Winning the Cowboy Billionaire - Emmy Eugene Page 0,4

His family ranch depended on breeding and selling top-quality horses that would run until the day they dropped dead.

Not that Spur ever pushed them that far. But he had seen over a dozen of the horses he’d bred and sold win the Belmont, the Kentucky Derby, or the Preakness. Two of his horses had won all three in the same year, taking that Triple Crown.

Every time one of his horses won, any horse in that bloodline got more valuable. Spur kept immaculate records of the horse races around the world, and when he walked into an auction, everyone took note.

The woman next door didn’t care about any of that, though, and Spur brought his ego back down to Earth as he went up the road to her house. He found her outside still, down on her hands and knees as she ripped up the flowers his sheep had trampled.

She heard him coming, and she got to her feet and wiped her sunkissed hair off her forehead. She cocked one hip while he brought All Out to a stop and swung out of the saddle.

“Hey, Olli,” he said, walking toward her so he could see the damage in her flower garden.

“Spur,” she said, clearly not happy with him.

“Sorry about the sheep.” They’d done a number on whatever she’d had growing there. “Tell me how much to fix that.”

“You can’t fix that,” she said. “Those were my gardenias and a new crop of four o’clocks. I use that gardenia for my Down Home South candle.” She glared at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and he meant it. “Animals are unpredictable.”

She took a step toward him, and he wouldn’t have predicted she’d do that. His heartbeat skipped over itself for a moment, and he wasn’t even sure why. He’d talked to Olli lots of times; she was pretty in a Southern belle kind of way, though he’d never let himself think about her for too long.

He hadn’t let himself entertain thoughts about a woman for years now, though if he had, he could easily see himself fantasizing about the curvy, gorgeous Olivia Hudson.

She was still prowling toward him, something sparking in her eyes that interested him. Maybe he had thought a lot about Olli and had just never admitted it to himself. He pushed against the idea now too.

“I can pay for the damage,” he said, clearing his throat as her perfume hit his nose. She smelled amazing, like lemons and vanilla and cookies. He wanted a taste of her right then, and he couldn’t believe himself.

“I can have one of my men come replant the flowers,” he said, sticking to facts to keep his brain in control of this situation. “I know they won’t be good enough or ready when you need them, but I’m not sure what else to do to make it right.”

Olli stopped a couple of feet from him and looked him up and down. Spur suddenly wished he wasn’t sweaty and dusty from rounding up the sheep. He held his ground, glad when her eyes finally returned to his.

“Sorry, Olli,” he said again, wishing she’d name her price so he could go.

“You can do all of that,” she said. “And I need one more favor, Spur.”

“Name it,” he said. “Along with the monetary amount, Olli.”

“It’ll be hundreds to pull out the ruined plants and put them in again.” She switched her gaze to the flower garden, which was huge. Just how big Spur hadn’t realized. He reminded himself that she ran a perfumery, and she grew most of the stuff she used to produce the fragrances herself.

“Include your lost product,” he said. “I want to pay for that too.”

“You will,” she said. “I’ll have to do some estimates.”

“You have my number.” He started to turn away from her magnetic gaze, telling himself not to ask her out right now. He couldn’t even believe he was thinking about asking her out. His mother would be thrilled he was “getting back on the horse” again, but Spur wasn’t.

He wasn’t interested in dating. He wasn’t. He simply couldn’t admit his interest in Olli to himself. He first needed to figure out how long he’d be interested in her.

“Spur,” she said, her voice even and calm.

“Hmm?” He looked back at her, unable to just walk away. Not while she wore that pale blue tank top and those denim shorts. Her hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders, and Spur just wanted to brush it back so he could feel her skin there,