Winning Over the Brooding Billionaire by Cara Colter

Author:Cara Colter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-12-11T20:48:35+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

IT WAS A beautiful day and Shelby adored downtown Calgary with its wonderful combination of old historic buildings and innovative modern ones. There was a vitality about the city famous for its Western culture and its Stampede.

Though the Stampede was weeks away, she could feel the city gearing up for it. It seemed as if it would be an exciting time to be here, but she would be gone and it would be too early to come back to start on her father’s party.

Gone.

Gone from Hannah. And Sam. And Buckie. And Rascal.

How could she feel faintly bereft over that? Probably just because she had been so intensely immersed in a world different from her own. It was only human that she would miss it. Though she knew, a week ago, if someone had told her she would miss playing nanny she would have scoffed.

It made her feel as if she didn’t know herself, at all!

She gave herself over to discovering Calgary instead of indulging self-contemplation. Much of the downtown was connected by walkways, which functioned as protection against the many months of winter weather, though they were unnecessary today.

The shops and boutiques were world-class, and she gave herself over to the pure enjoyment of shopping. It had been a long time—since starting Eventually—that she’d had the time or inclination—or budget—to pamper herself. Despite Sam giving her the credit card, she used her own on everything, including the cutest little dress she found for Hannah.

When Sam called her, time had evaporated. Shelby had gotten all the essentials to get her through a few more days: underwear; socks; suitable shoes; shorts and tops; a pair of casual slacks, but she was no closer to picking out a dress for Taking on the World.

“Ready for lunch?” he asked. His voice over the phone was warm and sexy and felt like a touch on the back of her neck.

She looked at the sea of dresses she was surrounded by. “Hang on,” she said. “I’m sending you a picture.”

She took a photo of one of the dresses, on its hangar, and sent it. “Hannah said nice. What does that mean? Formal? Summer? Cocktail?”

“Hang on, it just came in.”

Silence.

“Well?”

“It’s a little, uh, I-hate-this-dress-but-I’m-still-hopeful bridesmaid,” Sam said.

“That’s a lot to tell about a dress. It sounds as if you’ve been to way too many weddings.”

“Weddings are important in our part of the country. Community events. Right up there with grad nights.”

She felt a tickle of longing for that kind of community. It made her feel the same way the first glimpse of his house had. As if there was a promise there. Of family. History. Stability. Tradition.

She ordered herself to focus and took a picture of the second dress. She pressed send and heard the ping of it arriving on his phone.

“Wasn’t that in Beauty and the Beast?” he asked. “I think it’s a bit too ball gown.”

“Your areas of expertise are taking me by surprise.”

“Spent the winter on a ranch with a five-year-old. There were at least a hundred viewings.

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