Billionaire's Second Chance Read online

  Billionaire’s Second Chance

  Billionaire Hearts Club

  Blake Andrews

  Copyright ©2019 by Blake Andrews

  All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be used or reproduced in any form without written permission from the author, with the exception of brief quoted passages left in an online review. This book is a fictional story. All characters, names, and situations are of the author’s creation. Any resemblances to actual situations or to persons who are alive or dead are purely coincidental.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only; this copy is not available for resale or to give to another reader aside from any transaction through Amazon’s e-book lending program.

  Contents

  Billionaire’s Second Chance

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Preview Of The Cowboy’s Match

  Chapter 1

  About the Author

  Billionaire’s Second Chance

  Billionaire Hearts Club

  Chapter One

  Meridian, Colorado

  The phone buzzed against the table, doing a dance before Ashton snapped it up to check out the name on the illuminated screen. He was off from work and out with friends, so he had a feeling that it was just a robocall. To his surprise, the screen said Mom & Dad. Something felt like it dropped in the pit of his stomach and he swiped to answer the call. “Hello?”

  “Hi Ashton,” his mother said in a voice that betrayed earlier tears.

  “Hi Mom,” he said back, an invisible – but detectable – question mark at the end. “How are you doing? Is everything okay?”

  His mom made a strange, sob noise. She was really scaring him right now.

  “We’re both okay, but… It’s Skipper. He’s… He’s awfully sickly, Ashton. We think—” She sobbed again. “We think that you should come home and spend some time with before…”

  Ashton clenched his jaw, frowning but not letting himself get too emotional because he was in front of his friends. “I see.”

  His friends had been goofing off, but their expressions grew concerned when they saw the sad look that had spread across Ashton’s face.

  “I’ll be there on the first flight out this weekend,” Ashton promised his mother.

  “Thank you,” she said, openly crying a little now. “We’ll see you soon. He’ll be so ha- happy to see you.”

  “I’ll be happy to see you guys, too” he replied. “Love you.”

  “Love you too,” his mom said.

  They ended the call and he set the phone back on the table, leaning back in his chair. He didn’t have much of an appetite now.

  “Everything okay?” his friend Tim asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

  Ashton shook his head. “My parents’ dog – my dog – is apparently dying,” he said. It was difficult for him to not let his chin quiver at least slightly.

  “Aww, man,” his other friend Craig said, setting his drink down on the table in front of them. “That’s terrible, Ash.”

  “Yeah,” his other friend Doug said. “How old is he?”

  Ashton bit his lip, wishing that he didn’t have to talk about this type of thing with his friends in the club where they normally kicked back and had a fun time together. “He’s not that old. We got him as a puppy when I was sixteen, so I guess he’s about ten now.”

  His friends all went ‘aww.’ “That’s not very old,” Craig said. “Though it depends on the size of the dog, I guess.”

  Skipper was a beagle, so he wasn’t very big. That meant that he was supposed to make it to about fifteen, with luck… But unfortunately, it seemed that he wasn’t one of the lucky ones. Ashton’s frown deepened. “I’m going to fly to Colorado on Friday night to say my last goodbyes to him.”

  He’d have to worry about booking the private jet later. Right now, he had ample bro time with his friends that he was going to take advantage of. They’d surely help to cheer him up.

  The topic of conversation thankfully changed from sick dogs and before long the young men were all laughing about silly things. This was why Ashton enjoyed the social club that they all went to in New York City. He’d met many of his friends and business partners there and now they were thick as thieves. He didn’t regret moving to the big city at all, although now he had to wonder if it had been best for his dog. I’m making myself feel guilty and I really shouldn’t. It’s out of my control.

  “Any exciting new investments that you’ve been working on?” Tim asked Ashton. They didn’t often talk about work when they were hanging out together, but it was evident that Ashton was lost in thought now that he had learned the news about Skipper.

  He looked at his friends, trying to gauge how actually interested they were in his work. All he saw in their faces was sincerity, which was encouraging. “Well, I recently invested in this food delivery service. You know how popular those are. This one actually donates a portion of the unused food to homeless shelters, so it helps even more people than just the ones who pay fifty dollars a month for a meal kit.” Ashton smiled a little. He tried to always invest in things that gave back in some way.

  “That’s so cool,” Tim said, smiling back at him.

  “You’re like a less mopey Batman,” Doug added with a grin. “Shoot, if I was in the business of investing in other businesses, I’d like to think I’d do something like that, too.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short Doug. Clean energy is a great area to be working in,” Ashton pointed out with a grin at him. “The work you’re doing helps the entire planet. Who knows, maybe one of these days, I’ll invest in your company.”

  “Oh shut up,” Doug said with a laugh. “Like I need investors.”

  Ashton knew that his friends were doing well for themselves. Otherwise they wouldn’t have been there with him at the ritzy social club. If the people back home in his tiny Colorado town could see him now, they’d probably be amazed that he was where he was. Most people from Meridian didn’t stay there, though. It was close enough to more interesting towns in Colorado for one thing, and for another thing… There just wasn’t a lot of interest. But maybe that was just Ashton’s pessimism talking. He hadn’t been back home in over a year and he felt awkward about returning and seeing people that he’d distanced himself from.

  But he didn’t feel awkward about seeing Skipper again. Skipper was his best friend and would never judge him for growing up and changing. Ashton knew that the old dog still loved him like he always had. He bit his lip and did his best to think about something else.

  When it was time to say goodbye, each of his friends took their turns shaking hands and patting Ashton on the back. He could tell that they were still feeling sorry for him. He appreciated their concern, but he also didn’t want to be pitied. After all, Skipper is getting older. Maybe it’s just his time.

  He would never say such a thing out loud, though.

  Especially now. The last thing he wanted was to tempt fate.

  “Have a great trip,” Tim said to Ashton. “Enjoy your time back home as much as you can. I’m sure it won’t be all sad…”

  “Yeah, be sure to take lots of pictures of Meridian,” Craig said. “I’d love to see what it’s like. It sounds pretty quaint.”

  “Quaint is probably the perfect word for it,” Ashton agreed with a nod and a smile. “Thanks guys. I’ll be back before you know it.”

  Upon leaving the clu
b, the familiar form of his black Lincoln town car pulled up to the curb. His driver got out and opened the backseat door for him. Ashton got into the car and they rolled away towards his mansion outside of the city, in Scarsdale. As they rode home, Ashton leaned his head back against the cool, black leather seats and closed his eyes. Once the car was in the front driveway of his house, his driver opened the door for him and Ashton stepped out, stretching a bit. “Thank you, Simon.”

  He walked into his mansion and headed straight for his office. He didn’t have any work to do at the moment, but it was the room where he preferred to handle all of his travel planning as well. Picking up the phone – his special home office line – he called his personal assistant, the humorously-named Alexa. She likely didn’t think that it was so humorous, so Ashton showed some restraint and only teased her about it once per week instead of every day.

  “Hey, I know that it’s outside of work hours, but I need you to make arrangements for my trip to Meridian, Colorado as early as possible after my last meeting on Friday,” he instructed her in his usual polite but straightforward way.

  “Sure thing, sir,” Alexa replied. He could hear the tap-tap-tap as she input the information into her computer while they spoke. She was invaluable to him. Not only was she attentive, she was swift and she didn’t ask any unnecessary questions. “Do you want me to charter a jet with a large cabin or would you prefer mid-size?”

  He thought about it. His preference often depended on the day. “Surprise me,” he told Alexa. “And please book a round trip. Give me about a week there.”

  It likely wouldn’t take that long to handle things with Skipper and his parents, but since it had been a while, he wanted to see some other folks as well, if they were still around. Ashton knew that just because he’d been fortunate enough to escape the small town, not all of his friends had been so lucky. He also didn’t know how soon he’d be back after this trip, so he planned to make the most of it.

  He didn’t think that he’d be getting much work done during the trip. Especially if Skipper’s health was really as poor as his parents suspected. His mom had been overdramatic in the past, but never about Skipper. And she’d never asked him to come home for other things that had troubled her in the past.

  Tap-tap-tap. “Okay, sir, I’ve chartered a Cessna Citation X private jet for your round trip to Denver. You fly out this Saturday morning at 4:45 and you’ll be returning to New York next Saturday at noon, Denver time.”

  “Thank you so much,” he said to her. “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow and we’ll go over everything work related for while I’m gone.”

  They had a few days before he actually had to leave, but he liked to get a jump on things whenever he could. Plus he didn’t necessarily like leaving too many things in the hands of his assistant. He knew that she was a perfectly capable person, but even capable people made mistakes sometimes. He’d rather not fly back from one crisis to discover another had formed in his absence.

  Alexa understood this. She’d been working for him for almost as long as he’d been working in New York. As soon as Ashton ended the call with her, he went to his couch and collapsed in front of the massive flat screen television in his living room, using his voice to power it on and select a channel. He could smell a delicious meal being cooked for him by his personal chef in the kitchen. He never ate much when he was out at the club with his friends. They spent their time dining on fancy hors d'oeuvres and sipping fine wines. The food there was good, but it wasn’t all that filling.

  While watching TV, after such a long day, Ashton dozed off. He was awakened by his butler gently asking him if he was ready to have dinner. He sat up, swiping a hand over his mouth so he could check the corners and make sure that there wasn’t any drool there. “Yes, thank you,” he said. On his way to the dining room, he stopped at a mirror in the hallway and straightened his dark blond hair. He didn’t look as polished as he’d looked earlier, but he no longer had anyone around him to impress.

  As soon as he was seated at his long, deep umber table in the dining room, he thanked his chef as she placed a beautifully plated dinner in front of him. No one made veal, sauteed greens and mashed potatoes quite like Rosa.

  When Ashton went to work the following morning, he knew that he had a full schedule ahead of him but the main thing he wanted to take care of was his plans for while he was away. He walked in through the front double doors of his office building and Alexa was swiftly there at his side, handing him a generous to-go cup of coffee from his favorite chain, Starbucks that just so happened to be situated nearby the office. “Good morning, sir,” she said to him. “Your nine o’clock called and rescheduled for nine thirty.”

  Ashton nodded to her, taking a sip of his coffee. Perfect as always. “Do you have a copy of my itinerary ready and did you arrange for Simon to get me to the airport?”

  “Simon’s been notified and I printed out your itinerary and placed it in an envelope on your desk,” she said at once.

  “Great, thanks,” he replied. “Meet me in my office at lunchtime and we’ll go over some things for while I’m gone.”

  After a flurry of morning meetings, lunchtime finally arrived. Alexa joined him in his office right as he was leaving and he smiled at her as he turned from locking the door. “Excellent, you’re here. Where would you like to eat?”

  They ended up going to one of the cafes near their office building, a place that specialized in noodle bowls. Once they’d gone through the line and received their orders, they sat across from each other at one of the red tables. “Looking over the notes from our planning spreadsheet, I have no reason to think that I can’t manage things in your absence,” Alexa said to him. “It looks like next week will be a calm one, even.”

  “Don’t get too comfortable about that,” Ashton cautioned her. “Things often spring up, as you know. Mmm, wow, this is delicious. Why have I never been here before?”

  She smirked at him slightly. “You probably think it’s beneath you.”

  He blinked at her. “Just because it’s technically fast food doesn’t mean it’s beneath— Oh. Because it’s below the office.” He narrowed his eyes at his assistant as she giggled softly at him.

  They went over the list of things that Alexa was going to need to do while he was in Meridian, and he felt more and more confident as they discussed things. He wasn’t leaving his company in the hands of an intern, after all. He was leaving it in the most capable hands that he had aside, from his own. “I trust you to handle all of these meetings,” Ashton said to her with a nod for extra affirmation. “But please keep me in the loop, and don’t hesitate to call me if anything is amiss or you have any questions or want to talk anything through.”

  She smiled as she twirled the last of her peanut noodles onto her fork. “I doubt I’ll have to put out any fires, sir, but I promise to call you right away if I do. Enjoy your trip as much as you can. I’m awfully sorry about your dog. I hope that it turns out to be fine.”

  Ashton nodded again, a bit less confident now. He couldn’t be sure of how Skipper was going to be, and he disliked not being in control of something. “Thank you, Alexa,” he said to her appreciatively.

  They went back to the office and he made sure to place the itinerary that she’d printed out for him into his briefcase. He got through the rest of the day, his focus a little weaker now that he was that much closer to leaving. He hoped that what she’d said turned out to come true. Maybe Skipper would turn out to be fine and his mom was just exaggerating. But he wouldn’t know until he was there with the dog and could see for himself.

  Chapter Two

  Becca retrieved the new chart from the receptionist at the front desk and looked it over, pen in hand, before walking over to greet the next pet owner. She put a smile on as she invited the owner and his cat to follow her into one of the exam rooms. “How is everything with Sneakers?” she asked. This was thankfully a routine vet visit, nothing concerning in the five-year-old cat’s file. She
looked up from the chart again and placed it onto the small table to the side of the exam table. The cat was still in his gray carrier, so she opened it up and did her best to coax him out while his owner answered her question.

  “Everything’s fine,” the man told her confidently. “He’s been eating well, playing at all hours when I’m trying to sleep.” He laughed softly. “He hasn’t lost his kitten energy.”

  “That’s great,” Becca said as she ran her fingers through the cat’s long black and white fur. He was a beauty, and Becca wasn’t even really a cat person. She put her stethoscope to him and carefully listened to his heart and his breathing, making sure that everything was going well inside as well as out. “He sounds good.” Next, she took a look at his eyes, ears, and teeth. Then she glanced over at his chart again to see what vaccines he needed this time around.

  “Oh, could you please also cut his nails?” his owner asked. “He’s been pretty uncooperative when we try at home.”

  She smiled again and nodded. “Sure. He’ll probably behave better for me because he’s already a bit more subdued here.” Carefully, Becca took Sneakers into her arms. “We’ll be right back.” She took him into one of the rooms in the back hallway, where she could give him all of his shots and clip his nails. Giving him his shots wasn’t so difficult, but as soon as the cat took one look at the nail clippers, he started to flail in her arms, making angry meows in protest.

  “Aww, it’s okay, Sneakers,” Becca told the cat consolingly as she sat down with him on her lap so she could properly clip his long, hooklike nails. She didn’t appreciate when owners let their cats’ nails get like this, but she wasn’t about to lecture the owner. Things happened, and at least this man wasn’t a repeat offender. As she was finishing up clipping the last of his long claws, the cat deftly swiped at her with his left paw and dug his claws deep into her forearm.