Read Online The Billionaire of Bluebonnet by Jessica Clare - Free Book Online Page A

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    Risa sighed. “I’m not telling you this to make you angry, Travis. I’m really not. It’s just become very apparent to me that you were right and I was wrong. You don’t have time in your life for a pig. You don’t have time in your life for a pig-keeper, either. I’ve really enjoyed our time together.” Her voice grew soft. “Really, really enjoyed it. I wish I could stay longer.”
    â€œThen stay.”
    She shook her head.
    â€œFifty grand,” he said suddenly. “Give me a month and I’ll give you fifty grand.”
    Annoyance flashed through her. “Have I asked for the money, Travis? For the last time, this isn’t about the money. You can keep every damn dollar that you promised me. I came here because I wanted you to love Gregory, but I mostly came here because I had a fantasy of you, and I was half in love with you the moment you walked through your grandmother’s door. Being with you has been part of that fantasy, but the reality is that you don’t have time for anyone.”
    He said nothing.
    â€œWell?”
    â€œI’ll pull some strings. Get you a teaching job here. We can build a school, if you want, and you can—”
    She threw up her arms, cutting him off. “You’re still not listening to me.”
    He still stared at her as if not quite comprehending her. “Everyone has a price, Risa. I want to know yours. I want to know what it’ll take to make you stay with me for a bit longer. I . . . like you in my bed.”
    That was a lot for a man like Travis Jesson to admit, she knew. She went to him and very lightly placed a hand on his cheek. “You know my price, Travis.”
    â€œI don’t—”
    She hated herself for saying the next part, but she had to. “I’m not like your grandmother. I can’t forgive missed time.”
    Travis flinched.
    She continued. “Time is the only thing I want from you, Travis. I want us to be a real couple. If you want me to live here with you, I’ll stay. I’ll look for a teaching job in Houston. Keep your thirty grand. Keep all of it. We’ll be a real couple and try this thing out. But I require time and effort. I want someone that will be with me, not someone that’s with their BlackBerry.”
    â€œRisa,” he said, leaning to kiss her hand. “I want to be with you. But you have to understand my job. I didn’t get where I am today because I took a backseat on things. There are opportunities out there, and I’m not about to leave them on the table. I have a very important meeting in Japan in a week that I cannot miss.”
    â€œI’m not asking you to quit your job for your pig nanny, Travis,” she said with a wry, sad smile. “I’m not asking you to make a choice. You are who you are. I am who I am, unfortunately, and I want the chance to be with someone who wants to be with me. It’s not that I’m giving you an ultimatum. It’s that we’re two immovable objects. You have your work on this side, and I am on the other. The two aren’t going to meet in the middle.”
    â€œI want to be with you—”
    â€œThen you know my price.” She picked up her suitcase and headed for the door. Every step felt like a thousand years. She wanted him to change his mind, to tell her that he’d make time for her. But he said nothing. When she got to the door, she turned back to him. “You might want to arrange to have your assistant feed Gregory twice a day. I left instructions on the refrigerator door. I don’t want him to starve.”
    His arms crossed and his look became stubborn. Almost furious. “I can feed a pig, Risa.”
    She knew he could. The question was, would he have the time? So she didn’t address it. “Can you call the car for me? My car’s still back at your grandmother’s.”
    â€œI’ll call it in the