Page 20 of Her Wild Cowboy Billionaire

He sighed. “This seems to be the night for baring my soul. Okay. I was engaged once, about three years ago. I met her on the rodeo circuit. I didn’t think she knew who I was, other than Tate Wilson. But she did. She came on to me because she knew I was Travis Morgan. She wasn’t in love with me. That honor belonged to my Chief Financial Officer, Ken Walker. He’s the one who conspired with her to get my money.” His voice was bitter. “He’d been my best friend. I’d have done anything for him. Pamela and I became engaged. We were to be married in just three weeks. I’d eschewed a prenup because Ken said I didn’t need one. She didn’t know how rich I was. I was Tate Wilson, remember?” He was quiet for a moment. “I thought she would love me for who I am and be thrilled to discover my wealth. I know it was naïve of me.”

She stayed silent, just listening and hearing their breathing.

Finally, he took a deep breath and whispered. “I’d moved her into my home, not this one, thank God. The one I had in Denver at the time. Anyway, I came home early to surprise her and boy did I. She and Ken were having wild, monkey sex in our bed...my bed.

“I fired Ken on the spot. Pamela tried to convince me it was nothing, a one-time thing. But I knew it for what it was. I told her to get out, that she had thirty minutes and anything left after that I’d dump on the lawn and set fire to.” He laughed. The sound was bitter. “She apparently didn’t believe me and left some jeans and a Hermes bag behind. I threw them out the window onto the lawn, then grabbed a bottle of 151 rum from the liquor cabinet and ran outside. I poured the rum on the pile and lit it. She squealed like a stuck pig, and I didn’t care. I still don’t. They deserved what they got.”

“It sounds like they did.”

He turned toward her. His gaze was steady. “Don’t fall in love with me, Willow. I have nothing to give in return.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. I haven’t been with a man since Alex died, and I don’t intend to be. Any man I find myself interested in has a lot to live up to. Well, goodnight.” She didn’t know if she should feel relieved or upset. Did he think she fell for the first handsome face that came along? Willow decided it didn’t matter since he was a patient and she would never fall in love with a patient. She took her book and left him alone.

Travis watched her go. He was sure she thought him the most conceited jerk she’d ever met, but he was trying to spare her pain. Wasn’t he? He held his head in his hands. Or was he trying to spare himself pain when she rebuked him? The latter was most likely the case. Pamela had hurt him. He’d loved her, or thought he had, and yet, now all these years later, he wondered. He was not feeling all that hurt. Instead, he felt like he’d dodged a bullet. Maybe Ken had done him a favor, after all.

Reflecting on Willow would, in all likelihood, keep him up most of the night, but he couldn’t get her out of his mind. Ten years. She hadn’t been with a man in ten years. How could that be? She was beautiful and funny and kind.

She was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman. And there lay the essence of the situation. The one woman he had fallen for had already shown him she didn’t want him. Was it the thrill of the chase that attracted him to Willow? Was he trying to prove he could make any woman love him? And was that truly what he wanted to do with Willow? Make her hate him?

Chapter 5

The following day, Willow met Travis and his security chief in Travis’s office.

“Willow, this is Dan Cole, my chief of security. Dan, this is Willow Adams, my nurse. She’s got a stalker problem. I want you to check out her phone.”

The tall, dark-haired man was muscular in an Arnold Schwarzenegger sort of way. He extended his right hand.

Willow shook it. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Cole.”

He smiled. “You, too. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances. And please, call me Dan.”

She nodded. Her stomach was tied in knots. “What can you tell me about my phone, Dan? Can he track me? Does he know I’m in Montana now?”

“Let me see.” He took off the back of her phone and removed the battery. Then he removed the rest of the back and looked into the guts of the device. He pulled out a small chip. “He’s smart. Not many would think of looking this far into the phone. Any idea how he would have gotten your phone?”

Willow slumped in her chair and shook her head. “No. I didn’t think he got that close to me. I suppose he could have taken it when I was at one of my jobs. I help people bathe as part of my duties, so if he got into the house while I was giving someone a bath, he would have had time. And I always lock the door to the bathroom when I’m in there with a patient. They prefer it that way. Otherwise, he could attack me in the home.” She sighed and sat in a chair in front of Travis’s desk. Travis stood behind her. “Or maybe he’s happy just terrorizing me. I don’t know.”

“It’ll take me a minute to see just what he has been seeing, but I would guess he knows where you are. Luckily, you’re here with Travis. He will see to your safety, along with everyone on the ranch. I can’t say how this man will react when he can’t get to you. But I’m thinking it won’t be good.”

She shook her head. “I’m sure it won’t be.”

Dan pulled his laptop from his bag and inserted the tiny chip into a small chip holder and then pushed that into the side USB port. As he watched what came up, he frowned.

“This man has been following you for a long time, hasn’t he?”

Willow uncrossed and crossed her legs again. “Yes, I’ve had to file my restraining orders on him in three different counties. He’s been after me for about three years. When he started threatening Mindy two years ago, I began homeschooling her. I was afraid he would kidnap her.”

He tapped the chip holder. “After looking at this, I’d say that was an excellent move. How long have you had this phone?”

She felt her face heat. “Over ten years. My late husband gave it to me as a gift. I can’t seem to get rid of it, even though I know I should upgrade. I just...can’t bring myself to do it.”

Dan looked at her with kind blue eyes. They reminded her of Alex’s eyes. “I understand. An upgrade wouldn’t have stopped him from doing what he did, but it would make it harder. New phones are harder to get into. It takes more time and if he was in a hurry, he might not have tried it.”

Willow sighed and nodded. “I suppose I should do it. If I send Mindy back to public school when all this is over, I’ll want her to have a phone for safety. So she and I could learn together if I get us new phones.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Dan as he closed the laptop. “If you want, I’ll set you up with a set of phones. I don’t want you to use this one again. I want to err on the side of caution. This man is a lot smarter than most people, at least when it comes to following you. I’ll take this chip and destroy it for you.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to keep it for evidence that I can take to court?”