Page 21 of Taming the Billionaire Cowboy (The Billionaire’s Bidding #3)
CARLY
“ H ow does this look?” Oliver steps back from where he’s just finished hanging blue and white streamers along my mom’s back porch.
“Perfect,” I tell him.
He catches my eye and smiles, and it hits me that he’s not just here for Bradley. He’s here for me, for whatever this is turning into, and it makes my heart flip.
“When do the first guests arrive?” He smiles again, more nervous than I’ve ever seen him.
I check my phone. “Two minutes ago. You okay?”
“I’ve never done this before,” he says.
“What, a party?” I joke.
He crosses his arms, clearly uncomfortable. “Met this many people… try to make a good impression…”
“I thought that was half of your job as CEO.”
He drops his arms, his soft gaze locking onto mine. “It’s never mattered this much. I want to impress everyone, you know? It’s my first time stepping out as your boyfriend.”
Boyfriend.
The word makes me smile, makes me feel like I’m walking on air. “You’ll do fine,” I tell him. “Don’t worry about it.”
He reaches down to touch my hand, and I give his fingers a squeeze.
This, the two of us together feels a bit like living in an alternate reality, but I’m becoming more acclimated to it each day.
It helps that every moment is golden, even when he’s not around, and I can’t remember ever being this happy.
Bradley runs out the back door, squirt gun in hand, his friend Parker following after him. “Looks like the first guests are here,” I say.
Oliver takes another deep breath, and I smile, finding his nervousness endearing. What I don’t tell him is that I’m also a little on edge. How will everyone in my life respond to him? This party is set to be a big one. In small towns any party means a high percentage of the population showing up.
People filter in quickly after that, everyone coming over to meet Oliver, the most recent talk of the town.
“Glad you could come,” I say for the third time in five minutes.
“We wouldn’t miss it,” a neighbor tells me. “So, this is your new fella?”
“This is Oliver Greer,” I say, like I’ve practiced. Like I’ve got it under control.
The neighbor nods. “Looks serious,” she says, and I blush.
“He bought the ranch,” I say, wanting to get away from talking about my personal relationship.
But the neighbor waves her hand dismissively. “Oh, we already know all about that. You’ve got the town in a tizzy. Seen nothing so exciting since old man Presley brought that elephant through town for the summer fair years ago.”
I laugh awkwardly. “Well, I’m glad we could add some excitement.”
“They do look lovely together,” she tells her friend as they move away from us.
Oliver leans in and whispers in my ear. “We’re doing good so far, huh?”
“I’m not getting my hopes up until Bradley’s birthday wish comes true,” I playfully tease him back.
He raises his eyebrows. “And what would that be?”
I smirk at him. “That’s for him to know and us to find out.”
Before Oliver can respond, I hear a chorus of surprise cheers from across the yard. When I turn around, I see Bradley standing over a fallen pinata, fists full of candy, and a wide grin on his face. The crowd around him starts clapping, and he bows like a famous performer on stage.
Oliver rests a hand on my lower back as we walk over to where the kids are gathering around the spilled pinata treats. “Hey, champ!” he says. “That was one impressive swing.”
Bradley beams brighter than ever, his cheeks flushed with exertion and excitement. “Really?”
“Absolutely. You showed that pinata who’s boss.”
With an excited nod, he stuffs a few more pieces of candy into his already overflowing bag. “Can we go open presents now, Mom?”
“Sure, bud. Just let me grab them from the house.”
“Can I help?” Oliver offers, already following me towards the front door, the small smile on his lips making my heart flutter.
“Of course.”
Together, we round up the brightly wrapped gifts overflowing from my mom’s guest room and haul them to a picnic table under a striped umbrella.
Bradley’s eyes go wide as he spots us coming back, his little legs sprinting over to help. “I didn’t think there’d be so many!”
“You have a lot of people who care about you,” I say, watching as his little fingers begin to eagerly tear into the paper of the first gift.
For what must be an hour, Bradley opens gifts. Each one is accompanied by a corresponding reaction: shocks of delight, surprised giggles, an occasional whoop. Oliver and I sit back and watch, his arm draped effortlessly over my shoulder, pulling me into him.
Time seems to stretch out before us — the bright light of the sun slowly softening into late afternoon warmth, the sounds of laughter and chatter surrounding us, my boy gleefully absorbed in his haul.
Presents turn into cake, which turns into water gun fights. By the end of it all, with the guests trickling out, Bradley is exhausted, leaning into me as we bid our last guests goodbye.
“You go,” my mom says, waving me away when I try to pick up discarded paper plates. “Gina and I got this.”
“Mom—”
“Get Bradley home.” She kisses my cheek. “He’s about to hit a second wind.”
“Yikes,” I mumble, already knowing I don’t want that. If he gets to that point, he’ll be bouncing off the walls until midnight.
“I’ll stay and help clean,” Oliver tells me, but my mom waves him away as well, pointing out that since we drove here together, he should head out with us.
“Best birthday ever,” Bradley mumbles as I pick him up to carry him to the truck.
Back at my house, it’s quiet. The kind of quiet I used to dread, but now it feels like space, like room for everything we need.
It feels like a chance.
I get Bradley through a quick bath and teeth-brushing, then to his room. He’s half asleep already, and I’m afraid he’ll fully wake up when I set him down.
“Mom?” Bradley mumbles, already drifting off.
“Yeah, sweetie?” I bend down next to his twin bed with the elephant comforter and giraffe sheets.
“Where’s… where’s Oliver?”
“He’s in the kitchen,” I whisper.
“I had the best time ever,” he says, his voice thick with sleep. “And I made a wish when I blowed out the candles.”
“What did you wish for?” I ask, stroking his hair.
“I wished that Oliver could be my dad,” he says. “Do you think it will come true?”
My heart jumps into my throat, and I’m too caught off guard to know how to respond. It takes me a moment to formulate an answer.
“Anything can happen,” I say. “That’s the beauty of life.”
He smiles, the smile I can’t say no to, the smile that got us here and keeps us here. “I think we’re really lucky, Mom.”
And just like that, he’s asleep, his breathing deep and even, his face relaxed and at peace.
Oliver knocks softly and opens the door. “Think he’s dreaming about cake?” he asks, coming to crouch next to me.
“I think he’s dreaming about you,” I say, and it doesn’t scare me like I thought it would.
Oliver takes my hand, the warmth of him spreading to me, the comfort and confidence and everything I never thought I’d feel again.
“We’re good, Carly,” he says, and he’s right.
I believe him more than I thought I could, more than I once thought I should. He smiles, a slow and easy smile that makes me feel like — no, makes me know — I’m the luckiest girl in the world.