okay?”

“She’s fine. I’ve been checking on her the past couple of days and the vet has been looking over her. Everything is on schedule and the foal is in the right position. Giving birth still hurts though.”

“Yes it does,” she agreed emphatically.

“I guess you would know more than me,” he said with a sheepish shrug.

Emily laughed and then quieted as they approached the stall with the laboring horse. She was beautiful, with a dark brown, shining coat and a bulging belly.

“How you doing girl?” Mark spoke softly to the mare.

She seemed to role her eyes at the clueless man, or that’s what Emily liked to believe. She remembered when she was giving birth and the doctors had asked how she was doing. She’d wanted to punch them as hard as she could and then ask them the same thing. Guys didn’t have a clue.

“You’re a pretty girl,” Emily softly said to her, while gently rubbing her nose. The mare neighed a bit at her as if to say ‘
at least you understand’
and then went back to ignoring them both.

Emily had no idea how much time they spent there but when the sky started to lighten, the mare finally pushed the new foal out of her body, along with some help from Mark. She looked at him, sitting there on the floor, with the gangly baby in his lap and felt her heart pounding. He was covered in dirt and blood and still irresistible.

Once the whole ordeal was over, she realized how exhausted she was. The sun was coming over the hill and she figured she’d better try to get a few hours of sleep.

“Thanks for sharing this with me. It really was amazing,” she whispered to him. She didn’t want to startle the new horse, so she was talking and moving quietly.

“Thanks for keeping me company. I didn’t mean to keep you up all night.”

“It was well worth it,” she responded honestly.

Mark was busy making sure the new horse was healthy, so Emily slipped out of the barn and headed back towards the house. She lay down and her last thoughts before finally succumbing to exhaustion were about her new employer. She knew she was going to have a problem keeping her distance.

Chapter Three

Emily slowly rolled over and realized it was one in the afternoon. She jerked upright in bed, trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes. She couldn’t believe how long she’d slept. She was always up early to make sure her son was okay.

She took a two minute shower, dressed and ran down the stairs. She was incredibly worried about her son. He may have gotten scared when he woke up and his mom wasn’t there.

She came running around the corner, into the dining room, where she found her son sitting with all the other kids, Mark and his siblings. All the adults looked like they hadn’t been up too long.

“Mom did you know a baby horse was born this morning and as soon as we are done eating our lunch Mark is going to take me down to see her,” he practically squealed at her.

“I did know. I got to watch her be born. I’m so sorry I wasn’t awake with you this morning,” she apologized to her son.

“It’s okay mom, I didn’t know you weren’t awake. We’ve been playing all day long,” Trevor told her.

Emily was relieved he’d been okay that morning but a little saddened he didn’t seem to need her so much, the older he got. She covered her disappointed look by going over to the table and grabbing some sandwich fixings.

“I’m sorry I didn’t make you breakfast,” she said, feeling guilty she hadn’t prepared a meal.

“You can’t work seven days a week Emily, I think Edward already told you on the weekends everyone fends for themselves,” Mark said, before stuffing his mouth full, like he was on his last meal.

“I know that normally but with your family here, they probably would’ve enjoyed a nice breakfast,” she defended.

“If the rest of your food is anything like some of those salads and desserts you made last night, we would’ve most certainly enjoyed your breakfast. It’s nice to have a make your own sandwich lunch, plus I found a couple bowls of your salad that somehow didn’t make it out to the food table last night,” Amy said, looking pointedly at Mark.

“Hey I love Potato Salad and I wanted some saved for today,” Mark defended.

Emily knew she’d brought that bowl out, so Mark must have snuck it back in. It actually made her feel pretty good he liked her food. He obviously did, as he was piling the stuff into his mouth.

“Seriously, I snuck into some early last night and then had to sneak it away. I haven’t had this good of homemade salad since…well hell since never. No offense to Mom,” he added as an afterthought.

“Well you know the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach…among other things,” Alex said with a wink.

“Amen,” Mark added, without even pausing in his chewing.

Emily must be getting used to his family, because she was blushing far less already. She knew the brothers were just ribbing each other and they didn’t mean any harm. She simply had to get used to the way they talked to each other if she wanted to be comfortable around them.

After everyone ate, the adults gathered up the younger kids, while the older ones clung onto Mark as he led them all to the barn. Emily was amazed when she saw the newborn foal up and wobbling around in the open space of the barn.

“She was just born, I can’t believe she’s already walking,” she gasped.

The three brothers laughed. “Animals are much more independent than human babies,” Lucas said.

“Hey speak for yourself, I’ve always been one of a kind and able to do things faster than the average person,” Mark added.

“I don’t think so, we all know I’ve always been the smartest one,” Alex said as he thumped his chest.

“You’re all abnormally strong, sexy and very, very smart,” Jessica said to appease the men.

“You’re all those things and so much more,” Alex said before kissing her.

“Okay I simply haven’t gotten enough sleep to deal with the two of you playing kissy face,” Mark grumbled.

“Considering I found you down here, asleep on the hay, gives you a little bit of leeway for grumpiness,” Alex conceded. “Of course a romp in the hay would’ve put you in a much better mood than having fallen asleep on it,” he added with a wink at Emily.

She pretended to not hear that last statement or notice the wink. “Isn’t the baby horse sweet?” she asked Trevor.

“Mom, horses aren’t sweet, they’re cool,” he grumbled, trying to sound like a big kid.

“Well I’m sorry about that,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. She loved how much her son was growing up. Some days it broke her heart to think he would be a man before she knew it but at the same time he had so much personality and such a great heart. She wanted to keep him close to her forever.

“She’s a great looking girl,” Lucas said.

“Agreed brother, another fine addition to the ranch,” Alex chimed in.

“Thanks guys,” Mark said.

“We have to get going but can come back next weekend,” Lucas said.

“Ah dad, I want to play with Trevor some more,” Jasmine cried.

“I promise we’ll come back for you to play with Trevor but Mom has an appointment she can’t miss, Honey,” Lucas said sadly. He hated to see his little girl upset about anything. He was a very easy pushover for his daughter. The business men he’d dealt with throughout the years would have been completely amazed if they could see how easily his daughter was able to get her way from him.

“Okay daddy,” she said on a wobbly voice. She then threw her arms around Trevor, “I will miss you so much,” she sniffled. He was about to tell her they could stay a while longer, when Amy gave him her mother look. His wife was the only other person able to get away with anything and he wasn’t going to argue with her.

Trevor hugged her back, before noticing what he was doing. “See ya soon,” he mumbled. Emily could tell he was trying to be tuff in front of Mark but he was close to tears himself.

“Hey little guy, after all these other kids get out of here, you and I can take a horse ride up the trails,” Mark said, as he ruffled Trevor’s hair.

“Really?” Trevor’s sadness instantly evaporated, as he looked hopefully up at Mark.

“Really.” Mark stated. “We can even invite your Mom if she’d like to come,” he added.

Trevor looked over his mother, as if he was really thinking about it, before finally saying, “I guess she could come with us. She does make good picnic stuff.”

“Thanks,” Emily said. “I know that was such a hard choice for you,” she added with a smile.

“We have to take off too, see you really soon. We will go have a spa day,” Jessica said, before grabbing Emily in a hug.

“That sounds really great,” Emily said, even though she didn’t know how long it would take for her to be able to afford that. If Jessica invited her too soon, she would have to make up some excuse to put it off.

After everyone left, the three of them set off for their ride. Emily rode an older mare that was tame and easy to handle. She’d never ridden before but found she really liked it. Trevor sat on the horse with Mark and looked way adorable in his arms. She was really going to have to fight her attraction to him with every ounce of willpower she had. It wasn’t going to be easy.

The day ended about as perfect as it had begun. Mark was witty and charming and had unending patience for her son. She told herself repeatedly they would just be friends and she figured if she lied to herself enough she would start to believe it.

One day started to run into the next. Mark made no more new moves on her and kept things completely friendly. He was amazing with Trevor and spent hours each day with him. Trevor was even starting to ride on his own.

Every time she looked at her young man with Mark, it reinforced her decision to fight her attraction she had for her boss. She had to keep it professional, because if she started a relationship with the man, when it ended she and Trevor would have to move.

It wasn’t like she really had to worry about a relationship though, as Mark hadn’t shown any more personal interest in her. Trevor and her had been at the ranch for a full month and Mark hadn’t touched her once since that steamy night, which seemed like so long ago.

What irritated her was the fact she wanted him to touch her. She was actually grateful he wasn’t putting the moves on her because she didn’t think she was strong enough to tell him no.

His family came up a couple of more times and she was becoming good friends with Jessica and Amy. She would be so upset if she somehow lost all she’d gained since accepting the cooking job.

She finally had a real spa day scheduled the coming up weekend. She’d never done anything like that and it sounded like heaven. To have real girlfriends and a day she was allowed to pamper herself seemed unreal. Most kids got to do things like that during high school but she’d been far too poor to frivolously spend money on girlie things.

With her resolve set, Emily pulled her gaze from the window where Mark and Trevor were rolling around on the lawn with the ever-growing puppies. She focused on cooking, which always eased her tensions away.

Emily couldn’t sleep. She laid there for about an hour, tossing and turning, until she finally started feeling claustrophobic. She got up and stepped out onto her balcony. She actually spent a lot of time there in the evenings, enjoying the cooler evening air.