One Night With a Billionaire - By VickiLewis Thompson Page 0,40

but she had a backbone of steel. “You’ve had time, and nothing’s changed. This is a fabulous opportunity, and you’re going to see this therapist . . . even if we have to hogtie you and haul you there ourselves.”

Astrid sighed in obvious relief. “Well said, Melanie. So here’s the deal, Val. We’re your best friends, and we can’t stand by and watch this train wreck any longer. You’ve stopped dating. You’ve turned down a promotion at the law firm. You insist on sitting at the table by the front door when we go out anywhere. Enough.”

Val looked from one determined expression to the other. The thought of doing what her friends demanded scared the shit out of her, but they were right. She was stuck in a prison of her own making. And now she’d dragged them into it. “Okay.” She swallowed. “I’ll do it.”

* * *

Nine in the morning, and already the sun felt like a branding iron on Adam Templeton’s shoulders as he walked toward the barn. On most days, heading down to see his horses calmed him, but not this morning. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

Will thought it was hysterically funny that Adam was nervous about working with Valerie Wolitzky, especially since Adam had been the one to prompt Will into providing his card outside the Golden Spurs and Stetson. You’ve dealt with battle-scarred soldiers who are a thousand times more traumatized than she is, Will had said. She’ll be a piece of cake compared to them.

Oh, yeah, she’d be a piece of cake, all right. Sweet and tempting. Of course she could be married or seeing someone. That would help. His divorce from Elise was only fifteen months old, and Adam felt battle-scarred, himself.

He’d mentioned to Will that all the folks he’d worked with thus far had been men. Will had told him that wouldn’t always be the case. Female soldiers came home with PTSD, too. If Adam was serious about this new direction in his life, he’d need to help women as well as men.

Well, yeah, point taken. And Adam was serious about this venture. He hadn’t resigned his position as CEO of the family corporation and turned it over to his younger brother so that he could play cowboy as Elise had termed it.

He’d never enjoyed the corporate world, but for years he’d unquestioningly followed a path laid out by his father and grandfather. A path Elise and her parents had approved of. None of those people could dictate to him now.

His grandfather and father had both died in their fifties of heart attacks, and Elise had married another billionaire, so even the alimony payments weren’t an issue anymore. He’d taken inventory of his situation and decided he had enough money to last several lifetimes. He had the luxury of doing what he loved.

After consulting with Will, a close friend since high school, he’d returned to his first passion—horses and ranching. He’d bought the Triple Bar and enough registered quarter horses to start a breeding operation. But the breeding was more of a hobby and not Adam’s primary purpose in buying the ranch.

Equine therapy was catching on in the mental health community, and Will was a strong proponent of using animals to connect with tortured individuals. Adam loved the idea that this ranch, which he’d bought to satisfy his own yearnings, also could be a healing place for those who’d been battered by war and other calamities.

He was only about six months into it, but so far, the process had been rewarding. Apparently teaching people how to care for and interact with horses was a good companion activity to Will’s therapy sessions. Adam had watched several vets regain some peace of mind through interacting with his animals.

Intellectually he’d known his charges wouldn’t always be men, although up to now they had been. But why did the first woman have to be a scrappy female defiantly hiding her vulnerability? She’d obviously prefer to go down in flames rather than admit she needed help. Her friends must have done some serious arm-twisting to get her into Will’s office.

That type of personality never failed to trip the switch on Adam’s protective instincts. On top of that, she was a long-legged redhead with porcelain skin and green eyes, a knockout who would interest any man with a pulse. He hadn’t explained any of that to Will, but they’d been friends for a long time. He wouldn’t put it past Will to have sent her