Roping the Cowboy Billionaire - Emmy Eugene Page 0,11

more than fine. It was downright wonderful.

“We paid Wayne one-seventy-five as a stud fee. And that’s cheap. His fee is private, Tam, and we don’t—can’t—announce it.”

Tam nodded, her movements tight and sharp. That was more money than she could even fathom. “And you? What do you make every year?”

“Well, I’m no Triple Crown stud,” he said, his eyes lighting up.

Tam couldn’t help laughing, because that really was funny. Blaine joined in with her, and it was moments like these that she really started to fall for him. Sometimes they argued. Sometimes they disagreed. The last few weeks had been stressful, but all of that washed away as they laughed together.

He took her to the front shed where he kept an office of sorts, and he pulled a couple of sandwiches out of a mini fridge. “Coke?” he asked, handing her a can without waiting for her to answer. He sighed and groaned as he sat down, and Tam laughed again.

“You sound like you’re seventy,” she said. “Not thirty-eight.” Her back twinged a little bit, but she would take that knowledge to the grave. She wanted to stay at Bluegrass, and not just because they were paying her three hundred dollars a day to get bottled water out of a cooler for a horse owner.

“Sleeping on your couch has kinked my back,” he said.

“So it’s my fault.”

“Yes.” He passed her a sandwich. “I’ll come tonight, though. You sure you don’t need me?”

Tam looked at him, and the moment between them sobered. “You know what? You can come if you want. I don’t think it’s necessary, but…” She shrugged and focused on her sandwich as she started to unwrap it. She didn’t know how to say she liked having Blaine in the house with her. She’d told him a couple of weeks ago that she was tired of going home to no one, but she hadn’t exactly used the word lonely.

It stung her tongue, and she couldn’t say it now either. She picked up her sandwich and took a bite, finally looking up at Blaine. He hadn’t moved at all, and he kept his head down.

“I inherited five billion dollars when I turned twenty-five,” he said, looking up at her. “That’s the deal. You turn twenty-five and you commit to working the ranch? You get the five billion. It’s yours, free and clear. We all pull a salary from the ranch too, but it’s not much.”

Tam stared, the food in her mouth forgotten.

“Stop it,” Blaine said, looking away.

“Your parents have forty billion dollars?” she blurted out. She quickly chewed her food and swallowed it, waiting for him to confirm that.

“We sell over three hundred horses a year,” he said quietly, his fingers moving slowly as he peeled back the paper on his sandwich. “A lot of them for seven figures. We collect three times that much in stabling fees and trainer fees. We rent the track for an astronomical amount. We have coveted studs too. The ranch sustains itself quite nicely. The rest comes from smart investing and generations of Chappells living here and running this ranch.”

He looked up at her. “Tell me this isn’t going to change anything between us.”

Tam shook her head, though her mind was buzzing. “Why would it change anything?”

“Because I can see the way you’re looking at me,” he said. “And it’s changing things.”

She looked away, using her cowgirl hat to hide her face the way so many cowboys did. “I’ve always known you were rich.”

“You didn’t know how rich, though,” he said miserably.

“I do now,” she said, glad her voice had turned lighter. “I suppose you wouldn’t have a budget for a new truck, and you’d be writing a check.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Blaine said, and Tam whipped her attention back to him. He grinned at her, so radiantly perfect in that moment. “I’d use my miles card, obviously. There are rewards you can get for spending that much money, I’ll have you know.” He lifted his sandwich and took a bite, his smile still wolfishly on his face.

She rolled her eyes and laughed, but the numbers still swam through her head. Maybe having him come with her that night would be a mistake. She definitely had a budget, and she didn’t want to haggle with the salesman to make sure her payment was under four hundred a month. Maybe she could say he should stay home and rest his back. Or maybe she could ask him to run out to Chicken Little’s for their fried chicken