Page 13 of How to Train Your Billionaire

Inside, the house is just as impressive. There are four spacious bedrooms, and in mine, a private bathroom that has the prettiest dark-green tiles, and ceilings supported by rustic wood beams. I love it immediately.

May in Montana turns out to be beautiful but chilly. As the sun starts to set, I decide to get to work lighting a fire in the massive stone fireplace that sits at the center of the great room. The warmth quickly fills the space, making it feel like home—if only for a little while.

Charles wanders in with his newspaper. I’m certain he’s read the whole thing cover to cover with how crinkled it is and how much time he spent staring at it on the plane. I find myself wondering again about his other hobbies.

“Have you ever playedWordle?” I ask when he settles into the armchair beside me.

He gives me a confused look.

“Give me your phone.”

He hands it over, and after I do a decent job of masking my shock at how very large the font sizes and icons are, I install one of my favorite apps. When I hand his phone back, I explain the workings of the game. He catches on quickly.

“What’s a five-letter word that starts withO?” he asks me after some time of staring down at his phone.

“Ocean?”

He shakes his head. “No, there’s not anNin this one.”

I check my phone and text Tessa to let her know I’ve arrived in my first destination as a travel companion.

How are things going?she asks.

I consider her question.

If I expected things to feel strained or uncomfortable between us, I’m glad to see I was wrong. We alternate easily between comfortable silences and small talk. We just click.

Great, actually,I write back.

“Occur!” Charles says after several minutes of deep concentration.

I don’t even scold him for ruining today’s puzzle for me, because he looks so pleased with himself.

Look at me, I must be growing.

After dinner Charles and I unwind on opposite sides of the huge plush sectional. The fire has died down to a whimper but still glows and crackles softly as the TV plays in the background.

“For every hour of international news you insist on watching, we’ll watch a rom-com,” I announce, waving a hand at the TV screen that plays scenes from a German newscast.

“I’m not watching a rom-com with you,” he scoffs.

“Come on, old man. Remember the chocolate muffins. You might just like it.”

The words are out before I can stop them. Too much? Maybe. But he just rolls his eyes, and something in my chest eases.

Later, when I glance over, I realize he’s sound asleep in the recliner, his features softened in the flickering glow of the fire. I remove his reading glasses, and the newspaper from across his chest, then I sink back down onto the sectional, still in some disbelief about this new journey I’m on and the unexpected twists that brought me here. I pull out my phone and snap a selfie of me smiling on the plush couch while the fire glows in the background and send it to Tessa.

Cutie!she replies.

For the first time in a long while, I feel a deep sense of peace, as if everything is exactly where it’s meant to be.

All of that changes in the morning when I learn that Hayes will be flying into Bozeman today. Any sense of peace I felt last night looking out over the mountains has evaporated.Poof. Gone!

I do my best to ignore him for the first several hours. I heard him arrive, heard his and Charles’s voices in the living room. The fact that I needed to stay very busy in my bedroom was beside the point. Whatthe hell is he even doing here? He was too busy to travel with his uncle before. Now that I’m in the picture, he suddenly wants the job? Well, I have no plans of heading back home, so he needs to back the hell off.

Sensing that he’s only here to check up on me, or torment me, doesn’t leave me with any warm fuzzies.

Two hours later, I’m in the kitchen when I hear the deep rumble of his voice.